Canceling our October trip.

[preschoolmom]

Can you call just reinforce that I'm doing the right thing?

We haven't been to Disney since Feb 2007. We do have an extended family trip planned for June 2010.

I really wanted to take the kids to MNSSHP (DH and I, too - we just love Halloween), and stay at POP (we haven't stayed there before). We have free dining. The trip is honestly very reasonable...

BUT. We need to have the outside of our house painted. We need some landscaping. We need window treatments. All of the Disney trip money could be used for other things...

So, I think I'm going to cancel it. Try to look forward to our off-site, extended family trip in June.



That's the responsible thing to do, right? We wouldn't charge the trip - we don't do credit like that. Our finances truly are in order, but we would be dipping into our emergency fund to go at this point. A Disney trip isn't an emergency, right?

Thanks. I know you budget boarders will be brutal (in a good way!).

 

[minnie_michelle]

As hard as it is, you are doing the right thing.

 

[disneyfan55]

You're doing the right thing. An idea can be to make it your family Christmas present and put it on the Disney Visa if the children are old enough to understand that. It can be paid interest free and if it's truly a good deal shouldn't be that much each month for 6 months! Just a thought.

 

[Louiepipbgeeco]

Smart move. Another deal will come along and Disney isn't going anywhere.
You are wise not to use credit. You still have the June trip to look forward to.

 

[Kickapoo Joie Juice]

Can you call just reinforce that I'm doing the right thing?

We haven't been to Disney since Feb 2007. We do have an extended family trip planned for June 2010.

I really wanted to take the kids to MNSSHP (DH and I, too - we just love Halloween), and stay at POP (we haven't stayed there before). We have free dining. The trip is honestly very reasonable...

BUT. We need to have the outside of our house painted. We need some landscaping. We need window treatments. All of the Disney trip money could be used for other things...

So, I think I'm going to cancel it. Try to look forward to our off-site, extended family trip in June.



That's the responsible thing to do, right? We wouldn't charge the trip - we don't do credit like that. Our finances truly are in order, but we would be dipping into our emergency fund to go at this point. A Disney trip isn't an emergency, right?

Thanks. I know you budget boarders will be brutal (in a good way!).

Yep, we've had to cancel a few trips when life got in the way. We found we felt better not going rather than taking the trip anyway and feeling squeezed. We just wait until the savings are where we need them to be again, and it works out.

We've also shortened trips-we had a trip in April that went from 8 days to 4, and not once did we regret making that decision. So that's a possibilty for you, also.

I may not be the most balanced person to offer this advice, though because we still don't have a dining room set, because we just end up using money to go back to Disney rather than decorating that room (we have a big kitchen table). So I may have my priorities slightly (but happily) skewed...

 

[Harters2WDW]

We cancelled our October trip too....it would be to celebrate DD4's birthday. But with another kid on the way and wanting to get ahead, it just wasn't fiscally responsible (plus, we just went in March). It makes us sad (especially as we are approaching the dates to send in our payments), but it's the right decidion in the long run! You'll fell that way too.

 

[preschoolmom]

I may not be the most balanced person to offer this advice, though because we still don't have a dining room set, because we just end up using money to go back to Disney rather than decorating that room (we have a big kitchen table). So I may have my priorities slightly (but happily) skewed...

Well, they call that personal finance If we were deciding between a dining room set and our trip, that would be a no brainer. Really, though, our house needs some maintenance, so that needs to come first.

 

[Disney Lifer]

But I'd have to disagree on cancelling the trip. The way I see it, it's more important to give our kids great experiences and memories rather than getting window treatments or planting some flowers. Experiences are what make us up as people. Your kids will look back in 25 years and remember the fun times they had with their family not new shutters that were put on the house that would then be falling off. I know from a personal standpoint I have vivid memories of the great times I had the first time I went to Disney at age 4. I can't tell you if we painted any rooms that year though. As a father of 3 under the age of 5, aside from their health what i wish for them most is to have plenty of experiences and fun. And to a preschooler Disney world is just that. That being said if the things needed around your house were for safety or you had a leaky roof or something sure that's more important. But our kids are more important than aesthetics.

 

[disney*mom*82]

I agree with Disney Lifer. But, really it is a personal decision. Everytime we go to Disney there is something else we could be spending the money on. We have an upcomming trip in Sept, sure we could get work done on our house, but we feel like we all deserve a family vacation. The kids are only this age so long and we get so busy with our lives that it is nice to go somewhere together where you can put all your business aside and be a family and have a blast. This is how we look at it. Your family may see it from another view and that is just fine, do whatever your family feels is right.

 

[Kickapoo Joie Juice]

Well, they call that personal finance If we were deciding between a dining room set and our trip, that would be a no brainer. Really, though, our house needs some maintenance, so that needs to come first.

Yeah, your home is your biggest investment, you need to make sure you maintain it, totally with ya there.

One year we had two tv sets die on us within a month (both were oooooold), and I had to stand there and stare at the smoking set for about 20 minutes before I could decide if I could go without tv for a few months or if I was giving up a short trip to Disney that we had planned.

Yeah, there was no way I could make it that long without tv (I know, I'm demented and sad!), so the trip went poof, because that was our discretionary income for that time.

 

[Traveliz]

The children along with the home are big investments both emotionally and financially.

I get the house needing to be painted (if its peeling), landscaping not so much and window treatments are again a decoration generally speaking (of course you would want them if you don't have them or should consider them if they will improve your energy efficiency) but I think a trip with the kids is something to consider as well.

Liz

 

[kathie859]

OP--since you are already having second thoughts--I think you know what to do. Cancel the trip if that's what is right for you.

I'm with Disneylifer, though, when it comes to the importance of shared family experiences being more important than drapes . I am sure the OP has lots of family experiences and will look forward to the June trip even more. I'd just think of it as more time to make the experience magical for my family

 

[StitchandPooh'sMom]

Sorry you might have to cancel your trip! I personally wouldn't dip into the emergency fund for a trip, but only you know your finances. Is there not anywhere else you can cut back to save enough over the next few months to make it happen? If not, enjoy planning for next June - it's not that far away. We are likely not going until next August, assuming no major changes in our finances. It seems like forever, but I am having fun planning just the same!

We've been in our house four years and the only window treatments I have are blinds, except for the dining room. I'd much rather spend that money on Disney. But I totally get the need to paint - maintenance is a higher priority than decorating or travel.

 

[savannahcat]

I guess I agree with Disneylifer too. I was just thinking a few days ago how much stuff around my house could stand to be replaced, but isn't because I've chosen to spend that money at Disney instead. We could definitely use new towels, shower curtains, throw rugs, and we have 1200 sq feet of carpet on our 2nd floor that is looking really worn out. We also haven't replaced the mulch in our landscaping in over two years. It's obviously a personal decision, but I don't think my kids care much about carpet or mulch right now.

 

[KAMKIM]

cancel the June trip for next year - fix up the house then.

 

[VAN]

You're being an adult and making the right decision to cancel the trip. If you didn't have the June trip scheduled, it would be a harder decision to make.

However, I think it is a no-brainer for you to cancel the Oct trip and spend the $$ getting your home in order.

 

[Ava]

Ordinarily I'd agree with Disney Lifer that experiences are more important than things. BUT... since you say you'll need to dip into your emergency fund to take the trip, I think cancelling is the right thing to do. Especially since you have a trip planned for next June. Plan a trip for MNSSHP 2010 - set up a savings goal so you'll have the cash saved to pay for the trip and not have to dip into savings or emergency funds.

 

[crusoe2]

I agree that if the work on your home is needed from a safety/maintenance standpoint - you're doing the right thing. We had some projects that needed doing this summer but thought we had enough stashed away to cover that and a trip. Well, of course after we went on the trip, both vehicles have to go into the shop (major $$$), the roof starts leaking, I find out I have a couple of cavities (darn it, haven't had those in years), etc, etc. So there goes a huge chunk of our extra money (we don't label the extra for one purpose or another - just try to stash away as much as possible and keep a nice buffer zone). Now the bank account is lower than I'd like and some of that work still needs to be done. Oh well.

But now, if the work is mainly for decoration - well, maybe I'm not the best person to offer advice about that. I'm perfectly content to furnish and decorate the house with hand-me-downs, flea market finds, and such. I get a lot of satisfaction from being creative with that stuff and knowing that I got a deal. And it's part of the reason we can (usually) afford Disney.

One thing tho - I may be wrong but you don't sound terribly enthused about the offsite trip. We've done our last couple trips offsite - DH really wanted to give it a try so I agreed. I definitely enjoyed certain aspects of it but I've decided I'm just an onsite person. Staying offsite just makes me want to go back that much sooner cause I feel like I missed so much. So we've decided that, for us at least, it's definitely cheaper to just go every couple of years and splurge a little by staying onsite. For us it makes for a more satisfying trip. Just something to think about.

 

[TnTWalter]

OP. I know it stinks. It's hard. I wish money wasn't finite! LOL. The next WDW trip will be wonderful.

Kids under 5 will NOT remember these trips. Please. If you want to take it great, but it irks me when people say 'they're only young once and you're building memories'. They will not remember. Only by pictures and stories. When they're that young, don't worry if it's not in the budget because of other pressing items.

On that note...let me also make my point that kids don't care if they go to WDW or not. They want time with mom and dad whether it's at a campground, having a water balloon fight at home, or a really expensive trip. Do not use 'memories' to justify spending money if you don't have it available for whatever reason. I had a WONDERFUL childhood and I never once went to WDW.

My family has been to WDW 3 times [LOVEd all 3] but my kids ALWAYS talk about our camping trips more. Or they talk about the night it rained really hard and we decided to dance in it. Or washing the cars to funny music played full blast....just being with me and hubby focused on them and not work, computer, chores, etc.

On that note, I need to get off the computer and hug my kids!!

 

[NancyIL]

If you are in credit card debt, need the money to meet basic living expenses, or need to make repairs due to safety issues - then I would cancel the trip. Personally - I wouldn't cancel the trip because I needed new curtains or landscaping. How much does it cost to paint a house? There will always be other things you could use vacation money for - but "stuff" for the house is low on my list of priorities.