Cruising AGAIN! Are you RICH?

[Benbrook]

I live by this " When you are very old you only have one thing left, memories you had better make some."

[chasetf]

Every time I say I'm going on a cruise again or (Vegas:D) I get a smart answer. People always say, "Did you inherit money"? Are you rich? Did you win lotto? So I started telling people I was visiting friends out of state. But it always comes out. Either by pic's, my sons mouth, a slip of the mouth,etc. My neighbor knows because they watch my dog,take in mail, and I have to leave an emergency tel#. My own brother comments and says, "well I guess you don't need money)! Does anyone else go through this? I'm tired of the questions and sarcasm. I think maybe they are jealous.

I tell 'em we quit smoking eight years ago. I put what we were spending on cigarettes into a special account. What we have saved has worked out to about a cruise a year. :D

 

It will also work based on what some of my friends spend on alcohol each year. Just a matter of choices.:D

[wilson9112]

I live by this " When you are very old you only have one thing left, memories you had better make some."

 

Perfect! I had a brain tumor in 2001 and 13 surgeries to follow. I live by this motto:D

[happy cruzer]

I used to let the comments bug me. The one I loved was:

 

You're so lucky you have no kids and two college educations.

 

I often wonder about that luck. Working from age 13 and working two jobs during college, and all the other sacrifices does not equal LUCK in my book.

 

Now when they say some thoughtless things, I just agree. If they say you must be rich or You're so lucky.... I just say yes I am and so are you if you think about it.

 

We are all rich and lucky.

[Grandpaul]

The year my Dad was going to retire and Mom and him spend time together traveling, he died of a massive heart attack. He was 62. Since then I decided life was not about tomorrow, but about today. I once read a quote by James Dean " Dream as if you'll live forever. Live as if you'll die today" Who cares what other people think. I say "ya we're going again, don't you wish you were me" and leave it at that.:D

 

We're not rich either, but like most of you we have worked long and hard, raised our children, and now are enjoying our rewards of that hard work. Still young and healthly enough to do those things that other people say maybe someday or next week, year ect. Tomorrow is not a given, but a gift.

 

Life is too short and so is vacation---enjoy both.:)

Deb

 

First of all, must be nice to be Rich, huh Rich?

 

THis line about tomorrow is not a given paraphrases my life's motto. Enjoy the time you are living now. It is a gift. That is why it's called the present.

[WELSH WIZARDS]

Let me paint you a little picture. We live in a beautiful home, which we built ourselves, with our own hands, while living in the garden with our two sons.

In our home we have a large office, where my husband and I work. When he was made redundant from his job as a fitter, he retrained, and took many exams, at the age of 50, until he is now one of the most qualified Pension Specialists in the country. He is now 66, and taking his study books in two weeks on our next cruise., for another qualification.

He now has his own business, works from home, and we take many holidays , which always leads to the " lucky " and " rich " comments mentioned by other posters.

We do not smoke, rarely drink, and never gamble.

We work about 2 mths, then cruise for 2 weeks or a month.

We have two computers in our office, he sits next to me and earns some money, and I sit next to him planning our cruises , and spending it. :D

Do we have a great life...yes we do !! Did luck or unearned riches have anything to do with it....certainly NOT !!

[Rick-cruiser]

Let me paint you a little picture. We live in a beautiful home, which we built ourselves, with our own hands, while living in the garden with our two sons.

In our home we have a large office, where my husband and I work. When he was made redundant from his job as a fitter, he retrained, and took many exams, at the age of 50, until he is now one of the most qualified Pension Specialists in the country. He is now 66, and taking his study books in two weeks on our next cruise., for another qualification.

He now has his own business, works from home, and we take many holidays , which always leads to the " lucky " and " rich " comments mentioned by other posters.

We do not smoke, rarely drink, and never gamble.

We work about 2 mths, then cruise for 2 weeks or a month.

We have two computers in our office, he sits next to me and earns some money, and I sit next to him planning our cruises , and spending it. :D

Do we have a great life...yes we do !! Did luck or unearned riches have anything to do with it....certainly NOT !!

 

I think that's a GREAT story... :) Sounds like a wonderful life to me... and well-earned!!

[WELSH WIZARDS]

Why...Thank you Rick., and if thats really a pic. of you...you are welcome to come along with us .!! ;) :D

[Grandpaul]

Hey. Rick is using my picture.

[LHP]

Let me paint you a little picture. We live in a beautiful home, which we built ourselves, with our own hands, while living in the garden with our two sons.

In our home we have a large office, where my husband and I work. When he was made redundant from his job as a fitter, he retrained, and took many exams, at the age of 50, until he is now one of the most qualified Pension Specialists in the country. He is now 66, and taking his study books in two weeks on our next cruise., for another qualification.

He now has his own business, works from home, and we take many holidays , which always leads to the " lucky " and " rich " comments mentioned by other posters.

We do not smoke, rarely drink, and never gamble.

We work about 2 mths, then cruise for 2 weeks or a month.

We have two computers in our office, he sits next to me and earns some money, and I sit next to him planning our cruises , and spending it. :D

Do we have a great life...yes we do !! Did luck or unearned riches have anything to do with it....certainly NOT !!

 

Now I see where hubby got his work ethic (his ancestors are from Wales)!!

Hubby was at his job 13 years without a sick day (even had his wisdom teeth cut out on this lunch hour). Finally kidney stones caused him to miss 2 days!!

He has been there working on 28 years now.... he must be doing something right!! :D

[San Diego Ellie]

I get that all the time! They forgot that everyone spends their money differently. We are retired and went down to one car, which, incidentally is ten years old. We cruise and travel a LOT, but our house is simply furnished and we do not spend a lot on concerts, theatre, etc. I am also a good bargain hunter, and usually wait for good prices on cruises, unless it is something I want to go on at all cost.

[LHP]

I used to let the comments bug me. The one I loved was:

 

You're so lucky you have no kids and two college educations.

 

I often wonder about that luck. Working from age 13 and working two jobs during college, and all the other sacrifices does not equal LUCK in my book.

 

Now when they say some thoughtless things, I just agree. If they say you must be rich or You're so lucky.... I just say yes I am and so are you if you think about it.

 

We are all rich and lucky.

 

Truer words have never been spoken. One thing I hope our children (and we) have learned from cruising is how very blessed we are. It only takes a few ports to see that everyone in America (no matter what their status) is rich and lucky based on the "world scale". Rich in opportunity if not in money!!

[dobiemom]

We spent a week in Bangkok last month. Stayed at the Oriental. Room was US$450 a night. Very nice. With shopping and entertainment, we were spending about US$1200 day for the 2 of us. Well worth it, by the way.

 

We only cruise when looking for a budget vacation.

 

Let me paint you a little picture. We live in a beautiful home, which we built ourselves, with our own hands, while living in the garden with our two sons.

In our home we have a large office, where my husband and I work. When he was made redundant from his job as a fitter, he retrained, and took many exams, at the age of 50, until he is now one of the most qualified Pension Specialists in the country. He is now 66, and taking his study books in two weeks on our next cruise., for another qualification.

He now has his own business, works from home, and we take many holidays , which always leads to the " lucky " and " rich " comments mentioned by other posters.

We do not smoke, rarely drink, and never gamble.

We work about 2 mths, then cruise for 2 weeks or a month.

We have two computers in our office, he sits next to me and earns some money, and I sit next to him planning our cruises , and spending it. :D

Do we have a great life...yes we do !! Did luck or unearned riches have anything to do with it....certainly NOT !!

 

You are both too funny!

[okgirl]

Why...Thank you Rick., and if thats really a pic. of you...you are welcome to come along with us .!! ;) :D

 

I think sister and I are going to invite him on our next cruise :p :o :D

 

My .02 on this subject. Sis and I get these same comments all the time from our family. We try to avoid telling them until right before we leave to avoid the snide remarks.

 

We are fortunate to have good salary's and also a great pension plan that will more than support us when we retire. We share a home and all expenses so we have plently left over at the end of the month. We made the decision when our cars paid off to put half of those payments in our cruise accounts and drive 5 year old cars. We live close to work and take public transportation to and from work so our cars should last us for many years to come.

 

Our brother and sister think we should be saving money instead of spending it, and our sisters biggest complaint is that we go to the same places all the time which she would be bored with.

 

Fortunately for us we don't live in the same state with our siblings so it's easy to avoid the subject most of the time.

 

Can't say that I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving though, I'm sure the topic is going to come up.

[People_Mover]

My father said treat the lady well, so I do. :D

[momofmeg]

Every time I say I'm going on a cruise again or (Vegas:D) I get a smart answer. People always say, "Did you inherit money"? Are you rich? Did you win lotto? So I started telling people I was visiting friends out of state. But it always comes out. Either by pic's, my sons mouth, a slip of the mouth,etc. My neighbor knows because they watch my dog,take in mail, and I have to leave an emergency tel#. My own brother comments and says, "well I guess you don't need money)! Does anyone else go through this? I'm tired of the questions and sarcasm. I think maybe they are jealous.

 

Yep, and I just tell them we all spend our money the way we want to, and some of us prefer crusiing to gas sucking SUV's! I drive a camry and just the differance in the cost of gas weekly, put up and saved will pay for an exotic cruise for me, let alone the caribbean one.

 

We also discovered we can take a 7 day caribbean cruise for less then a week costs for Disneyworld and everyone I know can manage to save money for that.

 

So it all goes on what people feel is a priority for how they spend their disposable income.

 

And that goes for other things also. I have always loved nice jewelry and have always bought it-I remember a girlfriend asking me how I could possibly "afford" so much jewlery and this was a gal who thought nothing about spending $500 plus on a collectable doll! (and this is going back over 25 years ago too!) I simply told her that I loved my gold and she loved her dolls!

[lukes]

everyone looks at life differently and everyone makes their own financial decisions and decides what they are going to spend their money on. We like to travel. Our house is small, our friends have larger homes and mortgages. We drive older cars that don't ahve any bells and whistles, our friends drive newer, fancier cars. We don't smoke, rarely drink, don't gamble, we seldom go to movies or eat out. Many people make poor financial decisions and blame everything but themselves for their lot in life. I am sure we all know people who say "if I only made more money I wouldn't have these financial problems". (most of these people make more than me) These people could be paid double and still have the same financial problems. It is not how much you make it is how you handle your money. I don't have a good comeback when people make their comments about us crusing again. However I would like to point out that what they are spending their money on I am cruisng instead. However sometimes it is just better to bite your tongue.

[JolieMadam]

Oddly enough, I've encountered this jealousy problem more in my family than with friends. Probably because we are stuck with the family members we were given but we can choose our friends from similar socio-economic backgrounds.

 

I read something in a novel years ago...."nobody cares about a girl on a yacht." I've found that so much envy in life boils down to that one phrase and when I recall it, everything makes sense and I don't let other people's comments bother me.

[krystalkruzer]

Now that I am going on cruise #2 this month I also am starting to get it from co-workers.Well,if they would live like I do which is debt free and within my financial means they would have no reason to be jealous.

[yellowbird23]

I am about to take my third cruise this year and you know what? I don't owe anyone an explanation for what I do or how I do it! I like the slogan for (I believe) Preference Hair Color...I'M WORTH IT!:) :D

[momofmeg]

We get this response all the time. I think that the comments come from people who fall into two different categories as follows:

 

1. Those who have never have been on a cruise, or haven't been on one in so long that they don't know what a good value it is. As most of you know, you can take a family of four on a week-long cruise for much less than you would spend for 3-4 days at Disney World.

 

2. Those who have cruised, but aren't aware of how you can cut costs down by taking inside cabins, not buying photos and souvenirs, not taking ships excursions, and drinking very moderately. and shopping for the best cruise deals.

 

Leigh

 

I think you got something with that point number 2-I have read so many times here of people bragging how HIGH their alcohol bill on ship came to like it was something to be proud of-no wonder they can't afford to cruise often!

[momofmeg]

I am Rich. What does that have to do with anything?

 

Do you take cruises on a cruiseline or go on your own private yacht? LOL!!!!!!

[cruiserbryce]

we get this every time we cruise...we try to tell people that its the best way to vacations, the value's incredible, eyc...but it seems to be a lost cause so I give up...I enjoy cruises and we're the ones going...nobody else really needs to understand it

[cruzincurt]

I just tell them the price of the cruise is nothing compared to how much money we lose in the casino. Double whammy.

[rtrtx2]

My husband and I raised our children while we were young, and so now, at 43 and 45 years old, we have had an empty nest for almost 5 years. Our youngest left when I was a mere 38 years old :p.

 

That being said, all our friends who thought we were nuts when the kids came early, now have children still in grade school, and we have been taking off for weekends, and trips to Vegas, and to the mountains, off-roading in our Hummer, cruising in our Corvette and living our second childhoods in a very good way. We own our home, and owe nothing to anyone, except the business we own. We get a LOT of snide remarks from friends and some family, saying how nice it must be to live our life. BUT, we chose to have the kids young and get that out of the way so we could spend the rest of our years happily together, not worrying about anything else... Besides, we worked our TAILS off for this!

 

Dee

 

Almost there! We will be 41 when our youngest graduates, while I am in no hurry for them to leave home, etc. it excites me just thinking about the things we will be doing. We travel a couple of times a year now, so only paying for two will make it so much easier to do weekend get a ways, yippy!

 

As far as the remarks about cruising/travel, I definitely understand. I tend to downplay our trips. But people do not realize we normally travel to places that I have found a good deal. I love the comments from one person in particular who wishes they could afford it too, while she is eating her daily take out breakfast from Burger King, plus orders out for lunch and is always running to the mall.