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TeaTeeLady
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Hi everyone. I am trying to get budget some cruses right now and looking at $7-$8kCan just for the cruise due to needing 2 cabins and the cruise I am hoping for.

We are a one income family but blessed with a good pay, though heavy debt. I know hubby and I need to get the debt down before booking a cruise. The debt we are paying off at a good rate and just trying to think of ways to still live an

 

So what did you give up? Did you replace it with something fun?

I was thinking of putting together a reward system where money is set aside, for example if we did not eat out for a week - $50, $20 for a month without going to the movie theater.

 

Unreasonable side wants to go this year - logic side says late 2019

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How many in your cruising party? I think you have a good plan to pay off your debt first. Cancelling cable or going to a cheaper cell phone plan can be options for you.

Are you able to work even if it's part time?

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Hi Skippy, We are a family of 6 that would be cruising. We already don't have cable and have a data only plan for our cellphones and google number so calls are free. There are 2 debts that we are working on right now and with some of my husband's benefits from work they could be paid off by May or June of next year.

For myself I have a home based business and am cutting back on that where I can My hope is that my business with make a bit of a profit this year...which it is close to doing.

While a part time job would be helpful there are times that is doesn't help much. Around here part time jobs are not very many hours and very low wage so not much pay after taxes. My everyday life as the domestic engineer saves money for the family if I work it right. There are jobs to be done around the house like painting and since I am home I save the family money by doing the painting instead of paying some one else to do it.

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You might want to check out You Need a Budget. It's changed my life financially. I find for our family, if we have a goal of a big trip, it's actually fine if it's two years away - the anticipation and planning is part of the fun and it is absolutely better knowing it's not sinking us further into debt. Having the planned trip helps us stick to essentials - instead of wanting little things at Target, the kids will look at the big picture that every dollar saved is a dollar closer to the trip. I can't believe how much money I used to fritter away that could have been used for vacations!

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I'm not sure what cruise you are looking at, but our family of 4 books two cabins, our Oasis cruise this summer was only $4k, and we had ocean view cabins. We don't drink so we didn't have to pay for that, and we didn't really take any excursions since we really just wanted to enjoy the ship. We didn't get wifi either.

 

For me the easiest thing to cut out was the little trips to Target, all the little extra things I would pick up at the grocery store, in the weeks leading up to the cruise I made an effort to really use up all the food we already had in our freezer and pantry.

 

I also made a nice little sum selling my old clothes on eBay, it was a lot easier than I thought it would be. That was also a bit of a wake up call about how many clothes I was buying that I never wore!

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I highly recommend sites like Mr Money Mustache - his blog (and the forums) have LOTS of tips for saving money. I've heard a lot of great things about You Need a Budget, but it was too much for me. I use Mint.com - a free budget/spending tracker site to see exactly what we're spending money on and help determine where we can cut. We switched from a major cell phone company to a small one, cutting our bill in half, are considering cutting cable, and we're working on bringing down our meal spending (groceries and eating out).

 

We're a family of 5, and we booked our next cruise exactly 2 years out, so I can put aside so much every month and have it paid off when we get there. We're doing a cheaper cruise than I wanted - we're sailing out of a port we can drive from, on a ship we've already been on, because it was the best deal. (I also stuck the kids in an inside cabin so we could splurge on the balcony for us.) We're going over spring break, and it's only about $4500 for the cabins.

 

The good news about waiting until late 2019 to go is that you can book as soon as the itineraries are posted next spring and get exactly the cabin you want - and probably the best prices. Good luck!

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I don't know what cruise line you are looking at but you could consider a shorter cruise. For example, we are doing a 5 day on Triumph for $2000 for a balcony and an inside. If my math is correct you are looking at $5500-6500 which is more than we have ever paid on either Carnival or Princess for a week.

 

I would rather cruise/vacation more frequently and vacation and not be on a more costly ship. But that's us. We are low key and low maintenance - we are just happy to be aboard.

 

As for savings, the issue boils down to budget. We are purposely cutting down our food expenses - both eating out and our grocery choices. And yes, putting money away each paycheck before you ever pay the bills is crucial.

 

 

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I would highly recommend reading "The Total Money Makeover" by Dave Ramsey. He also has a daily radio show/podcast that is great to listen to. He lays out how to win with money into 7 "baby steps" which helps you focus on one task at a time.

 

It sounds to me that you are asking for ways of saving money in order to afford to go on the cruise. One of the best things that we have done was doing an every dollar budget, where at the beginning of the month you assign every dollar that you make somewhere to go. We found that it felt like we got a raise when we did that. We had absolutely no clue where our money was going each month and we found a good amount after doing the budget, and sticking to it. There is an app and website called "Every Dollar" that we use. Again it is from Dave Ramsey.

 

Use the cruise as a reward for getting out of debt and into financial shape. You could also make a chart or have a picture of some sort that you color in as you get closer to being able to pay for the cruise in full.

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There's an entire message board for people planning Disney trips and those often cost more than a cruise. (It is independent of Disney the company.) They have an entire board for saving up for a trip, with tips and advice and general encouragement for each other.

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Eating out is a BIG expense! Cook more! It's not that hard...I cook almost EVERY meal, every day....a good dinner can be done in 30-45 mins...start to finish! Put the money you would spend in a restaurant away....you'll be surprise how much it's been costing you!

 

We do eat out some when on vacation (we have a kitchen in the condo, so that's a huge help!)...

We only have the basic cable...no movie channels or other stuff.

Definitely check into other phone providers!

 

Good luck!

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Hi everyone. I am trying to get budget some cruses right now and looking at $7-$8kCan just for the cruise due to needing 2 cabins and the cruise I am hoping for.

We are a one income family but blessed with a good pay, though heavy debt. I know hubby and I need to get the debt down before booking a cruise. The debt we are paying off at a good rate and just trying to think of ways to still live an

 

So what did you give up? Did you replace it with something fun?

I was thinking of putting together a reward system where money is set aside, for example if we did not eat out for a week - $50, $20 for a month without going to the movie theater.

 

Unreasonable side wants to go this year - logic side says late 2019

 

Not trying to be a "fun sponge" BUT ...

Possibly consider not cruising until you are completely out of debt. ;)

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I guess your thoughts are already geared towards responsible saving and spending. Just maintain spending on your "must" and lessen or eliminate some of your "wants". Then reward your efforts with an annual family vacation.

 

 

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Tracking every single penny helped us find out where our money was going..amazing how those little purchases add up. When you pay attention it is crazy how many free fun things there are to do rather than going out to eat or to a movie.

 

 

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We don't have kids (which, frankly, is probably a big part of how/why we can afford an annual vacation) but we do budget for our travel. Firstly, we track all our spending. We don't use cash at all, as cash seems to just magically disappear with little to no knowledge of where it might have gone. Every expenditure goes through our credit union debit card or (preferably) rewards credit cards, and the cards get paid off every month - no exceptions. Ever. If we cannot afford to pay off what we plan to spend, we don't spend it.

 

Our CU online banking site allows us to categorize spending and track by category so we know month to month how much we are spending on groceries vs. dining out, entertainment at home (cable, computer games) vs outside (movies, theater) and such. Each paycheck I pay myself first by setting aside money into a vacation fund. I used to pay into an emergency fund, but once I built up a year's worth of take-home pay I felt I could relax on that. Each year when my annual pay increase hits, I do add to my e-fund until I hit a year of net salary again, but after that I go back to saving for travel.

 

Our second biggest expenditure each month has always been food, behind only the mortgage in $$ amount. We can't reduce the house payment easily so we focused on cooking at home most of the time and getting the most bang for our buck in the groceries department.

 

While Reddit can be a real cesspool of humanity sometimes, I've had great luck just lurking their "Eat Cheap and Healthy" subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/EatCheapAndHealthy/

 

Lots of good ideas although you may have to do some filtering as everyone's idea of "healthy" (and "cheap" for that matter) can be quite different. Once we got our dining-out spending under control we had a lot more flexibility with money.

 

We have a basic TV package for the networks and supplement with Netflix for a fraction of the price. We had a consultation with a tax accountant to make sure we were getting the most out of my home office (I work out of my house as a telecommuter for a large corporation) and our other deductions - and the fee we paid the guy was deductible! So worth it, we have saved so much on our taxes since then.

 

I quit my Starbucks habit and got myself some flavored syrups to make my own "fancy" coffees at home - it's not espresso but a big coffee with a splash of cream and a bloop of syrup tastes almost as good for pennies and not dollars.

 

Both of us moved our cell service from pricy AT&T to much-less T-Mobile because my husband's company is a partner with them so gets a hefty corporate discount. My employer subsidizes my phone so mine is actually -$5 per month - that's right, I get paid to own and use a smartphone. They also contribute toward our home high-speed internet (required for my work) so that's a no-brainer - but we kept the speed at the recommended minimum rather than increasing it. We don't need higher speed so we don't spend more for it.

 

Probably the best thing I did for myself was to pay off my debt (credit card) before I got married. My husband made it a condition of our relationship, and let me know he wouldn't propose until it was paid off. It was real motivation for me and I worked my tail off to do it - and have been debt-free ever since, except for the house. I even saved up enough in cash to buy my current car, so no car payment either.

 

If the promise of a big vacation will motivate you and your family to spend less and get out of debt, then go for it. Get the kids involved. My parents were very hush-hush about money when we were young and I think it affected us adversely - I feel that income and budgeting and such should be openly discussed within a family so the kids have a healthy relationship with money when they get older.

 

 

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I Get the kids involved. My parents were very hush-hush about money when we were young and I think it affected us adversely - I feel that income and budgeting and such should be openly discussed within a family so the kids have a healthy relationship with money when they get older.

 

I wholeheartedly agree with this sentiment!! We're pretty transparent with our kids, and we talk a lot about budgeting and priorities. For example, I no longer say "we can't afford that"; I tell them "that isn't in our budget" or "that isn't a priority for us, so we choose not to spend money on it." Once they understood that they get to go on cool vacations in part because Mom refuses to buy whatever random toy they wanted last week, they got on board the program (our kids are 8-11).

 

My husband I have written household money goals and priorities. That makes it easier to not spend on some things because they don't mesh with our goals.

 

The key that everyone has mentioned is to identify where your money is going now, as specifically as possible. That will help you figure out where else you can cut to get that debt paid off faster and the cruise money saved.

 

One example for us - I found out by tracking last year that we were spending way more than I thought on school lunches. It auto-refilled their accounts from my credit card, and the littlest was apparently eating ice cream and chips every day. I put the kids on a budget. They each got $25 per month to eat at school and they could use it whenever and on whatever they wanted. Once they ran out of money, they had to make their own lunch at home. It worked GREAT, both in keeping spending down (I cut lunch spending by 2/3) and in letting the kids learn how to make and stick to a budget.

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I also think you should be able to do a cruise much less than the 8,000 you are seeing. A few of the cruise lines have a kids sail free promotion off and on. Watch for those. I believe they are 2 of a certain age are free if in the same room with 2 adults. So not knowing the ages of your children, not sure but look for things like that.

 

Royal Caribbean has it going right now on some cruises, you could play around a little and see what it comes to. Also MSC has it most of the time, I believe. Not so sure on other cruise lines.

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Not trying to be a "fun sponge" BUT ...

Possibly consider not cruising until you are completely out of debt. ;)

 

I think you are trying to be a "Fun Sponge" :rolleyes: because that will take about 20yrs - when the mortgage is paid off. Personally, while I agree that a mortgage is a debt and should be treated as such it is not one that needs to be paid off before travel. I do agree that credit cards should be paid off and loans should be paid off and line of credits should be low. We pay off our credit cards and have a plan to pay off a personal loan by this time next year and our line of credit debt should be reduced about half by the end of next year.

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I also think you should be able to do a cruise much less than the 8,000 you are seeing. A few of the cruise lines have a kids sail free promotion off and on. Watch for those. I believe they are 2 of a certain age are free if in the same room with 2 adults. So not knowing the ages of your children, not sure but look for things like that.

 

Royal Caribbean has it going right now on some cruises, you could play around a little and see what it comes to. Also MSC has it most of the time, I believe. Not so sure on other cruise lines.

 

i agree.. keep your eyes posted for Kids Sail For Free promos, try to sail during low season to save money.

 

Also, try doing some spring cleaning and posting up things for sale on Facebook Buy/Sell Groups, craigslist, kijiji, ebay, etc. You'd be surprised what ppl actually post up there and other people buy!

Try to coupon and price match for groceries. If you have a budget of ie $150 per week for groceries, try to meal plan and get your grocery bill down and take the savings and set it aside.

 

if you can afford it, automatically roll in $50 per pay period to a savings account so you won't see it and spend it.

 

Good Luck!

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I'm not sure what cruise you are looking at, but our family of 4 books two cabins, our Oasis cruise this summer was only $4k, and we had ocean view cabins. We don't drink so we didn't have to pay for that, and we didn't really take any excursions since we really just wanted to enjoy the ship. We didn't get wifi either.

 

For me the easiest thing to cut out was the little trips to Target, all the little extra things I would pick up at the grocery store, in the weeks leading up to the cruise I made an effort to really use up all the food we already had in our freezer and pantry.

 

I also made a nice little sum selling my old clothes on eBay, it was a lot easier than I thought it would be. That was also a bit of a wake up call about how many clothes I was buying that I never wore!

 

I am looking at the Harmony of the Seas and budgeting for the boardwalk balcony cabin, as I would rather be able to people watch if I stuck with a sick child who needs a few hours in a room than suck in a closet. We are not big alcohol drinkers so that kind of beverage plan is not high on my must have list. I am also okay with no WiFi as long as we have clear times to meet up and ways to get in touch with each other if plans need to change. Just playing with the RC site today it was quoting $7,964 CAN since 2 of my children are considered adults on RC. I would love to really have a clearer outline of what it would cost but my hubby doesn't want me to bother the travel agent we would use so it is hard to get real numbers.

 

My children range from 9-16 so they could easily get on board with saving money. Since I sew I will be trying to make more for them which they are cool with. School lunches are usually a fundraiser for the PAC for my 3 youngest or something special for my oldest. The hot lunches are only ordered if my children want them so that saves some cash.

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We have done many cruise with 2 rooms for 4 to 5 people and $7-$8k seems pretty steep to me. The first thing I would do if I were in your shoes, would be to compromise on my wants and find something more affordable.

 

DH and I made it a priority to take at least one week long family vacation and a long couples weekend every year with as many shorter weekend trips as we could in between since the start of our marriage. We discovered cruising when our kids were 4 and 7. They are now 20 and 23, out of the house, and have been on 10 cruises with us. We started out with all 4 of us in 1 room, we did insides and ocean view rooms this way. As they became teens we started getting 2 separate rooms. We have done 2 insides, 2 balconies, and a balcony with and inside across the hall. What type of rooms we get depends on the deal I can get and our budget for that vacation. Our 2 most expensive vacations were our first 2 cruise vacations in 2001 and 2004 (both around $4k). The first was a 4 night Disney Wonder/3 night Disney World and our second was a 7 night Disney Magic. We were a young family then and let our friends plan these vacations as they were the cruise veterans. I have since learned many ways to save and find deals on our cruises and have not paid that much again. DH and I are up to 2 cruises (without kids) and a week long land vacation (with kids) this year. We will probably do 2-3 vacations per year until we retire in 4-5 years and then it will be a permanent vacation :cool:.

 

Things we have done to afford our vacations:

  1. Too late for your scenario but we waited until after I graduated from college to get married (dated 3 1/2 years) and we waited 5 years after we were married to have kids during which time I established my career and got my MBA. We purchased our starter house during this time as well after purchasing and living in my grandmothers mobile home for the first few years of our marriage as we established ourselves as a couple.
  2. When we purchased new vehicles we kept them for 12+ years. Otherwise we sometimes got some good deals on slightly used vehicles and kept them just as long. My children both received cars when they started driving that I had already been driving for 5-8 years. They drove those vehicles through high school and college. We pay cash for any new vehicles we purchased by putting the money away in our savings while we drive the cars till they die. Maintenance and upkeep go a long way in keeping your cars going. My DD is currently driving a 2003 Mustang that we purchased brand new for $17k and drove for 8-9 years before she started driving it in high school (she won "best car" with it her senior year :cool:).
  3. We have lived in the same house for 27 years. We started with a starter house on 2 acres that we saw potential for growth. We built an addition ourselves when I was pregnant with our 2nd child 7 years into our marriage and doubled the size of our house. Our house is now paid and an excellent investment in our retirement fund.
  4. We made sure to pay our credit cards in full (don't spend more than you have) each month. We made sure to make all house payments and any other bills on time. Then we made sure to automatically deposit money into our savings/401k's/529 for retirement/college funds/emergencies/taxes/insurance and whatever was left for vacations. Our DS graduated from a local University last year with no debt. He lived at home and we paid for his tuition from our 529. He paid for his books and spending. DD is now a junior at the same University. The deal was the same for her. She just moved out and will be paying for her own apartment with a job she just got. We will be retiring in 4 years at the age 55. We started saving with our first jobs to make this happen.
  5. Everything we can put on our credit cards goes on our credit cards. Again payment in full is made at the end of the month. The result is free money earned in rewards that is used for our vacation spending money.
  6. I earn yearly bonuses with my job. The proceeds of which go for vacations and home improvements. The amount of my bonuses determined with amount we could spend on vacations. Some were down to the basics and some were more expensive...all of them were fun and great memories.
  7. Even though we can afford more we keep many things to the basics....basic cable/TV, basic internet, Tracfones that we basically spend $100 per year each on. My kids had these as well. I told them if they wanted more it was on them to pay for. When they got the point where they wanted more they did. DH and I still have our basic Tracfones. We don't get the latest and greatest electronic gadgets. We are always a few years behind. Never caused us any problems.
  8. We don't spend our money on toys that end up sitting in the garage for most of the year. No ATVs, motorcycles, jet skis, etc. We didn't have time for them anyways as our kids were heavy into sports and dance and DH and I worked full time.
  9. We didn't purchase cottages that required maintenance and upkeep. We did purchase a used motorhome that we got a great deal on and could store in the pole barn we built (that was paid for completely by renting out a small section of the space in it to a boater). We used this for many of our land vacations as the kids were growing up.
  10. When purchasing clothes/groceries or anything we always shopped clearances, discounts, and sales. I rarely pay full price for anything. I wasn't into the garage sale thing and always bought new...but I could walk out of the store with some great deals. I always amazed my husband and my DD has learned how to do it as well.
  11. Each year as we received raises we tried to put the raise in our savings and keep our living expenses the same.
  12. Finally I learned to be deal finder on-line. I learned how to use the internet to search out and find the best prices on everything, included cruises. From your initial post I don't think you have that down yet. My bet is with a little research you can do better than $7-$8k and go on your vacation much faster than you think you can:D.

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You said - I am looking at the Harmony of the Seas and budgeting for the boardwalk balcony cabin, as I would rather be able to people watch if I stuck with a sick child who needs a few hours in a room than suck in a closet.

 

 

If you look at Oasis or Allure you should be able to get that same balcony room less than on the Harmony. You could also maybe get one balcony and an inside right across the hall also. Keep searching.

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We actually priced out the Oasis class ships and found them to be a lot more than the freedom class ships. We decided to go down a class and go on Liberty of the seas which still has a lot of stuff to do on board and save some money that way, plus we can drive to the port.

As much as a balcony would be nice, the inside cabin is fine. Since it stays dark, it helped the kids sleep in a bit later.

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You said - I am looking at the Harmony of the Seas and budgeting for the boardwalk balcony cabin, as I would rather be able to people watch if I stuck with a sick child who needs a few hours in a room than suck in a closet.

 

 

If you look at Oasis or Allure you should be able to get that same balcony room less than on the Harmony. You could also maybe get one balcony and an inside right across the hall also. Keep searching.

How much does the balcony cost? A couple of thousand dollars extra?

 

There's a few things to consider here.

 

1. How much is your pleasure worth? If you were offered the chance to sit in a room with a TV but no windows for a few hours, and they would pay you $2,000, would you take it? (Especially bearing in mind you're strapped for cash?) Of course you would.

 

2. Then if they amended it and said they would pay you the $2,000 as long as you were willing to sit in that room, but the chances are you won't have to (but will still get the money), would you take that? Barring extreme claustrophobia, you'd be a fool not to.

 

Your position is the same only you're wanting to spend the extra money to avoid the remote chance of sitting in this room. If you're willing to risk the sitting in the room, you can save your husband and children several hundred dollars apiece. Isn't that worth the risk?

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