No, ignorance would be you thinking that anyone is ENTITLED to the "luxuries" of life. Luxuries are something you work for, and can get after you pay for your basic needs. The idea that we are all entitled to all the "luxuries" that we want is a big part of why this country is in the credit crisis we are in now.
Yes you do pay taxes but if you are not having to pay for health ins for your kids you get all of that back. You most likely come out ahead. We pay taxes and we don't get any of it back...we will never come out ahead..in the taxes dept. Many years ago my kids had to go on medicaid...DD had to have emergency surgery and DH did not have insurance, at that time. He worked, I worked and we barely made the cut off. We didn't have car payments and we had a low montly mortgage and just the regular type bill...nothing eccessive. But there is no way we could have EVER been able to afford a trip to WDW let alone a trip and a cruise. Even if we could have (would have to have been charged) there is no way I would have felt comfortable telling anyone we were taking a trip like that. Jump to the present...we make more money than we did during that time...we pay a lot more in taxes...we pay more every year for our insurance and we still don't take trips like that every year let alone two. I guess the real reason people are upset at the pp is because those that are paying their own way are paying yours, too. We are on the budget board trying to find ways to save up for WDW and you found a way to save a ton.
I couldn't have said it better myself. We couldn't afford a WDW vacation when the kids were little. After things started to look up financially it still took many years to get to where we are today. We were able to take our first family vacation in 2007. Looks like 2011 will be the year DH and I get to finally go on our honeymoon (after 12 years of marriage)
They save money on kids insurance and buy nice cars, trips etc.. my car is 12 years old. I pay for my Disney trips with my money...not the taxpayers.
I definitely find the entitlement attitude that seems to be pervasive in this thread disturbing.
Legally folks may very well be able to file for bankruptcy or receive aid payments and still go on vacation.
But where is the moral compass?
Honestly if folks can't pay for bills they racked up, or take care of the basic needs of their family, maybe they could at least scale back that lavish vacation they're so entitled to and plan something more modest instead.
My thoughts exactly!! I work in the healthcare business and I'm sick and tired of seeing people pull up in big new Chevy Tahoes as 5 kids get out all on medicaid.
Maybe its b/c she not only felt the need to post about her cruise but that she also booked a second trip for 2011. It burns my cookies to see someone who could pay for there childrens needs but chooses to let the taxpayer do it instead so that they can enjoy the luxuries they think they are entitled to. But I have to scrimp and save to cover my kids. I feel like she was rubbing that second trip in our faces. But thats just how I feel. People who can afford disney cruises and trips to disney the same year can afford to pay for there kids insurance.
OP here. I didn't mean to start such a debate when I posted my rant. I will tell you that I have literally seen both sides of this coin, however:
I was a single mom for six years. When my son was born, we were on Medicaid, food stamps, WIC, and subsidized daycare. I only took the food stamps for just over three months (this was back when they were actual coupons in a book) and I made those stamps last to stretch out my food budget for nearly a year. I worked full time and went to school full time. I barely saw my son that first year...and I could not have done it without the state's help. I knew that that was the only way to get out the poverty trap I was in. We lived in Florida at the time and were so broke that I used to pack peanut butter sandwiches for us for dinner and we'd eat in the public library. It was air conditioned and had lots to entertain us. We'd stay until after dark when it would be cool enough to go back home. To this day, my son is still a voracious reader.
Within a year, we were off all forms of public assistance; and I did bring home LESS after putting my son on my employer's insurance. Fast forward to now, and I am making almost $75K a year, have no debt but my mortgage, and even that will be paid off within ten years by myself -- less than five if hubby and I get back together.
I understand better than most that public assistance is there for those who need it to get "back on their feet". Letting the taxpayers pick up the tab because you cannot provide for your children is a humbling experience for many of us...as it should be. I would never have continued it for one second longer than I absolutely HAD to. And I would consider going on a deluxe vacation to be downright stealing.
To the posters who keep equating being POOR with being DIRTY -- I don't understand the connection. I am the first to admit that I was totally broke. We had clothes and shoes from Goodwill and garage sales and thrift stores, used furniture and household items. But never once did my son go out in public dirty. Soap and water, luckily, are cheap.
When DD15 was born DH was in a low pay grade in the Army and so we got WIC. We didn't go anywhere during that time, except the occasional movie on post for a dollar, and that was a treat. We didn't need it long cause when he wasn't deployed he also delivered pizzas at night. Sometimes our time with daddy was delivering pizzas with him at night, but we survived and were better for it.
He says he has explained it. SIL, it seems, is one of those people who doesn't like to get anything "on sale". He said she did comment to him that they could save a whole lot of money if they just stay with him...but he says he won't do that. He also says that he isn't contributing one penny to their trip and the most he will do is babysit so they can have a night out.
Honestly, I have just stopped asking questions about it. Makes it harder to let go.
