Hi friends,
A question for the working Mustachians among us: how do you handle your vacation time?
I get 20 days of paid time off per year (for both vacations and sick time), plus three floating holidays. Our office allows us to carry over up to one year's allotment of PTO, and I have three PTO days left from last year. I've already used my floating holidays this year, so I have 23 more days to play with.
We also get nine vacation days, including Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year's Eve, and New Year's Day.
I have obligations that will use up 11 of my 23 days (a destination wedding and the national embroidery seminar), leaving me with 12 days to use over the winter holidays. My sister's also getting married in Chicago on December 14. I did the calculations, and if I burn up all my remaining vacation around that time, I could stop going to the office on December 10 of this year and enjoy almost a month off.
Is there any downside to this plan? I guess I wouldn't have any wiggle room if something goes wrong; but I figure that since I'll be waiting until December to use up my vacation days, if disaster falls in September, for example, I could use up a day or two then without any ill effects.
I feel like carrying over vacation from year to year is dumb and that since I've earned this vacation time, I should be able to take it when I want it. And if that means I stop working for 2013 on December 10, then that's awesome. Haters to the left, etc.
What is your philosophy on taking vacation days, working Mustachians? Do you use them throughout the year, or do you save them up for one big glorious burst?