Balancing the cost of cruising with cost of life...

[NKG6002]

Interest rates are probably never going to be as low as they are now...so I would buy the house, have a little extra taken out in taxes each pay and take your cruise in 2 years. The cruises will always be there...the low interest rates won't :-)

[drolltroll]

[quote name='bakechef']If you had read my post you will see that I have NO CREDIT CARD DEBT. Having a credit card and using it does not mean that you are in debt. If that is too hard for you to understand then you probably shouldn't have a credit card.

If you want to take on the responsibility of using a credit card, then you need to educate yourself on how they work. Interest rates mean nothing to me because I pay no interest on my credit cards. I never make my payment late, so I never pay a late fee, I never get anywhere near my limit, so I never pay an over limit fee, and I don't pay an annual fee. What I do get is hundreds of dollars a year in rewards that I use mostly for hotel stays, all without spending a dime more than I would have if I had paid cash.

Credit cards are only dangerous if you don't know how to use them or have little self control.[/quote]

I have been away for a while so I hate to dig this up but I must respond.
Congratulations folks! here is one out of the 10,000 people who use credit cards that thinks "snakes" are a tool and he has not gotten bit yet!
Actually you do pay more with Credit cards than you do cash.... Studies have shown about 18% more. It hurts more when you actually see the green leave your hand than it does to swipe.
You can use a credit card like you are doing, problem is, 99 out of 100 with intentions of using it and paying it off every month end up not doing that or they get in a financial bind and give in to using it because it is so easy. Just wait until one of your monthly pay offs gets lost or not properly posted to your account. You will have a blast then!

[Room Service!]

I haven't read all the responses, but the house to me would be more important. Prices, interest rates are great.
I also believe that you have to live a little. There's no reason you shouldn't be able to take a cruise. Maybe just not a med. cruise. There are MANY that you could take that would be no where near the cost you stated. The med. cruise can wait, don't you think?

Just noticed this is from 2010. Did the OP come back?

[IslandToIsland]

[quote name='okgirl'][FONT=Comic Sans MS][SIZE=3][COLOR=purple]This is just me, but I would go on the cruise.[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Comic Sans MS][SIZE=3][COLOR=#800080][/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Comic Sans MS][SIZE=3][COLOR=#800080]My mom and dad spent their entire lives waiting for dad to retire so they could travel. Mom always wanted to go to Hawaii.......she never got there, she got cancer at 47, died when she was 53 and dad retired 6 months later........[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Comic Sans MS][SIZE=3][COLOR=#800080][/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Comic Sans MS][SIZE=3][COLOR=#800080]I don't wait to live life. I may have to tighten the belt in a lot of ways to afford it but I live it.[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT][/QUOTE]

I agree with you 100%. I am the same way. You never know what lies ahead.

[askimdog]

Go for the home.

Gonna cruise, cut back elseware.

My wife and I work and have a child, we make less than 40 a year combined (low wage jobs). We have 2 homes (one paid for), 2 cars paid for, college for both are paid for. We carry no credit card bills. AND we can afford to cruise about every 12-16 months.

We do not take any other mini vacations, we have no cellphones, no cable bills, we eat out once a month and live very simply in order to do this.

I'll admit we have no retirement or college funds set aside, we plan to work through life and our child can, like us, work through college.

Making daily cuts is a good way to pay for a cruise. We cruise off season in an inside cabin and keep our combined S&S bill always uinder 25 bucks.

Sacrifice and it can be done. A house is major AND suggested.

[Rottweiler Puppy]

If a house if definitely your goal. Save for the house. Now is the time to be buying.

[golfadj]

[quote name='drolltroll']I have been away for a while so I hate to dig this up but I must respond.
Congratulations folks! here is one out of the 10,000 people who use credit cards that thinks "snakes" are a tool and he has not gotten bit yet!
Actually you do pay more with Credit cards than you do cash.... Studies have shown about 18% more. It hurts more when you actually see the green leave your hand than it does to swipe.
You can use a credit card like you are doing, problem is, 99 out of 100 with intentions of using it and paying it off every month end up not doing that or they get in a financial bind and give in to using it because it is so easy. Just wait until one of your monthly pay offs gets lost or not properly posted to your account. You will have a blast then![/quote]

Have to disagree with you. Using a credit card is a great tool if used responsibly and whatever the percentage is we do and get back a sizable amount of cash each year.

And one time Chase did not apply my payment correctly charged us a $ 30 late fee and refused to waive it.

As a result Chase went bye bye and still well ahead.

[SJ]

Setting up automatic payments will eliminate late fees. If you don't have discipline with a credit card, chances are you don't have discipline with cash either. I treat my credit cards like cash but more convenient with more protection. Also allows you to keep your cash longer. I really disagree with those eliminating credit cards just because they are on a new bugdet. Budgets are unnecessary if you live below your means.

[golfadj]

[quote name='SJ']Setting up automatic payments will eliminate late fees. If you don't have discipline with a credit card, chances are you don't have discipline with cash either. I treat my credit cards like cash but more convenient with more protection. Also allows you to keep your cash longer. I really disagree with those eliminating credit cards just because they are on a new bugdet. Budgets are unnecessary if you live below your means.[/quote]

Very true about budgets in that regard. Living below our means allows us to take 3 cruises per year.

[fergusonvt]

[quote name='golfadj']Have to disagree with you. Using a credit card is a great tool if used responsibly and whatever the percentage is we do and get back a sizable amount of cash each year.

And one time Chase did not apply my payment correctly charged us a $ 30 late fee and refused to waive it.

As a result Chase went bye bye and still well ahead.[/quote]

I agree. I put all of my son's college expenses on our CC but pay the balance off each month. It earns me quite a bit towards our yearly cruise. We almost own our house, college is paid for and we have no car payments. We both make good money but when our son was younger we didn't take a lot of vacations and did a lot of fun things at or close to home. We have good savings for retirement and hope to do that in the near future (4 years).

You really have to wrap your head around what you want out of life. We are taking our vacations now instead of when we were younger. I think the OP should take a few years off from large vacations and save a nice down payment for a home.

[Quilting_Cruiser]

Hope the OP comes back--she hasn't posted in almost two and half years...

[golfadj]

[quote name='Quilting_Cruiser']Hope the OP comes back--she hasn't posted in almost two and half years...[/quote]

always an interesting subject though.

[Quilting_Cruiser]

[quote name='golfadj']always an interesting subject though.[/quote]


Agreed. I just noticed people are giving the OP advice about whether to purchase a house or go on a cruise and it appears the OP is long gone...

:p

[brooklynfc]

Good lord, resurrecting the dead are we? I posted on this thread in 2009.........tehe..........that was interesting reading what I had to say 3 years ago and where I'm at...........maybe not.

[golfadj]

[quote name='Quilting_Cruiser']Agreed. I just noticed people are giving the OP advice about whether to purchase a house or go on a cruise and it appears the OP is long gone...

:p[/quote]

Cant imagine giving people advise on such important issues based on a few paragraphs they write here.

[Momis2]

[quote name='littlemoonrabbit']Thanks.

I think I just needed to hear this. Thanks for the straight talk.

We do need more financial discipline... hubby and I were actually going to sit down this weekend to talk about budgeting and saving, so we recognize it's something we need to change. I have never heard of Dave Ramsey... maybe it's something we should look into.

I guess I am just afraid of going the way of my parents... my parents spent all their money on buying a house and raising us kids. They NEVER did anything for themselves. Now that we are out of the house, they say they are "too old" to travel. I feel guilty about this... and I think that guilt has turned into a fear that if I don't do my traveling NOW, then I never will.

His parents are the same way. They talk every year about going on a vacation... and they never do. Again... I don't want to be that way when I am their age.

Irrational... I am sure it is. But, I am least being honest about how I feel. And I recognize the root of my problem.

I just need some assurance that if we go ahead and spend the next 5-10 years getting financially stable, that we can still travel and have a life outside of being a homeowner and (possibly) parent.[/quote]

How about a view from the "older" side of life? I will be 63 in Feb and DH just turned 58. We have been married 32 years and raised 2 daughters and put them thru college. We bought a house when we were first married and before we had kids because we wanted equity and not a drawer full of rent receipts. It was a struggle to make ends meet as I was a stay at home mom for the first 7 years and DH had a job with no benefits. We did not take big vacations with the kids but we had fun camping at the beach or staying at a friends cabin in the mountains for a weekend now and then. Fast forward some years.... Our house increased in value, I got a teaching job for a few years and then was laid off, DH got a job with the city ( and benefits) and is going to retire in Dec. One daughter married and on her own, the other still living at home but getting a Masters degree and paying for it herself. We have drawn on the equity in our house many times for various reasons and always paid those loans back.
Were is this leading, you may ask??
Well, we have traveled. We have set goals, saved ,and seen a lot of the world. When I was 54, I spent 21 days traveling in Thailand with my daughters. We spent 5 days walking in the jungle and living with the hilltribes. One daughter slipped off a cliff and was barely saved, we were eaten alive by mosquitoes and leeches, ate the most delicious street food, saw fabulous temples, and met wonderful people. DH and I have been on over 14 cruises and will be sailing for 48 days around the horn of South America in a few months. We plan on touring Europe in 2013. We talk about going on trips and we DO IT. Traveling can be a challenge, scary, uncomfortable. Some people can't get past this. It is too far out of their comfort zone but if you make seeing the world and all it has to offer, a priority, you CAN do it......even if you are older;) like me.

[Quilting_Cruiser]

[quote name='golfadj']Cant imagine giving people advise on such important issues based on a few paragraphs they write here.[/quote]

I'm often surprised by what people ask on a public forum. I would never rely on advice from here for anything other than cruising--buying a house? Parenting? Etc...now way! :eek:

[Quilting_Cruiser]

[quote name='brooklynfc']Good lord, resurrecting the dead are we? I posted on this thread in 2009.........tehe..........that was interesting reading what I had to say 3 years ago and where I'm at...........maybe not.[/quote]


Actually, this thread started in 2010...but, I agree that it's a bit of a resurrection.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

My thoughts is do what is important to you now ,Live the day ..:)