Budget has fallen apart

[tde1969]

OK this is the deal. Booked a Disney ****** last year on board. Great rate about $3300.00 for three in one of the blocked verhanda rooms, 6134. All this is the good part of the story. But in the last two weeks, my son lost his daycare scholarship, now that's $500.00 a month, health ins. jumped up 280.00. I'm stressed and considering if i should cancel the ******. I don't want to, so help me justify it!!!!!!

 

[Favorite Auntie]

Wow...sorry about that. That is a lot of money to have to put out now...any way to get the daycare thing back?? I would love to see you cruise...but if they money is not there... Maybe you could drop the cat of your room to still go??

 

[westjones]

Could you swing it if you moved to a Cat. 11 room? We have cruises in Cat. 11s and had a wonderful time! We just love being on the ship and don't spend much time in our room.

Also, you could consider a 4 day instead of a 7 day. We love the 7 day cruises, but the 4 day can be a lot of fun too.

Hope it all works out.

DJ

 

[makaylee]

I am VERY sorry to hear about your dellema. I would take their advice and switch to a cat. 11. You could also drive IF you had planned on flying. Cut back on excursions, bring your own drinks and possibly swith to a 3 or 4 day if you have to. Good Luck. I really hope it works out for you.

 

[MrsPete]

Daycare scholarship? I never heard of such a thing!

As others have said, I'd consider going to a less expensive room -- that can make a huge difference. Also consider skipping shore excursions, alcoholic drinks, etc.

 

[ClarabelleCow]

just being nosey!!! What is a daycare scholarship??

 

[currycook]

Hard choices, we here all love the DCL but family does come first. Hope you can afford it but if you cant know that you are doing the right thing by puttin gyour family first.

 

[tde1969]

they award various families with scholarships and then they have the right to take them away after six months. It's nice for six months but boy does it hurt if they don't offer it again.

 

[Rock'n Robin]

Make sure you weigh the cost of driving vs. flying. We drove this last time and found out it probably cost us more with the tanks of gas, wear and tear on the truck, food on the road and 2 nights in hotels on the way. However you could probably drive through from NC. It depends on how much your flights would be. Good luck with your decision.
Robin M.

 

[WisconsinDisneyGirl]

We just planned a 4 night cruise for Sept. in a Cat. 12 and paid $1427 with taxes and transfers. That is a 50% decrease from your $3000 cruise. You will still have a great time and get treated the same as is you had paid for a more expensive room. Hey, I understand budgets! I became a stay at home mom 4 years ago and left a well paying job. I love to work the system! Health insurance has gone up just about every where. It really sucks! If you plan a cruise far enough ahead of time you can put together a budget and put away alittle money each week. I use an envelope system. It has been working great for my family for years. I am sure that there are alot of people on these boards like me that really don't have that "high" of an income due to being a stay at home parent that save, save, save and are able to take that trip of a life time...on a budget. Good luck to you and your family. If you don't go on a cruise now the DCL will be there for you in the future!

 

[MrsPete]

Interesting detail about the daycare scholarship -- I guess they want to get you into the place, then you won't want to change. I work with high school seniors every day, and they're looking into scholarships that are based on specific abilities: One has a scholarship because she's a great basketball player, another's getting a scholarship because he's planning to major in engineering, another's expecting to get an ROTC scholarship . . . therefore, I'm sort of giggling about a daycare scholarship: I was imaginging something like "Yes, my son got a tuition-scholarship for his block-building ability, and my daughter got a "full ride" for her coloring." LOL

Daycares must be competative where you live -- here there aren't enough, so they certainly don't give anyone a break.

For us (we're in NC), driving was MUCH cheaper than flying. It would have been over $800 to fly (four people). Our driving expenses weren't even half that: 2 tanks of gas each way @ about $80 total, one McDonald's meal on the road @ about $15, and one night at the Day's Inn in Titusville @ $55 (included a decent breakfast). The drive took about eight hours total (we do live near the NC/SC line. A total of 16 hours isn't much wear and tear on the car. Even including the coloring books, etc. that I picked up to keep the kids entertained, we made the drive for less than one person could have flown.

Of course, if you live farther away or if you have frequent flyer miles available to you, your figures could be quite different. Be sure to compare all the details before you make your decision.

Don't forget, too, that if you drive you'll have to pay for your car to park in the Port Canaveral lot. If you fly, you'll have to pay for transfers or a limo. Whichever you choose, don't leave out that expense.

 

[crisi]

MrsPete,

Don't laugh but my girlfriends five year old has an academic scholarship to his preschool. He'd been going there for over a year when she lost her job and they told the school they regretted having to pull him, but finances were such.... And the school came through with a scholarship - not a full scholarship, but one that makes a few days a week affordable. Its a pricey school and the kid is very bright. And daycare here was pretty competative, but with the economy changing, enrollment has dropped at many of them due to moms or dads getting laid off and deciding that being a stay at home parent might be a better choice

tde, sorry to hear about your circumstances. I'm pretty conservative financially, so I can't help you justify it. I could help you feel better about deciding to cancel - if you get into a situation in the next year where that couple grand would be much needed - you don't want to be kicking yourself for taking a cruise you suspected you couldn't afford. On the other hand, perhaps there are some ways you can pay for the cruise without touching your normal budget. Ebay your kids old toys and clothes? Take a Saturday morning job while your husband watched cartoons with the kids? Offer to sit for the neighbors for nights out? Save some money some other ways - cut out pop, cookies and chips at the grocery store, switch to a cheaper cable tv package - or drop cable altogether? Color your hair at home rather than the salon? Make Starbucks a very special treat instead of a normal stop? The folks over at the budget board are experts at squeezing nickels to get dimes to drop out.

 

[westjones]

The Budget Board is great! Well worth the time to go check it out!

DJ

 

[DreaminDisney]

I wish my ds had daycare scholarships when he was in day care (about 4 years ago before dd came along) would have saved us almost 10K a year. Could have done a lot of cruising with that.......