Have you ever gone on a trip you knew you couldn't afford?

[beccasmom]

Before marriage and kids? - yes - once.......after - no.

 

[QueenIsabella]

I guess my thing is not necessarily having debt, but spending money on an expensive trip, when I could be using that money elsewhere. Or running the risk of spending that money on the trip and then needing it later.

Here's another way to think about it: What if, right after you return, you find that you have a major expense. Transmission goes, you need a new roof, your furnace is on the fritz. Would you have the resources to fix the problem? Even if you have, say $1000 in emergency savings, it's not going to cover a transmission, so I can see going into credit card debt for that, with the understanding that you'd have to scale back for a few months to get back on track (pay off the costs, rebuild emergency savings). If the vacation debt is such that you could still manage through such a crisis--even though it would be miserable for a while, then I think you're okay. If the vacation spending would make things so precarious that an emergency would tip you over the edge, I would postpone the vacation until I was in better shape. Life has a way of smacking you upside the head when you least expect it.

 

[QueenIsabella]

Before marriage and kids? - yes - once.......after - no.

This. I didn't mention it, because I don't think the OP has kids. But, kids can be a perfect example of how you can need emergency funds quick. One day, I was at the grocery store--DH was home with the kids--and I get the call. DS(then)3 had fallen off the bunkbed ladder, snapping off the growth plate in his right arm. He needed surgery at a hospital 90 minutes away. When all was said and done, our portion of the bill was north of $5,000--the doctors, the ER, the surgical suite, the anesthetist, etc. And we had good insurance! I think the break was more painful for me than for my son! But, this is exactly what I mean by life smacking you upside the head.

 

[mya1k9]

I work in an ICU and see young people die before their time. I am a firm believer in enjoying life when your here, you cant take it with you and you never know what might happen. That being said, my husband is an accountant and refuses to let us incur any debt, it's a constant battle to get him to go anywhere. So no but I would if the experience meant enough

 

[StacyStrong]

No, not for the most part. But I have splurged on a few meals or items I didn't plan on and not feel guilty. Those may have been outside the budget, but I was able to pay them later.

 

[Hikergirl]

Yes, long ago before dh and I were married. We lived paycheck to paycheck and should have saved but instead we spent.

 

[DisneyWorldbuff]

I booked a WDW bounce back trip years ago while we were on vacation. I got caught up in the Disney mania and didn’t want to go home. By the time we flew home I knew it was a mistake and called and cancelled. It was a “deal” but knew the timing wasn’t right and it was too soon. I can see how people can get caught up in wanting a break from reality and take vacations they shouldn’t. No judgement here, I just couldn’t do it.

 

[wenrob]

No, absolutely not. I grew up in a “rob Peter to pay Paul” type of environment. I just can’t do that to myself. The stress of worrying about having to pay it off would override any enjoyment or relaxation a vacation might provide. I use credit cards out of convenience but I always have the cash on hand to pay them off. If it’s not there I don’t do it. That doesn’t mean if I don’t go on vacation I’m not enjoying myself. The handful of times we couldn’t make a vacation happen we did other, smaller things. The staycation we did several years ago remains on the top of my kids favorite “vacations” of all time.

I guess my thing is not necessarily having debt, but spending money on an expensive trip, when I could be using that money elsewhere. Or running the risk of spending that money on the trip and then needing it later.

For me, saving money for vacation is part of my expenses. I set it aside along with the mortgage, truck payment, power bill etc. As far as possibly needing it later, I keep an emergency fund. Because of the way I grew up the bills need to be paid in order for me to feel secure. A way to pay them above and beyond a vacation needs to be there or I simply won’t do it. That’s me though, everyone has their own comfort level.

 

[MKTokyo]

Never. But this is a difficult question to answer because everyone’s idea of “affording it” is different. IMO I can’t afford it unless I’m paying for it outright (i.e. on a rewards CC that is immediately paid off), AND all other bills are paid, AND I have plenty of money going into retirement, AND I have a sufficient emergency fund... etc. For others “affording it” means available credit and/or spending with no or little savings.

Whatever works for each person is fine bc the goal would be to have no regrets & only you know what’s best for you. If someone feels like they want to live for today & not worry about tomorrow, they can surely do that. Only you know your own financial situation, extenuating circumstances such as the only opportunity to travel with an ill or elderly family member, etc. In that case “affording it” might not be the best criteria to use bc you would surely regret missing a trip like that whether you could “afford it” or not.

 

[FutureDisneyEventPlanner]

Never. But this is a difficult question to answer because everyone’s idea of “affording it” is different. IMO I can’t afford it unless I’m paying for it outright (i.e. on a rewards CC that is immediately paid off), AND all other bills are paid, AND I have plenty of money going into retirement, AND I have a sufficient emergency fund... etc. For others “affording it” means available credit and/or spending with no or little savings.

Whatever works for each person is fine bc the goal would be to have no regrets & only you know what’s best for you. If someone feels like they want to live for today & not worry about tomorrow, they can surely do that. Only you know your own financial situation, extenuating circumstances such as the only opportunity to travel with an ill or elderly family member, etc. In that case “affording it” might not be the best criteria to use bc you would surely regret missing a trip like that whether you could “afford it” or not.

Excellent point. The trip in question I will be paying for outright (I already have the money in a savings account set aside), but sometimes it can be hard to justify spending that much money. I guess I just always worry about the "what-ifs".

 

[Jperiod]

Excellent point. The trip in question I will be paying for outright (I already have the money in a savings account set aside), but sometimes it can be hard to justify spending that much money. I guess I just always worry about the "what-ifs".

I am often plagued by the "what-ifs," but I also know the value of the experiences and memories my family gains from the trip. I balance these by frugally arranging the trip, cutting expenses that don't matter much (like drinking free water instead of soda), finding sales & deals, and compromising (eating out once a day, other meals in the room and/or staying in cheaper timeshares). Knowing I only paid $2000 for a trip that costs most 3x that amount helps me justify the money I spend on vacations vs. saving for something "wiser."

 

[Disneyfan754321]

We can never afford our orlando trips. But we have these fat tax checks. We should be paying down Bill's etc. But no we blow 10,000 in one week. Our two younger kids are experiencing as much as we can. With our older kids we rarely traveled and when we did it was to cities with in 500 miles. They grew up and left

 

[bdiddy]

We don’t necessarily go on a trip when we can’t afford it but we give up things we need around the house or improvements we need to go on a vacation instead. Like our living room furniture is 14 yrs old and we need something new SO bad but every year we use our extra money for a trip instead. We also would like to put a deck on and some other things like that. We just love to travel so much and when it comes down to it, I’d rather have these experiences and memories with my kids than a new couch.

The good thing is though is that I’m going back full time soon so we’ll have money to do both!! I was a stay at home mom for years and worked part time not making much so we had to choose between still taking our awesome trips or things around the house so it will be nice to be able to do it all now!

 

[stephk1981]

We do have debt in the form of a mortgage, I have a year left on my student loan from law school, and we have DH truck payment. We take out 3 year loans for a vehicle. DH gets a new vehicle, we pay it off, take two years off of payments, then I get a new vehicle with a three year loan and so on. So, yes we do have some debt. We pay credit cards off monthly. I set aside a certain amount every month for vacation savings. I have overspent on trips often...beyond what I have saved, but never more than what we can comfortably pay off the next month or two at most. I think I would have gone on a vacation I couldn't afford before I had kids....once I had my first child my way of thinking changed. If you decide to charge a trip maybe get a Disney visa and take advantage of the 6 month promotional payoff no interest. Don't spend more than you'll be able to pay off in that 6 months. Good luck, have fun!

 

[SaintsManiac]

Yes, sure did! My honeymoon to Disney was 10 years ago. Charged it to the game!

I have no regrets. We got a good deal at the time. Paid it off eventually.

There was NO way I was going to delay a honeymoon.

Now I make sure I have enough saved before we go on any trips.

 

[MissManda]

I have and I don’t regret it one single bit. We went through a terrible year where my mother in law had a stroke, my dad had a heart attack (they both survived), and my only sister died at age 29 after spending 10 months in hospital facilities due to aggressive MS. We had spent a lot of our emergency fund traveling back and forth, helping take care of my niece and nephews and assisting family members. We had no money set aside for any sort of vacation but we needed a break. We were at the end of our rope. So we charged everything to a credit and went. I don’t regret it all. I didn’t lose sleep over the fact I had to pay it off later. I knew it would be paid off eventually. Sometimes you have to live a little and do something for yourself just to regain your sanity.

 

[mom2rose&john]

When I was in college and my early 20's I did. Now, I'm in my late 40's and have kids, I do not. I have learned that vacations with kids do not have to be extravagant. An inexpensive lake cottage vacation creates just as good memories as a week long stay (and considerably more expensive) vacation at Disney.

 

[focusondisney]

Excellent point. The trip in question I will be paying for outright (I already have the money in a savings account set aside), but sometimes it can be hard to justify spending that much money. I guess I just always worry about the "what-ifs".

I think “hard to justify spending” is different than your original question of “knowing you can’t afford”. To me, “can’t afford” would mean you will go in debt with no repayment plan or you will need to cut back on or do without essentials & basics if you spend the money. “Hard to justify” would mean you have the money, basics & essentials wouldn’t be effected if you spend it but you might regret spending later because the experience wasn’t worth the price paid. That the money would have been better spent elsewhere. Kind of more like “buyer’s remorse”.

We’ve never taken a vacation we “couldn’t afford” by my definition above. “Hard to justify” vacations? Not at the time we took them, but looking back years later, maybe. We have both worked stressful jobs for over 40 years, paid for our kids colleges & weddings, stayed in & paid off our modest home, bought nice cars & taken many vacations while we saved a reasonable amount towards retirement. Now that we are only a few years away from that retirement, do I wish we would have scaled back the vacations a little? Maybe. We needed them at the time, still do. I don’t regret taking the vacations at all. But maybe spend $500 or 1K less here or there, standard view instead of water view, regular room instead of club level etc. Would those small amounts have made a difference for us when we retire in a few years? Not sure. At this point, nothing I can do about it. And we are still taking the vacations we need & want. I already know that in retirement I will scale back to less expensive rooms, maybe do split stays to make our money stretch a little. Stuff that maybe I should have done years ago.

So if you are already questioning spending for this vacation, what about making a few changes to scale back a bit? Take the vacation, but get it to a cost that is a little more comfortable for you.

 

[Searc]

I guess my thing is not necessarily having debt, but spending money on an expensive trip, when I could be using that money elsewhere. Or running the risk of spending that money on the trip and then needing it later.

 

[Mome Rath]

No way. We avoid debt like the plague, have an emergency fund, and focus on making our money work for us. Most of it is springs from our religious beliefs, as well as influence from how we were raised. The interesting thing is you have to learn all aspects of dealing with money; how to make it, save it, give it, spend it, budget it, etc... so that you aren't running off of fear. There is a world of difference between being a tightwad because you are scared of spending money or learning how to save and spend it with a plan in place... in short, learning how to judge if your wants/needs/fears are rational or irrational is part of the process.

Without seeing someone's whole financial picture it is impossible to say whether or not a certain trip is a good idea or not.