Special ways to save for your cruise?

[jaxon63]

After booking our first family cruise, I have gotten my whole family on board (2 teenage sons, husband and myself) to put all their change in a small jar I keep on the kitchen counter where we pile all the mail, keys, etc. We have already rolled over $30 this month and we have 245 days til the cruise. I am then taking the money to put in my credit union savings account and when it's time to cruise, we will be splitting the $$ between the sons and myself (and yes, hubby said it's okay) for spending money. It has taken me 2 or more years to get my husband to save change, but just this week he put over $3.00 in the jar!!

[tdcruisers]

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!:)

Contrats Best thing in the world for your Health & your pocket book

Will be 6 Years non smoker for me on Labor Day 08 & over one year for my Husband. I admire anyone that can kick any habit...

[chrelaine]

We have only cruised once...but plan on doing it again! We did the same as everyone else. We found the cruise we wanted, found out how much it was going to cost and saved. My husband worked a ton of extra overtime and I cut out anything that wasn't a necessity. We figure we're young and have no kids. We need to enjoy cruising now!

My folks started saving when my father quit smoking. $2.00 per day from each of them goes in the fund. I believe $3.00 on Saturdays. They go to Vegas every chance they get and that is their gambling/entertainment fund.

It's hard sometimes, but you have to pay yourself first...just like a bill.

[bar_20]

I will add a few things to the list.

 

1. Don't shop at the big box discount stores like Costco or Sam's Club. We used to belong to Costco and every month my wife would say she needed to pickup a $10.00 bag of cat food there because it was $15.00 at Safeway. That $10.00 bag of cat food would cost us $200.00-$300.00 by the time we walked out of there. We haven't been a member in three years and I still find needless stuff we purchased because there quanities they sell are so large.

2. Never go grocery shopping on a empty stomach. Always eat before you go and have a list of what you need and stick to it. You would be amazed at what kind of crap you bring home because it looked good to your hungry stomach.

3. Save money for your retirement. Try and save the maximum your plan at work allows. You really don't miss it and if you get a raise put a portion into that if you are not maxed out. If you are maxed out put a portion into savings and keep it there until you are ready to use it for a cruise.

4. Win the lottery, but never, ever, buy any tickets. Your chances of winning are the same if you buy tickets or not.

[bar_20]

We do many of the things suggested on this thread (save change, live way below our means, have money automatically deducted for savings, etc.).

 

One thing that hasn't been mentioned is to take advantage of your employer's ESPP (Employee Stock Purchase Plan) program if one is offered. Money is taken out of each paycheck and at the end of the offering period that money is used to purchase company stock at a discount (usually 10-15%). We both contribute the maximum allowed and sell the stock the minute we get it to lock in the 10-15% return. Been doing this for 10 years and it's managed to pay for two kids to go to college plus several very nice cruises.

 

Kathi & Leo

 

Who do you work for Micro Soft? Tell that to former ENRON workers and they would say different. We had an ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Plan) where I used to work before I retired but the company paid for that. If your company is publicly traded I am sure the value has gone down and probably by more than 10-15% in the last year.

[sydney dog]

Next time bring it to the bank. Most banks will do it for you, or have a coin counter. NO FEE

[RICKnVICK]

My husband and I try to always book at least a year in advance. Then we make monthly reasonable payments up until the final payment date. This has allowed us to take a cruise almost every year for the last 8 years! Another thing I have done in the past is (this will sound strange) I put a small shoebox in one of my dresser drawers and whenever I had a five dollar bill, in the box it would go. If I had a twenty and broke it and there was a five in there, in the box it goes! Last year we took a week long cruise and in about 8 months I had saved almost $1000 in five's!!! Insane!

[rabelgirls]

One thing I do that hasn't been mentioned yet, it I sell on Ebay. Not everything, but my kids name brand clothing and some collectables that I have.

 

I am taking my three girls on a cruise for Christmas. We are all so excited.

 

With the ebay money, change jar and the automatic savings, we should have a great time!!

[CrissyandJonathan]

We try to only book cruises out of Galveston ( only a 4 hr drive from our home ), I have had to teach my sweet fiance how to be frugal, like everytime I do the grocery shopping and I pay with the debit card I look at my savings and take that out on my cash back and you should see his face at the end of the yr to "see" how much I save in groceries.... thats our cruise money for on board stuff.

 

Our next cruise is going to be a wedding cruise so I am having to save extra hard for expenses!

 

Don't be afraid to ask your travel agent what kick backs they can offer for referring people.... On my last cruise I refered a handful of people over a yr and the agent gave me a $200 credit!

[hooked-on cruising]

I save the easy way - I have a standing order with my bank to transfer a fixed amount every week to a designated savings account. I do not even have to think about it; it is automatic so I can confidently book my cruises, excursions, onboard expenses, etc. knowing that the funds will be there! I have done this for 4 years now and it works like a charm!

 

h-o c :)

[mosweet]

We plan our cruises 1 year in advance so we can pay them off with ease. But we also always go with a group to earn the free cabin and only have to pay for the taxes and tips. Also, we start the begining of the year with a jar of coins and throughout the year put change in the jar so by the time we go on our cruise we have a good amount of spending money. Last time we had about $800 in change. Plus we have a side business that keeps extra monies in our pockets :D.

[mom2girls]

I do a lot of the same things that are mentioned on here. I always put any bonus money I receive into the cruise fund. I also put our 2 extra paychecks that we get every year, and my income tax refund check. I always bring my lunch to work. My kids buy lunch once a week, but if I were to have them buy every day it would cost me $17.50 a week, so I consider the one day a week $14 savings for the week. For the girls back to school clothes I always buy things that are on clearance. We live in Florida, so buying shorts for school is fine since it's hot anyway. Jeans go on sale in January, so that's when I buy jeans. I also tutor after school (I'm a teacher) so my extra tutoring money goes in the fund. These are just a few of the things that I do so that I can get my "fix".

[Latitude 20]

Who do you work for Micro Soft? Tell that to former ENRON workers and they would say different. We had an ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Plan) where I used to work before I retired but the company paid for that. If your company is publicly traded I am sure the value has gone down and probably by more than 10-15% in the last year.

 

Microsoft, Enron, doesn't matter, if you buy shares at a 10-15% discount and sell them for market price the same day, you gain that 10-15% no matter which direction the market is headed.

 

The ESPP I'm talking about is very different than an ESOP where it's sometimes years before you're fully vested and can sell.

[dulcimergirl]

Every payday, I send 100. to the credit card I have my cruise booked on. I also send 50. to my shipboard acct, just a phone call to RCCL, using my debit card. If you book well in advance, it shouldn't be a problem. I only have 3 months to go, and will have both the cruise paid off, and plenty of cash in the shipboard acct to have a great vacation! I will use my AMX card to hold on the ship, but probably won't have any charges on it.

[rekon]

Hey, Thanks for sharing your views guys! I feel Cruising is truly a great experience no amount of money could afford to alter. Cruise vacations are becoming hugely trendy as millions are taking it every year. On a cruise you would meet new people and new people means, new impressions.Let's get started............

 

 

 

 

:)grnmoresunshine4u.com:)