How Do You Save Up For A Cruise?

[IMKTDQT810]

I wanted to see how others saved up. I was reading post after post on how folks have cruises booked every few months...I consider myself lucky if we can go every few years. We both have full time jobs and do not live beyond my means and do not have a credit card. So if we can't afford it, we don't go.

So, what are your tricks to saving up? Mine is the "squirreling away money" tactic. I take an extra $50 or $100 from payday and put it in an "Vacation Envelope" and I NEVER check the balance in less then 4 months. If I get a rebate check, I cash it and put it into the envelope etc. I know it doesn't seem like much but I can get a few hundred saved up here and there. Once I know we have enough to afford a cruise I will then book it and continue to save for the excursions, shopping etc.

Thanks for your tips on how you save for a cruise!!

[MrPete]

I wanted to see how others saved up. I was reading post after post on how folks have cruises booked every few months...I consider myself lucky if we can go every few years. We both have full time jobs and do not live beyond my means and do not have a credit card. So if we can't afford it, we don't go.

So, what are your tricks to saving up? Mine is the "squirreling away money" tactic. I take an extra $50 or $100 from payday and put it in an "Vacation Envelope" and I NEVER check the balance in less then 4 months. If I get a rebate check, I cash it and put it into the envelope etc. I know it doesn't seem like much but I can get a few hundred saved up here and there. Once I know we have enough to afford a cruise I will then book it and continue to save for the excursions, shopping etc.

Thanks for your tips on how you save for a cruise!!

 

Right after we got married, I budgeted our money for four weeks a month vv the monthly bills.

 

That left 4 paychecks for both of us each year, which was our vacation fund.

 

It worked till we actually started making more money than we spent. Till we had a kid. :p

[TerReuv]

I wanted to see how others saved up. I was reading post after post on how folks have cruises booked every few months...I consider myself lucky if we can go every few years. We both have full time jobs and do not live beyond my means and do not have a credit card. So if we can't afford it, we don't go.

So, what are your tricks to saving up? Mine is the "squirreling away money" tactic. I take an extra $50 or $100 from payday and put it in an "Vacation Envelope" and I NEVER check the balance in less then 4 months. If I get a rebate check, I cash it and put it into the envelope etc. I know it doesn't seem like much but I can get a few hundred saved up here and there. Once I know we have enough to afford a cruise I will then book it and continue to save for the excursions, shopping etc.

Thanks for your tips on how you save for a cruise!!

 

I also squirrel away for the cruise. When I use my coupons at the grocery store, I put the amount I saved on sales, specials & coupons into a separate account. Same at other stores. Whatever I have saved over what it would have regularly cost I put aside.

 

My husband uses more cash on a daily basis than I do and every night he empties all his pocket change into a jug. When we get close to cruise time we dump it all out and roll it up. Before our first cruise we only did that for about 6 months and had about $350 for our S&S cards. This time, he has been doing it for just about the 2 years since we first cruised and I am hoping for closer to $800. Add that to our OBC and we are good!

[okgirl]

I'm retired now so I live on a very fixed income. My budget was developed to afford us 3 or 4 cruises a year, so I book my cruises and make payments from my vacation fund.

 

I don't really do anything else in the form of vacationing other than to go visit family out of state, so I have little expense there.

[guxu]

We do not save up specifically. We just shop smartly on daily life. e.g. switching cell plan saved us $50 per month.

[bythehex]

No Starbucks, don't eat out every night of the week. Brown bagging lunch helps too. Clip grocery coupons and spend wisely. We don't buy things just for the sake of having them - we choose between whether we NEED something or WANT something. Need always comes before want. Live within your means! The savings will add up sooner than you think.

 

While we don't deprive ourselves, and we have been known to splurge every now and then, we don't make a habit of it. If you live on a budget you'll find that you can afford those little extras every once in a while.

[MrsBruz]

My husband and I have given each other "cruise fund" money instead of gifts for our birthdays and anniversary every year since we got married 6 years ago. We probably could have done a cruise after a couple years this way, but we had babies instead lol - our youngest is finally old enough to stay with grandma for a week so we cashed in on our "cruise fund" this year!

 

We definitely aren't one of those who can do multiple cruises in a year, for more reasons than money, but we found it pretty easy to save up just by replacing gifts to each other.

[golfadj]

For past 10 years or so we have lived somewhat below our means so we are able to go on 2-3 cruises a year.

[IMKTDQT810]

Thanks for the replies so far. We DO live on a very strict budget, and like the PP said, we do splurge every once in a while. We only go to the movies about 5 times a year, out to dinner maybe 6 times in a year (every other month, one dinner or lunch). I like to do my little squirreling thing to keep the $ separate. We don't do multiple vacations...we try to do maybe one a year (like this year we rented a home 5 hours away that had a nice in-ground pool and it was only 300.00 for the whole week. The full weeks vacation away, including gas to get there and food shopping was about 600.00).

I like the change in a jar idea....I like that a lot. DS has a 5 gal water jug that we started when he was little and we still put change in it from time to time..he mostly puts his own money in it now from allowance.

[bar1068]

Ahh...savings, schmavings...we have plenty of money...so we just go when we want.....

[4hunters]

A way to save on the cruise, versus saving for, is to drive to port instead of flying.

[EZ4]

Seriously, and I didn't do this to save for a cruise, but just to eliminate what I found to be insane expenses. I dropped our landline phone service and switched to Magic Jack Plus. Savings: $660 /year. I dropped satellite TV and went to OTA antenna and Netflix. Savings: $1105 /year.

[cruising mickey]

I wanted to see how others saved up. I was reading post after post on how folks have cruises booked every few months...I consider myself lucky if we can go every few years. We both have full time jobs and do not live beyond my means and do not have a credit card. So if we can't afford it, we don't go.

So, what are your tricks to saving up? Mine is the "squirreling away money" tactic. I take an extra $50 or $100 from payday and put it in an "Vacation Envelope" and I NEVER check the balance in less then 4 months. If I get a rebate check, I cash it and put it into the envelope etc. I know it doesn't seem like much but I can get a few hundred saved up here and there. Once I know we have enough to afford a cruise I will then book it and continue to save for the excursions, shopping etc.

Thanks for your tips on how you save for a cruise!!

 

I started out by doing directed savings into a seperate credit union account (specifically for $$ to be spent on the cruise vacation). Then, when my original bank started charging me excessive fees, thereby taking money away from this very sacred trip, I moved my direct deposit solely into my credit union account, which is fee FREE. Then I set up a budget with "benchmarks"; as to what needed to be paid (including the amount) by when it needed to be paid by. I have also directed that all XMass and birthday gifts, from others, be related to all things Carnival cruise related. I'm also having a two day yard sale, where I have been soliciting "donations", from family/friends/etc., for things to be sold. I'm also turning in all bottle/can deposits and then depositing the money into the credit union; with that specific amount being paid directly towards the cruise balance or any eventual OBC. I'm also planning a big 50th birthday party fior myself, in the hopes of getting additional money for the entire cruise trip. I'm still trying to come up with other options as well.

[Kamloops50]

I wanted to see how others saved up. I was reading post after post on how folks have cruises booked every few months...I consider myself lucky if we can go every few years. We both have full time jobs and do not live beyond my means and do not have a credit card. So if we can't afford it, we don't go.

So, what are your tricks to saving up? Mine is the "squirreling away money" tactic. I take an extra $50 or $100 from payday and put it in an "Vacation Envelope" and I NEVER check the balance in less then 4 months. If I get a rebate check, I cash it and put it into the envelope etc. I know it doesn't seem like much but I can get a few hundred saved up here and there. Once I know we have enough to afford a cruise I will then book it and continue to save for the excursions, shopping etc.

Thanks for your tips on how you save for a cruise!!

 

I put deposit a fixed amount in a special account every 2 weeks . This covers our traveling and extra expenses Xmas expenses (like car insurance and Xmas presents)

[antique sailor]

AHOY SHIPMATE,

IT's never too early to start; sold fishing worms at 7, had a paper route at 12, was life guard at 15, joined NAVY at 18 took out a $25. saving bond each mo. played a lot of poker, always had a hobby that made money ie. detailing old VWs, then restoring BMW MCs, Raised and handfed baby parrots, Built custom shaped bird cages . Was in navy 23 yrs and retired at age 41 so had lotsa time for the hobbies .

As my grandpa said... Don't drink, don't smoke, don't chase girls that do!

That was no fun tho so I didn't follow all the rules. WIFE and I both retired and are spending what we saved... from our annuities.

This may seem like a lot of BULL but the point is we didn't start cruising at an early age. and can enjoy it more now that 20 yrs ago(I'm 74) and have 5 more cruises booked for the next 8 mos.

 

[bridgetjonesni]

We've set up a monthly automatic transfer of funds from our main household bank account to a separate savings account, so on payday our wages go in and a couple of days later a set amount of money automatically goes out. Our premise was that you won't miss it if you don't see it, and it has certainly worked out ok for us. We use our savings account for any big expenditure, whether that's heating oil, or home insurance, or a cruise. The latter is more fun! When we know we have enough to go on a trip, we hit the travel websites and get planning :D

[marimojo]

We normally book about 1 year in advance. I look for half-price deposits. Every payday I apply whatever I can to my cruise. We are fortunate to be empty nesters with two incomes, but I still live on a budget. I try and pay about $100 - $200 on my future cruise, I watch for price drops, etc. Once the cruise is paid off, then I find good deals on hotels for the night before, using Priceline mostly. We usually always have OBC (from future cruise certificiates) - and then I normally order a bottle for the room from Bon Voyage - this cuts our expenses to nearly nothing. I also prepay tips. I love paying my cruise off, I love watching the amount due go to zero. I think if you can afford a certain amount each month, then tuck it away, or apply it towards a future cruise, one that you can dream about for the months leading up to it. I love having something to look forward to.

[dulcimergirl]

I do it the other way. I book a cruise way in advance, and pay on it a little each payday. I also ebay a bit, great finds from yard sales. This also gets put directly onto a booked cruise. Catch a cruise with reduced deposit, and go for it. It's nice to anticipate also. I booked my Oasis cruise 645 days out. Plenty of time to pay that off. Go for it. Oh, I also cut most extra spending. Instead of spending the saturday yard sailing and dinner and the movies, we hit a few close sales, and then have dinner and watch a movie at home. There's at least 50 right there, plus what I ebay.

If you really want to, there's a way. Oh, we save all change into a jug. Just before we cruise we cash it in for dollars, to be used for extra cash.

[Kamloops50]

We've set up a monthly automatic transfer of funds from our main household bank account to a separate savings account, so on payday our wages go in and a couple of days later a set amount of money automatically goes out. Our premise was that you won't miss it if you don't see it, and it has certainly worked out ok for us. We use our savings account for any big expenditure, whether that's heating oil, or home insurance, or a cruise. The latter is more fun! When we know we have enough to go on a trip, we hit the travel websites and get planning :D

 

The company that I work for does that for me. They automatically deposit the money into a Government Bond investment fund . I have full access to the fund thru the net.

[Rottenapple]

I just don't let my DH know how much we have in savings......:p

[golfadj]

AHOY SHIPMATE,

IT's never too early to start; sold fishing worms at 7, had a paper route at 12, was life guard at 15, joined NAVY at 18 took out a $25. saving bond each mo. played a lot of poker, always had a hobby that made money ie. detailing old VWs, then restoring BMW MCs, Raised and handfed baby parrots, Built custom shaped bird cages . Was in navy 23 yrs and retired at age 41 so had lotsa time for the hobbies .

As my grandpa said... Don't drink, don't smoke, don't chase girls that do!

That was no fun tho so I didn't follow all the rules. WIFE and I both retired and are spending what we saved... from our annuities.

This may seem like a lot of BULL but the point is we didn't start cruising at an early age. and can enjoy it more now that 20 yrs ago(I'm 74) and have 5 more cruises booked for the next 8 mos.

 

 

Good for you. Hope you have many years to enjoy the fruits of your labor

[billys mom]

I wanted to see how others saved up. I was reading post after post on how folks have cruises booked every few months...I consider myself lucky if we can go every few years. We both have full time jobs and do not live beyond my means and do not have a credit card. So if we can't afford it, we don't go.

So, what are your tricks to saving up? Mine is the "squirreling away money" tactic. I take an extra $50 or $100 from payday and put it in an "Vacation Envelope" and I NEVER check the balance in less then 4 months. If I get a rebate check, I cash it and put it into the envelope etc. I know it doesn't seem like much but I can get a few hundred saved up here and there. Once I know we have enough to afford a cruise I will then book it and continue to save for the excursions, shopping etc.

Thanks for your tips on how you save for a cruise!!

 

I do exactly the same thing, put so much per pay in an envelope and I also save all my change. Just throw it all in a jar and once it is filled up, roll it all and take it to the bank and exchange it for paper money.

[SmudgeCat]

We do a little bit of what alot of other posters have suggested. :p My DH is a bartender, so we put his change (and any of mine) into a jar, and it adds up! We also squirrel cash away in envelopes like the OP- this is easier again since he is a bartender. We collect alot of his $1's and stuff them into envelopes to cover extra tips on the cruise (we like to tip at least $1 per drink on the ship in cash, just like we do at home- DH calls it

"tip karma"). I also admit to taking a $20 bill each week and shoving it into an envelope (DH doesn't always know about that one); as others have said, out of sight = out of mind for us. I don't really drink alot, but DH loves to have a couple of drinks, especially a scotch in the evenings, so he keeps a cup on his nightstand that is literally for his scotch fund. It's up to him to decide whether he wants to spend some of his cash on a beer that night or on the cruise. I also like to try to put a little money into a PayPal account that isn't linked to anything, so I can't use it to buy anything, only to save. Since it doesn't show up in my Online Banking account, I tend to forget what's in there until it's time to withdraw it. Like the OP, we also book as far in advance as we can so that we can pay on it over time. The last thing we do is use the federal government (federal taxes) as our vacation savings plan, which isn't the smartest choice, but it works for us. :p We make sure they take out as much as we can get them to take out for federal taxes, and then get a refund in February when we file. Sometimes we can pay for most of a vacation that way, which makes the monthly payments even easier to bear (which is how I have four cruises booked, LOL). We don't have any children unfortunately, but that does mean that we also can book during school season and get cheaper prices, which allows us to take more cruises; we usually try to make them almost B2B. My favorite combo we did was in 2010 when we flew into FLL, took SAS Transportation to Miami to get on the Imagination for a 4-day, then shuttled back to FLL for an overnight stay followed by an 8 day on the Miracle. We like to bid on Priceline for our plane tickets and hotels, so we save alot doing that too. I've also been trying to tempt DH into quitting smoking since if he did that, we could probably pay for an entire cruise in the amount he spends on cigarettes in a year!

 

I love reading everyone's tips and tricks!!!! I can't wait to try some. I need to get into coupon clipping. :D

Edited August 7, 2013 by SmudgeCat

[Wendytx]

We save $1 bills, and sometimes $5's. Whatever we have at the end of the day goes into our "vacation box." Adds up surprisingly fast!

 

 

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[WetToes]

When we started cruising we would put the deposit on a cc. When the balance was due we'd use our income tax refund. We did a cruise every other year.

We're better off now, so we do a cruise once a year, although this year we'll be doing 2.

:)

We don't 'live large' in our everyday life so we don't have outrageous monthly bills (except cable). Our cars aren't new. Don't need designer labels, etc.

Things should improve even more, ... allowing for more cruises, as we just paid off our mortgage on Aug. 1! YAHOO!!!