Saving For Vacation

BRY1105 · Post by **BRY1105** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 9:40 am

Less than two weeks since being on STJ, I am already thinking about when I might be able to return. That got me thinking; Im curious to find out how everyone saves for their future vacations. Do you stash away a small percentage of your take home pay, do you splurge, or do you do something in between?

mbw1024 · Post by **mbw1024** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 9:44 am

we had a similar discussion over on the OT board a while ago. when I looked at projected spending for 2010 I shocked myself

Taking a different approach for 2011!

http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/f ... highlight=

Beesmom · Post by **Beesmom** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 9:46 am

The #1 thing that helped my husband and I was getting rid of all debt. We saved up and splurged on our first USVI vacation in 2002 after we had paid off our credit cards and our cars.

Since then we've paid off our mortgage and we have managed one really nice vacation a year.

-Sandy

PA Girl · Post by **PA Girl** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 9:59 am

We run a lot of business expenses through our Amex Plat card and I use the points to pay for the plane tickets.

We aren't consumers of stuff. I believe I posted under that OT thread about wearing 10+ year old flip flops. Our hobbies cost next to nothing. We also don't buy gifts (except for our son) our STJ trips are our birthday, anniversary and Christmas gifts all rolled into one.

mfaughey · Post by **mfaughey** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 10:21 am

One thing that I have been doing is never giving change when I go to a store, but put it in a jar. For example, if the bill at the cashier is $2.05, I give $3, then when I go home, put the 95 cents in a jar. I got over $700 this past year and feel like it was a bonus....

mbw1024 · Post by **mbw1024** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 10:24 am

we collect change as well and also anything that comes out of the dryer. it adds but but never to $700! woo that's good!

Lulu76 · Post by **Lulu76** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 10:38 am

My ex-boyfriend and I saved all our change and it ended up being $50. I suspect that he might have been dipping into it. Of course, I also rarely believe in cash, so that doesn't help...

As for the trip, I figure out how much money I am going to need, and how much I need to put back each week to make it happen before I want to go on my trip. It doesn't always work out as planned, but it helps.

RidgeRunner · Post by **RidgeRunner** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 11:45 am

I use the credit card rewards programs heavily, change cards frequently, and the offers keep coming.
Basically I only use cash if they don't take credit cards and ALWAYS pay in full at the end of each month so there are no interest charges.

Different cards are better for different stuff. My Capital One card gets 2% back on groceries, the Citi gets 5% on restaurants, Chase 3% on gas....
Then take up AmEx on their offers once a year or so and voila, a good chunk of a vaction is paid for by the credit card companies.

Connie · Post by **Connie** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 11:58 am

We have a 5 gallon glass water jug. Every weekend we both roll up 20 dollar bills, put a rubber band around them and drop them in. We never pick out of mainly because it's a pita.

End of the year, over 2,000.00 and we really don't miss the 20 dollars.

I'd probably spend that 20.00 on junk anyway.

California Girl · Post by **California Girl** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 12:05 pm

Connie, that's a great idea! And it adds up quicker than change (although I also save change and recycling money).

Nancie-Pa · Post by **Nancie-Pa** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 2:49 pm

I work at a daycare/pre-school so there's very little money coming in on a weekly basis. However, I do alot of baby sitting, pet sitting and house sitting for the parents at the school. I try hard to put it all away, but then I need a new roof, or garage doors or something and there it goes! That's why it took me 5 years to return to STJ. But I can't wait that long again. So I'm making the plans and hoping it will all pan out. Like that saying-"Go ahead and leap...the net will appear!" Hell, I'm leaping!!
Nancie(jumping with my fingers crossed)in PA

dtenel · Post by **dtenel** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 10:31 pm

I also pay in onloy dollars for everything and save the change. I also always return my pop cans and all that money goes into my "fund." Another route I go is to roound up in my check book. Any checcks I write or debit card purchases I round up to the next dollar or sometimes I even add $5-$10. You never miss taht little bit at a time. Then, about 6 weeks prior to my vacation I get an up to date bank statement and balance my check book. All the money I have "saved" then gets deducted and put in my fund. I usually have way more than enough spending money for our 2 weeks in STT. I also throw in any extra $$ I have at the end of the week. Makes saving easy for us:)

yogagirl · Post by **yogagirl** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 10:47 pm

bryan...book now while you are in re-entry mode. It will SOO motivate you to save. My husband booked the next trip literally the weekend we returned from our last trip. I don't think we had to put a ton of money down right away. I will double check with him in the AM to be sure. I love Connie's idea about the rolled up $20's and I also love Pa girl's approach about not buying "stuff". I have been totally trying to practice that..I am training myself to say "do I really need another pair of black strappy sandals". No I don't I need STJ instead

. I was majorly bummed when our last STJ vacation in May ended. Re-entry was brutal..until I was informed that the next trip was booked. I try not to just "live for vacation" but this time it was so hard to come back. We are heading back soon and I am almost inclined to have the next trip to STJ booked before we leave for the next one.

GidgetPicklebrain · Post by **GidgetPicklebrain** » Thu Jul 22, 2010 9:35 am

When my husband and I quit smoking, I calculated the amount we had been spending each week on cigarettes. I set up a savings account and had that amount direct deposited from my paycheck into the account each payday. As the price of cigs goes up, I increase the amount of the direct deposit accordingly. This account is our vacation fund. When enough is accumulated to pay for a trip, off we go.

The first trip (to St. John) celebrated both a year of smobriety and 25 years of marriage. Staying quit has also paid for trips to Tahoe/Yosemite/San Fransisco and Kenai Peninsula/Denali NP/Olympic NP. We don't get to travel every year, but had we not quit I would have never have expereinced any of these places.

I read the thread linked above, and I felt compelled to add: to those who gave those "you can't take it with you" excuses for overspending - please don't do this to your kids. I am currently executrix of my father's estate. He died in May, leaving an insovlent estate and me to foot the funeral bill. He and my mother lived their retirement years with the can't take it with you attitude. Problem is, they ran out of funds just as their health began to fail. Not ill enough for a nursing home paid by Medicaid but not well enough to live alone, I also had to foot the bill for part of theri assisted living expenses each month for the past two years.

I will not be doing any more traveling anytime soon, even with the quit money.

Please make sure you have your retirement, including long term care, covered before you spend everything you earn now living in the moment.

OK, off the soap box.

Xislandgirl · Post by **Xislandgirl** » Thu Jul 22, 2010 10:23 am

GidgetPicklebrain wrote:
I read the thread linked above, and I felt compelled to add: to those who gave those "you can't take it with you" excuses for overspending - please don't do this to your kids. I am currently executrix of my father's estate. He died in May, leaving an insovlent estate and me to foot the funeral bill. He and my mother lived their retirement years with the can't take it with you attitude. Problem is, they ran out of funds just as their health began to fail. Not ill enough for a nursing home paid by Medicaid but not well enough to live alone, I also had to foot the bill for part of theri assisted living expenses each month for the past two years.

I will not be doing any more traveling anytime soon, even with the quit money.

Please make sure you have your retirement, including long term care, covered before you spend everything you earn now living in the moment.

OK, off the soap box.

We are all different, and no one knows what tomorow holds for any of us, how we treat each moment is personal and individual.
I live in every moment!

I refuse to live my life for what might happen. When you lose too many people in your life at a very young age, you come to a point in your life that you have to do what makes you happy now.
What makes me happy is traveling. I will continue to travel every free second and dollar that I have.

I will not sit around saving my money to be sure that I have a nice nursing home. I paid for my grandmother's nursing care as did the rest of my family. She never did anything that she wanted with her money and it still ran out.
I am not going to save and save and look at my money just because I might need it. I have a 401K and a pension, I am saving for retirement, but having a fortune in the bank at age 70 with nothing to look back on is not what I looking for in life.

I want to have a modest bank account and a lifetime of traveling memories to look back on.

usvi-on-line