# What do you spend on vacations?



## summer (Jul 7, 2011)

Another thread got me thinking. How much do you spend on vacations as a percent of your income? Please specify if it's gross or net.

I will go first. 
We spend about 4 percent of GROSS income.

Just wondering if we are average.


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## Helianthus (Oct 19, 2010)

Depends on the year, but generally 4%-5% as well.


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## brad (May 22, 2009)

I spend what I feel like spending on vacations; it varies considerably from year to year depending on where I go and how much time I have off. Like most rules of thumb, I think "vacation as a percentage of income" is a pretty useless yardstick, because someone who makes $42 million a year might spend 0.002% of their gross income on vacations, while someone who makes $20,000/year might spend 10% of their income on a vacation.


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## Square Root (Jan 30, 2010)

Current plan is about 12% of after tax normalized income. This is down by about half from when we first retired. Bought a couple of houses after retirement that we spend more time at- so less travel. Still take about 2 longer trips per year representing maybe 30 days of travel. This year it was biking in Croatia in the spring and Egypt/Jordan in Sept. Next year planning biking in Portugal and African safari. We enjoy active travel particularly biking trips.


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## kcowan (Jul 1, 2010)

We spend about 5% on vacations because we travel on points.

SR do you have any must see places in Croatia? Currently we are sail to 8 islands and then driving to Dubrovnik, Split, Zadar, Krk and Zagreb.


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## Square Root (Jan 30, 2010)

kcowan said:


> We spend about 5% on vacations because we travel on points.
> 
> SR do you have any must see places in Croatia? Currently we are sail to 8 islands and then driving to Dubrovnik, Split, Zadar, Krk and Zagreb.


We use points too but still spend 12%. We biked through Spit, Hvar, Korcula. Ending up in Dubrovnik. The coast is beautiful. Split and Dubrovnik were fascinating. The whole trip exceeded our expectations.


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## Square Root (Jan 30, 2010)

brad said:


> I spend what I feel like spending on vacations; it varies considerably from year to year depending on where I go and how much time I have off. Like most rules of thumb, I think "vacation as a percentage of income" is a pretty useless yardstick, because someone who makes $42 million a year might spend 0.002% of their gross income on vacations, while someone who makes $20,000/year might spend 10% of their income on a vacation.


Right. I don't think the OP suggested there was a rule of thumb. He probably wanted to get % rather than absolute dollars to even the discussion a bit. I doubt anyone who makes $42 million a year would be posting here.


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## Nemo2 (Mar 1, 2012)

kcowan said:


> SR do you have any must see places in Croatia? Currently we are sail to 8 islands and then driving to Dubrovnik, Split, Zadar, Krk and Zagreb.


Plitvice is worth a visit.


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## crazyjackcsa (Aug 8, 2010)

My wife works a side gig every summer. That money goes straight into the vacation fund. It works out to about $2,000 - 2,400 a year or about 5% of take home pay.

I work a much less lucrative side gig in my spare time, which I save for our 25th wedding anniversary, it's about 0.3% of take home pay.


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## kcowan (Jul 1, 2010)

Nemo2 said:


> Plitvice is worth a visit.


Yes I met a lady from there at Hastings Race Track who recommended a visit there. And there are plenty of pictures on Webshots. I need some lessons on pronunciation. I am reading a book on the history of the region written by Rebecca West (Black Lamb and Grey Falcon). She loves Rab.


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## AltaRed (Jun 8, 2009)

It varies due to various objectives each year, but usually in a range of 10-15% of gross income per year.


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## KaeJS (Sep 28, 2010)

I would say anywhere from 3-5%, depending on where I go and such.

This year, I've spent 3.4% (so far) on vacation.

I have never spent more than 5%. Some years, I spend 0%. :rolleyes2:


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## mind_business (Sep 24, 2011)

We've up'd our vacation budget to 6.1% of gross income. Enough for a couple of caribbean vacations and some cheap summer travel.


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## 44545 (Feb 14, 2012)

Square Root said:


> Right. I don't think the OP suggested there was a rule of thumb. He probably wanted to get % rather than absolute dollars to even the discussion a bit. I doubt anyone who makes $42 million a year would be posting here.


Those people have personal assistants to post in forums for them.


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## Square Root (Jan 30, 2010)

I was thinking that retirees would probably spend more on vacations than those in the accumulation stage of their lives?


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## corezz (Jul 10, 2012)

Its funny because for me i always get paranoid when vacationing that i feel i should not overspend....and when i get back i feel more releaved and so it ended up not being a vacation. Its strange. I feel more at ease doing work than vacationing. I guess since i am relaxing i wonder what could be going wrong.


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## kcowan (Jul 1, 2010)

Square Root said:


> I was thinking that retirees would probably spend more on vacations than those in the accumulation stage of their lives?


I find that I needed a pressure relief vacation when I worked. Now I can take advantage of sales for low cost travel (and airline points). And we can drive to places because we don't have to get back. We can do home swaps where the cost is nearly zero. But we spend a lot of time arranging our trips. The anticipation is half the fun.


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## Square Root (Jan 30, 2010)

kcowan said:


> I find that I needed a pressure relief vacation when I worked. Now I can take advantage of sales for low cost travel (and airline points). And we can drive to places because we don't have to get back. We can do home swaps where the cost is nearly zero. But we spend a lot of time arranging our trips. The anticipation is half the fun.


Yes. I agree. When first retired we went a little crazy travel wise. Paid for family and friends to accompany us. Was fun but very expensive. i think one year we spent close to $300k. Has settled down quite a bit.


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## jamesbe (May 8, 2010)

What's a vacation exactly?


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## Plugging Along (Jan 3, 2011)

Our vacation varies from year to year depending on what's going on.

We tend to be about 3-6% every year. This is with kids, so they double our costs.


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## summer (Jul 7, 2011)

Thanks everyone for your replies.


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## travelgeek (Nov 29, 2009)

About 15-20%, or maybe more. I'm a minimalist when it comes to spending on material goods..... material goods become obsolete, get lost/stolen or damaged, while the experiences and memories from trips will be there forever.


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## Islenska (May 4, 2011)

This post caught my eye for the vacation angle,when my nephew "interviewed" Grandma (my mother) for a class project.

So Grandma tell us about what you did for vacations. She was from the family farm on the prairies so thought quizzically for a moment---we never had vacations in those days.

The percent of gross income rule wouldn't apply here I'm afraid!


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