Vacations...what do you spend on them?

[ScrimpAndSave]

Not worth answering.

[Investing First Steps]

Don't feed the trolls

He's just trying to be provocative, ignore him.

[ScrimpAndSave]

Thanks for letting me know.

[paladin]

We are basically beach people, not afraid of flying, no into fancy food, not into shopping, love the idea of going somewhere tropical...don't need a lot of night life. We basically want to sight see and tan. lol

I'm not sure what places are cheaper to get to (Bermuda is not so far)...but that is what we want to start with. I know a lot of cruises stop all over the islands and would be around $3000 for both of us, all inclusive other than alcohol (I don't drink).

Bermuda can be VERY expensive, so going on a cruise is a good idea, since your food and lodging is taken care of (you eat and sleep on the ship).

Cruises can be quite inexpensive (especially if you live near a port and don't mind inside cabins), though they are actually quite far from "all inclusive" as most prices don't include tips, drinks, sodas, excursions, taxes, port charges, bingo, casino fees, specialty restaurants, etc. Obviously, you won't have to use all of the extra fee things, but it is good to have an idea in advance so there is no sticker shock later.

You might want to sign up for emails from some cruiselines or travel sites (Expedia, Orbitz, Travelocity, etc.) to get heads up on specials and such - this also will give you a feel for what prices are and what constitutes a good deal.

There are also all inclusive resorts on many of the Caribbean islands and Mexico - these might be something to look into also, since they sound like they would fit with your preferences.

[Campfrugal]

I agree with Steve, taking 2, 3 or even 4 smaller trips that are 2 - 4 days long, really breaks up a year. We have quite a few trips planned for this year, but we are meeting up with friends, which has really cut our costs, either staying at their home for a couple nights, which doesn't wear out our welcome, or sharing the cost of a cabin/home/hotel room for the other vacations.

We are planning on driving, so we can see some other sites along the way. Also, I usually always bring our own food. We rarely eat out on vacation. I pack the cooler with pre-formed burgers, single frozen chicken breasts and hot dogs for our summer/warmer vacations where I know I can cookout. I also have a large container that holds our electric covered fry pan, coffee pot (in case our room doesn't have one) and toaster, disposable plates, bowls, cups, napkins and flatware.

I also cook a box of pasta, which I put in a zip-lock bag with some tomatoes, cucumbers, shredded cheese and Italian dressing for a salad. We also take sandwich meats, sliced cheese, bread for toast and sandwiches, peanut butter and jelly, cereal, chips, crackers, cheese, etc. Items that are easily put together. We can pack a lunch for our excursions out in the day, or take some chips and such to add to a sandwich that we might pick up at a deli. this keeps the eating out costs down.

But, yeah, $50.00 a month is usually what I put away for trips/vacations and then when we decide where we are going, we also search online and in our destinations local newspaper and visitor's center when we get there for coupons. Sometimes you can get great discounted coupons on e-bay.

And, every year, we always buy a recriprocal museum membership to use all over the U.S. We just never know where we are going to be.

[sakigt]

We spend $3000 on an out of the country trip. Once a year.
We budget $1000 on 2 in-country trips per year. Were normally under this amount.

"Vacations" mean so much to different people. Personally Im not happy unless I arrive home dog-tired with a memory card full of images and a notebook full of adventures. You need to decide what you prefer doing. All inclusives would be a waste for us, for example.

This is the first year were setting a dollar amount aside for travel. We normally just use tax refunds or extra paychecks or eat ramen noodles for a week ( ) . We just got married so all costs are officially split down the middle and also were trying to do a crazy trip to Europe sometime in 2-3 years so the additional money we have at the end of each year will pay for that.

[Staceyy]

We spend next to nothing on vacations. We typically use frequent flyer miles and hotel points or we drive to locations and stay with friends or relatives. We both traveled to Hawaii spending on nothing but food. I was a corporate traveler for years, and dh is a long distance truck driver who stays in a lot of motels and hotels. I often travel for free with him over the road.

[disneysteve]

We spend next to nothing on vacations. We typically use frequent flyer miles and hotel points

We typically do a free stay trip with Marriott points every other year. 2003 it was 5 days in Boston. 2005 it was San Francisco. Last year we got 10 nights free in New Hampshire. And we get an occasional shorter stay or weekend get-away, too.

We earn most of our points with the Marriott Visa card, usually at least 3,000 points each month, so in 2 years, that's at least 72,000 points, more than enough for a nice trip.

[Daylily]

Vacation, my favorite subject.
We spend about 2-3k a year on vacations. Sometimes more, sometimes less. We just came back from a seven-night stay at an all-inclusive in the Caribbean including airfare and that was about $2100 for two people. We've taken two week trips and we've taken three week trips out of the country as well and those have gone as high as 4k.

I do a variety of things to save for vacation. The most important thing I do is keep the money in a separate sub-account and I never include that amount in my overall savings/net worth calculations. Here's what goes into that account:
1. Reimbursements from my flex spending account.
2. Bottle deposit refunds.
3. The change jar.
4. Tax refunds.
5. Any gift of money that we've received for birthdays or holidays.
6. Paychecks from online surveys.
7. Any money I receive from odd jobs or tutoring.
8. Bonus money from work.
9. Any thing else that comes my way that is not part of my regular paycheck.
10. Interest from my main savings account.

[globetraveler]

For reference,

My wife and I are taking a 4 night 5 day trip to Paris the first week of February 09.

We are doing the whole trip, flying from Arkansas to Paris (through Houston) and back for under $2500 including airfare, hotel, food, and spending cash.

Airfare = 1400 for both of us including tax and fees
Hotel = 500 for 4 nights including breakfast
Food and spending budget = 600

And we dont go on vacation to buy useless crap, my wife and I are history buffs so we always hit up the museums and historical sites. Hence going back to Paris for the second time to hit the places that we missed last trip. So I think this keeps us within budget since we arnt hanging out at the tourist shopping areas.

By the way, last trip was the first week of March and we spent right at 2500 for that trip also. So in general, you will find that airfare and hotel is quite affordable in Paris during the winter months.

FYI...You will generally get better rates if you book all the trip yourself and not go through a travel agency. But I travel heavily for work and book the majority of my buisness trips myself, so I am used to dealing with the hassles of finding and booking the whole trip.

[disneysteve]

Taking the bigger trips usually provide the great memories, but we've taken a few 2-3 night trips that were just as wonderful. We tend to like cruises because they are all inclusive, and you can find some that are 3 and 4 nights instead of 7.

I think it is somewhat deceiving to say that a cruise is all-inclusive. It is true that your fare includes your room, your meals and many on-board activities, but there is a lot more to it than that. If you want to do anything in any of the ports you visit, you'll need money, either for formal excursions or stuff on your own. If you want to do various on-board things, you need to pay, like bingo, the casino, buy any drinks (alcoholic or non), get any photos, etc. I suppose you could take a cruise and do nothing extra and drink nothing but water all week, but I think you'd miss out on a lot of the experience.

Now something like a Caribbean resort can truly be all-inclusive. We've gone to Sandals 3 times, twice in Jamaica and once in St. Lucia. There, everything is included. All meals, all beverages, all activities. The only time you needed to spend money was for shopping or if you left the resort and went somewhere else. You didn't even have to tip the staff (unlike a cruise where you should budget $10/person/day for tips). You could easily spend a week at Sandals and not spend a penny beyond what you paid for the trip.

I'm also not sure I agree about the "big" trips leaving the great memories. We have favorite stories and experiences from every trip we've taken, whether it was a weekend nearby or a cross-country trek. Memorable stuff can and does happen anywhere and at any price.

[snafu]

There are often great 'last minute' cruise deals if your are flexible about destination. If your ideal vacation is to lounge at the pool and forego excursion costs and add-ons you can keep the costs down.
Discount Cruises, Last Minute Cruises, Cruise, Cruise Line, Cruise Vacation Check out 'repositioning' cruises if you have longer than 7 vacation days.

Florida has miles and miles of beautiful beach with empty, 50 story time-share condos along the east coast. If you know anyone with a timeshare, they can refer you to an agency that does secondary rentals. If you can drive it extends your travel budget and saves the hassle of airports and airlines whose lines are long, with late departures/arrivals, lost luggage, car rental stories from H__ll, etc.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

$3-5k/year But then we have trouble vacationing because we live so far from home. Going home will run us about $600/each for my DH's tickets and $1000 for my tickets homes. So right there one trip a year to each place we're OOP $3k at least, usually $5k

[disneysteve]

There are often great 'last minute' cruise deals if your are flexible about destination.

That's true. You can get really cheap (like $299 for 7 days kind of cheap) cruises. That only works if you live close to the port, though. If you have to fly, forget it, since there is no such thing as cheap last minute airfare.

[ScrimpAndSave]

Steve,

There seem to be some cruises that go out of bayonne nj...which would be great bc then I wouldn't have to fly to a different port. Royal carribean and celebrity sail out of there....I don't see any crazy great deals...but at least we wouldnt have to fly...