Same here. I am standing firm on no new purchases until our one year
DVC anniversary in March which will come soon enough.
Now if I fall in love with riv and/or poly after staying soon I can see that being more difficult, but the good thing is we dont need more points yet so I dont feel all crazy like before lol. It is a little pressing to me to buy something for direct benefits though.
I dont want to go to Aulani without the benefits if im going to be buying direct anyways, but since we're planning for June, around the march time is good for us too.
Im not sure if they raise the price every January like they did this year, but thats going to piss me off if they do

I think our anniversary is a good time because home property tax season and dvc dues season will be done and I would be free to pay off rapidly and be OK if unexpected expenses happen like the one you mentioned.
I am tempted to get into an October UY to cover fall and December travel without my December UY hampering my ability to walk, but I am not going to go there today
