Crazy way to save for your cruise

[ollienbertsmum]

So are you the bride or the priest ???

[kg4pit]

I don't know if every bank offers this but, our bank offers a Christmas Club account that you put money in and the bank sends you a check in October. Most of the time it can be deducted from your pay and you won't miss it. DH's employer won't do it that way, so he is very diligent about putting money in every payday no matter how little the amount. Since our DS is grown now, we have changed our Christmas club to Cruise club. :) :D We should have a huge chunk of change to pay on our January cruise to Hawaii. He also saves his change too!!

[emilygrace]

When my brother passed away I inherited his retirement account (not very big) and I put that in a CD, which I just keep rolling over. I never touch it, but it frees up my money to put toward a cruise or two per year. I usually do at least two yard sales with friends each year, so anything I get from that plus DH's change he tosses in a little tray go toward the tips. We're not big on board spenders, and now that I've gotten into the cycle of booking on board we have OBC each time too.

[flagger]

every time I get a $5 bill, I put it away in an envelope. I really don't miss it, and when you are counting by 5's, it adds up pretty fast!

We never spend $1 bills if we can help it and save them at the end of the day.

[andyjo0930]

Every year we plan our cruise for the end of April/early May, and we take our prize money from our bowling leagues (the better we do in the leagues, the more money we have...) and also, one of our leagues, we put money into a kitty, if you miss a spare, don't get your average, that sort of thing... we are getting $178.00 just for that alone this year.

[JanSun]

I use to put my change in a jar daily. Now I have gone high tech and I am practically a cashless consumer.

 

I use my Royal Caribbean Credit Card for everything which contributes 1% of my purchase price to a fund that I can use to get OBC coupons or upgrades.

 

There is no cost to small to charge. For every $25 charged there is a quarter for the slots. Plus it leaves a visible paper trail on where your money is really going.

[Floflegs]

we save copper money and 20 pences. Also my government retirement pension goes into the account we use for cruises/holidays. We managed on our occupational pensions before I got the government one so don't miss it in our day to day account. When DH gets his government one - he has to wait 5 years more than I do - we will do the same with his.

[Marley-Bop]

After the Christmas holiday we had to save really hard to pay for the cruise by April 4th. This year I will start saving as soon as we get back and start looking for our next cruise to book.......DH says we must try our first cruise and make sure we like it before booking our next but hey,....... Whats not to like!!!!!!!

 

Happy Cruising to all XX

[JanSun]

I forgot to mention that the reason I originally got the card was to use for booking an RCI cruise and to use on the cruise. Using this card to pay for the cruise provides a 2% contribution to my fund and any additional charges while on board ship provide the same 2%.

 

The money adds up faster than change in a jar.

[Aprille]

The missus and I do webcam shows nightly from 11pm-1am.

Okay. That is WAY TMI!!! :eek: :p ;) :D

[dagadget]

I have a "cruise fund" jar. I pay myself $1 for every hour of exercise I complete and every hour I spend cooking/cleaning. I put the money in a savings account once I get enough to bother with just to earn a little extra, unless I'm cruising soon enough to just hang on to the cash. (Like now!) :)

 

 

We have a cruise money can that we place all of our change into when we come home from shopping or work. We place the change into it and counted it a week before our cruise. That 6 inch high metal can had over $60 in it. We used that for tolls on the drive to the Port and for spending money in port. It worked out very well indeed for us. :D

[dagadget]

The missus and I do webcam shows nightly from 11pm-1am. I will never understand the person who watched her chew gum for 45 minutes, but I am thankful for the money!!!

 

 

Web cam shows from 11pm-1am I get home at 12:20am from work at the prison. How much did the 45 minute gum chewing show earn for you? Do you have a menu of shows and a $$ amount for each show? Anyway this got a laugh out of me......;)

[ILoveScotland]

So are you the bride or the priest ???

 

I'll answer for both Fran and myself. We're both female ministers - she's in Ontario, and I'm in North Carolina.

[jphc318]

I temporarily stop going to strip clubs and buying crack until after our cruise and if we are still short I rent out my wife.(hehehe)

[Aprille]

I temporarily stop going to strip clubs and buying crack until after our cruise and if we are still short I rent out my wife.(hehehe)

LOL! :D

[flagger]

Web cam shows from 11pm-1am I get home at 12:20am from work at the prison. How much did the 45 minute gum chewing show earn for you? Do you have a menu of shows and a $$ amount for each show? Anyway this got a laugh out of me......;)

We charge $3.99 a minute and get to keep just over half of that. So that was a little over $90 for the gum chewing show.

[Fran Harp]

Fran, I can't imagine a wedding every month! I've only done a couple in the past year.

 

Like so many others I save my change and have done that for years prior to discovering cruises. And, yes, I've been done to break paper money just to have change! :p

 

A year ago one of the DDs gave me a ceramic jar she found at a yard sale that says "Cruise Fund." That's where I put paper money, and when that DD is here she throws in some money as well. I counted it a couple of weeks ago, and it has about $400 US in it right now.

 

The two cruises we have planned are paid for so this will be excursion and on board expenses money.

 

We can't figure out what's happened - we never have this many weddings at the church. I have $220 in the cruise jar, and another wedding this coming Saturday, which will crank it up to $420...those one and two-dollars coins really add up too. I don't have a wedding in December (good thing too since that's the cruise), but have April through November.

 

 

Fran in Toronto

[Bob Finiki]

Haven't done it yet, but I'm thinking of getting a couple of rolls of quarters($20), when I cash my check every week, and putting it aside in a drawer somewhere in the house. If I don't have it, can't spend it. We do have a cash jar that extra $$$ goes in, but it always seems to be getting raided in a time of need, and I don't think I'll take a roll of quarters with me in time of need. We are planning a cruise for sometime in March 2008, so it should be close to a grand. Should cover most of the tips and other goodies, tips bar bill etc. I'll also have 25000 points on the rccl visa card, so we should be in good shape. The DW runs a restaurant, so getting rid of the quarters will not be a problem.Or maybe I should do the new dollar coin, decisions, decisions!!!LOL

[careywv]

My DH and I booked our cruise for May at the end of February, so that didn't leave us much time to save. Luckily we have been putting part of our paychecks into savings every two weeks.

 

Since booking the cruise, we pay all the bills and keep enough money for gas and groceries. Then, everything else goes into savings. Sometimes it's not much, but others it's a huge chunk.

 

This will be our first cruise, and I'm already looking at what cruise to book next year...and we haven't even gone yet. I just want to have a good idea, so I can book onboard and get that OBC for next year. ;)

[Aprille]

Gosh, I guess I'm kind of boring in the way I save. :p ;)

 

I have an actual interest-earning bank account designated as a vacation fund. I put as much in it as I can afford each paycheck whether we have a trip planned or not. I already have enough to completely pay for our upcoming Mediterranean cruise (including airfare, excursions, spending money, tips, pre-and-post cruise hotels, EVERYthing!) plus a nice surplus for a head start to pay for the cruise after that.

 

I pretty much work to pay for our travel habit. DH's salary pays the bill. Mine pays for the travel. :cool:

[royalfan]

I do the change jar also. I bought a glass jar and placed pictures from the Royal Caribbean travel magazine on it with modge podge-we toss all our extra change in there.

I also sell my plasma-pretty sad :) But I love to Cruise!

[TahoeBob]

EBAY EBAY and more EBAY

 

The past 5 years I have gone on two cruises, three trips to Disneyland, one trip to NY (I live in California). I have also paid for a new computer, and a Fender telecaster electric Guitar. Thank you EBAY

[derrick22]

"I pretty much work to pay for our travel habit. DH's salary pays the bill. Mine pays for the travel."

 

My salary goes towards our DS 16 and expenses for him and food for family. Can't wait to get rid of him so I can cruise more often! :rolleyes:

 

I too save change for the tips and put extra money into savings each month to pay for the cruise itself.

[jules815]

I'm the owner of a busy pet sitting/dog walking business. After our first cruise last June, I was eager to book another. I booked, and started using all the money I make with vacation clients (anything over what I make with my daily clients) and would make payments with RC. Some weeks I would make a payment of $200, then a few days later, I might have an extra $50, so I'd make a payment with that too. It was amazing how quickly it went. I'm already looking at cruises for next year. My husband can't believe I bought the family vacation this year. And I tell you what, it makes my job a little easier, when I'm at a client's house at 5:30 am on Christmas Day (or any holiday...that's my busiest time) knowing that I have a cruise to look forward to.

[madge62]

I have a cruise jar that doesn't seem to be getting filled up these days, too much use of the debit card rather than cash. I do have an ING account where $50 each paycheque gets scooped from my bank account.

 

I decided that I needed an extra job in the hopes that it would keep me cruising so I became a part-time cruise consultant in addition to my full-time job. I don't make a whole lot yet, it's commission-based, but I like the perks! The downside is I keep wanting to book holidays.........for myself!