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This is why we spend our money on Disney World and other experiences for the kids instead of saving for college. That might be a controversial idea, but we'd ra

This is why we spend our money on Disney World and other experiences for the kids instead of saving for college. That might be a controversial idea, but we'd rather have them grow up with a fun childhood instead of just making it to a university, feeling empty and hollow inside, and have it all just be some lotto ticket anyway.

linkregister 9y ago
I think you underestimate the cost of college or overestimate the cost of Disney park tickets.
- nsxwolf 9y ago
  If I'm underestimating the cost of college then all the more reason to spend the money on something else. For all I know a 4 year degree will cost $500k in the next 10-20 years. I have 4 kids. Do the math.
  - j-c-hewitt 9y ago
    It already costs nearly that at some 'elite' universities. And it's not worth the money if you purely consider it as a financial investment in most cases.
- betenoire 9y ago
  The tickets are a drop in the bucket of the total cost for a traveling family vacation. And it IS hard to save and spend at the same time.
  - nsxwolf 9y ago
    Yup. The airfare, hotels, restaurants, and souvenirs cost an absolute fortune. You can do alright with their budget friendly resorts but still. It's so much fun though.
tertius 9y ago
Because Disney world fills up all emotional unhappy holes... Rather give them a secure and happy family than materialism.
- TeMPOraL 9y ago
  > Rather give them a secure and happy family than materialism. GP's comment sounds like that's precisely what they're doing. They're using the money to give their kids a fun and memorable childhood.
- nsxwolf 9y ago
  This is extremely uncharitable. What makes you assume my children do not have a happy home life? Do you honestly believe having money to do interesting and fun things growing up can only be a negative? I'm choosing to not sacrifice all sorts of opportunities so that they can grow up with an austere existence and get a probably worthless loan-free college education. You do you though!
  - tertius 9y ago
    You're right, I misread and commented too quickly. My reply was a lot more generic than your comment warranted. I'm sorry about that.
jdmichal 9y ago
I'm going to relish my first parent-teacher meeting in elementary school. I think that homework at that level of schooling is absurd, and there are studies to back it up. That age should be about exploring the world and its relationships. Locking children away for 6+ hours at school with the minimal recess they're permitted now-a-days, and then tack on an hour or more of homework at home? Sorry, I'm reserving that time for my child to have healthy play time.
- noir_lord 9y ago
  Same, though it's my step-son not my son (he's 7), his mum gets stressed about his reading level and math proficiency (both of which he's in the higher level for anyway) while I find the whole thing ludicrous, I was explaining probability to him the other day while we where playing cards and he grokked it. I grew up in the 80's in the North of England (not a time our schools shone) and but for a single good teacher I'd have ended up in the equivalent of the remedial group (likely for the rest of my school career), she understood that the reason I wasn't learning wasn't because I wasn't capable but because I wasn't interested, she realised I liked science and computers so she binned the assigned books and got me reading about those instead. 30 years later I have a solid career as a programmer and I still love science. This "teach the test, pass the test, teach the next test" style of schooling is fucking absurd, Daniel had to study for SAT's for FFS. Standardised testing at 7 is insane, just the way school years are broken up means you have kids nearly a year apart in age at that age so the variance from that is huge.
  - otakucode 9y ago
    One might be tempted to think that our schooling systems which were designed and optimized to provide workers for the manufacturing world might need some retooling for an age in which the world has little use for rule-following folks content to stand on a line pulling a lever all day...
    - noir_lord 9y ago
      One might, One might also wonder how the government feels about teaching children to be creative (a skill required in current and future economies) without breaking the rule following. Most governments are happy with rule-following drones who do as they are told and pay their taxes.
kbutler 9y ago
We did that - and our kids were sick of Disney and amusement parks by the time they were teenagers. They'd much rather do beach, national parks, etc. Big win, in my book!

linkregister 9y ago

I think you underestimate the cost of college or overestimate the cost of Disney park tickets.

nsxwolf 9y ago
If I'm underestimating the cost of college then all the more reason to spend the money on something else. For all I know a 4 year degree will cost $500k in the next 10-20 years. I have 4 kids. Do the math.
- j-c-hewitt 9y ago
  It already costs nearly that at some 'elite' universities. And it's not worth the money if you purely consider it as a financial investment in most cases.
betenoire 9y ago
The tickets are a drop in the bucket of the total cost for a traveling family vacation. And it IS hard to save and spend at the same time.
- nsxwolf 9y ago
  Yup. The airfare, hotels, restaurants, and souvenirs cost an absolute fortune. You can do alright with their budget friendly resorts but still. It's so much fun though.

tertius 9y ago

Because Disney world fills up all emotional unhappy holes... Rather give them a secure and happy family than materialism.

TeMPOraL 9y ago
> Rather give them a secure and happy family than materialism. GP's comment sounds like that's precisely what they're doing. They're using the money to give their kids a fun and memorable childhood.
nsxwolf 9y ago
This is extremely uncharitable. What makes you assume my children do not have a happy home life? Do you honestly believe having money to do interesting and fun things growing up can only be a negative? I'm choosing to not sacrifice all sorts of opportunities so that they can grow up with an austere existence and get a probably worthless loan-free college education. You do you though!
- tertius 9y ago
  You're right, I misread and commented too quickly. My reply was a lot more generic than your comment warranted. I'm sorry about that.

jdmichal 9y ago

I'm going to relish my first parent-teacher meeting in elementary school. I think that homework at that level of schooling is absurd, and there are studies to back it up. That age should be about exploring the world and its relationships. Locking children away for 6+ hours at school with the minimal recess they're permitted now-a-days, and then tack on an hour or more of homework at home? Sorry, I'm reserving that time for my child to have healthy play time.

noir_lord 9y ago
Same, though it's my step-son not my son (he's 7), his mum gets stressed about his reading level and math proficiency (both of which he's in the higher level for anyway) while I find the whole thing ludicrous, I was explaining probability to him the other day while we where playing cards and he grokked it. I grew up in the 80's in the North of England (not a time our schools shone) and but for a single good teacher I'd have ended up in the equivalent of the remedial group (likely for the rest of my school career), she understood that the reason I wasn't learning wasn't because I wasn't capable but because I wasn't interested, she realised I liked science and computers so she binned the assigned books and got me reading about those instead. 30 years later I have a solid career as a programmer and I still love science. This "teach the test, pass the test, teach the next test" style of schooling is fucking absurd, Daniel had to study for SAT's for FFS. Standardised testing at 7 is insane, just the way school years are broken up means you have kids nearly a year apart in age at that age so the variance from that is huge.
- otakucode 9y ago
  One might be tempted to think that our schooling systems which were designed and optimized to provide workers for the manufacturing world might need some retooling for an age in which the world has little use for rule-following folks content to stand on a line pulling a lever all day...
  - noir_lord 9y ago
    One might, One might also wonder how the government feels about teaching children to be creative (a skill required in current and future economies) without breaking the rule following. Most governments are happy with rule-following drones who do as they are told and pay their taxes.

kbutler 9y ago

We did that - and our kids were sick of Disney and amusement parks by the time they were teenagers. They'd much rather do beach, national parks, etc. Big win, in my book!