(InvestigateTV) — The American Camp Association reports that 26 million Americans attend summer camps each year, but the cost can be tough for many families.
Sara Rathner, a personal finance expert with NerdWallet, said there are many ways to handle paying for summer camps.
She said a lot of camps offer payment plans where the cost is split into smaller amounts over time.
“A lot of parents can turn to a dependent care flexible spending account.” Rathner explained. “You might have used this during your child’s daycare years to pay daycare tuition. But you could also use it for summer day camps for kids aged 13 and under. So that’s a way to set aside an amount of money in pretax dollars and then use that money to pay for data for summer camp tuition.”
She suggested asking about discounts if there are multiple campers and said some camps might even offer an early bird discount.
For those who plan to use a credit card to make the payment, she reminded them to make a plan to pay off the debt.
“Are you going to have to pay this balance off over time, or do you have the savings on hand to pay your credit card bill in all in one go so you could avoid debt completely?” Rathner asked. “If you need to take on debt to afford summer camp, then look into credit cards that have 0% interest promotions because that can help save you hundreds of dollars potentially on the cost of interest payments while you pay off that camp related debt.”
A lot of camps, community groups, and civic organizations offer scholarships for summer camps. Make sure to see what’s available in the local community to help make it more affordable.
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