A little 'too' Disney crazy? (with poll this time)

[dnickels]

I've seen a fair number of postings lately that I think would just make a financial planner cringe
- can't pay bill X but still going to Disney
- financing DVC at credit-card like interest rates
- how long do I have to pay off my credit card if I finance the vacation

So I'm just curious from a poll perspective (so as not to embarrass anyone) but who has put something 'Disney' ahead of things like their retirement planning or children's education funds?

I realize that Disney is amazing, but it's also a 'want' while those other things are needs. Maxing out my Roth IRA and retirement contributions comes way way way before anything travel related in my budget.

Normally I think everyone's financial decisions are their own, but with things like the recent housing bailout (300 billion = about $1,000 per person that we're all on the hook for via taxes) it's becoming the case that the poor decisions of others are costing all of us.

Again no flaming meant, just curious to see a poll.

[CleveSJM]

Good question. It let me vote for two at once.

I am very much more of a "Seize the Day" type. I'll cross the retirement and education bridge when I get to it. Of course, I plan and save for both but if a decision comes up where some current life experience would not happen because of some arbitrary monetary commitment to some possible future goal, I'll always make sure we experience the current oppurtunity. I'll get a low interest education loan later or eat mac and chesse when I'm 70. Just let me watch my kids enjoy and learn at WDW now!

[Faver]

I love Disney, and unfortunately I can't live inside the parks:mickey:...so I have to live out here, and out here, I've got a lot of responsibilities, that must be taken care of.

Thankfully, Disney is always there when I need a respite from my "grown up" life and responsibilities, and just need some magic and some fun:cloud9:

[Georgesgirl1]

DH and I do Disney as cheaply as possible , so that we can go but not feel guilty b/c we are not putting aside money for other things. Lucky for us, my parents have a DVC (which they paid cash for after saving up for years) that they let us use a lot of the time which really helps keep costs down.

On the subject of the mortgage bailout- DH and I were watching The Today Show this morning and they had a segment about how it would help only about 20-40% of the people who were in trouble. They featured two families- one lady who took out a second mortgage to REDECORATE her house (not renovate or do needed repairs, but redecorate), and now she can;t pay it back. The other family bought a house that they couldn;t afford, had multiple car payments and a sizable amount of credit card debt. DH looked at me and said, "And I am supposed to feel sorry for these people?!" Our newest car is 14 years old, we live in a house that we made sure we could still afford if one of us lost our job, and we are pretty frugal in most ways (vacation is our only real splurge). Why should my taxes go to bail out people who made bad decisions?! Sorry, taxes going to stuff like this is a real sore subject for me...I will get off my soapbox now!:soapbox:

[Cinderelley]

On the subject of the mortgage bailout- DH and I were watching The Today Show this morning and they had a segment about how it would help only about 20-40% of the people who were in trouble. They featured two families- one lady who took out a second mortgage to REDECORATE her house (not renovate or do needed repairs, but redecorate), and now she can;t pay it back. The other family bought a house that they couldn;t afford, had multiple car payments and a sizable amount of credit card debt. DH looked at me and said, "And I am supposed to feel sorry for these people?!" Our newest car is 14 years old, we live in a house that we made sure we could still afford if one of us lost our job, and we are pretty frugal in most ways (vacation is our only real splurge). Why should my taxes go to bail out people who made bad decisions?! Sorry, taxes going to stuff like this is a real sore subject for me...I will get off my soapbox now!:soapbox:

I agree completely. What happened to personal responsibility?

[Lacy]

As great as Disney is, it just doesn't make sense to us to put a Disney vacation ahead of necessary expenses. I too have been getting annoyed with all of the feature stories about people that are getting bailed out. We live responsibly within a budget and it is hard for me to have sympathy for those who don't accept personal responsibility. There are certainly exceptions and I'm thrilled that there are organizations out there like the Make a Wish Foundation that make Disney vacations possible for people who would otherwise not be able to go because of so many medical expenses.

[BMan62]

No kids, so education needs have been fulfilled with my BS, and DW has her nursing degree -- both paid off.

Retirement will come with whatever 401k, pension and Social Security monies we have available.

Our yearly WDW trip has become a mental health trip for us -- we NEED the time to relax and let the rest of the world go away.

[Marilyn Michetti]

I wouldn't enjoy our trip to Disney if it were financed, or we had other obligations. When DH retires, we're taking a cruise to Europe, and it will be financed by monies we're putting aside just for that. I hope it will happen, but if things are bad or DD needs help, I wouldn't think of the trip. (Well, I"d THINK of it..):cry:

[princessjojo]

Sure, I've set aside money for Disney that should have been used for other things first, but not to the point that it compromised our way of life. Much to the dismay of the many tax advisors out there, we pay in more tax each year than we should. With this in mind, we typically pay our bills all along throughout the year and use our tax refund for our vaction expenses. Sure, the gov't gets an interest free loan from us, but we're pretty sure we'll get something back each year. Is it the right way to save, heck no, but if we were to put it in an account, it would get used before the vacation came around.

[Mickey91]

While I do not fancy living a down trodden life because of a Disney trip, I do think that wonderful experiences now out weigh possible experiences later. We could save money all our life and then die. I like to live day to day. Not that we have no savings for the future, but, it is not at the top of my priorities.

[rnin02]

Sure, I've set aside money for Disney that should have been used for other things first, but not to the point that it compromised our way of life. Much to the dismay of the many tax advisors out there, we pay in more tax each year than we should. With this in mind, we typically pay our bills all along throughout the year and use our tax refund for our vaction expenses. Sure, the gov't gets an interest free loan from us, but we're pretty sure we'll get something back each year. Is it the right way to save, heck no, but if we were to put it in an account, it would get used before the vacation came around.

We are pretty similar to this. Most of the time we've overpaid in taxes, so we get a nice refund that ends up going to vacation. I wouldn't decrease my 401K contribution to go on vacation, or ignore other bills to go on vacation, but the years we haven't gotten the big tax refund, we just don't make a large credit card payment. Vacation is important too!

[MMouse6937]

While I do not fancy living a down trodden life because of a Disney trip, I do think that wonderful experiences now out weigh possible experiences later. We could save money all our life and then die. I like to live day to day. Not that we have no savings for the future, but, it is not at the top of my priorities.

This is somewhat my thoughts. DH and I don't have kids (well furry kids) so we don't have those type of things to save for. I have a retirement savings account and money put away everywhere I can think of to put it, but I will not sacrifice everything including my WDW trips. It's my yearly refuge, it's what I look forward to, and it makes the rest of the year bearable if that doesn't sound pathetic. Life is so short that who knows what the future holds.

[mrsgaribaldi]

You need a choice that's just no. I don't feel that retirement comes first and we have no children (just furry). I put money aside for retirement because it's right from my pay and lowers the tax but I'm a live for today gal. I've seen lots of people struck down too young to not enjoy today any time I can:mickey:

[DisneyOtaku]

I need a "sorta-kinda" vote. THe ony time I *personally* paid for a WDW trip was last December when I went with my two best friends (my parents have paid for all the trips prior since I'm in my early 20s).

It cost me about six hundred dollars to pay off my share of the trip, and yes, I should have probably saved my money for grad school. But I had was almost done with my last year of undergrad, was going to graduate with a 3.5, and I was writing a thesis I was well ahead on. I felt I needed this trip and was my special reward to myself for graduating.

And I don't regret my decision for a moment, even as I worry about the grad school bill.

[dnickels]

Interesting seeing the results, but judging from some of the responses I guess I needed to be more clear.

I wasn't talking about the extreme end of saving everything, never going on vacation with the goal of having a lot of money when you get old, there has to be a balance, but I was thinking more along the lines of people who
-carry credit card balances and go to Disney anyway
-are 'grown up,' still need help from family members to pay their bills but go to Disney anyway
-40-50 yrs old with little to no retirement savings
that sort of thing.

Maybe it's a tough comparison for me because I live nearby and enjoy my job so I don't need to escape from regular life on vacation but I just couldn't stomach getting older and having my retirement plan be social security.

And don't think I'm a miser, I certainly live for today! I work from my computer so I spend weeks at a time living all over the place, Winter Garden generally, but also a month in Key West, a month in Montana in the mountains and a month visiting family back in Michigan all in the past year.

[LauraF]

I would never seriously consider borrowing from myself to go on a vacation. Maybe I've been lucky these past few years, but I can usually manage to pay for everything without touching the credit cards or savings. Probably because I clearly remember my poor graduate days when I could barely pay my bills and cut back to one meal a day to pay them, and still had balances. NOTHING, not even a few days or weeks of fun is worth that sort of stress again.

So I pay my WDW off a little at a time if cash isn't an option. When each paycheck comes in I'll put a few hundred onto the balance until it's paid off. I'd rather not put it on credit and pay interest for the privilege. I'll keep that 10%+ in my pocket, where it can earn ME interest, thanks.

But I also do that as discipline so I don't spend it! I know the limits of my willpower. I have my savings monies (401K, etc) deducted out of my paycheck every month so I don't even see them. So I totally understand how people have trouble saving money and paying their bills when they don't have a savings plan in place. I had to force myself to do so by asking my bank to do it. I don't trust myself enough . . . I'm a magpie and like my stuff. :shop:

I remind myself that as much as life is stressful sometimes and I want to escape that, vacations are a LUXURY not a right. Nobody owes me a fancy vacation and who the heck cares what my neighbor or friends are doing. I don't need to be like them. Besides, even when I was poor and couldn't scrape two pennies together, I still managed to find ways to take vacations and get away . . . usually to visit family who could put me up for free.

And being nearly debt free (except for the student loan) is such a happy feeling. :D

[Mousemates]

Debt for vacation in this kind of pessimistic economic enviroment is a very bad idea.