How do people afford the summer expenses????

amother

Sun, Jun 16 2024, 11:39 pm

Please fill me in on what I'm missing! BH we cover all our expenses, pay our tuition and are doing ok financially during the year. BUT the summer is crazy! On top of all the regular expenses we pay all year, we now need to pay for camp or for something productive to do for each kid plus all the items they need for camp. When the kids were young, it was easy to figure out cheap options. But now, for the 2 months of the summer, we need to come up with an extra $10,000 or so - to keep the kids occupied - and that's only for one half! After that, I still need to figure out what to do for the second half. My kids are all preteens and teens and need to do something productive. I have active boys that must, must be busy and active, and teenage girls.

The town has a camp fund, but that is for people who are really in dire straits which BH we are not.
We can have the kids work one half and pay part of camp, but for various reasons we do not want to do that.

How does everyone else do this? How do you send all your kids to camp in the summer and be able to afford to pay for all of it?????

Please share ideas! THank you!

amother

Tangerine

Sun, Jun 16 2024, 11:45 pm

Voted but ignore it, I have toddlers so numbers are way off

If that was the price to pay and I couldn’t afford the luxury (which I consider it to be) I would not send

I think a perfectly acceptable alternative is for teens to work. I spent my summers doing an easy office job and besides making money, I also learned a lot about responsibilities, accountability, being a good worker and learning transferable skills. After sem it was much easier for me to get jobs because I already had so much experience and a filled out resume

amother

Green

Sun, Jun 16 2024, 11:55 pm

Most people who are not rich only send teens for one half. Other half they work.
I also know many people who do all kinds of systems to make it work. Keep kids home part of time if they’re able to. Older kids make younger kids a daycamp (parent will then splurge on a once a week trip… rent underground pool twice weekly etc. still wayyyyy cheaper)… or older kid works in daycamp where younger kid gets to join for free…

amother

Hosta ↓

Mon, Jun 17 2024, 12:39 am

Send to cheaper camps
Get scholarships
Buy only necessities for camp
Kids supply their own money for canteen and trip money

I'm sending 3 to overnight camp:
Boy full summer $2500, giving us $600 discount= $1900
Boy full summer $4500, giving us $1000 discount= $3500
Girl half summer $2900, giving us $300 discount, another scholarship of $300, daughter will pay $500 of her own money (working other half)= $1800

I expect to receive another $600+ from camp funds. My husband is a Rebbi and works through the summer but with a drastic paycut.
It's my daughter's and one son's last summer as a camper.

amother

↑ Aqua

Mon, Jun 17 2024, 2:46 am

PinkMom wrote:

Not per camp. Total for all kids for only ONE half.

Ahhh

The other half teens should be working. Whether or not they contribute to camp is up to you. But 14+ Should definitely be working in some capacity.

amother

Anemone

Mon, Jun 17 2024, 3:07 am

I didn’t vote because once I had a few camp age girls I realized we’d never manage it so I got a job in a camp. There was no way we could pay for that. Summer expenses are sky high.

amother

Hotpink

Mon, Jun 17 2024, 3:17 am

I voted #3 but I am sending one child who really needs to go to camp for various reasons. The rest are staying home. Yes, I am aware that I am causing jealousy but I didn't have much choice.

amother

Plum

Mon, Jun 17 2024, 4:06 am

We budget for the yearly expenses every month - so when the summer or YT comes we don't need to scramble.

There needs to be room in the monthly budget to put away money for the big yearly expenses. DH also takes on side hustles for those times - we usually need about 2,000$ more a year then we can put away for the summer and YT expenses, so he puts money from his side hustle there first, and only after we make up the deficit do we put half in savings and half for "splurges"

amother

Amaranthus

Mon, Jun 17 2024, 4:34 am

Some people are financially okay, some don't send, some get funding or breaks, some plan for it all year ( like consider tuition a 9 or 10 month event and plan for 2-3 months if "summer tuitiin".)

amother

Cerulean

Mon, Jun 17 2024, 8:40 am

To all those saying don't send. Only send for half it a luxury if you can't do it dont-
You obviously don't have several teenage boys who's yeshiva mandate camp for the whole summer!

amother

Eggshell

Mon, Jun 17 2024, 8:46 am

My husband is a teacher, so he works at camp and one of my kids goes there for free. The other kid who is camp age goes to another camp (he aged out of this one) and my husband's camp salary pays for that. It's very hard. Other years, I worked at night, so during the day I worked at camp so my kids could go for free and I paid for my stepkids camps out of my camp salary.

Busybee5

Mon, Jun 17 2024, 8:49 am

We are lucky here in the UK. We have vacation now, Shavuos holidays goes on until Thursday! Some of my kids did/do start today/tomorrow but still. We get half terms and mini breaks throughout the year. 10 days also for winter holidays.
The summer is very expensive for us as well, but we have around 5 weeks, not 8. Most families go to a holiday house for a week or 2. We go away for 10 days. Some do send to camp or day camp. I need to entertain my kids the rest of the time. We go to parks, day trips etc. It's not easy and it's expensive! But your system sounds way harder. I think someone needs to change it all up. I'm lucky that I only work during term time. My dh only takes off the amount that we go away for.

Last edited by Busybee5 on Mon, Jun 17 2024, 11:25 am; edited 1 time in total

staten islander

Mon, Jun 17 2024, 8:56 am

We can bh easily afford to send. Our teens work half a summer/ full summer and have been doing so since they were 12/13. It’s not our job to entertain them. They can go for half a summer if they want but they usually prefer to work. It’s very hard that the standard is so crazy

amother

Stonewash

Mon, Jun 17 2024, 9:05 am

How can you afford expenses the entire year?
The same source that gives you the funds for the entire year, doesn't leave out the summer.
Why in your head is summer out of the picture when it is written down on Rosh Hashanah how much money you will have?
If you really know that it's Hashem that is the source for all of your parnossa, then you should also know that Hashem is fully capable of providing you for summer camps as well.
It's in your head that there's a difference. There's no difference to Hashem.
May the Source of all Blessing shower you with shefa so that you can see with your own eyes how He takes care of you.
Don't limit Hashem and decide that he gives you only for 10 months of the year and not 12 or 13.

mummiedearest

Mon, Jun 17 2024, 9:08 am

There are productive things to do other than camp.

Get a job
Take college courses
Take professional certification courses
Learn to garden
Learn to cook
Create a list of personal goals and incorporate those into a daily schedule
Volunteer at shul
Visit a nursing home
Volunteer at other organizations
Explore nature
Take some time to be bored, which has a lot of benefits

One of my children goes to camp some years, but the others do not. When they were little, we did mommy day camp. Now they tailor their time to their goals. We do use a local specialty camp (half day, not a Jewish program) for another child, but not all summer. We also join the local pool for the summer. I absolutely encourage my kids to get jobs, but sometimes they have other things to work on.