Put it all on a CC?

[JillianMarie]

I would not put it on a credit card. Personally, for me, it wouldn't even be enjoyable knowing that I still had a bill waiting for me when I get home. And, while the summer between high school and college is hectic - it's not like every second of every day is packed. I'd be much happier waiting until 2015 and doing it with cash than putting in on a credit card.

I guess I just disagree with the whole 'memories are forever, debt is temporary' thing. That kind of thinking is what credit companies use to justify overspending all the time. It's why weddings cost an arm and a leg and why vacations can be crazy out of proportion expensive.

 

[mommyto3girls]

Based on your original post, you seem to be a responsible user of credit. So I dont see any issues.

I agree. It sounds like you have worked hard and been responsible. You and your kids have probably done without many times in order to do so. If it were me I would pay as much as I could and put the remainder on the card. Many kids move away shortly after graduation because leases start in June.

 

[lurkernj]

As a mom who just survived a senior summer, I would highly suggest going summer of 2014. The summer between senior yr and college starting will be jam packed and expensive! We just dropped DS off at college this past Saturday and I don't know where the time from graduation in June until now went. All he could think about was college, and I don't think he would have appreciated a family vacation as much as he would have the summer before. My credit card is still sizzing from those "one last time" trips to Walmart and orders from Amazon....

Good luck with whatever you decide!

Terri

See now I was going to post the opposite. I just dropped my ds18 off on Sunday, and I was wondering why she couldn't go after graduation. Aside from a bunch of grad parties in the weeks immediately after graduation, there wasn't much else going on. We went on a 10 day vacation end of July, which I purposely planned since we won't be spending much time as a family anymore, and it was precious time together.

As for dorm shopping, we did it all in one day, except for some items bought off amazon.

 

[allison443]

I would wait until I had enough money saved to pay for my trip in full. I would not put it on a credit card and pay even "a low interest rate" for something that was not a dire emergency.

Your older daughter heads to college in 2 years. Speaking from experience, college isn't cheap, even with scholarships and work-study aid. The CC debt from a vacation taken the year before is only going to be a millstone around your neck. If she is a HP devotee, she will still love HP when she graduates from college. I know that my 23-year-old daughter has not lost her love for Disney or J.K. Rowling's books. Start a small fund now and save for the college graduation celebration that will happen in 2020.

I agree-I also have a dd entering senior year of high school (my third kid) and everyone I know is planning/scrimping how to pay for college....even if the dd gets financial aid, there are still a lot of expenses not covered by that. Will your budget be able to handle all her incidentals for college if you are still paying off this trip?

Apologies if I'm confused-isn't the OP the same poster whose refrigerator door was accidentally left open and she had no money to replace the spoiled food? People were suggesting she go to a charity food bank. (I just remember that poster was a teacher with a couple dds, and didn't get a summer paycheck, so she had no cash flow.) That is something I would recommend using a credit card for-a true emergency. Are you going to have to max out the card for the trip-then what will you use for emergencies?

OP this is just my opinion. If you make it work that's great. My dds also love Harry Potter but it has just not been in our budget to get there yet. If you do make it work I really don't see any reason you couldn't go in the summer after high school. What's the dd going to be so busy doing that she can't take a vacation?

 

[Colleen27]

See now I was going to post the opposite. I just dropped my ds18 off on Sunday, and I was wondering why she couldn't go after graduation. Aside from a bunch of grad parties in the weeks immediately after graduation, there wasn't much else going on. We went on a 10 day vacation end of July, which I purposely planned since we won't be spending much time as a family anymore, and it was precious time together.

As for dorm shopping, we did it all in one day, except for some items bought off amazon.

Yeah, I didn't weigh in on that aspect because we haven't gotten there yet in my family. And maybe it is different because my kids are athletes. But I would think the summer after HS would be an easier time to get away than the summer before senior year. I know not to plan anything for the summer before my son's senior year - he'll be competing for a starting spot on one of the best football teams in the state and won't be willing to miss even a single "optional" conditioning or speed training session. I'm hoping to take him on his grad trip (destination as yet undecided - he gets to choose and is leaning UK, but not sure yet) between the grad party rush and packing for college.

 

[teller80]

Bottom line: only make choices that you want your daughters to also choose for themselves one day. They are watching what you do.
You don't have to do everything to have a great vacation.
~

^^ This

 

[Darcy03231]

I would save as much as I could between now and then and put the balance on the credit card with a plan to pay it off as quickly as possible.

We did a combination trip last year (3 days at US/IOA and 7 at WDW). If you're only planning a few days at WDW the tickets are going to be really expensive. If money is tight I would focus on the US/IOA portion of the trip and skip WDW. One year we did an Orlando vacation and got the Flex Passes. We had unlimited admission to US/IOA, Seaworld, Wet n' Wild and Busch Gardens. As I recall the tickets were around $250/pp and were good for 14 days. Maybe something like that could work for you.

Also, although it's nice to stay on-site at US/IOA, you can stay off-site and still have a good time. The first trip we stayed off-site in a rental home, the second trip we stayed on-site and last year we stayed in a hotel on I-Drive. We were still able to see/do everything we wanted. The trick is to get there early. Be at the gates 20-30 minutes before the parks open (sometimes they open the gates early).

The hotel on I-Drive last year was nice. I got it on Hotwire and paid a total of $136 for 3 nights. We ate breakfast in the room, had lunch in the parks and then dinner out on I-Drive. There a lots of inexpensive places to eat outside the parks.

 

[kimj88]

I say go, put it on the credit card and go. You are not drowning in credit card debt and you have a good card with a credit union and good rate, so go for it for 2014.

 

[Happyjen27]

I agree-I also have a dd entering senior year of high school (my third kid) and everyone I know is planning/scrimping how to pay for college....even if the dd gets financial aid, there are still a lot of expenses not covered by that. Will your budget be able to handle all her incidentals for college if you are still paying off this trip?

Apologies if I'm confused-isn't the OP the same poster whose refrigerator door was accidentally left open and she had no money to replace the spoiled food? People were suggesting she go to a charity food bank. (I just remember that poster was a teacher with a couple dds, and didn't get a summer paycheck, so she had no cash flow.) That is something I would recommend using a credit card for-a true emergency. Are you going to have to max out the card for the trip-then what will you use for emergencies?

OP this is just my opinion. If you make it work that's great. My dds also love Harry Potter but it has just not been in our budget to get there yet. If you do make it work I really don't see any reason you couldn't go in the summer after high school. What's the dd going to be so busy doing that she can't take a vacation?

I think the OP is the refrigerator lady. Tragic loss of food, especially at summer!! My mom was also a school employee, it took amazing budgeting skills to ensure we had enough in reserve to get to the start of the school year.

Given the stress that loss of food cost you, I can't say that adding to your debt load is a good decision. I understand that you've recently divorced. My mom was also left with house debt, unpaid taxes and the like when she and my Dad divorced. He did what he could, but in the end, my mom had to roll her sleeves up, dig in and create her own secure situation. It was a teaching opportunity for her, a chance to show me what happens if you spend smartly and save wisely and do without. No cable, simple meals, even hitting up the food pantry when she broke her back and couldn't work. I got a part time job as soon as I could to absorb my own bills and wants.

In the end, the lessons she taught me about money and budgeting have given me the tools to create the abundance I currently live in. I don't make an extraordinary amount of money, but I do extraordinary things with it because my mother taught me how to be smart with money.

This is a teaching opportunity for you Mom. Teach her the lessons that will serve her when she is an adult.

Incidentally, we did take an amazing trip after my sophomore year of college. We went to Spain for 6 weeks. She helped me budget and plan. I worked part time all through high school and college and I had plenty to buy my own plane ticket and help a little with lodging. That taught me about attainable, affordable vacations as well as planning for luxuries ahead of time instead of charging it. Lifelong lessons that have helped me travel the world!!

 

[ronandannette]

One thing I haven't read the OP mention is whether or not she has a re-payment schedule in mind or would just be running up the card and hoping for the best. OP, are you able to save each month out of your current budget and if so, how long would it take to pay the balance using that amount? We have on occasion "done it backwards" by charging a vacation after calculating a comfortably short re-payment period using the money each month we would have saved beforehand if the trip had been planned farther in advance. No harm, no foul to our overall finances and we were able to travel on fairly short notice as needed to accommodate special circumstances (family celebrations, health issues ect.). We certainly don't regret it but then we have stable incomes with a bit of discretionary room. It's a VERY bad idea to spend on credit and just cross your fingers that the money will come from "somewhere".

 

[Pigeon]

No way would I be planning a trip in that situation. I'd be saving everything I could to cover college costs. Going on a trip I couldn't pay for wouldn't even cross my mind.

I agree with the pp about the whole idea that people have to spend money to create memories is just a marketing ploy.

 

[Marionnette]

I think the OP is the refrigerator lady. Tragic loss of food, especially at summer!! My mom was also a school employee, it took amazing budgeting skills to ensure we had enough in reserve to get to the start of the school year.

Given the stress that loss of food cost you, I can't say that adding to your debt load is a good decision. I understand that you've recently divorced. My mom was also left with house debt, unpaid taxes and the like when she and my Dad divorced. He did what he could, but in the end, my mom had to roll her sleeves up, dig in and create her own secure situation. It was a teaching opportunity for her, a chance to show me what happens if you spend smartly and save wisely and do without. No cable, simple meals, even hitting up the food pantry when she broke her back and couldn't work. I got a part time job as soon as I could to absorb my own bills and wants.

In the end, the lessons she taught me about money and budgeting have given me the tools to create the abundance I currently live in. I don't make an extraordinary amount of money, but I do extraordinary things with it because my mother taught me how to be smart with money.

This is a teaching opportunity for you Mom. Teach her the lessons that will serve her when she is an adult.

Incidentally, we did take an amazing trip after my sophomore year of college. We went to Spain for 6 weeks. She helped me budget and plan. I worked part time all through high school and college and I had plenty to buy my own plane ticket and help a little with lodging. That taught me about attainable, affordable vacations as well as planning for luxuries ahead of time instead of charging it. Lifelong lessons that have helped me travel the world!!

I didn't realize that the OP and the refrigerator lady were one and the same. But it doesn't change my answer. If anything, it just supports it. Being unable to budget enough savings for the summer months (when there is no paycheck) is an indicator of poor financial planning.

The OP is divorced and trying to establish her budget based on her individual income. If she receives child support, the chances are very good that she will lose the support for the older child when that kid graduates high school. At that point, she will need to re-work her budget again with the reduced support payments taken into consideration. She should be planning on how to reduce her debt and live off of her 9-month income for 12 months. She should not be dreaming of vacations that will only add to her debts.

 

[Minnie_me]

LOL, I don't see why my refrigerator fiasco should have anything to do with this?!?! In that post, I only said money was *tight*, I did not say I was broke.

This is what I wrote:
I went grocery shopping yesterday, and noticed that the fridge was a little "full" when I shut the door. Well, either one of the kids or I didn't shut it all the way last night and I came down this morning to find the door ajar, and absolutely everything inside lukewarm.

Really, I could throw up. I'm a teacher, and I haven't gotten paid since June 28th. My next paycheck isn't until September 13th. I did a "big shop" yesterday, hoping to tide us over with dinners until then.

And now it's all ruined. I can't even bring myself to get in there and throw it all away.

FWIW, I did replace almost all of it. And, the reason money is so tight right now is that I had some unexpected expenses over the summer that I did not budget for.

Thanks for all of the responses --- I'm still considering changing the trip date to 2015, giving me time to save more toward it. I have friends who have $40K in cc debt and act like it's nothing. I have so little, and feel stressed over every penny. I know that I don't HAVE to take my girls on this trip, but I would like to be able to do it for them.

 

[Marionnette]

LOL, I don't see why my refrigerator fiasco should have anything to do with this?!?! In that post, I only said money was *tight*, I did not say I was broke.

This is what I wrote:
I went grocery shopping yesterday, and noticed that the fridge was a little "full" when I shut the door. Well, either one of the kids or I didn't shut it all the way last night and I came down this morning to find the door ajar, and absolutely everything inside lukewarm.

Really, I could throw up. I'm a teacher, and I haven't gotten paid since June 28th. My next paycheck isn't until September 13th. I did a "big shop" yesterday, hoping to tide us over with dinners until then.

And now it's all ruined. I can't even bring myself to get in there and throw it all away.

FWIW, I did replace almost all of it. And, the reason money is so tight right now is that I had some unexpected expenses over the summer that I did not budget for.

Thanks for all of the responses --- I'm still considering changing the trip date to 2015, giving me time to save more toward it. I have friends who have $40K in cc debt and act like it's nothing. I have so little, and feel stressed over every penny. I know that I don't HAVE to take my girls on this trip, but I would like to be able to do it for them.

And yet, you also wrote this in the refrigerator thread when asked why you don't have your paychecks meted out over 12 months:

Our district has never offered this, in the 25 years I've worked for them. I have a "summer savings" account through the credit union that I don't touch throughout the year. I'm used to it. But somehow, that summer money is never enough. School supplies, and other things always crop up.

So, things always manage to come up over the summer and you continually find yourself short of funds? If you think it's tight now, just wait until your daughter graduates, her father stops paying child support and you have to somehow come up with off-to-college supplies. Believe me, the cost of back-to-school stuff for high school is nothing compared to what it costs to outfit a kid for college!

 

[Minnie_me]

So, things always manage to come up over the summer and you continually find yourself short of funds? If you think it's tight now, just wait until your daughter graduates, her father stops paying child support and you have to somehow come up with off-to-college supplies. Believe me, the cost of back-to-school stuff for high school is nothing compared to what it costs to outfit a kid for college!

I don't find myself *continually* short of funds. I make it through every single summer without resorting to any emergency savings or credit cards, even if it's tight.

Also, her father is paying child support through age 21.

 

[mom2my3kids]

lol, i don't see why my refrigerator fiasco should have anything to do with this?!?! in that post, i only said money was *tight*, i did not say i was broke.

This is what i wrote:
i went grocery shopping yesterday, and noticed that the fridge was a little "full" when i shut the door. Well, either one of the kids or i didn't shut it all the way last night and i came down this morning to find the door ajar, and absolutely everything inside lukewarm.

Really, i could throw up. I'm a teacher, and i haven't gotten paid since june 28th. My next paycheck isn't until september 13th. I did a "big shop" yesterday, hoping to tide us over with dinners until then.

And now it's all ruined. I can't even bring myself to get in there and throw it all away.

fwiw, i did replace almost all of it. And, the reason money is so tight right now is that i had some unexpected expenses over the summer that i did not budget for.

Thanks for all of the responses --- i'm still considering changing the trip date to 2015, giving me time to save more toward it. I have friends who have $40k in cc debt and act like it's nothing. I have so little, and feel stressed over every penny. I know that i don't have to take my girls on this trip, but i would like to be able to do it for them.

@hugs@

 

[leahjade]

I wouldn't be able to enjoy the trip if it was on my credit card. I just know myself. It would stress me out.

Same here! To me that is for emergencies - what if something happened medically or to your car or house? There will always be something tempting that comes up, but you will be strapped enough through the college years as it is, trust me! This is a teachable moment for your kids.

 

[Jex]

Give the lady a break, I was raised by a single mother and I'm sure a few of our trips were on a cc. You know what they are all long paid off, but the memories of my mother taking my sisters and us to Disney come flooding back everytime I walk down main street. My advice if you do decide to do it would be get a credit card with a 0% intro rate for enough time so you can have it paid off before interest kicks in.

 

[superdisneydork]

Give the lady a break, I was raised by a single mother and I'm sure a few of our trips were on a cc. You know what they are all long paid off, but the memories of my mother taking my sisters and us to Disney come flooding back everytime I walk down main street. My advice if you do decide to do it would be get a credit card with a 0% intro rate for enough time so you can have it paid off before interest kicks in.

The lady asked for opinions, it would be dishonest to just blindly encourage her for the sake of being polite.

Matt

 

[Jex]

Oh I get that Matt, but the way some are going about it, and bringing up past posts the way they are is bordering attacking her. It went beyond givingng advice.