Special ways to save for your cruise?

[PoseidonGodoftheSea]

It's easy to think many people have a money tree out back judging from the number of cruises they can afford, even though I'm sure that isn't the case. They could be carefully cutting coupons each week for all I know.

 

One friend had a garage sale one summer, the money paid for his shore excursions.

 

What do some of you do to pinch pennies as you eagerly wait for your cruise?

[kakalina]

Being retired we found just staying at home more makes a big difference. We did get the big screen TV and own lots of movies and have saved quite a bit not going out to the movies.

We save our fine dining for on the ship and make all our meals at home. By doing this we can average 60 days a year at sea.

[airlink diva]

Money bags, I wish!! I'm just a typical blue collar worker who love to cruise! How do I save for my cruise? I mainly I live a basic life! I don't buy my lunch, but bring it from home. If I want a drink for lunch, I either purchase a six pack and allow myself one drink a day or just carry two packages of cyrstal light. I only dine out prehaps once a month, on pay day I act like my cruise is a bill and set aside a certain amount in my cruise fund. The main thing is anytime we have a late flight I work it, regardless of anything. This is really helpful because now I'm asked about work first before most people because management knows that I will do a good job and don't mind staying until the wee hours to make sure it's done.

Because of this and other little habits, I get a really nice vaction every year. Some of my co-workers think that I'm rich (one joke is I have a money bag under the bed), but it's just I know what I want to do and make it so!

Happy sailing!!

[schoolinmy3]

This is our first cruise and a big splurge for my husband and I. He has a decent job but I stay home to homeschool our kids so we live on one income. We're currently paying two mortgages because we had to move last summer in order to be near my husband's parents. We're under agreement to sell our home with a closing date of July 18th. One closing already fell through so if everything goes well with this one (the home inspection is today) we'll be happy. The cash flow will definitely be better with one mortgage, taxes, utilities, etc. than with two. We do save money other ways. I am not a shopper, so I stay away from malls and department stores. Our boys are only 15 and 17 but they work full time in the summer at a local amusement park and are expected to pay for movies, electronics and car insurance for my oldest. We also don't carry credit card debt and our 3 cars are paid for.

 

diane

[Bramcruiser]

We don't have much of a life really. We both work and have a decent household income but live in a condo and one car. I brown bag it to work. We only eat out occasionally and rarely see movies. We don't bar hop and we go shopping only to get what we need only treating ourselves to non-essentials once in a while. On top of that, I work ridiculous hours of overtime between January and April which adds a lot of extra cash which is then invested in tax-deductible pension payments which usually generates a nice size tax refund which eventually goes against any annual vacation plans. I try to pay off my credit card every month and the only reason I have a balance on my line of credit is due to home renovations we made a few years ago.

 

We sacrifice here and there to save up for at least one big trip a year but its worth it to us. I work quite a bit and so going away and leading a fantasy existence for a while is worth the effort for me.

 

David

[Alaskabound77]

Well, technically, I haven't cruised yet and technically, I'm not really paying much for my first cruise (mom is paying for it as a gift). But I hope that when we get the kids out of daycare, we will have more funds for vacations. I just got the new daycare rates for next year and both kids will not cost us $29K, after taxes (in Denver, no less - not Manhattan!!).

[jhannah]

I'm kidding, of course. ;) Being retired now, we don't "save" for a cruise. We've done that already ... over the years of work and prudent investing. We don't spend money on other things that some people do. We don't have a lake cabin, bass boat, airplane, or expensive hobbies. We like to cruise, so that's where we direct some of our invested funds.

[CruiseShelly]

I get paid every other week. I have structured my life to live on those two paychecks a month. So twice a year there is a month with an extra paycheck to make the 26 pay periods! And that goes exactly you know where!!! My cruise and travel fund.

[usha]

Next Saturday will be 8 years since I quit smoking.:D

The money I save by not buying cigarettes easily covers my cruise "habit" now!:)

[RevNeal]

I budget a set amount as part of my monthly expenses and then I deposit that amount, every month, into an interest earning account from which I then draw to pay for my cruises at their due-date. Frankly, I find it easy. Cruising is just about my only expensive pass time; I don't have country homes, beach property, multiple cars, boats, planes, or other expensive "toys." I collect books and communion chalices, and while those can be expensive they're not THAT pricy. I also collect clerical vestments, but since those relate directly to my work I can write off what few of those I buy and people give me lots of stoles and such, anyway, as presents. In short, I budget and a savings plan and that works for me.

 

My plan for paying for the world cruise is a little more complex. I have about 30 years to work it, and so that shouldn't be much of a problem. Once I get my current car paid off, that $500 a month will go into an investment account where it will earn money and pile up. I'll pay that $500 every month into the account for 2 or 3 years, or however long it takes before I'm ready to get a new car. Then, I'll just let that invested money earn more money while I pay off another car. Once that car is paid off, I'll turn back to putting the money that went to pay on a car into the account, increasing it's value even more. I figure that doing this for about 20 years ... in-between the purchase of 3 cars ... will fund not only the cost of a cruise for 2 in a Verandah outside cabin, it will also pay for the shore excursions, the onboard expenses, and what I will need to pay for expenses back home while I'm away. And, all the while, NOT forcing me to limit my cruising in the "here and now."

[Alaskabound77]

RevNeal-

What is a World Cruise?

[RevNeal]

RevNeal-

What is a World Cruise?

 

A 100+ cruise around the world. :)

HAL has at least one every year.

[Alaskabound77]

A 100+ cruise around the world. :)

HAL has at least one every year.

 

Wow -

I just read about them on the website. Wow!!!

[RevNeal]

Wow -

I just read about them on the website. Wow!!!

 

:)

Yep.

I won't be able to do one until I retire, so that gives me plenty time to save up the necessary money to make it possible. :D

[wdw1972]

I think the key is living beneath your means, not driving expensive flashy cars, not racking up credit card debt, and for goodness sakes don't waste money on disgusting & expensive stuff like cigarettes!

 

My home is paid for, my car is paid for, and I carry no credit card debt (use a card for everything but pay it in full each month). I don't smoke, don't drink to excess, don't gamble, don't do drugs, don't buy collectable crap, and don't fall victim to "get rich quick" scams that cost you money. I DO have a chunk of my paycheck payroll deducted into a credit union account. All vacations come from that account, so if there's not enough money to cruise in October 2008 I won't book a cruise for Oct 2008. I'll delay the trip or put aside more money but I will not take a trip or buy anything that I don't have the funds to pay in full before the trip/purchase.

 

Sue/WDW1972

Westerdam

[Nonie]

For years whilst I was working invested in a "Registered Retirement Savings Plan or RRSP's. These have mounted up and now that I am retired I can take some out for a cruise if I need to. Also, we have and "Air Miles Master Card" (We are in Canada) and put nearly everything we buy on the card and earn Air Miles.

This next cruise I am getting a $1,200.00 air to and from Fort Lauderdale for 4400 air miles points plus $177.00 cash for taxes & fees. That helps a huge amount for the total cost of the cruise. Also, I don't buy new clothes for each cruise. Dressy things can be worn over and over again and chances are that nobody on that cruise has seen them before nor do they care. All I have to do is try to keep my weight down so they will fit!!!! My cruises are pretty well in winter or spring so the shorts, bathing suits etc. etc. can be the ones I used at home the summer before that I have usually bought on sale.

Don't get me wrong, I would LOVE to have a money tree out back or a Pot of Gold under the bed!!!!!! Oh, yes, I pay for the cruise, shore excursions and shipboard account with my Master Card which generates more Air Miles for the next trip!!!!!!!:D :D

[sail7seas]

We have a money tree. :D

 

Don't I wish!!

 

DH works HARD! I no longer work outside our home.

 

We plan cruising into our annual budget the same as all our other expenses.

 

When we were in our late twenties/early thirties, we made up our minds we would travel the most we could, the best we could for as long as we could. We heard people dear to us say "When we retire, we'll travel"..... they didn't live to do it. We knew we wanted to and in our younger years, gave up other things in order to take a little trip. Now our budget is a bit better and we travel more.

 

We would give up many things before we would give up cruising./B]

[Cruising-along]

Like most others here, we live pretty frugally. Cruising is where our extra money goes, and we don't care about flashy cars, a more expensive house, or expensive clothing and jewelry.

 

We both work, me part-time and DH full-time plus part-time weekends. He does collect military retirement pay also, which goes directly into a "cruise fund", as does my paycheck.

 

Like Sail, we would give up many things before we'd give up cruising!

[AlohaPride]

We would have cruised this year, but we just HAD to introduce our 9 month old daughter to her grandmother (my MIL). When we got married we made a promise to each other that we would go on one big trip ever year or at most every two years. We save our tax returns, don't go to the movies, don't bar hop, and only eat out once a week. We try to do things that are free (beach, park, walk, pot luck with friends) and we try to lead a healthy lifestyle so funds aren't going toward doctor visits.

 

My husband is in the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers union and we receive a "holiday" check each year. We buy our Christmas gifts and decorations with half of this fund every year and don't over spend so we can save more. We don't use credit cards at all.

[codyody]

I pay for all the shore excursions ahead; about one every month or two. Then I pay the credit cards to $0 and charge the final payment. This way, we pay all our on board expenses immediately and have a few months to pay the cruise balance. I know it's a little backwards, but it takes the guesswork out and it works for us.

 

This year we're saving change for gambling!

[codyody]

OOps...duplicate

[sail7seas]

Isn't it stunning how fast change can add up to a sizeable sum? We drop our coins into a jug and now and then I bring it to be counted. It always is so much fun when I see how much we accumulated.

 

[codyody]

Isn't it stunning how fast change can add up to a sizeable sum? We drop our coins into a jug and now and then I bring it to be counted. It always is so much fun when I see how much we accumulated.

 

Yes, S7S, $86 last trip to the bank:D :D

[schoolinmy3]

Isn't it stunning how fast change can add up to a sizeable sum? We drop our coins into a jug and now and then I bring it to be counted. It always is so much fun when I see how much we accumulated.

 

 

We just had our coins counted at a local Coin Star machine and our net proceeds (after their fee) was $315!:D

 

diane

[kakalina]

I haven't counted our coins in years! They are in a 5 gal bottle. I think I am afraid to now, it would take forever to roll and count them. :eek:

 

I didn't mention in my earlier post but we also have no mortgage, car payments or credit card debt. We charge everything but pay in full every month. :D