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Vacation?
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amother
Brown


 

Post Tue, Apr 05 2016, 11:04 pm
How do I know if we can afford a vacation? In terms of safety nets and such... Right now we are at a pretty good place. Overall losing money each year but that's only while I'm in school, which won't be much longer. this is probably our last opportunity to take a vacation for a long time. I don't love the idea of dipping into our "safety net" but we might have to for this vacation. Granted we still should be ok but...

For people who have/had some kind of safety net/savings, what exactly did it look like? How much "extra" money is a good idea to have? I've heard things like 3 months salaries and such.. Looking for elaboration please. Tia.
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amother
Fuchsia


 

Post Tue, Apr 05 2016, 11:46 pm
My husband views vacation as "non-negotiable." Meaning, he would go crazy if he wasn't able to get away, and therefore it is worth the expense. We spend around $300 on a vacation every few months (2-3 times a year?). It sounds like we are in the same boat as you, financially. Maybe even a little worse off...
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Goldie613




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Apr 06 2016, 2:01 am
I think a lot of it depends on what you mean by "vacation". If you are going to drive somewhere, stay in a reasonable motel and do cheap touristy things, the amount of money you need is very different than if you plan to fly somewhere and stay in fancy hotels and go to the newest shows, restaurants, etc.

What I'm saying is, yes, you can probably go for a vacation, but if you are worried, maybe just try a more modestly priced one.

As far as safety net savings, I've heard a minimum of two months worth of living expenses, but I'm sure there are other calculations out there.
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JoyInTheMorning




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Apr 06 2016, 7:57 am
What do you do for vacation that's just $300?
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doctorima




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Apr 06 2016, 9:31 am
I'm not the one who mentioned it, but I imagine that if you find a cheap hotel/motel (or use credit card points to get a nicer room for free) and bring food instead of eating out and drive instead of fly, it wouldn't be too hard to get away for 3 days/2 nights for under $300, even while enjoying some reasonably-priced activities and quality alone time.
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amother
Fuchsia


 

Post Wed, Apr 06 2016, 10:42 am
Yup. The point is just to get away, not to really go to "destination places." We don't even think about going somewhere by plane, unless we're only considering a vacation because of a price mistake. We use points for hotel rooms, or stay at a cheaper hotel, or, rarely, stay at family in a different city. It's important to us to be able to eat out, in a place that allows it, so we spend money there. We try to find cheap or free things to do, if there are options. Or we only do one big thing, and that will cost us a little more. It all depends on the place and how much we need a vacation Smile We generally go within a five hour radius of home, many times closer. Many times its only a two night vacation, because of work/school schedules. So most of the money is spent on hotel and eating out.
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amother
Yellow


 

Post Wed, Apr 06 2016, 10:49 am
amother wrote:
How do I know if we can afford a vacation? In terms of safety nets and such... Right now we are at a pretty good place. Overall losing money each year but that's only while I'm in school, which won't be much longer. this is probably our last opportunity to take a vacation for a long time. I don't love the idea of dipping into our "safety net" but we might have to for this vacation. Granted we still should be ok but...

For people who have/had some kind of safety net/savings, what exactly did it look like? How much "extra" money is a good idea to have? I've heard things like 3 months salaries and such.. Looking for elaboration please. Tia.


I don't mean to get off topic but can I ask how you accumulated and set aside money for a safety net when you also say that your in school and losing money? Also, what exactly do you mean "losing money"? Are you simply getting into credit card debt?
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HonesttoGod




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Apr 06 2016, 11:22 am
Your emergency fund/safety net should include one months expenses. Meaning one month of rent, school fees, babysitting, food, car, gas etc.
Don't dip into that at all.

BUT I am also a big believer in vacation/get-aways. It is vital to my husband and myself to be able to get away. When we don't we both get overwhelmed, sick and exhausted. We often spend $500 on a weekend away (including food gas hotels etc) just to be able to breathe and get some much needed change of scenery. Even if I didn't have a penny extra, which we generally don't right now, I still do it because you can't make money if you are sick in bed.
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amother
Fuchsia


 

Post Wed, Apr 06 2016, 11:33 am
HonesttoGod wrote:
Your emergency fund/safety net should include one months expenses. Meaning one month of rent, school fees, babysitting, food, car, gas etc.
Don't dip into that at all.

BUT I am also a big believer in vacation/get-aways. It is vital to my husband and myself to be able to get away. When we don't we both get overwhelmed, sick and exhausted. We often spend $500 on a weekend away (including food gas hotels etc) just to be able to breathe and get some much needed change of scenery. Even if I didn't have a penny extra, which we generally don't right now, I still do it because you can't make money if you are sick in bed.


I'm not sure what that means practically. You don't have a penny extra, but you don't dip into savings at all. So going into credit card debt is better than dipping into savings? Is there really a difference?

Also, I think you need more than a month of savings. We recently made a bris, b"H, and had to dip into savings. It was a cost-conscious (though not always choosing the cheapest options) bris, and it still cost around $1,000. (Sort of like our vacations. We pick and choose what's important to spend on. I'm starting to see a theme! Smile) We had to dip into savings for it. If the baby had ch"v been born with health problems as well and we had extra medical expenses at the same time- one month of savings would not have been enough.
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HonesttoGod




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Apr 06 2016, 11:39 am
amother wrote:
I'm not sure what that means practically. You don't have a penny extra, but you don't dip into savings at all. So going into credit card debt is better than dipping into savings? Is there really a difference?

Also, I think you need more than a month of savings. We recently made a bris, b"H, and had to dip into savings. It was a cost-conscious (though not always choosing the cheapest options) bris, and it still cost around $1,000. (Sort of like our vacations. We pick and choose what's important to spend on. I'm starting to see a theme! Smile) We had to dip into savings for it. If the baby had ch"v been born with health problems as well and we had extra medical expenses at the same time- one month of savings would not have been enough.


See the BUT.
According to all the money gurus etc an emergency fund should include at least 1 month (some say 3+) back up.
However IMO vacation is important.
I usually bh don't have to use my emergency fund for "vacation" as it is only a couple hundred bucks at a time. Otherwise yes, I use our credit card. We don't pay the credit card from our emergency fund so if we have debt on that we include it in our monthly budget to pay it off. It is about priorities. My dh and I have highly stressful and busy lives so a weekend away is like bread and water for us.
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amother
Firebrick


 

Post Wed, Apr 06 2016, 11:56 am
My husband and I like to take vacatioms twice a year that usually cost around $3000 dollars. The only way we can do this is by saving from our "non savings " money. Since his salary all goes to savings and mine to living expenses we try to save from mine just for our vacations. If you are one who needs vacation you shoild make a vacation fund separate from your savings if possible
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amother
Brown


 

Post Wed, Apr 06 2016, 7:43 pm
amother wrote:
I don't mean to get off topic but can I ask how you accumulated and set aside money for a safety net when you also say that your in school and losing money? Also, what exactly do you mean "losing money"? Are you simply getting into credit card debt?


Good questions. What I mean by "losing money" is that on a yearly basis our net income is negative. However, we bith had a good amount of money saved before we got married so that has helped see me through school.

On a more practical note, we have created both yearly and monthly budgets. We try to save wherever we can. We don't have any kids yet but when we do I'm sure we will lose all of our savings to tuition.

For those of you saying that there are cheaper vacation ideas, this is true, but as this will likely be our last vacation in a long time, we want to make it very memorable and have a really great time. We are willing to splurge for it I just want to make sure we aren't being careless and spending more than we can truly afford to spend.
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amother
Brown


 

Post Wed, Apr 06 2016, 7:49 pm
amother wrote:
My husband and I like to take vacatioms twice a year that usually cost around $3000 dollars. The only way we can do this is by saving from our "non savings " money. Since his salary all goes to savings and mine to living expenses we try to save from mine just for our vacations. If you are one who needs vacation you shoild make a vacation fund separate from your savings if possible



I like this idea, thanks. We are trying to lower our monthly budgets in areas where we can afford to (miscallaneous, resteraunts, etc). In terms of an emergency fund, is this a seperate bank account that you don't touch? Do you put into it each month or just make sure there is always a couple hundred in it?
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amother
Brown


 

Post Wed, Apr 06 2016, 7:52 pm
I also personally don't think one month is enough (in an ideal case at least). If God forbid one of us loses a job, we might not find another in the next month. I think 3 is a safe bet to be able to survive on, though certainly the more the merrier (though not necessarily possible for most of us!)
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TwinsMommy




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Apr 06 2016, 8:49 pm
are we the only people who never vacation? Since my twins were born 9 years ago, I've taken a couple of business trips on my own and my husband went to his grandfather's and mother's funerals, but no vacationing together either alone (who the heck would stay with our kids) or with our kids (special needs enough that behavior in a foreign place would be a nightmare)...... having said that, I WANT a vacation. But yeah, money goes to debt instead, as we've got $100,000 of that. Smile
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amother
Salmon


 

Post Wed, Apr 06 2016, 9:21 pm
Imho it's irresponsible to go on a vacation, especially an expensive one when you're netting negative numbers every year. Wait until you are earning a bit more money.
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amother
Brown


 

Post Wed, Apr 06 2016, 10:52 pm
amother wrote:
Imho it's irresponsible to go on a vacation, especially an expensive one when you're netting negative numbers every year. Wait until you are earning a bit more money.


Normally I would agree, but we will very soon be in a place where we won't be netting negative. Even now, we are netting negative but we aren't going into debt since we have a solid safety net.
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amother
Teal


 

Post Wed, Apr 06 2016, 10:56 pm
I agree that it seems really irresponsible to take vacations when you're not even making ends meet. Just because you have a chance at improving your finances in the future doesn't mean it will happen when you need it to. Unfortunately I know from experience.

I think it's ery melodramatic to say you'll go crazy or be sick in bed if you don't spend hundreds on vacations. If you need a break and you don't have much extra money maybe get some cleaning help and takeout and take it easy.

I haven't been on vacation in many years. I do wish I could but I need to live within my means.

Op, maybe try a staycation where you do something fun and vacation like without traveling. It could be different and fun without costing too much.
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amother
Brown


 

Post Wed, Apr 06 2016, 11:54 pm
amother wrote:
I agree that it seems really irresponsible to take vacations when you're not even making ends meet. Just because you have a chance at improving your finances in the future doesn't mean it will happen when you need it to. Unfortunately I know from experience.


What do you consider making ends meet? We have enough to pay all our bills and are not in debt. Yes, our overall yearly expenses are slightly higher than our earning, but that is why I am talking about a safety net (which we have a solid amount of). Thank G-d we are doing ok- our biggest expense is tuition which we won't have to pay for much longer.
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shaimac1




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Apr 12 2016, 1:20 pm
amother wrote:
How do I know if we can afford a vacation? In terms of safety nets and such... Right now we are at a pretty good place. Overall losing money each year but that's only while I'm in school, which won't be much longer. this is probably our last opportunity to take a vacation for a long time. I don't love the idea of dipping into our "safety net" but we might have to for this vacation. Granted we still should be ok but...

For people who have/had some kind of safety net/savings, what exactly did it look like? How much "extra" money is a good idea to have? I've heard things like 3 months salaries and such.. Looking for elaboration please. Tia.


You asked about Safety Nets. What my understanding of the meaning of safety net (if Debt free and following someone like Dave Ramsey's plan) would be 3-6 months of savings to cover your cost of living. For example if you earn 5k a month but your expenses are only 4k a month than you would only need to have 12k-24k in savings before you could decide to "splurge on a vacation". I hope this helps and good luck in the future! If you do go on that vacation "cash flow" it don't put it on a credit card!
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