How do you afford this sport?

[edfdiver]

how about bonaire for $825 plus airfare for a week

 

[CBulla]

It could cost upwards of $375,000 to raise a child and put them through college.

I'm not sure who comes up with these numbers, but I think they interview yuppies who pay for nannies and and such. Honestly, other than the fouled up economy raping the budget with prices of staples, most of which we'd buy anyway, the only real cost was diapers which is a short term. All of the rest of the costs are nominal unless you've got a kid with special needs or requires some sort of medical assistance for life. If they want to go to college, its about planning, investing, and scholarships! My kids, I'll send them to tech school first so they know how to do something before they waste time at a University.

My real question/contribution ot the group is this: Since, it seems, the vast majority of us dive locally and, perhaps take an occasional exotic trip (that would be a vacation for 6 of us in my case!- Eeek!), WHY are the dive magazines made up of 90% "reviews" (read: "Marketing") of exotic places? It drives me nuts. Is there a really good magazine out there with great content, good, technical reading aimed at improving tenchniques and broadening a diver's horizons without wading through page after page of photos of places I will not be able to afford to go to until my last child exits college and I'm probably ready to retire?! My wife loves looking at the pictures... but for me, I lost interest & cancelled my subscription.

This is precisely why I don't subscribe to the printed dive Koolaid. Pretty pictures I can already see on the net, limited information, waste of resources, and they only talk about places that are tourist destinations. I live in a 'destination', I know what they're like, I don't want to go dive in someone elses pee pool.

This is where I have to toss some kudos to some of ScubaBoards advertisers and the folks who are marketing the board. Most of these ops are off the beat an path or a little non-traditional and eco friendly people, and know that by the time you ring them they know you've done a LOT of reading and research and you'll get bang for your buck. OTOH more shops are on SB as active members and you'll nearly always find some sort of information on your local diving!

 

[Jaksonbrown]

It is a matter of priorities.... My wife and I decided a year ago that we wanted to live on the ocean and be able to boat and dive regularly... So we made the decision and necessary sacrifices and moved to Everett washington... Puget Sound is only a 10 minute drive........ Its paradise.....

 

[bowlofpetunias]

It is a matter of priorities.... My wife and I decided a year ago that we wanted to live on the ocean and be able to boat and dive regularly... So we made the decision and necessary sacrifices and moved to Everett washington... Puget Sound is only a 10 minute drive........ Its paradise.....

yep... have top agree there.... beautiful country. Figure I am spoiled tho.... like the diving in Sydney too much.... but some of the locals find it cold guess it is what you are used to

 

[Buoyant1]

Prolly gonna drive down next year if vacation time allows, that way I can hit more than one site. Although a friend of mine got 29$ air to somewhere in Florida (thinking FT Lauderdale) just this past October so....

Never been to Bainbridge...sounds, delightful

Hard to beat $29. airfare (or even frequent flyer miles)

We did the drive two years in a row now (and stayed for two weeks) and really didn't HATE the drive at all. (XM radio and good college football games help to pass time!)

Bainbridge is unique...stuff to see (but hard to see in the 3-5 ft viz) But it's wet, deep and 20 minutes from my house. It makes diving in Florida THAT MUCH better! Dives that some people down there will complain about are great!

 

[bowlofpetunias]

Hard to beat $29. airfare (or even frequent flyer miles)

We did the drive two years in a row now (and stayed for two weeks) and really didn't HATE the drive at all. (XM radio and good college football games help to pass time!)

Bainbridge is unique...stuff to see (but hard to see in the 3-5 ft viz) But it's wet, deep and 20 minutes from my house. It makes diving in Florida THAT MUCH better! Dives that some people down there will complain about are great!

Interesting it seems you get two kinds of divers....

The ones that think their local diving is better than anywhere else (good on you)

The ones that think anything that doesn't involve a long trip is just not good enough

I think learning to appreciate your local stuff and getting to enjoy something different every once in a while is what keeps it fresh for me.

 

[GeorgeC]

I'm not sure who comes up with these numbers, but I think they interview yuppies who pay for nannies and and such. Honestly, other than the fouled up economy raping the budget with prices of staples, most of which we'd buy anyway, the only real cost was diapers which is a short term. All of the rest of the costs are nominal unless you've got a kid with special needs or requires some sort of medical assistance for life. If they want to go to college, its about planning, investing, and scholarships! My kids, I'll send them to tech school first so they know how to do something before they waste time at a University.

This is where I came up with the numbers:
Cost of Raising Your Child
Cost of Raising a Child Calculator | Tools | BabyCenter


Here's what you're likely to spend to raise a child:
$418,702
(Before you despair, remember that your income is likely to increase over time!)

Click on each category to see what's included in the expense. Note that you can change the annual amount you plan to spend on each category or the age at which you expect each expense to start or end and then recalculate your total.

Expense Start Age End Age Annual Cost
Housing 6677
Food 2428
Transportation 1982
Clothing 757
Healthcare 965
Childcare/Education 1837
Miscellaneous 1867
College 30367

Cost for first year (excluding college) is $16,513
Total cost is $418,702

There you have it!

 

[Grover48]

I have found that there is always money for what's important. I can economize here and there to come up with the $115 to do a 4 tank dive in the Channel Islands in Southern California. We can do the economy route and take the camper to live in, $25 to stay in a campground. Or we can do the high dollar thing, motels, restaurants with fine dining. One way is $200 for a weekend and the other is $600.

The true low buck way is to grab the gear, drive to the coast, do 2 shore dives, eat at a fast food place, and drive home. Total cost for a days dives is under $100.

Yes, diving is that important.

My cell phone service is $70 a month with the data package. That can be several tank fills if I just dive at the local lake. I can always find money for air fills. LOL

 

[M.HARDY]

I'm no millionaire and won't be...I just bit the bullit and bought my own gear over time.
The idea is for me to Dive...it doesn't matter where cuz the water is just as wet up here in Vancouver Canada as it is is in Cacun or Hawaii. For me the idea is to get out and dive.
Wait for the deals to come along..pay attention..ask questiopns and you should be just fine
Good Luck & Happy Diving!!
M

 

[SDiggy]

I happen to have a job which I do some periodic travel. Some of the places I go have some decent to excellent diving, so I bring my gear with me if I get a chance. Also, I plan on using my frequent flyer miles for a future dive trip. And, as a number of people have stated earlier, I'm starting to get into local diving.