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Forum
-> Household Management
-> Finances
Are you able to afford summer camp and expenses?
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| I am BH able to afford summer camp and expenses |
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31% |
[ 41 ] |
| I am not able to afford summer camp and expenses but I send anyway |
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51% |
[ 68 ] |
| I am not able to afford summer camp and expenses so I dont send and dont spend |
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16% |
[ 22 ] |
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| Total Votes : 131 |
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amother
Sienna
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 Mon, Jun 17 2024, 9:24 am
I don't have boys. I send my teen for a short specialized sleepaway camp (yay tizmoret shoshana!) that I feel is actually worth it and we pay spread out out. my other girls I keep home with me. we go to parks, library programs, do crafts but I'm a SAHM....
a lot of my daughter's friends are working half a summer in backyard camps that they are running.
also, where we live the foundation gives money towards the first year of sleepaway camp, and less the second. it also gives money for summer in israel. we had a government program that could be used for daycamp the past two or three years but only for 6 and up and it's easier for me to keep my older kid home if I have a kid under six.
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amother
Daisy
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Mon, Jun 17 2024, 9:28 am
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We send to the cheaper camps. Ask for scholarships when needed. Once kids are too old for day camp they get a job if possible. There are many backyard daycamps who will hire 11 year olds as assistance. This is my last summer doing camp for my older kids. It is insanely expensive. Bh tax returns is covering this summer. But barely. I already told my older kids this is their last summer as campers.
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amother
DarkRed
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Mon, Jun 17 2024, 10:02 am
| amother Hosta wrote: | 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. |
How do you get discounts? You ask the camp?
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amother
Sapphire
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Mon, Jun 17 2024, 10:38 am
I don't have teenage girls. I have two teen boys. One of them is in mesivta, so he only has one half "available" for camp. He is working as a JC in a large boys' camp, as he did last year, and he loved it. He did want to go to sleepover camp several years ago, Covid year, and we signed him up because due to his personality there was really no other option...and then Covid hit and he ended up being stuck at day camp but so were a lot of his friends who had originally wanted to go to sleepover camp...I'll be honest, it was mainly due to finances although we blamed it on Covid. B"H since then he's been pretty much working, which is a huge relief. He's actually a great JC.
My next son is going into mesivta this year, so he has the whole summer free. We're splurging on a teen day camp for half the summer, and he's working the other half in the same camp as his brother. I'm not sure how it will go...he's great with really little kids, but all of those camps are run by girls in our community. I really hope he'll be okay with the elementary-aged boys he'll be watching. He's very responsible, just not so counselor-y.
My other kids are still in smaller, typically backyard, daycamps. One of them is still home with me (I work from home, hopefully it will still work).
I'm sorry, my kids know that sleepover camp is very expensive. Even my oldest, who begged for it, offered to pay for part of it, and he even went so far as to offer to do things that we'd normally pay other people to do (mow the lawn, etc.) to make up for it. This was AFTER we told him he could go -- he just felt badly it cost so much.
It's even harder, though, since everyone sends, even people who obviously (based on this poll) don't have the money for it. If we all stopped sending and had our kids work or at least go to local sports camps, it wouldn't be so hard for those of us who try to say "no" so we don't blow all our money on something that really should be a luxury...
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bestme
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Mon, Jun 17 2024, 10:59 am
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Some camps let your kids go for free or discount if you call them and say that you cannot afford it and your child is willing to work ANY job that the camp wants. Can the kid joins the camp program for part of the day and works really hard the other part of the day.
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amother
Hosta
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Mon, Jun 17 2024, 11:03 am
Definitely
But the camps I send to have scholarship forms. Even the camp that said no scholarships initially I asked anyway and they gave me a major discount.
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amother
Sienna
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Mon, Jun 17 2024, 11:05 am
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for those who send even though they can't afford. what does that mean, that you are just in a lot of debt because of it? do the rabbanim who require it for the boys realize this?
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amother
Topaz
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Mon, Jun 17 2024, 11:06 am
I consider it very important for my Lakewood mesivta boys to go to camp. I see many boys who stay home and get counselor jobs, but there is nothing for them to do from 4pm-midnight, and from 8am-12 when the job starts. No chavrusos. No structure. And I see many get into trouble.
I work a few extra hours a week and I put it away specially designated for camp for that.
For teenage girls, I think it's important but not as crucial. Because there's more available at home for them.
And in my world, it's very common to work half the summer and go to camp the other half, pitching in towards camp.
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amother
Hosta
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Mon, Jun 17 2024, 11:11 am
| amother Topaz wrote: | I consider it very important for my Lakewood mesivta boys to go to camp. I see many boys who stay home and get counselor jobs, but there is nothing for them to do from 4pm-midnight, and from 8am-12 when the job starts. No chavrusos. No structure. And I see many get into trouble.
I work a few extra hours a week and I put it away specially designated for camp for that.
For teenage girls, I think it's important but not as crucial. Because there's more available at home for them.
And in my world, it's very common to work half the summer and go to camp the other half, pitching in towards camp. |
I do not allow my sons to stay home in the summer from about bar mitzva age. They don't like it but they know I won't budge. They belong in their yeshiva camp with other bochurim, davening in minyan, a proper learning schedule with added fun, trips, sports, etc.
Girls also need a good schedule but like you said, it's not the same.
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mha3484
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Mon, Jun 17 2024, 11:13 am
| amother Topaz wrote: | I consider it very important for my Lakewood mesivta boys to go to camp. I see many boys who stay home and get counselor jobs, but there is nothing for them to do from 4pm-midnight, and from 8am-12 when the job starts. No chavrusos. No structure. And I see many get into trouble.
I work a few extra hours a week and I put it away specially designated for camp for that.
For teenage girls, I think it's important but not as crucial. Because there's more available at home for them.
And in my world, it's very common to work half the summer and go to camp the other half, pitching in towards camp. |
This is my issue too. We provide nothing for boys in the evening. Girls have a million night camps boys maybe get an hour of masmidim. My son lost his mind last year so we are doing sleepway even though its not easy to pay for. I cant keep him home again. IMO its a real failure that we cant provide structured fun for boys who cant or dont want to go to camp.
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amother
Sapphire
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Mon, Jun 17 2024, 11:56 am
| mha3484 wrote: | | This is my issue too. We provide nothing for boys in the evening. Girls have a million night camps boys maybe get an hour of masmidim. My son lost his mind last year so we are doing sleepway even though its not easy to pay for. I cant keep him home again. IMO its a real failure that we cant provide structured fun for boys who cant or dont want to go to camp. |
I provide this structure for my kids if they need it. I've organized a group of my son's friends and hired someone to give them a shiur at night. They can prepare b'chavrusa beforehand and then attend the "shiur." Yes, it costs money, but split between a group of parents, it's nothing compared to sleepover camp.
You can have them work with their rabbeim to come up with a good goal for the summer, such as chazaring what they've learned a certain number of times, or learning something new on their own. You can encourage them to set up chavrusas on topics that they're interested in but wouldn't learn in yeshiva. Or to attend shiurim at night (and yes, that requires setting up a carpool). All of these things are so much easier if you have several boys that are home and are in the same friend group. But there's no reason to complain that no one offers something for these boys...instead, brainstorm what will work for your son and make it happen. You can even ask a local sofer or someone similar if he can give classes to the boys. Let them learn a skill that they may use one day in the future!
(I do have one son who I cannot see these things working for, so I'm not saying this is the answer for all boys. But for my others, who WANT to be productive, it's definitely a good option.)
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kermit
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Mon, Jun 17 2024, 2:47 pm
my parents couldn't afford overnight for more than 1 summer per kid. so I worked.
I was off the wall adhd , btw, so yes, overnight would have been good for me but oh well -- other things can be good for a person to, like responsibility and learning to live with disappointment 
Sure, I wished I could go, but I couldn't. and there were other girls in my grade living that reality.
Some girls were mothers helper so got to go up highly discounted. other girls worked with me as a day camp counselor. we had good fun. I made money, some I saved for sem every year, some I bought myself treats and a camera etc.
kids can work. c'est la vie.
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amother
Daffodil
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Mon, Jun 17 2024, 3:06 pm
My boys, Lakewood Mesivta age and up work the one half they have off.
They prefer doing that and being part of staff than being told what to do as a camper.
Works for me because they earn some money and it doesn't cost me anything.
They usually get home much later than 4. They're always staying late to prepare for the next day or chaperone a trip or many other things.
Staff has bbqs some nights. We have a pool and sometimes we'll host as well.
I don't find that my boys are bored. They are bombed and exhausted when they get home. It's great.
My oldest is out of mesivta age and he works in a sleep away camp. He loves it! They dream about this all year.
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amother
Azalea
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Mon, Jun 17 2024, 3:41 pm
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I work twelve months a year forty hours a week unless you volunteer to come entertain I have no choice. But I choose well and my children are happy and well balanced. And not an iota spoiled
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amother
PlumPink
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Mon, Jun 17 2024, 4:57 pm
I voted the first option. We can BH BH afford it in that we are not in debt. But we also don’t really have any savings and can’t buy our own house we’ve been dreaming to do for years.
It’s just how it is. When my oldest boy was ready for camp I didn’t want to send him the full summer but it is what it is because there’s no jobs for a 12 year old boy in my city and I work full time.
My daughter isn’t ready for sleepaway but she will probably get a job half and half camp because there’s less of a need for girls imo. (In my community anyway).
And yes we make payments for 8 months of the year towards camp and expenses.
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amother
Blonde
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Mon, Jun 17 2024, 5:24 pm
People just do it going into debt too or borrowing to send because after a certain age it’s hard to have nothing structured after camp or working.
My parents prioritized sending my brothers before us but we all got 1 half sometimes working there.
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small bean
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Mon, Jun 17 2024, 10:30 pm
It's not expenses now is what I mean. By the time the summer comes, tuition and camp is paid up. Summer expenses to me, is what I pay for in the summer.
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amother
Khaki
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Mon, Jun 17 2024, 10:46 pm
Camp is costing me an absolute fortune!
Im sending 2 to sleepaway camp, 8th grade son is 4200, full summer, 10th grader is only 1900 for half summer, 2 elementary kids are 1200 each, total ,this is for lakewood day camp, transp is about 200 each, out of lakewood, 2 dif daycamps.
And Im keeping my 2 youngest home.
I put everything on our card and did a payment plan for sleepaway camp, divided over 6-9 months..
So 9,000 for summer, just camp, its ridiculous.
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amother
Milk
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Mon, Jun 17 2024, 11:48 pm
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I don’t send to sleep away camp. Can’t afford it. I send to daycamps BH I live in Lakewood and can get away with it
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