We have no other debt except our mortgage, so we are not debt-free. Won't say we are debt-free until mortgage is paid off, and that will be approx. 8 -9 years from now. We have education funds, savings, retirement too. We paid cash, and paid a little tiny bit of interest for a small amount, as hubby is a bank manager, so we paid next to nothing. Had it paid off in a very short time, so don't forget to add any interest incurred to your actual cost of vacations.
DVC is an expensive upfront purchase. Initial buy-in will cost thousands of dollars, plus you have dues on those points. We own 360 points, so our dues are $1700.00/year. We spend approx. 2 weeks each summer in a DVC 1 bedroom villa, and with all costs, it is about $4500.00, and that is because we have drastically cut our food budget. We also plan our trips 51 weeks apart, to save on our Annual Pass too. When we were splurging on food, our vacations cost us way more. The cost for us, is pretty much what we were spending to stay in a moderate hotel. But, we only used to go for 1 week at a time, so we are getting longer vacations, but with that, comes more expenses, but not anymore, as we have drastically cut our food budget. We actually use the DVC kitchen, and this will be a huge savings over the years of owning DVC.
Although DVC will save on accommodations costs over the long-run, it won't on other purchases such as tickets, food, etc. Because of a false sense of savings, we took extra vacations when we first bought DVC, and splurged hugely on food.This is not how we normally vacationed, so it cost us way more to own DVC. Because of this, in the 7 years since we bought DVC, we have spent almost $70,000 on Disney vacations. That includes: buy-in, add-ons, tickets, food, transportation. All associated costs with going to WDW on vacation. Now, we still have 42+ years of WDW vacations ahead of us, but that is a boatload of money.
At this point, we have now cut out extra trips, and are eating almost all meals in our villa. This will save a good chunk of money.
We are also at a point where we want to go elsewhere on vacation, and we didn't really factor that into our decision either. This may be a consideration for you too.
My point is that DVC is expensive. We get perks to save on tickets, shopping and food, but those are not guaranteed and can go away at anytime. If that happens, our costs will then go up.
We don't follow Dave Ramsay, but I would think he would say no to DVC, as it's a luxury purchase, and you are not debt-free, since you still owe on your house, but this may not be a consideration for you, as you may not be following all parts of his program. You need to do what is best for your family.
I wish you luck. Please visit our DVC boards, ask questions and research!
Good luck in your decision, Tiger
DVC is an expensive upfront purchase. Initial buy-in will cost thousands of dollars, plus you have dues on those points. We own 360 points, so our dues are $1700.00/year. We spend approx. 2 weeks each summer in a DVC 1 bedroom villa, and with all costs, it is about $4500.00, and that is because we have drastically cut our food budget. We also plan our trips 51 weeks apart, to save on our Annual Pass too. When we were splurging on food, our vacations cost us way more. The cost for us, is pretty much what we were spending to stay in a moderate hotel. But, we only used to go for 1 week at a time, so we are getting longer vacations, but with that, comes more expenses, but not anymore, as we have drastically cut our food budget. We actually use the DVC kitchen, and this will be a huge savings over the years of owning DVC.
Although DVC will save on accommodations costs over the long-run, it won't on other purchases such as tickets, food, etc. Because of a false sense of savings, we took extra vacations when we first bought DVC, and splurged hugely on food.This is not how we normally vacationed, so it cost us way more to own DVC. Because of this, in the 7 years since we bought DVC, we have spent almost $70,000 on Disney vacations. That includes: buy-in, add-ons, tickets, food, transportation. All associated costs with going to WDW on vacation. Now, we still have 42+ years of WDW vacations ahead of us, but that is a boatload of money.
At this point, we have now cut out extra trips, and are eating almost all meals in our villa. This will save a good chunk of money.
We are also at a point where we want to go elsewhere on vacation, and we didn't really factor that into our decision either. This may be a consideration for you too.
My point is that DVC is expensive. We get perks to save on tickets, shopping and food, but those are not guaranteed and can go away at anytime. If that happens, our costs will then go up.
We don't follow Dave Ramsay, but I would think he would say no to DVC, as it's a luxury purchase, and you are not debt-free, since you still owe on your house, but this may not be a consideration for you, as you may not be following all parts of his program. You need to do what is best for your family.
I wish you luck. Please visit our DVC boards, ask questions and research!
Good luck in your decision, Tiger
Not including our mortgage. My question is, I have heard lots of negative comments about timeshares not being a good investment..I agree for the most part, but what about DVC? Someone pointed out that you can use the points for Disney Cruises and also if you have the ability to travel off-season(which is our situation), it can be a great deal. We only travel every other year to Florida, so we could easily bank our points to use double points. Any Dave Ramsey fans out there who own DVC..why and what is the best advantage to owning versus renting DVC??
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A timeshare is just a different toy.
