Advice re very strict budget, hotel shuttles/Lynx buses and food

[Guest]

Originally Posted by Universal VR

Of course it’s just your opinion but I am 59 and OH is 53, we do parks most days. I went with my daughters last year for 10 days and we did parks every day and thought nothing if it. Oh and I have arthritis in my back. It’s not stupid if it’s what you want to do.

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I don't think PP meant it was stupid doing all the parks, they meant bookings park tickets for absolutely everything and then only having £500 left for all food, transport and incidentals for two people for two weeks.

[Elodie]

Originally Posted by Universal VR

Of course it’s just your opinion but I am 59 and OH is 53, we do parks most days. I went with my daughters last year for 10 days and we did parks every day and thought nothing if it. Oh and I have arthritis in my back. It’s not stupid if it’s what you want to do.

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Don’t worry, the post above yours just said that it was stupid to book tickets for every park for a 10 day trip, nothing about visiting parks every day. And it was in the context of ending up with no money for food and other necessities, which doesn’t sound like it was a problem for you.

The bit about being 50+ was just that you’d think people of that age would have the maturity and sense to stick to a sensible budget. It wasn’t a suggestion that 50+ is too old to do the parks.

[Tco200]

Good luck to them I can’t imagine I’d enjoy it too much having to budget that much and worry about every expenditure but being their honeymoon I’m sure they will be on a huge high

As an aside when we got married 10 years back we were flying to Florida for our honeymoon days later, ended up with loads of cash and dollars from guests - never had more spending money since!

Now we take about £1000 for 4 of us, we rarely leave Disney and have the QSDP so it’s all just extra spends and would never go without a backup credit card (or two)

[Elodie]

Originally Posted by Tco200

Good luck to them I can’t imagine I’d enjoy it too much having to budget that much and worry about every expenditure but being their honeymoon I’m sure they will be on a huge high

As an aside when we got married 10 years back we were flying to Florida for our honeymoon days later, ended up with loads of cash and dollars from guests - never had more spending money since!

Now we take about £1000 for 4 of us, we rarely leave Disney and have the QSDP so it’s all just extra spends and would never go without a backup credit card (or two)

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This is a very good point. We’ve been to a couple of weddings where the couple have already got everything they need in the way of ‘normal’ wedding gifts, so they’ve requested money towards a honeymoon instead. Given that this couple are in their 50s, it’s unlikely they need toasters, kettles, etc, so maybe they’re doing the same? Perhaps the £500 is just the basic budget, before wedding gifts are added on. So maybe they’re just figuring out how to manage the basics on £500, so that anything else will be a bonus.

[Goofy3075]

Originally Posted by Ridersmom

I cannot imagine you will be sent home while still needing treatment nor would a hospital try to keep you from leaving the country.

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I spent 6 nights in the Celebration hospital in 2010. My medical bill was $30,000.00. I saw the hospital putting a local woman in a taxi with chest pains after they had examined her in a waiting room as she had no insurance or any way for her treatment. The first thing the hospital asked me for was a credit card. 5 minutes later I was in a gown being examined. They kept taking 10% payments on my card whilst they sorted my medical insurance. As we had to delay our flights by a week, Virgin were great and charged no extra fees, however, once they knew the reason, they needed approval by the doctor who treated me to say I was fit to fly, before I was allowed to fly home. So the hospital may not keep you from leaving the US but your airline might.
I now take several credit cards to the US, just in case.

[Guest]

Originally Posted by Elodie

This is a very good point. We’ve been to a couple of weddings where the couple have already got everything they need in the way of ‘normal’ wedding gifts, so they’ve requested money towards a honeymoon instead. Given that this couple are in their 50s, it’s unlikely they need toasters, kettles, etc, so maybe they’re doing the same? Perhaps the £500 is just the basic budget, before wedding gifts are added on. So maybe they’re just figuring out how to manage the basics on £500, so that anything else will be a bonus.

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I am 50 next birthday, if I were getting married, as I don’t need kettles or toasters, I would tell guests no gifts! I would not expect to be getting money as a gift at 50. Nor would I ever give a 50 year old a gift of money, actually I would only consider a money / gift card present for a child.

[duchy]

Originally Posted by Claudette

I am 50 next birthday, if I were getting married, as I don’t need kettles or toasters, I would tell guests no gifts! I would not expect to be getting money as a gift at 50. Nor would I ever give a 50 year old a gift of money, actually I would only consider a money / gift card present for a child.

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I don't particularly like the fashion of giving money as wedding presents (and don't get me started on naff poems on the invitations themselves lol) but when we got married last year I was surprised to get gifts of money as we didn't expect any gifts at all. Most couples who get married nowadays are already sharing a home so the kettles and toasters are pretty redundant regardless of age though .
That said , a couple I knew weren't comfortable and having a first trip to Florida as a honeymoon I'd give dollars as a gift as I know (maybe better than them) how much it'd be needed so a practical gift.

[Elodie]

Originally Posted by Claudette

I am 50 next birthday, if I were getting married, as I don’t need kettles or toasters, I would tell guests no gifts! I would not expect to be getting money as a gift at 50. Nor would I ever give a 50 year old a gift of money, actually I would only consider a money / gift card present for a child.

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Sorry, I should have said that in both cases, the requests were worded as no gift necessary as they had everything they needed, but since people had been asking to give them something, money towards a honeymoon would be gratefully received. (It was worded better than that, so that it was clear they really would prefer to receive no gift at all - but I don’t think anyone could have turned up empty-handed to a wedding, so it was good to know there was something that would be gratefully received.)

Perhaps you’re right that we should have turned up without gifts / tried to find something they hadn’t requested but would still like (and actually I did buy each a little wedding memento to go with the money as I didn’t like turning up without a physical gift.)

I honestly don’t have horrible people in my friends and family!

[DreamDisney]

Originally Posted by Goofy3075

I spent 6 nights in the Celebration hospital in 2010. My medical bill was $30,000.00. I saw the hospital putting a local woman in a taxi with chest pains after they had examined her in a waiting room as she had no insurance or any way for her treatment. The first thing the hospital asked me for was a credit card. 5 minutes later I was in a gown being examined. They kept taking 10% payments on my card whilst they sorted my medical insurance. As we had to delay our flights by a week, Virgin were great and charged no extra fees, however, once they knew the reason, they needed approval by the doctor who treated me to say I was fit to fly, before I was allowed to fly home. So the hospital may not keep you from leaving the US but your airline might.
I now take several credit cards to the US, just in case.

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Yes, on that note (can't remember if I mentioned this up thread already), but one of my colleagues went on holiday to spain whilst pregnant with her first child. No indications of any possible prior issues, but she went into premature labour (which they managed to stop). In a spanish hospital for 6 weeks on bed rest until they decided she was stable enough to transfer to a UK hospital. But no chartered airline would fly her. Too risky for them. So her insurance paid for a private jet, with a private medical team on board to get her home.

All in, her £15 (roughly) insurance policy saved her £100k! Imagine the bill if it had been the US!

[ERICSMUM]

Even a small medical issue would eat into their £500 budget.

A few years ago I had to see a doctor when I had earache and swollen gland in my neck. Took him 10 minutes to diagnose strep throat, give me painkillers and anti-biotics for an ear infection and to confirm I could fly home (in 2 days time). Total cost was just under $400.

If I’d only had £500 for the whole 14 days but had spent most of it by the last but 2 days, with no credit cards, I would have been in real trouble.