How do you fund your cruise?

[CitaPita]

My parents spent my whole childhood talking about the vacations we'd take "someday," and of course that day never came.

I can so relate to this. Every year I always heard, "We'll go to Disney next summer." Never happened, nor any other type of vacation. I don't blame my mom, she just happened to have a different set of priorities (new furniture over vacations...that sort of thing).

My little ones are still very young, only 2 and 3 years old. I would love nothing more than to travel with them at least once each year before they leave us to start their own lives. The memories you gain from travel are really priceless to me...they are the kind of memories you think about when you're having a bad day, or when your sick, or lonely. IMO, definitely worth some sacrifice.

We're debt free with the exception of the our home. We don't use credit cards because they got us into some trouble in the past and we learned our lesson the hard way. Our vacations are 100% cash paid. We scrimp here and there and put as much as we can afford back into a vacation savings account. It is a struggle sometimes, but it's nice to know that when I step on that boat every last worry will be lifted from my shoulders. I really will be able to enjoy myself!

 

[dsneygirl]

We have an item in our budget for "vacation" and money goes in there every paycheck.

 

[MinnesotaMouseketeers]

We have an item in our budget for "vacation" and money goes in there every paycheck.

I posted earlier saying only that we save until we have enough and than we go. Just thought I would add we do as dsneygirl posted, each paycheck I take a certain amount out and put it into a Credit Union (CU) trip fund.

I also take the change out of my pockets each day and throw it into a jar; along with one dollar bills. The reason I do the ones is because I would put them into the candy machine at work if I didn't. It's amazing how fast change and one dollar bills can add up. Every few weeks I take it all to the CU and deposit it into the trip fund.

We also have only two credit cards one being a Disney card. We use this one for most of our payments. The Disney Reward Dollars add up fast. And we always pay off the balance each month so they truly are Rewards Dollars; no interest charges.

 

[malacajo]

Growing up, our family never ever took any vacations except for driving to Pennsylvania where my dad was from and sitting in my aunt's house for a week-I mean literally doing nothing. My father has since passed away and my 81 yr old mother tells me all the time that it's one of her biggest regrets-not taking us somewhere and just having fun. She is completely thrilled that we are splurging on this cruise with our kids. I want my kids to grow up and think how they got to see some small part of the world and we did it as a family...Experiences mean more to us than things!!