Please tell me I am not alone!

[Figment56]

Okay, I have read all the posts about not being in debt and get very envious, but the more I keep trying to get out, the further in we get! Being a DVC member, I think is going to keep me broke for many years to come! My DD15, will have to go to the University of WDW, because we keep spending money there. She might get a good education? Can we ask for a college to send our kids to as DVC members-LOL!

 

[Skip Wiley]

Someone once told me "Don't measure your vacatons with money, measure them with memories". With DVC you'll never go broke

 

[Figment56]

Wow, that is a really nice saying! I guess if you look at it that way, DD15 will have many memories (as will I)! Thanks!

 

[spiceycat]

believe me - I kept a very tight budget.

I love your cat & family pictures!!!

All I am paying on DVC is the maintence fees - but my brother and my mother both need money....

 

[laceemouse]

We have 4 kids. We used to live in Florida and bought 2 of their pre-paid college plans. Our oldest DD is 13 and says she wants to go back to Florida for college. When we were at AK in March we talked to a CM who works there and goes to Central Florida. I told DD "What a great idea, work for Disney and go to college in the area!" She loves animals and would love Sea World too!!! Oh well, right now she better just focus on making it through the 8th grade LOL.....Lacee

 

[adriannabannana]

We're on a tight budget ourselves, and we found that the best way to save money on our trips was to set a reasonable budget, and make sure we only leave that amount of money accessible to us while we're there. This way we simply can't blow the souvenir budget.



We also only go once per year/once every two years depending on if we bring people with us.

 

[DisneyHumbug]

I'm spending my kids' inheritance.
NOW

 

[vacationman]

A few ideas:

Have your kids hang around Innoventions enough and they won't need college.

Exchange points for tuition.

Stay at Saratoga Springs alot (after all, it used to be the Disney Institute).

Get Congress to overhaul the Social Security system so everyone (including your kids) could get a monthly check between the ages of 18 and 30 and then work until they die.

 

[Figment56]

Thanks, Spicey! Yea, I think I'll keep them! They are kinda cute!

 

[Deesknee]

I keep telling myself my kids will always have these memories.
Who knows I could save every penny only to have them tell me they don't want to go to college. Also on a more serious note. My brother won some $$ at one time, he debated, save for them for later in life or give them something special now. He took DS, DD, and our mom to disney all of their first times. That was apprx. 15yrs ago his kids have never gone again. He died in an accident on his way home from work 7yrs ago. His DS and DD got alot of $$ from his insurance. They are 22 and 19. The boy tried college and decided to go to work with his step dad and help with his business. My niece just had a baby. Neither have any incline to go to college although their mother has pushed it.

Sorry for the long post. Bottom line sometimes life is to short not to go to Disney. I'm sure my brother as well as his wonderful children never had any regrets about spending his winnings.

 

[Mom B]

Vacationman, love your idea about Social Security! I've always thought we should be able to enjoy life while we're young enough to do it, then work when we're too old to do anything else. Ever thought of running for Congress?

 

[sters]

My husband has been out of work nearly a year and my father in law is dying of cancer at a much too young age. I'm realizing more than ever that you have to grab what's important to you while you have the health and resources or it could all be gone tomorrow. I wouldn't worry to much about the debt. That can be sorted out over time with some careful budgeting. But making memories? No. That wont' wait.

 

[jimmytammy]

My FIL lost his life to Lou Gehrigs disease at 52. After he passed away, my MIL carried nine of us to WDW. It was my first trip. Leading up to that trip I realized life is too short and I want to live it. Work will be there when you get back from vacation. But life will pass you by. I dont want to wake up one morning, kids gone, and say I wish I would have done this or that.

I think we have a tendency to place way too much emphasis on material things and not things that truly matter. Keeping up with the Jones's. No, life is too short. Have balance, but tip those scales towards you and your family. You wont regret it in the long run.

 

[POOH&PIGLET]

Originally posted by jimmytammy
My FIL lost his life to Lou Gehrigs disease at 52. After he passed away, my MIL carried nine of us to WDW. It was my first trip. Leading up to that trip I realized life is too short and I want to live it. Work will be there when you get back from vacation. But life will pass you by. I dont want to wake up one morning, kids gone, and say I wish I would have done this or that.

I think we have a tendency to place way too much emphasis on material things and not things that truly matter. Keeping up with the Jones's. No, life is too short. Have balance, but tip those scales towards you and your family. You wont regret it in the long run.

Well said!

Life is much too short to be overly worried about money.

 

[Disney1fan2002]

I used to feel guilty about not having a savings for our kids. But then the poo hit the fan in this family, and it opened my eyes to what life is REALLY about, and it is about making memories to last a lifetime.

Last year, on Father's Day ( Happy Father's Day dad!) my 45 yo brother was found dead at work. Then, in November, my 47 yo brother was diagnosed with TWO malignant brain tumors, they removed them, but now they have grown back, bigger, better and in a place where they cannot remove them again Radiation and chemo have not TOUCHED these things. They just keep getting bigger. HE is losing. HE was hospitilized yesterday, and we are at the point where we Pray God calls him home before his pain gets worse. In February, my dad (who lost lost one son 8 months prior, and was watching his eldest son fight for his life) gave up his will to live. He was 70 yrs old, came down with Pnuemonia, and we just knew he did not want to get better. He passed away Feb 25th, on his wife's birthday.

So, yes, we go to Disney ALOT. We have two DVC contracts, one financed, the other paid in full. We do not have a college savngs for our children. I don't feel parents are obligated to have to pay for their secondary education. What is we spent all these years saving and putting things off, and then when the time comes, the kids don't want to go to college. You can try to force them, it may work to get them there, but then, they flunk out.

Nothing in life is guaranteed, except when you own DVC. You future trips to Disney are! Live life in the moment. Money is paper, and when you die, you can't take it with you!

PS...my mom passed away 9 years ago. After she died, that was when I realized I was 27 years old, worked two jobs and I was single, I had never gone anywhere. I paid for my friend and I to go on a 10 day trip to Disney (she was a poor college student). I gave her the trip as a graduation present. We went, and we HAD THE TIME OF OUR LIFE! It was my 1st trip to Disney, and it made me the Disney fanatic I am today. There has never been a conversation in all these years that I have had with my friend that something doesn't get brought up about that trip we took 9 years ago. When we turn 40, we are going to re-enact the trip. Leave our husbands and kids home, and we are going to Disney as two single girls! LOL

 

[carone0318]

Just when things start to go right, something always happens. Just as we were getting out of debt last year, dh lost his job. It took 6 months to find a new one. Then once we paid off one of our cars a few months ago, we are basically told by our mechanic that we should consider buying a new car, our old one was a ticking time bomb, well last night, we went and got the new one. We'll get by, but we can never seem to get ahead. One thing for sure, we do go on our yearly WDW vacation and we do build wonderful memories. We also have (2) 529 plans for each of our kids and we put a little money in each month, but it will probably not be enough to pay for all of their college, but we'll help them the best we can and as for the rest of the money, we will cross that bridge when we get to it. Right now kids are dd (7) and ds (3), so I'm trying to enjoy what I can now and do a little thinking about the future. BUT, for the moment, look at my countdown, I have 14 more days and then no more worries.

Chin up, no matter what comes our way, we will always land on our feet. If everything came easy, we wouldn't appreciate it as much!

 

[lenshanem]

What is important to you? I stay at home with the kids so money is tight for us. We don't have fancy cars and live in a nice middle class neighborhood. Our extra money doesn't go to expensive clothes, etc. I shop wisely, frequent Old Navy and Target. I would prefer for us to save up for fun family vacations instead. That is what is important to me. Hubby works later hours and this gives him an opportunity to spend good time with the kids having fun.

While others may spend their extra income on a more expensive car, I drive a Taurus. But, then we get to go to WDW a couple times a year. Sounds like a good trade to me.

 

[westjones]

Wow! This is a great thread. I recently have been reading a thread about kids taking friends with them to WDW, and it really made me feel like bad. On that thread they talked about how if you 'invite' you should pay for the trip. We have enough problems paying for our own family to go. I had 'thought' about letting my kids invite friends to come with us sometime when we had enough points for a 2 bedroom unit, but I just assumed that the parents would pay for the tickets and send some food money (of course, we would pay for the resort with out points and they would ride in our van so there would be no transportation cost).

I started thinking I was 'alone' in being on a tight budget! Maybe everyone in DVC was rich! I am glad to see that I am not alone.

I am a stay at home mom, and I watch our money closely too. So no, YOU are not alone.

DJ

 

[stc1223]

My family too suffered tragedy to encourage me to do whatever I could to insure that my sons and I would enjoy at least one week every year together at Disney.

I had a wonderful little family, wonderful husband who worked so hard to provide for me and our two sons. We had taken 3 trips as a family to Disney World and on our last trip he suggested we tour the vacation club. I thought it would be too expensive and pooh-poohed the idea.

That was our last family trip in 1994. The next 6 years he worked his tail off because his goal was to retire early (in another 7 years) and enjoy the rest of his life. In February of 2000 he passed away from a brain annurysum. One day our life was fine; the next we were bumping into walls not knowing what we were going to do next.

Right after the funeral, I told the boys (then 11 & 15) that we were going to spend a little of the money Daddy left us and go anywhere they'd like to go. When I mentioned Disney World; they looked at me in amazement and I told them, we would laugh and be happy again some day and that would be okay if it's what they wanted to do.

I planned a 9 day trip that Easter. We got to the Magic Kingdom around 5pm on the Monday after Easter Sunday and just stood there like a bunch of dummies. We just looked at each other, not knowing what to do; everything was gray and just not the same, just like every other aspect of our lives since he passed away.

We wandered over to Tomorrowland and got on the 120 minute line for Space Mountain. We stood there, on line for about an hour and when we got to the boarding area, the Disney Magic hit us, we smiled, we laughed and the rest of the trip was WONDERFUL.

When we got home I booked another trip in November and knew, in my heart, that I was going to purchase a DVC for myself and the boys. I sold my husband's Harley Davidson Motorcycle (the only decision we never agreed upon) and bought 200 points at my precious Boardwalk.

Only regret is that we didn't look into the DVC back in '94 when hubby suggested. How many wonderful memories we would have had in those 6 years.

There's just something about Disney that heals the heart. I have another friend who lost her husband and daughter, and we have invited her to join us on our past two trips, and although it is painful to see whole families enjoying themselves so much and knowing that we were once like that, we still can make wonderful new memories with our DVC.

Life is way too short and please remember of all of that money my husband worked so hard to save, he didn't take a penny of it with him to heaven but the love of his family is still with him.

Don't over-extend yourself with debt but don't deny your family the chance to share the magic you enjoy at your DVC.

xoxox to all, Susan

 

[AFMom]

I'm a stay at home mom and my husband is in the military.... that should tell you how tight our budget is! We're in debt, yes, but we look at it like this... Why save money for a future we're not even sure of? And why not enjoy our youth, health, and young children while we can? If we saved to pay cash for DVC - well, it would take years, and we'd probably have a car blow up and eat the money! Both of my parents died when I was 25 (both were very unexpected), and I'm so grateful that I have as many good memories with them as I do... many at Disneyland. My kids are 6 and 7 (both boys). They are going to grow up, and grow away from us so quickly I want to cram in as many family memories as is humanly possible! Yes - we have 2 college savings plans, but we know the kids will still need a job, a loan, or some great scholarship. But hey- we worked our way through, and we're glad for the experience. Anyway - sorry this is long, but I just can't feel bad about DVC!