We went to Disney a lot when the kids were little. I stayed at home then and my "job" was to save money. I budgeted everything and stayed within my budget. Disney/Vacation was a line item to save, and every paycheck, a bit went directly into that account.
Also, my husband gets bonuses every year. Some years it was enough to cover our trip, other years, I needed to dip into the "Disney savings fund."
Completely doable on your income, provided you don't have a $750K house payment, $500 on eating out a month, etc.....find ways you can cut.....cable TV, cell phone plan downsizing, kids' activities, eating out/entertainment, less expensive car, etc.....
PS: Sorry, didn't see you were in NYC. Some of the things may still apply though, so I am not changing my answer.....there may be a way you can cut. Can you find $200/mo to cut/save for a couple of years? I am assuming you don't have a housecleaner or dog walker each month.
They do!! I spent a year interning to become a funeral director and it was actually a pretty regular part of certain cultural death rituals. In particular for traditional Chinese funerals, Buddhist monks would hire on as "wailers" and yes, that's exactly what they did. Not sure what that sort of thing paid because they were hired by the families directly but we did serve them lunch, pick them up and drive them home in one of the funeral parlor's stretch limos.
