Have two kids, became a single mom a few yrs ago, and have been working pt ,but will be returning to nursing as a career soon.
What i don't do is:
**don't buy new furniture
**don't buy a new or expensive vehicle
**Don't eat out alot except for food like pizza
**don't buy alot of clothing for self
don't go to movies or shows.
**am not trying to save enough money to send my kids to expensive colleges,
** and most importantly, live as Princess of Denial and try to live in the now and not worry about the future

I have seen too many peole put off for a tomorrow that they can never enjoy.

Our yearly "big" vacation lasts on the average 5-6 weeks; that is because we do a home exchange. Our big traveling expense is the air fare and a few hotels when we make side trips away from our home exchange. Traveling this way we have visited Australia twice and Europe 9 times. We are in our 50s, but originally started traveling with backpacks, camping, and hostels in the late 60s.

I'm 47 and the beau is 49. We have no kids (but he has 2 from a previous marriage - 1 in college and 1 about to start - so that's a major expense). We own an apartment rather than a house (houses in Manhattan are really prohibitive) and do not get new cars every 2 years. (I have a 2002 sub-compact - Acura RSX - rather than a gigantic gas guzzler - that I will keep for at least 3 more years - his car is new - but replaces one that was 8 years old). Although we eat out often (time for cooking is not an option) we do mainly modest places vs the trendiest.

Travel is very important to both of us - and we both plot and plan to find ways to get the time for it - and make it as financially painless as possible.

A couple of hints to make funding travel easy:

Get a job that requires travel (I have to do 2/3 european trips per year now and we try to add a vacation to at least one of them - but when I was doing mostly US travel I worked the miles for all we could get - air and hotels)

Use your own credit card rather than the company one for travel and client entertaining - that way you get the miles for all the $ you spend (this gets me at least 100,000 miles per year)

Decide if travel is really what's important to you - and if it is make a very detailed plan on saving the money to get there. There are tons of ways (often not very visible) to waste money - or conversely save it if you really commit to it.

I'm 35, gen. mgr for a small office, rent an apt, drive a 91 eclipse, no kids just cats. I take 1-2 trips a year, and the rest of the time thinking/planning/saving for it. Little things make a big difference and little costs add up. A lot of my friends think they can't afford it, yet they get McD's every day for breakfast, order out every day for lunch (that's about $65 a week alone!), then they go spend $100+ each weekend out partying. I don't go without, but have readjusted what my definition is of 'need'.

I am a teacher (kindergarten) for international schools and am currently posted in Italy.

I was in Latvia for 2 years and had money to travel around europe (very nicely in 4/5 star hotels). My rent for my big beautiful apartment in Latvia was paid for by the school so my tax free salary was basically spending money.

Now...it's a different story. I live in Italy. On an Italian salary (less than 20,000 euro per year). I now make half of my salary in Latvia and I must pay rent for my 400 sf apartment. My traveling days in 4/5 star hotels around europe are over for the time being (except when my father visits me, which he just did 2 weeks ago )

But...my tiny little apartment is directly on sea and I am now living in the country that I love so much (aside from the Italian life frustrations that arise from time to time).

I am 34, no kids yet, and will not be single for much longer! After dating several Italian men (which can be dangerous if you are a blond American)I finally found my love here in Italy... my sweet napoleatano future husband...life is good....

Age 50, single, no kids. Own home since 1993; it has doubled in value and I plan to sell in 2 months. 4-5 trips a year - usually at least 2 to Europe. Three this year - Italy in March, Edinburgh in 2 weeks and Paris in Oct. Car is 1991 Miata convertible (dont' care about cars as long as it goes and mine does barely but am only 1.8 miles from home to work). Work for City gov't; pay is peanuts, good benefits, but since I have no kids and no car payment and mortgage only $572 a month, I spend on trips and clothes/home decorating and fix up projects. Small inheritance which I think of as my "freedom fund" for travel, home upgrade, whatever... I also do not smoke, rarely drink, go home for lunch, coffee out is a rare treat; so is eating out, rarely go to movies. Of course I am in graduate school so I dont' have much time for a social life lately - though I used to be active in community theatre and we went out every night -t hose were the days!

Indytraveler: will you marry me??? You're a dream come true.

-26, married
-owned a townhouse for 3 years
-no kids
-good jobs (accountant, telecommunications customer service)
-we save a lot for retirement, and never want for anything
-we dont have any debt and only buy things after we save for them
-we make travel a priority...we save X amount of $$ off each pay check like we do for our retirement. We dont even see it as it goes right into savings. Works great, and we travel every 1.5 yrs to Europe for 2-4 weeks.

My husband and I are 40 and live in an apartment in Manhattan (we don't own cause our rent is so cheap). We don't have kids and have good, but not amazing, incomes. We eat out 2 - 3 times a week, but in East Village where we live there are tons of great restaurants that are about $30 for dinner for the 2 of us. We also have older furniture and don't buy tons of clothes -- mostly good quality staples that last for a few seasons. We usually travel to Europe once or twice a year with one or two additional trips in the US, plus local stuff. We are lucky -- my sister lives in London and we visit her for 5 days and then go for a week or more to another location -- and it's so cheap to fly anywhere in Europe from London. Like everyone else has said, it's a priority thing. We stay in 3 - 4 star hotels and do a lot of research to get great deals on hotels and flights. I've been going to Europe since I was 21, staying in pensiones with a shared bath and jumping from train to train with a Eurail pass, and it's always been a priority to me, and fortunately, it is to my husband as well.

Thanks for all the responses!
I gather the common theme here is surely to prioritize.
I have gotten some great ideas, and definetly inspiration to take a European vacation every year!! keep ther suggestions coming! Thanks.
By the way....I am 26 and married, own house and 2 cars, fairly good incomes, don't blow money on drinking or eating out daily....this should be easy!

Too funny tmh!

I think alot of people think it is too expensive to travel to Europe when it really isn't. Friends of mine spend just as much on ski vacations, second homes, etc. here in the USA.

If you shop around and get good airfares you can rent apartments for less than hotels usually and take trains or public transportation and you will be surprised at how inexpensively it can be done.

This is how I get to go to Europe two or three times a year, sometimes splurging and sometimes frugally.

I agree, sometimes you get expensive airfares just to fly from NY to LAX or San Fran, more than the cost of a round trip airfare to Europe. Great savings tips! I have to share some of those with my fiancee....specially the Starbucks savings!

lizzy458, I am 58 yrs old, (retired at at 53 yrs). I was fortunate that I was paying into a Superannuation Scheme from the age of 19 yrs, and now benefiting from this wise move (I didn't think so at the time, but I do now). So we are not dependant on the government for a pension. I will be paying taxes for the rest of my life.
I recently sold our house in Sydney, and moved to Queensland. The cost of living in "rural" Qld is a lot cheaper than NSW, so your super goes a lot further. A lot of retirees in Australia, are moving to seaside locations, to enjoy a seachange lifestyle.
We registered with Virgin Blue airline website sometime ago, to get "first offer" of any specials, and being retired, we are in a postion to fly whenever, those specials come up. We usually book the airfares immediately on Virgin's website, then later look at accommodation and car rental. Also being retired & able to travel at "any" time, we are able to take advantage of overseas airfare specials.

It would seem the other common thread is having no children!

....yes I guess having no children saves money?!?!? or if you have children seems as though you;re travelling after they're gone.
I suppose most posters here have made travelling their priority as opposed to having a family?...although I may be wrong...I'm sure there are a lot of people both raising a young family and taking yearly trips...if there are...what are your secrets! fill me in please!

I think the common thread is prioritization, not childlessness.
The latter only enables more spontaneity, which enables snatching serendipitous bargains. Family doesn't preclude this, only reduces the options.
Tho 64, I have had and sold a boat, enabling a trip to Europe.
I could count the number of Starbucks (or equivalents) I've had on one hand, ordinary coffee providing 85% the pleasure.
How much is a CD now? I haven't bought one in 5 years, being content to listen to radio.
What's a bellman? Why pay to have one, then pay again to go to a gym to lose weight? Lift baggage!
Etc.

It's hard to imagine having young kids and taking regular trips to Europe!

I'm 28, married, and so far child-free (we're DINKs: double income, no kids!). We own a condo in Chicago and have one old paid-off car. We want to travel now, before the kids come along! I don't see us doing intense overseas traveling again until we're in our late 40s, at least. Well, maybe one big trip, but not like what we do now. We're planning our fourth trip to Europe for this September.

In my first job out of college, I made only $21,000 a year! But I received a $1000 Christmas bonus and backpacked in Italy for two weeks on it. I remember my dad saying, "You could use that toward your college loans." Well, I preferred to make the trip rather than shave off a few months of loan payments. One of the best decisions I ever made!

Hey! Yes it's a "mind your Ps & Qs" thing (pence and quid) . . . little changes in spending make a big difference when saving for transatlantic trips.

I'm just off the phone, reserved my LHR roundtrip for Sept., already got Eurostar and Thalys tix, whoo hoooooo!

First & most importantly is to have a career where you have irregular hours/get chunks of time off. Working in media is good for spontaneous trips!

All my friends in mid-20s to late-30s are traveling at least once/year to Europe. I'm in that age range. And yes, toddlers fit nicely in toddler backpacks : )

I would also like to add that travel has become a bit of a patriotic duty: to keep our airlines flying, and be a good ambassador whilst abroad -- you never know whose opinion about Americans you might change, after they've met you * )

I'm 40, single, no kids(but my boyfriend has 3 from a prior marriage), work for a local county government and have a modest income. I own a modestly sized house, and I drive a 14 year old vehicle which runs great and I plan to drive it until it dies. I'm debt free except for my mortgage. I also have a good financial base (6 months living expenses saved, steady investment plan, etc.)which took me a few years to accumulate, and now saving is just on auto-pilot because I've done it for so long. I have a vacation savings account into which I have money automatically deposited from my paycheck. I don't miss it. My significant other is a terrible saver so I tell him how much I need from him each month and I deposit it into my account and he can't touch it. This works out well for us.

I suppose it's a matter of prioritizing your life and deciding what is most important to you. Like a lot of the others I bring my lunch to work, buy good quality clothes that hold up for several seasons, and watch my expenses. We don't have to have the latest gizmos and We're not interested in keeping up with the Joneses. We do eat out at least once a week, but favor modestly priced restaurants. We are trying to travel to Europe once per year.

I use the internet to search out good travel deals and we try to travel off season. Last year we got a great package deal (air and hotel) for 6 full days in Rome at the beginning of December for $1800 for the both of us, which included supplementals for having to fly out of California. We stay in moderately priced hotels and we enjoy smaller cafes and restaurants for our meals.