Being Financially Responsible

[tinkarooni]

You are not alone. Many families I know are embracing the idea of a staycation this year and we are one of them. We traveled to Disney this past September and we knew that we were not going away this summer, we are waiting until next summer.

So we started planning early and when Nana asked what the family wanted for Christmas we told her season passes to the local water park. At $49.99 each it fell perfectly within her gift budget and we now have unlimited fun for the summer for free. Honestly the kids didn't need more stuff cluttering their rooms so this is perfect. They are very excited. DH and I have still planned two weeks to take off together and we are going to do local stuff as well as probably multiple trips to the water park and probably a couple of meals out. We're just taking the eating out from the food budget, packing picnics for the water park and probably add a camp out in the back yard night. Last year we invited other families to camp out with us and made a big party of it. Cost was cheap, some hot dogs and the fixins for smores.

We are also a family that goes to the library once a week.

I remember summer when I was a kid was playing outside until the lightning bugs came out, swimming in the moonlight and having really dirty feet all the time from being barefoot. Those are happy memories for me, I hope to allow my kids the time and freedom to make some of their own too.

Good Luck!

 

[Pigeon]

We go to WDW every three or four years tops, and it's the only real vacation we take. I don't feel deprived in the least--for me it's about being a responsible adult.

We have no debt other than a small mortgage and one small car loan, we are ahead of plan on our retirement, and are socking away money for our kids' college education.

 

[blanq]

Sometimes it's hard to say "no" to your head when your heart wants to say "yes" to a vacation. I am right there with you. My family had planned on a WDW trip for this Oct. Last week, our furnace died and we spent over $5K to replace it. We had to dip into our emergency account to pay for it, and although we still have a nice chunk of change in that account, DH and I know we need to save up over the summer to replace what we took from that account. That means that our Oct trip will no longer be a reality. It is a hard pill to swallow, but we know it is the right thing to do and we know WDW will be there for us when we are ready to visit. Sometimes it is hard being a grown up!