Beca
Apparently, we all have more money than brains!!!
- Joined
- Mar 5, 2004
- Messages
- 4,676
DVC isn't going to make it possible for anyone to go more often. It will make it possible to go more often if you want to stay on site. But budget borders should all know by now that Values are cheaper than owning DVC, and that offsite can be cheaper yet.
DVC is a little like saying "how can you afford to put gas in your car for your long commute" and mentioning that your Audi gets great mileage.
160 DVC points will get you about three weeks in a studio if you are careful about when you travel. And cost you $720 in dues alone. That's $34 a night in dues - which IS a bargain. But there is the $18k upfront. You can buy a timeshare offsite resale (or rent a timeshare offsite - there are plenty out there) for a fraction of that and pay less in dues. Or you can stay at the campground, or you can stay at the Days Inn.
Also, it should be noted that a lot of DVCers don't claim to save any money at all. Its really easy to find yourself inviting guests for a "free" room - or planning to fit in one more trip with those APs and needing more points, or deciding that with no room bill, you'll spend a little more on dining this trip. You CAN be disciplined in your DVC usage and if you are it can be a budget helper. But a lot of members discover that they lack that discipline.
Very good points (as usual for Crisi). I think DVC works best for those who are a little more "set" in life, but still find they have to budget expenses. We paid cash for our DVC points (I think we initially financed them, but paid them off within 2-3 months). My dh got a bonus, and we decided we could drive our cars for a longer time, and bought DVC instead. That initial purchase is how we now have affordable trips. I certainly don't mean to discount the up front costs...for us, the cost was huge in terms of money, but not in terms of sacrifice.
As a result of that purchase, WDW is now one of the cheapest places we can travel. Additionally, we feel that we "have" to travel there, or we have essentially lost money. We have rented out our points once, and transferred out points to other members once to help finance our trips to other locations. However, the "having to travel to WDW" part has so far never been a burden...LOL!!!
If we were 20-somethings with student loans, trying to save for our first house, and planning children....that initial investment never would've been possible, and DVC would be a greater hardship for us than it has been.