The Intersection of FIRE and Disney

[elaine amj]

Yeah you have to be really careful, especially planning Disney trips as who knows how much it will cost in the future. Travel and entertainment are my biggest expenses every year so I have a different account for each (just a regular savings account) and deposit into them monthly. I like to travel offseason (I no longer do Disney) so I plan for when hotel rates will be cheaper and I grab ones that have fridge/microwaves which helps curb dining out.

We also definitely credit card hack a fair bit

We've always traveled a lot and with credit card hacking, felt pretty good about our $6k/yr vacation budget. Unfortunately, DH has a newfound love for eating out and I'm discovering he equates vacations with endless eating out. And since he's been spoiled by so many Disney vacations with free dining, he particularly equates Disney trips with TS places. Not too bad for our usual 10-12 day trips once every 2-3 years (interspersed with short weekend trips in off-years). But now that I would like to go for 2-3 weeks a time - the price jump is quite significant.

I think I have been in a bit of a shock at how much tenting it at FW could cost - even without purchasing tickets (we still have our non-expiring passes) and getting free flights. Free dining at values have really spoilt us in terms of what a Disney vacay should cost.

Anyway, I definitely want to stick to our travel budget (heavily supplemented by credit card hacking) this year so time to pull out more ninja travel deal hunting tricks. And convince DH a great time can be had while cooking most of our meals

 

[elaine amj]

Wow, you FIRED so early that’s really impressive! To help keep travel costs down I sign up for credit cards to get the bonus and use that to subsidize my travel. I have so many points for hotels/airlines but not enough vacation time to use them lol If you are interested check out the I love credit cards thread. A lot of us post of there too so if you want to ask questions here someone will chime in.

Thanks! I'm still a bit surprised we managed to get here relatively quickly considering we didn't earn high incomes for the majority of our careers. Just always saved, saved, and saved some more. I generally have simple tastes - but a Disney obsession haha!

 

[speedyfishy]

Thanks! I'm still a bit surprised we managed to get here relatively quickly considering we didn't earn high incomes for the majority of our careers. Just always saved, saved, and saved some more. I generally have simple tastes - but a Disney obsession haha!

Lol. I was looking at MINT and my yearly spending and the second highest category of expenses was Disney. I included all our trips in there and all the food costs but pretty scary lol.

 

[elaine amj]

Lol. I was looking at MINT and my yearly spending and the second highest category of expenses was Disney. I included all our trips in there and all the food costs but pretty scary lol.

So true. Guess that's why we have a thread about FIRE without sacrificing Disney lol!

I think my big problem is I am planning trips and then figuring out costs. I got to where I am today by only going on trips that fit within my costs. It's a different mindset. Right now my travel hopes for 2019 are too extravagant for our beer budget so I am scaling back and finding creative ways to do what we want.

 

[Tygerlilly]

Welcome!! You'll see people at different points on this journey, but we all had to start somewhere. You are taking a great first step of getting rid of debt, just think how great it will feel to be putting that money into saving when it is all paid off! I know everyone has different thoughts on how high a priority to place funding kids' college is, but just remember that there are other ways to pay for college, staying at home and going to community college, scholarships, and working through it. Just a thought

Oh, I plan to have them apply for as many grants, scholarships, etc. And explore all options. But I definitely don't want to start them into adulthood with a lot of education debt like I did.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

So true. Guess that's why we have a thread about FIRE without sacrificing Disney lol!

Yup! Part of the reason I created this thread was to have a group to discuss FIRE with that also wouldn’t shame me for enjoying Disney! Whether it’s the cost or what they feel is an “inauthentic” experience, it is largely put down in major FIRE circles. NOT HERE THOUGH

 

[alryan]

Just finished reading The Millionaire Next Door, very interesting. I've listened to Dave Ramsey's millionaire hour so some things weren't too surprising, but there was a few key takeaways I got from it. One, I am a sucker for simple formulas so I liked this one. How to determine if you are wealthy. Multiply you age times your realized pretax annual household income from all sources except inheritances. Divide by ten. This is what your net worth should be. Turns out I am just at average. That wasn't a great surprise, because we have always saved, but not aggressively. Does make me think though..average..is that really what I want?!

The big thing I got out of the book was the millionaire's attitudes and treatment of their children. They want them to have a better life than they had, so unknowingly they are pushing them toward the very thing that will make it hard for them to become wealthy, high levels of consumption. This is something that I have struggled with for a while. It goes back to what someone else said about your family upbringing. Growing up poor I want my kids to have a better life growing up than I had. I remember wanting those name brand clothes, so when my DD13 wanted Birkenstocks I got them. On the one hand I'm thinking, this is crazy. I would never spend $110 for a pain of sandals for myself, but here I am doing it for a 13 year old girl! Mind you, in many ways we are still very conservative, probably 90% of our clothes are hand me downs or used from rummage sales. But still, I look at all the things my kids have sometimes and can't believe how different it is from my own upbringing. How will this impact choices they make in the future?

 

[speedyfishy]

Multiply you age times your realized pretax annual household income from all sources except inheritances. Divide by ten. This is what your net worth should be.

Well I’m behind. Hopefully not for long.

 

[alryan]

Well I’m behind. Hopefully not for long.

I'm thinking that it's not really that accurate when you are so young and making a good income. I think you need a little time for your savings to show up. Does give you something to shoot for though!

 

[pillow]

Just finished reading The Millionaire Next Door, very interesting. I've listened to Dave Ramsey's millionaire hour so some things weren't too surprising, but there was a few key takeaways I got from it. One, I am a sucker for simple formulas so I liked this one. How to determine if you are wealthy. Multiply you age times your realized pretax annual household income from all sources except inheritances. Divide by ten. This is what your net worth should be. Turns out I am just at average. That wasn't a great surprise, because we have always saved, but not aggressively. Does make me think though..average..is that really what I want?!

The big thing I got out of the book was the millionaire's attitudes and treatment of their children. They want them to have a better life than they had, so unknowingly they are pushing them toward the very thing that will make it hard for them to become wealthy, high levels of consumption. This is something that I have struggled with for a while. It goes back to what someone else said about your family upbringing. Growing up poor I want my kids to have a better life growing up than I had. I remember wanting those name brand clothes, so when my DD13 wanted Birkenstocks I got them. On the one hand I'm thinking, this is crazy. I would never spend $110 for a pain of sandals for myself, but here I am doing it for a 13 year old girl! Mind you, in many ways we are still very conservative, probably 90% of our clothes are hand me downs or used from rummage sales. But still, I look at all the things my kids have sometimes and can't believe how different it is from my own upbringing. How will this impact choices they make it the future?

These are very thoughtful comments! I think you make a fair point about kids' choices going forward. If kids get expensive things now when they're young, will they see it as normal and come to expect it later? In other words, when they're 25, will they think its normal and ok to buy $100+ shoes? Good shoes are worth it imo, so it may in fact not be a bad thing. But my guess is she wasn't wanting the Birkenstocks due to quality lol. I struggle with this at times but typically I will buy necessary clothing/shoes, etc. If DD18 wants something non-necessary, it goes on the Christmas list. Or I'll give her X dollars towards it (what I would normally spend for a pair of shoes), and she has to make up the difference with her own funds. It really does make her stop and think about whether she really wants something and if she wants to spend her own money on it.

 

[Mome Rath]

The big thing I got out of the book was the millionaire's attitudes and treatment of their children. They want them to have a better life than they had, so unknowingly they are pushing them toward the very thing that will make it hard for them to become wealthy, high levels of consumption. This is something that I have struggled with for a while. It goes back to what someone else said about your family upbringing. Growing up poor I want my kids to have a better life growing up than I had. I remember wanting those name brand clothes, so when my DD13 wanted Birkenstocks I got them. On the one hand I'm thinking, this is crazy. I would never spend $110 for a pain of sandals for myself, but here I am doing it for a 13 year old girl! Mind you, in many ways we are still very conservative, probably 90% of our clothes are hand me downs or used from rummage sales. But still, I look at all the things my kids have sometimes and can't believe how different it is from my own upbringing. How will this impact choices they make it the future?

This is why I think a minimalist perspective is also helpful. My husband and I got married really young and we knew we'd be moving a lot for our schooling in college (since we both pursued and got graduate degrees which had to have internships various places) so, we never bought "stuff." We had the minimum of what we needed to haul around for housing and that was basically it. That carried over to when we finally settled and we just don't do "stuff." My family always preached that "consumer" was a dirty word, and my dad always asked, "how is what you are buying going to make you money?" So, those things could even be like a suit because you need it for a job, but the idea is to keep things working for you... I've relaxed my stance on that as it's all about balance, but it is still interesting to consider.

 

[alryan]

These are very thoughtful comments! I think you make a fair point about kids' choices going forward. If kids get expensive things now when they're young, will they see it as normal and come to expect it later? In other words, when they're 25, will they think its normal and ok to buy $100+ shoes? Good shoes are worth it imo, so it may in fact not be a bad thing. But my guess is she wasn't wanting the Birkenstocks due to quality lol. I struggle with this at times but typically I will buy necessary clothing/shoes, etc. If DD18 wants something non-necessary, it goes on the Christmas list. Or I'll give her X dollars towards it (what I would normally spend for a pair of shoes), and she has to make up the difference with her own funds. It really does make her stop and think about whether she really wants something and if she wants to spend her own money on it.

Yes, definitely not wanting them for the quality! She has just started earning her own money from babysitting and we are doing similar to what you do for your daughter, which is what I had to do growing up. I definitely think that having your own money to spend is key in realizing the value of money. It is so much easier to spend someone's money! Unlike my boys my daughter is a natural spender so I know this will be an uphill battle!

 

[Haley R]

Yes, definitely not wanting them for the quality! She has just started earning her own money from babysitting and we are doing similar to what you do for your daughter, which is what I had to do growing up. I definitely think that having your own money to spend is key in realizing the value of money. It is so much easier to spend someone's money! Unlike my boys my daughter is a natural spender so I know this will be an uphill battle!

I can admit that I was a pretty spoiled kid and my parents didn't do a great job limiting when we could or couldn't get things at the store. I got so bad I would complain if we went to the grocery store and I didn't get to leave with anything. When I say complain, I mean I basically threw a fit in front of everyone until I got what I wanted. I remember my parents trying an allowance, but I don't think that lasted very long. The good thing is I'm not that way anymore and I will NOT do that with my kids. My kids can get money from allowance or birthdays/holidays. That will be their money and they won't get money from me for fun things. Dh and I also said we are going to strongly encourage our kids to pick trips over things. Of course, we don't actually have kids yet so who knows how well that will go for us lol.

 

[alryan]

I can admit that I was a pretty spoiled kid and my parents didn't do a great job limiting when we could or couldn't get things at the store. I got so bad I would complain if we went to the grocery store and I didn't get to leave with anything. When I say complain, I mean I basically threw a fit in front of everyone until I got what I wanted. I remember my parents trying an allowance, but I don't think that lasted very long. The good thing is I'm not that way anymore and I will NOT do that with my kids. My kids can get money from allowance or birthdays/holidays. That will be their money and they won't get money from me for fun things. Dh and I also said we are going to strongly encourage our kids to pick trips over things. Of course, we don't actually have kids yet so who knows how well that will go for us lol.

LOL! I think that's interesting, sometimes we raise our children similar to our circumstances growing up or in your case want to do the opposite. I feel like with my daughter's personality I'm afraid she will do the opposite of what we have taught her. But I'm hoping that, like you, with a little maturity she will see "stuff" differently.

 

[Haley R]

LOL! I think that's interesting, sometimes we raise our children similar to our circumstances growing up or in your case want to do the opposite. I feel like with my daughter's personality I'm afraid she will do the opposite of what we have taught her. But I'm hoping that, like you, with a little maturity she will see "stuff" differently.

I think what happened to me was my parents didn't make me use my own money most of the time so I would save it all. I became a really good saver because my parents would buy everything for me lol. Then I became super stingy with my money because I didn't want to spend my OWN money, but their's instead.

 

[platamama]

I think what happened to me was my parents didn't make me use my own money most of the time so I would save it all. I became a really good saver because my parents would buy everything for me lol. Then I became super stingy with my money because I didn't want to spend my OWN money, but their's instead.

Lol that makes me think of DD. She saves money and negotiates every bit if she has to pay toward anything!

 

[Haley R]

Lol that makes me think of DD. She saves money and negotiates every bit if she has to pay toward anything!

I'm not that way anymore, though. We pay for my parents whenever we go out to eat with them (or try to at least). Sometimes they won't let us pay.

 

[runwad]

I think what happened to me was my parents didn't make me use my own money most of the time so I would save it all. I became a really good saver because my parents would buy everything for me lol. Then I became super stingy with my money because I didn't want to spend my OWN money, but their's instead.

Pft, I think all kids are like that! I know mine are. They never want to spend their own money on anything.

 

[bcwife76]

Pft, I think all kids are like that! I know mine are. They never want to spend their own money on anything.

Preach on!

If I'm in a store with my kids, it would take them 2 hours to spend $10 of their own money. With my money, oh hey can I have this $70 video game? 30 seconds after entering the store.

I like to take the opportunity when I'm shopping to do money saving math with my kids. Down the cereal aisle, for example. Explaining why that 680gr box of Cheerios is a much better deal than the 350gr box, eventhough it looks to be more money. They're pretty good at hunting down the sales tags as well

 

[Haley R]

Pft, I think all kids are like that! I know mine are. They never want to spend their own money on anything.

I think if they were forced to use their own money, though, they would have to really decide if they want the thing bad enough