Vacations & Debt
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Vacations & Debt
| Thu, 03-24-2005 - 3:47pm |
Having just returned from a week-long trip to Boston, I definitely have vacation and debt on the brain.
| Thu, 03-24-2005 - 3:47pm |
Having just returned from a week-long trip to Boston, I definitely have vacation and debt on the brain.
All I have to say is Priceline.com - I manage to go on 2 mini-vacations a year (3-4 days each) and priceline is usually the only way I can afford it. That and ebay.
As far as priceline goes... I look around at all of the websites to find the cheapest hotel I can find online, then I go to priceline and bid on a price about 20-40 lower, somtimes more depending on what I think I can get away with. This usually allows me to stay longer, since I am getting 3 nights for the price of 2, etc.
Ebay is great for park tickets if we are going. People post the remainder of their tickets from their own vacation, and you can look through them to see what works for your trip.
My fiance and I have to get away, or we'll go crazy - the mini-vacations save our sanity!
As far as your trip to Vegas, the best show ticket prices are on the day of the show at the half-priced ticket booth. The biggest problem with these is that they often involve long lines, and your choices are limited.HTH
~Shana
I pay cash, but also I don't do much on vacation
at times that I've had debt, at least not significant debt.
If I don't pay
cash I can't enjoy myself, because I feel like
I'm running up debt and it ruins it.
I also plan way ahead.
Europe for a month in 94, total cost
was $2200. I made no reservations, just
went to the tourist info (the 'i') and said
I want a place for under $30 US. That was
planned out almost a year.
Russia for a month in 96, also about $2200,
which was a coincidence. I stayed either with
friends or rented a room with people that rent
out rooms. The plane ticket was $1200 :(
One hotel night at $80. That was planned out
more than 6 months.
Venezuela for 2 weeks in 2001. Total cost
$350 (had a free ticket). Stayed with friends,
or hotel ($9/night) or rented a room ($2/night).
That was planned out about 6 months.
$20k on CC for house flooding, and medical bills.
Florida for a week in 2000, $350. But my girlfriend
at the time paid for the hotel ($300 I think). Planned ahead 2 months.
(drove, I don't remember how much was gas)
Florida for a week in 2001, stayed with friends, total
cost about $400. Planned ahead 3 months. Plane ticket
was $120.
Canada in 2005 (last week actually) for 1 week. Stayed with
friends, also hotel (expensive, $120/night but it was
a hot springs resort). Total cost $800. (free ticket).
That was planned 5 months.
For little getaways, usually 1-2 months plan ahead.
Typical cost for a 3-4 day weekend, $100-200.
Sometimes I tie in vacation with work trips, although I don't travel
much for work now. But I've gone to DC in 98 I think, I took a
couple days of vacation, and they paid for the ticket (saved them
money cause they got a discount for me staying over the weekend).
I've had times with a little debt, no debt, and a lot of debt.
But I never ever put travel or entertainment on a CC.
Do you tend to do "biggies" (a week or more) or "minis" (long weekends, overnighters, etc.)?
We do mini vacations. Unless you count camping as a big vacation cause we've camped for a week but I don't count that as a big vacation. I really want to take a big vacation, a week in Florida by the beach or a cruise, something.
How do you plan for your vacations? Are you flexible enough to take advantage of deals, or are your dates pretty much set in stone?
We plan based on our budget and if/when dh will be home. Since he's military and always gone, it's kinda hard.
How do you pay for vacations?
We budget them but sometimes we've had to use CC if we didn't budget enough. It usually doesn't hit that bad though.
Danni - I'm sorry I just had to crack up at your last paragraph about spending a year planning a vacation!!
I've been planning our Disney trip for 2 years now at least (possibly even longer - I'm wondering if I'm on the verge of 3 years now?
Becky
CL of 4th, 5th & 6th grade Scoliosis
How often do you and your family get away on vacation?
Hey, I just got back from a weekend trip to Boston too. I have two kinds of vacations and here is how they work:
I go to see family in Colorado at least once per year (parents and my sister live there, that is where I grew up). I always put the airline tickets on a credit card, but only recently do I actually pay them off right away (I plan ahead and budget for the cost now). Since I'm going to see family I don't have to rent a car and we stay with my mom and/or my sister. We don't have any expenses other than maybe going to the zoo and out to dinner a couple times. These trips are usually a week long.
My second kind of vacation are mini trips to see my friend on Boston. I pack up the car and dd (age 4) and I leave after work/school on a Friday and come back Sunday afternoon. The drive is 5-6 hours each way. My only real expense is gas, and it takes a little over two tanks to get there and back, and I usually buy couple new movies for dd to watch on her dvd player and some new coloring books (expenses I would have anyway, I just time the purchases for when we take a trip to Boston or to Colorado). We don't usually go out to dinner while we are there, my friend cooks. Sometimes we go to the Children's Museum in Boston but my friend has a membership so my only expense is lunch for dd and I and maybe getting something in the gift shop.
I would love to take a real vacation to get away somewhere new with dd, but I can't really afford it yet.
In June, we are going to Knoebels Park in PA. We are going for three days during the week, because you can get an all day ride pass during the week, but not on the weekend. I reserved the dates a couple of months ago because I needed to work out the schedule with work.
I would love to go to Disney next year. That would be a big trip. I guess you could say I am planning it now, sine I am keeping an eye on rates and such to see if we really can afford it next year.
We used to just charge vacations, using the excuse we need to treat ourselves and it would help us relax and be more productive. Not any more. We set our vacation budget and try to space it out through the year. Its much more relaxing to not have a giant bill come in month after month when your vacation is over.
Sandra