Budget Buster! No Vacation For Us This Year :(

[momof1princess]

We had been planning a trip to Washington D.C. for Spring Break in late March; yesterday, we found out our heat pump needed replacing. Luckily, our emergency fund covered half the cost, and we were able to finance the rest through our local power company, but now, all we have left is enough to cover our bills for a month in case DH is laid off (he was laid off for 5 weeks last year), so no 2010 vacation for us. It's been very cold in Alabama this winter, so this isn't something we could put off. I don't mean to be a downer, I guess I just needed to vent a little.

 

[kandemom]

Sorry to hear that

 

[Liberty Belle]

We didn't go on a vacation last year, either. We did buy a new house with a nice deck (and we didn't have a deck on our old one), so sitting out on the deck was kind of our vacation.

I'm sorry you had to cancel your vacation. We're hoping to go to Saint Augustine for spring break, but it is all depending on our tax refund, so I may be in the same boat you are.

 

[momof1princess]

We didn't go on a vacation last year, either. We did buy a new house with a nice deck (and we didn't have a deck on our old one), so sitting out on the deck was kind of our vacation.

I'm sorry you had to cancel your vacation. We're hoping to go to Saint Augustine for spring break, but it is all depending on our tax refund, so I may be in the same boat you are.

thanks guys it helps to know we're not the only ones. i am VERY grateful my DH HAS a job, and that my little, WAH job gives us a little extra. i shouldn't complain. there are so many bigger problems in the world.

 

[HeyIt'sMe]

I'm sorry that you had to cancel your vacation.

My Mom always used to say "Life is what happens while you are making other plans". How true, huh?

 

[momof1princess]

I'm sorry that you had to cancel your vacation.

My Mom always used to say "Life is what happens while you are making other plans". How true, huh?

thank you your mother is a very wise woman. it is possible our income tax refund will allow us a day or two somewhere nearby, but DH's W2 hasn't arrived yet, so i'm not pinning any hopes on that, especially since we plan to pay off the other half of the heat pump with our refund.

 

[eliza61]

We're scaling back also. Probably do a lot of local trips this summer. Luckily I live near the Jersey shore so the beach is pretty easy for us to get too. I'm going away this summer with some reservations. My best friend is celebrating her recovery from breast cancer. while she was sick and going through chemo, we (3 girlfriends) planned a trip to Paris to keep her spirits up. It's been 3 years and she finally got a clean bill of health. I was going to cancel but the absolutely great guy that I married told me to go.

I swear we've had to replace every single appliance in my house this year. every thing was 18 years old so I can't complain, it's just these things are so darn expensive now. Jeez, $1000 bucks for a decent refrigerator is crazy.

 

[jessica52877]

You aren't alone. We replaced our heat pump this week and it about killed me! The day before they were coming to install it our dishwasher broke so we got a new one of those too. And a new sink while everything was torn up. UGH! Where is my $$ tree.

 

[momof1princess]

You aren't alone. We replaced our heat pump this week and it about killed me! The day before they were coming to install it our dishwasher broke so we got a new one of those too. And a new sink while everything was torn up. UGH! Where is my $$ tree.

ouch! i hope that is the last of your appliance breakdowns! i'm waiting for someone to call me from the a/c place....my NEW heat pump is NOT WORKING and it's spitting snow out here!

 

[lisaross]

sorry to hear BUT it must have felt good having the emergency fund to pay for it!

We had been planning a trip to Washington D.C. for Spring Break in late March; yesterday, we found out our heat pump needed replacing. Luckily, our emergency fund covered half the cost, and we were able to finance the rest through our local power company, but now, all we have left is enough to cover our bills for a month in case DH is laid off (he was laid off for 5 weeks last year), so no 2010 vacation for us. It's been very cold in Alabama this winter, so this isn't something we could put off. I don't mean to be a downer, I guess I just needed to vent a little.

 

[DawnM]

Sorry.

We have had to replace both of our heat pumps since moving into this house.

Dawn

 

[TxRabbit]

So sorry to hear that you can't afford to go on your vacation. It must be a great disappointment, especially if you have researched and planned.

Have you considered a home-acation? I know it may sound lame, but sometimes it can help. You treat yourself to a life on vacation at home. Maybe don't take as much time off work for it as you would for travel, but try and make a plan that involves some relaxation and some free/inexpensive touristy things to do close to home. It's not the same as daily maid service and not having to cook your own meals, but with the right attitude it can help you feel like you've had that break from work that is so recharging from a vacation, often with the added benefit of good sleep from not having to travel, keep unusual hours, and sleeping in your own bed.

 

[momof1princess]

So sorry to hear that you can't afford to go on your vacation. It must be a great disappointment, especially if you have researched and planned.

Have you considered a home-acation? I know it may sound lame, but sometimes it can help. You treat yourself to a life on vacation at home. Maybe don't take as much time off work for it as you would for travel, but try and make a plan that involves some relaxation and some free/inexpensive touristy things to do close to home. It's not the same as daily maid service and not having to cook your own meals, but with the right attitude it can help you feel like you've had that break from work that is so recharging from a vacation, often with the added benefit of good sleep from not having to travel, keep unusual hours, and sleeping in your own bed.

this is really not a bad idea. a few days off work, sleeping late, no housework, a couple meals out. it could definitely work. we really have no attractions nearby (NE alabama), but just sleeping past 6am would be a treat.

 

[TxRabbit]

I tell you what. Sometimes that sleeping in is the BEST vacation EVER!

How far away is Huntsville? Could you day trip there? I took a quick look at the Alabama tourism site and there are quite of few things in Huntsville that may not be DC quality attractions, but would be similar in scope (historical, museum-like)

These interested me and seemed a good DC alternative:
Alabama Constitution Village
Huntsville Historic Depot
Huntsville Museum of Art
Land Trust of Huntsville and North Alabama
Madison County Nature Trail
Sci-Quest
Twickenham Historic District & Guided Walking Tour
US Space and Rocket Center
Veterans Memorial Museum
Weeden House Museum

Forgive me if you have already thoroughly explored your area, but I have found that unless I purpose to see things like this, I don't. They normally aren't high on the list of things to do, but they all seem to have a DC flavor to me and maybe that would be fun too, taking a day trip and doing something similar to what you would have done.

 

[momof1princess]

huntsville is about 2 hours away from us-not a hop, skip and a jump, but doable. and honestly, i've been to the space & rocket center but had no idea those other things were there!

 

[sweetpeakaris]

I'm sorry, stay positive, things will get better.

 

[momof1princess]

thanks

a little salt in my wound: i was checking out tv shows to watch at 7:00pm, and discovered that "haunted history" was on biography. i turned it on there, and what is it? haunted washington dc! LOL

 

[Suz D]

I don't know a huge amount about it, but would you qualify for a tax incentive if your old one was not energy efficient? That wouldn't help you in the short term, but it would get you some of the $$ back.

 

[momof1princess]

I don't know a huge amount about it, but would you qualify for a tax incentive if your old one was not energy efficient? That wouldn't help you in the short term, but it would get you some of the $$ back.

actually, we could have gotten a $1500 tax credit for next year if we'd paid full price for the unit, BUT, the a/c company offered us $1400 off now, because we bought our prior unit from them 10 years ago, so we said to heck with paying full price and getting $1500 next year, let's get the $1400 off now. i'm hoping for a good income tax refund, so maybe we can still do SOMETHING this summer, but DH's W2 still hasn't arrived.