HELP pay in full due in 2 weeks. Need advice!

[Narnia_girl]

None said "Snowball" or "babystep" but I could stll tell.

I'm older. I'll add Larry Burkett that my mom used to listen to on the radio when I was a teen. (he's passed on)

I have to say though that I do prefer the simplicity of DR.
He sure made it all finally click in my head.

Yeah for Larry Burkett! We were able to give up my income and I became a stay at home mom thanks to his financial advice. One of the best decisions of my life! Good financial advice is priceless!

 

[Twofebboys]

I find it fascinating that all the judging posts made a huge assumption that the OP has no safety net savings for emergencies. The whole point of things like that is for EMERGENCIES so it would not be relevant to a post about paying for a vacation. I certainly wouldn't consider my emergency fund to be an option, so I wouldn't include it in my post asking for advice.

Sent from my Tricorder using DISBoards

Of course this would not be an emergency. Anyone who is on a budget plan (let's just take Dave Ramsey's for the sake of an example here) would not either. Especially if you worked to save that 3-6 months of living expenses. For me, that is a security blanket. But, from being that person that lived with student loans and credit card debit that moved to a person that does not have one penny of unsecured debt..(just a mortgage). I know that things were planned with the idea that the money was coming. Not after they had that money in hand. And it is coming, but it is later than they thought. See that is the difference. This causes an incredible amount of stress on the OP and his wife. And he is making really good choices...he said no to borrowing from retirement and no to credit cards. They maybe canceling or downgrading their room.

But, I think where you might be reading some of the posts wrong is they aren't judgmental. No not at all...I think those rallying to help sincerely feel for the OP and his family. Personally, I have been there. It is hard...you want the experiences and memories. But, they simply do not have the money on hand. And sometimes you have to say no. That is the hardest thing because there are so many feelings that come along with that.

I admit...family finances are something I am passionate about. When I look at how my and my family's view has changed, that is why. Also, when I see people struggling around me in my life...you want to reach out and help because you know the difference it can make.

 

[aggroamerican]

I don't think Suzy would allow anyone to take a Disney cruise.

Funny, but NOT true! She did give my friend permission to go! Our family had planned to go on the Dream in July, 2011. We asked our dear friends to go. The wife was on board but her DH told her, " only if you get permission from Suzy." So, she emailed the show and got selected to be on the show! She called in and explained their situation and Suzy said,"YES"! So, she just might approve in certain situations.

 

[NokOnHarts]

Why do people assume if you work hard at saving money that you are being judgmental of others or that you never have any FUN?? There is this misconception that if you want to enjoy your life debt (of some kind) is the only way to make it happen. Wouldn't it make more sense to have the freedom to buy things with cash when you want, not to have to borrow it or live pay check to pay check? When you are in control of your money you have more freedom to do what you want, buy what you want, vacation when you want, not LESS freedom to do these things. This is good advice for anyone.. it's not a judgement, it's not a slap on the wrist, it's a lifestyle that puts you in control of your own life and when people find that it really works, they are excited about it! They want to share it so that others can experience what a difference it makes. I don't see anyone judging, I see people frustrated over knowing there is a better way to achieve what you want in life.

Suzy, Dave and others are simply the public faces that have taken a very basic message "public." If you don't have the dollar, you can't use the dollar. It's not a judgement, it's just a fact. Earn the dollar, wait till you have the dollar, and then spend the dollar as needed.

When my DH was in the military, he used to tell me stories about the young men / women who for the first time were learning that just because they now had a checkbook, didn't mean they actually had money. They couldn't figure out why their checks were bouncing... they still had some left! This is sad to me. Basic money skills and understanding are not something to ignore and / or run from. So many people I personally know are completely burdened because of bad financial choices because no one ever taught them what the heck they were supposed to be doing! It's a basic skill that is so vital to our lives and yet completely ignored by many. To this day, I have family that is terrified of the word "budget." It's a misconception - knowing what is going in and what is going out will only give you more power in the long run, not less.

 

[Jey12]

After reading all the responses in this thread I have to agree with several PP's that said since you are asking how to pay off this trip that OBVIOUSLY means you probably have ZERO in your savings account. I can't imagine paying $2500 to go on a cruise that I could not afford and having no emergency fund or savings account. Not to be rude but that sounds very financially irresponsible.

That seems like priorities are way off base.

I would refocus my energies and all the overtime into a savings account and let friends and family know this trip is just not something you can afford at all.

Rude would be assuming something. Honestly you are the only PP who I see assuming they don't have a savings and their priorities are way off base. Others may have suggested or hinted at it, but then went on to answer the question and not make an assumption about the OP's financial status. I myself am in a very similar situation with almost exactly the same sail dates. For a minute I had to think and wonder if my DH had written the post. You must think we OBVIOUSLY don't have a savings account since we are almost in the same boat. Pun intended. We do have savings and retirement accounts and all of that cool adult stuff you're supposed to have and we have one credit card with a very small available balance, that we do not touch. If we use the CC it is to book and hold a hotel room, rental car or something like that and then it is paid off before any interest is charged. In our case the money we marked in the budget as being for the cruise vacation was from our tax return. Something one should expect to arrive prior to a mid Aug. PIF date. Somewhere along the IRS chain someone did something wrong and we have spent months trying to get OUR money returned to us. At least now we finally know it is on its way but it may be slightly after our PIF date. We too have had to decide if we should cancel and hope for a GTY booking, book again at full price after the PIF date or just cancel the trip.

OP it sounds like you are making a good decision to downgrade at least and then go from there. I would not suggest getting a new CC, or touching any form of savings you may have to pay for the trip until you actually have cash in hand.

The choice we have made is we refuse to touch our savings, retirement or add CC debt for a vacation. Lucky for us we plan on surprising DD and our family who is already PIF the day of the cruise so we won't be letting anyone down but ourselves if we have to cancel. If they did know I still would be making the same decision. DD might be upset but we feel it's best for her, even at a younger age to learn sometimes things don't work out and they stink, but you have to live within your means and stick with the budget you've set for yourself. So we will wait right up until the day before the PIF date, and if there's not a check in the mail that day we will cancel so we can retain our full deposit. When that check does finally arrive we will book the hotel and prepay ourselves for gas. Thankfully we are driving down so that does make things a bit easier by not having to mess with airplane tickets. Then I will obsessively check the website to see if last minute deals are offered. If they are we will snag one as soon as we can. If not we may have to pay a bit more to book, and we will lose some onboard credit more than likely. For me it seems like a small price to pay if we have to pay a bit more later, than mess with our savings or other areas that are not meant to pay for vacations. Because we choose to live this way and by these financial rules does not in any way mean we don't have savings or a retirement fund and it would be rather rude of someone to assume so.

Good luck OP and hopefully some pixie dust will come your way like it has ours on getting things figured out! 3 days ago I had no clue when or if the IRS would finally push a button agreeing they were in the wrong and get our money back to us. Today it's all coming together. Hope it works the same for you and you can enjoy a great trip.

 

[NokOnHarts]

In our case the money we marked in the budget as being for the cruise vacation was from our tax return. Something one should expect to arrive prior to a mid Aug. PIF date. Somewhere along the IRS chain someone did something wrong and we have spent months trying to get OUR money returned to us. At least now we finally know it is on its way but it may be slightly after our PIF date. We too have had to decide if we should cancel and hope for a GTY booking, book again at full price after the PIF date or just cancel the trip.

Sounds like you have a great attitude / plan about the whole situation as frustrating as it is! We had that happen last tax season, I called every stinking month on the day and finally got our return in the month of October! You bet I didn't waste one more minute, drove to the bank that second. Such a pain for sure. Hopefully the money comes through for both cases here.

 

[lilpooh108]

Funny, but NOT true! She did give my friend permission to go! Our family had planned to go on the Dream in July, 2011. We asked our dear friends to go. The wife was on board but her DH told her, " only if you get permission from Suzy." So, she emailed the show and got selected to be on the show! She called in and explained their situation and Suzy said,"YES"! So, she just might approve in certain situations.

Seriously? She let her go?

I'm scared of Suzy Orman. That lady scares the bleep out of me. I usually cringe when I watch but it's SO FUNNY when she starts yelling at people about what they can't afford.

I haven't watched in a while but one segment I saw, a lady called in to ask whether she could buy a cow.

 

[TheWescotts]

OP here...

aaaaand yesterday the AC unit stopped working. I think it is either the fan motor or compensator. Either way it is gonna cost $$ to get fixed. That is what the emergency fund is for.


For more information for the finance oriented We do have an emergency fund. We want this cruise paid before we go, not credit. My job is such that I get a small salary plus large commissions. The commissions come when deals close and can be sporadic. The fall is normally a really good time for them. My commission double at a certain level. My next one will get me to that level. That will come at the end of the month, or beginning of Sept.

My wife works 1 day a week and keeps the kids. She can work up to full time if she needs to/they need her to. Which right now they do. Just 4 weeks of her working extra shifts is enough to pay off our cruise balance.

So it is not like we are being totally irresponsible here (maybe a little) Our monthly expenses for living are not that bad. Cars are paid off, mortgage is under $1,000/month.

again Thank you everyone. We told one of the couples last night that we are going to cancel and hopefully rebook. So please, send your prayers and pixie dust our way!

 

[Twofebboys]

OP here...

aaaaand yesterday the AC unit stopped working. I think it is either the fan motor or compensator. Either way it is gonna cost $$ to get fixed. That is what the emergency fund is for.

For more information for the finance oriented We do have an emergency fund. We want this cruise paid before we go, not credit. My job is such that I get a small salary plus large commissions. The commissions come when deals close and can be sporadic. The fall is normally a really good time for them. My commission double at a certain level. My next one will get me to that level. That will come at the end of the month, or beginning of Sept.

My wife works 1 day a week and keeps the kids. She can work up to full time if she needs to/they need her to. Which right now they do. Just 4 weeks of her working extra shifts is enough to pay off our cruise balance.

So it is not like we are being totally irresponsible here (maybe a little) Our monthly expenses for living are not that bad. Cars are paid off, mortgage is under $1,000/month.

again Thank you everyone. We told one of the couples last night that we are going to cancel and hopefully rebook. So please, send your prayers and pixie dust our way!

Ugggh, sucks about the air conditioning. Ours does right before we left for the beach.

I just gotta say you are ROCKING it! And I am just going to go out on a limb and predict that you are going to take a fabulous vacation on a big ship very soon!

Best wishes...

 

[Mystery Fan]

OP here...

aaaaand yesterday the AC unit stopped working. I think it is either the fan motor or compensator. Either way it is gonna cost $$

Do you ever wonder if Karma is trying to tell you something?

 

[crisi]

OP here...

aaaaand yesterday the AC unit stopped working. I think it is either the fan motor or compensator. Either way it is gonna cost $$ to get fixed. That is what the emergency fund is for.


For more information for the finance oriented We do have an emergency fund. We want this cruise paid before we go, not credit. My job is such that I get a small salary plus large commissions. The commissions come when deals close and can be sporadic. The fall is normally a really good time for them. My commission double at a certain level. My next one will get me to that level. That will come at the end of the month, or beginning of Sept.

My wife works 1 day a week and keeps the kids. She can work up to full time if she needs to/they need her to. Which right now they do. Just 4 weeks of her working extra shifts is enough to pay off our cruise balance.

So it is not like we are being totally irresponsible here (maybe a little) Our monthly expenses for living are not that bad. Cars are paid off, mortgage is under $1,000/month.

again Thank you everyone. We told one of the couples last night that we are going to cancel and hopefully rebook. So please, send your prayers and pixie dust our way!

When it rains.....

My dad worked on commission when I was growing up - he only got paid quarterly commissions - he EVENTUALLY figured it out, but it took until after I was grown up for him to manage not to run out of money by the end of the quarter - basically he eventually put enough aside that he had an extra quarter of "low year, low season" commissions he could dip into. It was a tough way to grow up and had a HUGE impact on my own financial life - I never wanted to live like we did for the last two weeks of the quarter - with no money for a movie if you got invited by friends, eating cream of mushroom soup over egg noodles.

Good luck.

 

[NokOnHarts]

So sorry OP! I hope it still works out for you to go. I think you are making the right decision though, with everything happening it's best to cancel and then rebook when you can. We will have all our $ saved up before our trip payments are due since it's still a year away but even with that being the case, if there was a huge repair needed for the house or some other large emergency, the trip would get postponed. Even if it's all "in the bank" sometimes you have to postpone to take care of life. Hoping it works out for you despite all the roadblocks.

 

[CruznLexi]

Last year I lost my job of nearly 14 years. I was to say debated. I had a 4 night dream cruise booked that I had done the week before for a FL rate. I had some CC bills I paid off with my 401k so I became debt free a wonderful feeling. Every 2 weeks at least if not every week I put money into a savings account it is mostly for travel and other things that happen in life. I also put $100 on a cruise every month and slowly it gets paid. My husband gets no vacation time and I do not get any until Oct so if we go we have to cover our days off. I work extra shifts at my job to help cover the winter when my husband does not work much we also own DVC. We are needing to get away he has had 2 off days since May but our friends want to go away in Feb during president week which is high cruise prices. There is nothing open for DVC at this time. So we are having to make decisions but trying to use the least amount of money for a cruise get away. Final payment is due next week and we will not be going on that. So must change. Other things in life can happen A/c unit blows out on car $1250, don't use all your money for the cruise and not have money for later. Even if it is just a few months.