How do you afford day camp

Simple1

Thu, Aug 11 2016, 11:02 am

First you have to define luxury - and that will be a very wide range. Camp is not a luxury in the way that a five star cruise is. It's not even really like high end clothing, furniture and accessories.

Camp is just a way of keeping things structured. Some families need this. If you can do without it great.

Art and music lessons can also be considered a luxury, but many invest in it because of the benefits. On the other end, there are luxuries that are pure luxury without practical benefits, like paying for designer names.

Chayalle

Thu, Aug 11 2016, 11:07 am

Amelia Bedelia wrote:

How much are the Lakewood camps?

I'm paying about $1000 for 9 weeks of daycamp for my 8-year-old DD. I ditched the backyard option last year, because I work full time and the shorter day, coupled with no transportation, was getting too complicated for me.

Honestly, I wish the full-time daycamps were a bit less shticky and cheaper, like they used to be. I could do without my DD having so many shows, and after-hours trips, and a bit less hype...for less $$$. It sure would be easier on my budget.

middlechild

Thu, Aug 11 2016, 7:10 pm

I put away money from tax returns and pay with credit cards and hope for the best! Honestly it is so overpriced (maybe cuz of all the competition to up the program) and they barely give you the 8 weeks while summer vacation is 11!

Ruchel

Fri, Aug 12 2016, 7:30 am

Some camps will take whatever you can pay (often Chabad - no I'm not).

If not, I send to camps held by young girls etc, much cheaper. Send every other day? Half day?

saw50st8

Fri, Aug 12 2016, 8:27 am

gold21 wrote:

When I was growing up (in the 90s) camp was considered standard and a necessity; it is not a new-fangled luxury item.

Heres my take on luxury vs necessity: Sanity is a necessity, we all have to know ourselves and what our sane selves can handle. Everyone has a different threshhold and comparisons are unfair, and judgey comments are even more unfair.

These are luxuries in my view: You need a nice chandelier for your living room? Well, no you dont, not if you can barely afford it. Its a luxury item. A basic lightbulb would do the trick. And would not impinge on your sanity either, unless you suffer from lightbulb-itis. You need matching clothes for all your kids? Not really, not if you can barely afford it, unless you suffer from Mismatched Kids Syndrome.

On the other hand, camp- its not something that people do to keep up with the Joneses or impress their neighbors. They send to camp because they truly deem it necessary for their family, even when money is tight.

As an example, I am up a large part of the night with Baby and with household stuff that I cant get to during the day; the nap I take after the kids are out to camp in the AM is what keeps me functional. Im sure there are things in your life that you could not manage without, we all value our sanity (hopefully) and know what we can handle and what we cannot, and being told that we should be able to manage better wont change anything.

Of course there are levels of luxury and day camp may or may not be as luxurious to some families as a nice light fixture in their dining room. That doesn't mean it's not a luxury. It also doesn't mean you shouldn't spend money on camp. There are plenty of luxuries I pay for. Let's take school lunch as an example. For me, it helps my sanity. So I pay through the nose for it. However, I can't consider it a necessity in any way shape or form. I budget for it and spend the money on it. Other people could care less about getting school lunch and instead send their kids to camp or pay for cleaning help or hire a gardener or whatever their chosen luxury is.

Are there kids who absolutely need camp? Yes, and that is a very small percentage of kids. Are there kids from benefit from camp? Absolutely! Is it something each family should pay for? Well, that's up to the individual circumstances. My husband and I both work full time so we absolutely need camp or a form of child care. We splurge on a Jewish camp that provides busing and hot lunch rather than sending to the cheaper non-Jewish town camp. That's a choice we make and I recognize that it's a luxury. We are looking at our finances for next summer and considering if we can afford to send all our kids to Jewish camps or if we are going to move some to the cheaper camp. If we want to send them to the Jewish camp, we need to sign up for the early bird special by the end of August.

saw50st8

Fri, Aug 12 2016, 8:28 am

Chayalle wrote:

I wish camps were that cheap here. We send our kids to a camp that is $2400 for 8 weeks. It's the cheapest full service Jewish camp around here....meaning full time hours.

Chayalle

Fri, Aug 12 2016, 9:41 am

saw50st8 wrote:

If we want to send them to the Jewish camp, we need to sign up for the early bird special by the end of August.

Whoa! That's crazy!

amother

Chartreuse

Fri, Aug 12 2016, 9:42 am

Chayalle wrote:

Whoa! That's crazy!

I work there Smile

Chayalle

Fri, Aug 12 2016, 9:44 am

amother wrote:

I work there Smile

No offense meant but....how on earth are people supposed to plan out next summer so far in advance? It gives me a headache just to think about it....

Fri, Aug 12 2016, 10:06 am

Chayalle wrote:

No offense meant but....how on earth are people supposed to plan out next summer so far in advance? It gives me a headache just to think about it....

Lots of camps have discounted pricing for early enrollment. Vacation rentals and schools have similar practices. This allows seasonal businesses to have the cash flow they need for off-season work.

If your kids love their camp and both parents work so you need some kind of full-time program, why wait? It gives me peace of mind to know I will not have to scramble for child care at the last minute.

Chayalle

Fri, Aug 12 2016, 10:30 am

cm wrote:

In Lakewood, discounted early-bird type of pricing takes place in like, February.

saw50st8

Fri, Aug 12 2016, 11:19 am

Chayalle wrote:

Whoa! That's crazy!

Yep! But it's a difference of hundreds of dollars per kid, so we do it.

We know we need camp for next summer unless I somehow win the lottery and quit my job, so our applications are in by August 31 :-)

Maryann

Fri, Aug 12 2016, 11:22 am

cool where do you live?

happy12

Fri, Aug 12 2016, 11:40 am

"Here in BP, most day camps are at most $850 for all 8 weeks. Personally, I'm paying $575 for DD2 preschool day camp, and about $750 for DD1 elementary age (different camps), for the entire summer. DS is a lot more. How much are the Lakewood camps?"

That may be for chasidish day camps. The not chasidish ones are more than $1400 per child.

amother

Maroon

Fri, Aug 12 2016, 11:54 am

I am in flatbush paying 1000 a head for preschool camp 9-3 Its 8 weeks.