Affording TPR Group Trips

^A high paying job after college.......

I could have never afforded one during school. I went to Europe for a study abroad program for 2 months, but it was only $5k and included 6 credit hours of class.

Sell your body.

Don't work at Cedar Point, and cut out unnecessary expenses.

It seems like most college and high school age people get a lot of the money from their parents (I said most, not all!). That would never happen to me, because my parents don't agree with the idea in the first place.

My advice would be to live with your parents over summer/winter break, and work in your hometown. That's what I've been doing, and I've been able to save a lot of money. Wait-staff jobs can be money in the bank, and some retail jobs aren't bad.

^So then you're saying at minimum you make $200 a week.

A lot of our younger people that do the trips use their jobs to pay for the trip. Think about it you only need to work 10 minimum weeks to pay for the trip, then one or two more for airfare. Remember if you're not paying rent and bills, your job is pretty much paying for all your stuff you want/want to do.

I still think you're just trying to justify working there. It sounds to me like you could make a lot more staying at home and working at Chick fil a or there and somewhere else.

Everyone in the CP thread told you that you wouldn't make money after going out with friends, paying for meals and the housing, that you would just be doing it for fun.

Plus doesn't CP hold a percentage of your paycheck until a predetermined date as a way to prevent you from leaving?

Seriously, just work somewhere thats near you and that pays fairly well. Try and get a job as a host, they make decent money depending on the place.

If you wanted to work at CP for the experience, then go for it. But you want to be able to pay for a trip, so find a job that will allow you to do that.

I just try and be careful with my money. I live by myself, so the rent/utilities/cable/Internet bills are a bit higher, but I bike instead of drive (I don't spend a penny on gas), work extra hours, and avoid unnecessary spending.

I don't know how things work out at Chik-Fil-A, but at Target, people can specify availabilities and switch shifts with other people. If you get too few hours, see if anyone wants to give some up and if you get too many, offer to give them to people who need them.

You never know, you might get a job at Cedar Point and hate it. They could have you out there emptying the 2000 trashcans. I also wouldn't count on them giving you that many hours. I don't know about state laws there, but in Florida, anything over 40 hours is considered "overtime" and employers try to avoid it if possible.

If you're looking for money CP, or pretty much any park, is not the way to go. You're better off working somewhere near your home and saving money.

I never had extra money in college either, as pretty much all of the money I earned at PT jobs during school or working over the summer went right into college expenses. Most people don't have a lot of extra money while they're in school. Don't feel bad about it.

dt

I'm not a big spender myself, so i have a good balance. And when i'm done with this schoolyear, i'll be working my *** off in Toverland for like 10 weeks.

Honestly, the best way to make money at your age is to get a job at a manufacturing place. If you're the type of person who doesn't mind doing hard/dirty work then the pay is great, and you get consistent hours. The entry level position at my company pays $11.00 an hour, and I'm sure that you could find similar money at a company near you.

I worked the whole time I went to college, was able to not only pay for all of my schooling personally (MUCH cheaper to do in Canada than America though) but still have enough cash to split a new car with my sister and do the Mid-West trip back in August. I'm working full time now and bought my own car ('08 Eclipse!) about a month ago. I'm trying to figure out right now if I can swing the East Coast trip, or do a cheaper one and just have to meet up for awhile on that trip.

In conclusion, don't be afraid to get your hands dirty. Like others have said too cut down on un-necessary expenses and give yourself a realistic budget that you can follow.

You could also check out an area hospital for jobs. When I decided to go back to school, I worked full-time on second shift as an assistant. Sure, it sucked working and being in school all of the time. But I was able to get hospital benefits and after six months employment the hospital paid for part of my school expenses.

Typically, hospitals have a lot of hours they need to cover either in patient transport or a variety of assistive positions. They are always open! The pay is not fantastic, but usually more than your general food services. I know quite a few of the young men in our transportation are merely working there until they get through school. Our hospital will also direct deposit into multiple bank accounts. You could split off part of your pay into a separate account for fun expenses such as a TPR trip. That way you won't miss the funds, but they will be building for future use.

In all honesty however, during my first college experience this would never have happened. I worked a variety of food service positions at school. In the summer, I lived at home and worked at the mall. Everything I made went toward school expenses and housing, but my parents still carried the main weight of expenses. I didn't have to work full-time and wouldn't have enjoyed college as much or done as well as I did if I did work full-time. When I went back to school, I was over 30 and had real life expenses and needs to deal with...it was not an option to not work full-time.

I had about $300 when I started saving up this summer. I get $10 in an allowance which i put toward the trip fund. Basically, I cut all unnecessary expenses in my life for this. No movies, no iphone, etc. As of now, I have about $500 saved for the next payment due next year. For Christmas, I am asking for money only to go towards this trip. I'm expecting to get a significant amount from my grandparents; who are always there for financial support in my family. With that in store I will most likely get more for my 18th birthday in May. In the mean time, I have a "job" by helping my dad with some hard physical labor. Long story short, I get $10 and hour to go under our house (very low clearance) and dig out for foundation repair, and to fix the problem with the smell coming out from under.

But it will be worth it when August comes around!

There are also companies that target college students specifically with shifts that work around class times, and pretty decent wages to boot. I think UPS does this. Check for postings around your campus.

The entry level position at my company pays $11.00 an hour

Which is like $800/hr USD.

Doesn't Alabama have a School of Medicine? Surely there is a hospital nearby that partners, if the school doesn't have their own hospital.

Just from personal experience...

I worked as a waitress in a fairly busy restaurant during college and averaged $500-$600 a week working Wed-Sat from 4-10. It was perfect for me since my classes were over by noon most days and I used Mondays and Tuesdays for night classes if needed.

^^

I went to BAMA many, many moons ago. Go to a councilor, or just go to the Hospital itself and go to the HR department and ask someone. Don't be afraid to ask for help from the people who work there. Also - UAB (I know it's not Tuscaloosa, but Birmingham) has several medical programs (or at least it did in the early 90's.)

As far as affording the trips - I send money each month (makes the deposits less intimidating.) I get $$$ from the folks at Christmas, and use my tax return as well. My partner and I aren't getting each other big gifts at Christmas - we're putting that money towards the trip.

There are alot of good ideas and practices on how to afford the trips in the Ask Alvey thread. Robb and Elissa explain in detail how they afford to go on all of the trips that they go on. I still have alot of fun and live a good life - but I have cut out alot of unnecessary expenses, and save up some money. Paying for the Mid-West tour last year actually MADE me budget my money and has helped me out in day-to-day life as well.

Remember - take it one day at a time, do the next right thing, think before you make any big decisions, don't waste your money, save and budget. It is well worth it, i promise.

David

The entry level position at my company pays $11.00 an hour

 

Which is like $800/hr USD.

Actually about $11.38 USD to be exact.

The days of the all mighty US dollar are long gone.

^ Now you will have to just envy our Guns!

You have no idea how much Canadians love the fact that our dollar is worth more! I heard it went up to $1.10 last week. The majority of us could care less about your guns, we just envy the weather in the southern states.

Good to hear that you decided to do the trip, I can guarantee you'll absolutely love it!

^ It's a mixed feeling though. The high Canadian dollar hurts our exports which all of a sudden aren't as attractive to Americans. The BC pot smuggling has taken a serious hit apparently.

But not to go too off topic. Get a hold of your spending habits, and keep it that way.

I wasn't able to do that. (I've never been able to make myself financially responsible). And now I'm paying the price for it. I've dug myself into a hole which is going to take a long time for me to get out.

I wish I made $8 an hour when I worked at S**t-fil-a, I started at $5.25 and when I left 5 years later I was at $6.15

If you do it right, you can save up some good money from Cedar Point. My first year there I brought home about $1000, which I know I could have done better, but as many others said, you get to know people and hang out with them (not to mention many walks down the road to East of Chicago too!). as far as the overtime thing goes, Cedar Point doesn't have to pay employees overtime because they are seasonal positions, so getting 45-60 hours is not unusual, some people would do their best to get the maximum of 80 hours.

I think that Cedar Point can make money if you are a loner and only like to go ride the rides at the park by yourself and not buy anything except toiletries and two meals a day, but takes half of the fun out of the expirience of the entire summer.

So yeah, it would probably be better to stay home and get a higher paying job, or go with Wes' idea and sell your body.

4 words for you - Alaskan King Crab Boat

Seriously, I never could have done these trips in college. I was too fanatical about not digging a deep hole for myself financially.

Multiple jobs and putting yourself in debt is another way. I wouldn't recommend it, especially with being in college.

I see you're at the University of Alabama...where's home?

The jobs website for Univ. of Alabama-Birmingham Medical System is at:

http://www.uabhealth.org/18775/

which is probably a good place to start if you're planning a medical career in Alabama.

Maybe you could work at Alabama Adventure for the summer!

Best of luck. I was a very poor and indebted college and grad student for a long long time, and my wife was in grad school for a long time too (more than 20 years of grad school between the two of us). Now we can afford to travel, but we don't have any time!

-Martiin