<p>Do not feed the trolls.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I doubt apple tours, for even its less than top-of-the-line resort packages, offers the kind of boat experience you had 11 years ago!
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</p>
<p>And I doubt most people who go on apple tours would want it! It was, to quote my mom, "camping on a boat." I'm still a bit astounded by the people on this thread who seem to equate Carribbean vacations with extreme expense and luxury, though. But then again, I guess my experience wasn't the norm.</p>
<p>DadII isn't living paycheck to paycheck, as we understand the term. He just has a big pot of $$ tied up in a CD that he doesn't want to bust into. </p>
<p>We had a friend who had a similar problem. He put his money into a CD that would mature in August of the year that his kid would be going to college. What he didn't realize is that many schools want the money for the fall semester in JULY! Lesson learned.</p>
<p>Now that DadII has burned into his brain the timing of semester tuition payments, he can plan accordingly.</p>
<p>I'll bet that his college will give him one free bite of the apple and not charge fees if he calls.</p>
<p>question_quest,
I agree, your boat-people experience doesn't sound like the norm. Most caribbean vacations we've taken (we've been on 4) were fine. Most had nice facilities (some less nice than others but all perfectly fine) with pretty beaches, good restaurants, and hot and cold running water! The food/drink in the all inclusive resorts are usually not as good, but its all you can eat, so for the kids, quantity made up for quality.</p>
<p>There was an item on the national news the other day that due to the economy, the travel industry was offering incredible deals, especially on cruises. If you can afford it, now is a great time to go, from what I heard. If you can't afford it (ie cant pay your bills on time) don't go.</p>
<p>Dad II portrays himself as someone who is living from paycheck to paycheck. He makes it sound like he is financially in a hardship situation. For anyone who reads his posts, this is just plain not true. It is DAD II's perspective, and I haven't yet heard anyone who agrees that he is a hardship case, is low income, or needs to worry about the late fee Stanford will be charging him.</p>
<p>Dad II...you goofed...you missed a deadline. Just pay the bill and the late fees, and be more careful about the next deadline. Coming here and whining about your poor cash flow with the things you say you have spent money on recently (vacation and SB800) are not a way to gain much sympathy. Just pay the bill, and be thankful that Stanford gave your kid the fine need based financial aid award she got. Your balance due would be MUCH higher if that were not the case.</p>
<p>DadII-- if you want sympathy, you need to BUY AMERICAN to support our troubled economy. Next time, a Ford F-150 pickup and a trip to Biloxi.</p>
<p>What I still don't get about this situation is how DadII can get a $10,000 EFC out of $120,000 (or thereabouts) income with enough assests to put a large amount in a CD? Really, it boggles the mind.</p>
<p>You don't need a large amount to put into a CD these days. We did it because we didn't want tuition money sitting in a money market fund that's not FDIC insured. Our CD matures about a week before the next tuition bill is due.</p>
<p>Maybe, he does not understand the term "living from paycheck to paycheck" exactly. I know when I first came here I thought "wall to wall carpet" means the wall had carpet. I spent hours arguing with the other person on the phone that he had cheated me into signing the lease. :D</p>
<p>I think what DadII described could technically be considered living paycheck-to-paycheck (i.e., few or no quickly liquifiable assests). What I'm still confused about is how someone who "lives below [their] means" (something to truly be applauded--no sarcasm at all!) on a $120,000 income (or thereabouts) can have $10,000 EFC, but I guess it's really none of my business.</p>
<p>Blossom, 58F at night for the thermostat? I do 40F at night, and 58H during the day unless the kids are home and we splurge with a roasty toast 64F ;) </p>
<p>The sad thing about the Dad II financial aid at Stanford is that a few years ago when we were looking at the same school, before all the new fancy guaranteed aid for families with certain incomes, some one with a lower income would have a higher Profile EFC. I wonder if my kid were a senior now there would they be under the new aid program or the one they started with? How about people who graduated a few years ago and have huge S loans, but would now have a much reduced debt- very sad when you are the one not helped. I know many Pell grant recipients who pay more at a UC than Dad II is paying at S. Not his fault, just the way the system works, not only do a student who gets into Ivies/Stanford/etc benefit from the prestige/connections/reputation factors plus the theoretically better education, but they can come out with less debt too, than the poor BWRK who is at a UC (may I have some cheese to go with my whine?)</p>
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<blockquote> <p>$120,000 income (or thereabouts) can have $10,000 EFC>></p> </blockquote>
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<p>Stanford uses the Profile to compute need based aid. They have a very generous need based financial aid award policy...not all that different from that of some of the Ivies. Students with an income level below a certain amount are guaranteed need based tuition aid of a specific amount. In addition, Stanford has a "no loans" finaid policy, I believe. Their awards are all free money (grants) or work study. </p>
<p>Of course the first hurdle any student has is to get accepted at Stanford which is no easy thing to do. Dad II's daughter jumped that hurdle herself. The generous need based policies of Stanford made it a good value for the money for the Dad II family. </p>
<p>To be honest, I don't begrudge his daughter that aid. What I have an issue with is his constant whining...constant...about his poor financial situation. I have a lot of trouble with this considering his discretionary spending as HE reports it, AND the fact that HIS college bills are really quite small relatively speaking. He is likely paying less than most families pay for their instate flagship U. AND his daughter is at one of the most costly and terrific schools in the country. Be grateful...quit whining.</p>
<p>Too funny : <<i know="" when="" i="" first="" came="" here="" thought="" "wall="" to="" wall="" carpet"="" means="" the="" had="" carpet="">></i></p><i know="" when="" i="" first="" came="" here="" thought="" "wall="" to="" wall="" carpet"="" means="" the="" had="" carpet="">
<p>Oh my, I thought I was bad <<i do="" 40f="" at="" night,="" and="" 58h="" during="" the="" day="">>
I do 60 at night and 64 during the day. In the summer I set it at 83 and live in my basement when it's really hot (even cooler down there)</i></p><i do="" 40f="" at="" night,="" and="" 58h="" during="" the="" day="">
<p>I can vouch for cheap cruises. My BF and I went on a 10 day cruise to Canada/New england for $1200 total for both of us including tips and transportation to the cruise port in NYC. I spent 0 on board, no alcohol, spa, gambling. Spent maybe $45 on land for souveniers.</p>
<p>That said, I'm spending the other 15 vacation days that I have at home (yes, I get 26 vacations days a year and we can't cash them out)</p>
</i></i>
<p>Sue, I do love it when the kids come home and we crank it up to 65F!!! And I do use a space heater in my home office, for some reason electricity for that is way cheaper than gas for the house heater! No need for any cooling in the summer around here!</p>
<p>I'm remembering how my kids learned that you have to manually set the temperature on the thermostat. It was unseasonably warm, so they turned on the a/c. The thermostat was set for heating the house in the AM. By the time I walked in, the temperature was down to 72 and falling. </p>
<p>I never did check to see what that little glitch did to our electric bill. </p>
<p>Anyway, back to the OP: did anyone else get a vibe from his original post that his D was reminding him to pay the tuition bill because maybe he has a tendency to forget to do things like that?</p>
<p>When my kids were toddlers I set the thermostat at 60 deg when it got really cold - below 10 deg outside. I put sweaters on them and kept their shoes and socks on, made bread in the oven and they were toasty.</p>
<p>Living paycheck to paycheck = not having savings to fall back on. It means you are one paycheck away from missing your mortgage and three paychecks away from losing your home and electricity. Not fun, been there. done that.</p>
<p>Slithytove-
Hard to tell from the way the OP writes what the exact verbal exchange might have occurred between him and his daughter. But if memory serves me, he was ready to wring her neck last year when she put scholarship applications off til the last minute, which makes me think that he's pretty on top of deadlines when it comes to $$ issues. Anyone else notice that we haven't heard the result of his phonecall to the Bursar's office today??</p>
<p>Countingdown - If you did not read my earlier post, you might want to take it into consideration. I basically did the same thing... had a CD come due right about the time tuition came up. Perhaps you have some sort of way to expediate the check (I could have for a fee of $35 I think), but even then our bank put a five day hold on it.</p>
<p>Last CD I had, so I don't have to worry about making this mistake again.</p>
<p>I always find DadIIs posts inspire the most intriguing threads; I will admit I do wonder if he is actually simplistic and sincere or putting us on, but they do provide entertainment without usually going the snarky hostile way of some other controversial postings</p>
<p>I think things get very hostile and borderline disrespectful towards DadII. Anything he posts about sparks a feeding frenzy of people criticizing him. Makes me want to keep my head down.</p>