truth telling

[fairytalehaven]

Do you tell your sig other how much the room actually cost or just book it and tell them how much the total trip cost?

My husband hates spending more than $100 for a hotel room. I would love to stay at the Deluxe the more I look at them. this will probably be the only time we go until we have kids. We figured our trip would cost us around $1500. But we are only going for 4 nights now and then going to the beach. So, we can do it in our budget. but I think if he knew how much the deluxes were he would flip his lid.

 

[HayGan]

DH has no idea of what our Dec trip is going to cost He isn't paying for it and it would only cause him angst. So I'll just pay the bill and let him enjoy our $250+ a night room at the Poly

 

[mamalle]

yes I tell dh but he doesnt always ask since I do a few trips a year with just the kids when he is on shift. he knows me and trust me in the "what we can afford dept"

 

[EthansMom]

Yes, I tell my DH but he doesn't listen. He and I are pretty much in tune with our spending habits and we both agree the staying at a Moderate is a good compromise between price and comfort for us. We would rather spend more days at WDW, then spend the money on a Delux resort, but that's us.

Yes, I'm completely honest with DH.

 

[snowy76]

My husband hates spending more than $100 for a hotel room. I would love to stay at the Deluxe the more I look at them. this will probably be the only time we go until we have kids. We figured our trip would cost us around $1500. But we are only going for 4 nights now and then going to the beach. So, we can do it in our budget. but I think if he knew how much the deluxes were he would flip his lid.

First, I always tell. That being said, I entice him with a great rate.

How flexible can your DH be?
Two suggestions I have: are either of you a teacher, nurse, or government employee? They get special discounts at the Swan and Dolphin. We did that for our honeymoon and looooved it. It ran us about $150 per night (sorry I can't remember the exact rate).

My other suggestion is to rent points from a DVC member so you can stay at a deluxe. We rented a studio at BWV for $155/night (total cost, no taxes involved). Since we had a kitchenette in the studio, we also saved money by buying breakfast groceries and snacks on the way into Disney.

 

[meandtheguys2]

We have a budget, and I stay within it. DH is a Scot at heart, though and if he knew how much each item cost individually he would not enjoy it as much!

 

[fairytalehaven]

I agree if he asked I'd tell him. But if he gives me a budget of this much and I can do it in this much then that should work right?

 

[ChristyJ]

Are ya kidding?! My husband basically knows that when I say "It cost $5.00" it translates to "I actually spent $7.99," likewise with our last trip to Disney-I ALWAYS round DOWN when I give him prices (but round up in how much I want to save). I'm not a crazy spender, and I save money well, but if he knew what I truely spent he'd be shaking his head at me non-stop! It works for us...

For our last trip, I tucked away money and paid off our hotel month by month so the bill as a whole didn't seem as bad. It was nice to go to WDW and already have the hotel paid for...

 

[etwinchester]

Even though he doesn't ask or really care, I told him what was being budget for our first onsite trip.

I even commented on how rooms in Wildwood, NJ are around $160 and I could get a Disney Moderate Resort with a slide for that price. If he didn't know before, he does now. He even agreed with me when I made that comment (like he knew what the price of a moderate resort was...yeah right...)

 

[MOMOFMNM]

I just told him what our total trip costs would be for air, hotel, tickets and free dining...he never asked about the room rate, just says he predicts another 1000 for spending money...(he must feel generous lately). Does it really matter? I mean, put it in a pkg sounds so much more appealing...there is not a lot of guess work involved that way...he is fine with it
not as excited as I am mind you, but he is getting better, bless his heart. He loves to tease me about these boards and being such an avid researcher.

 

[shelly3girls]

I always tell the truth but I preface it with how much we saved. Since he only listens to half of what I say he never actually hears the price

 

[Lollipop Mom]

My husband and I agree on a total budget and then I work with it to fit what I want in it. We agreed long ago that vacations were something we would only do if we could do it with cash and not be paying for it for months on the credit card. He saw years ago when we were planning our honeymoon that I research trips to death in order to make sure I find the best deal. I've explained over and over that it may sound expensive to say the resort costs $XXX but if I've done the research and know what amenities we are getting and that we are saving $XX per night on it then it can still be a good deal.

I have been known to pad our budget with "found money" (like selling things I don't need on ebay) but that is usually for things like a fireworks cruise or "extras." As long as I stick to our budget he is OK with things.

He actually learned his lesson on our last trip. We had lunch at Nine Dragons one day and the check came while I had taken our son to the restroom. He ended up flipping out that it was a $55 lunch with tax and tip. He complained about it all day. At the end of the day I asked if he enjoyed it and he said yes, untill he saw the bill (this from a man with an MBA...he saw the menu WITH PRICES but was shocked with the bill ). I pointed out that even our kids ate REALLY good and that we all enjoyed it. That I had budgeted for it and we were just fine overall AND that $55 for 4 people in a table service restaurant wasn't too terribly bad! So since then the rule has been that *I* get all of the checks....he only needs to see the final numbers, not the breakdown.

I also learned early in our marriage that it's always best to focus on "we saved $XXX!!!!!" rather than "we spent $XXXX.

 

[mking624]

My husband and I work on our finances together...we are honest with each other about all incoming and outgoing income.

 

[Rootskate]

I never go into detail about how much the room costs! He wouldn't have any fun at all if he knew just how expensive it all is. I have explained to him about the different resort categories and although he doesnt know what costs what, he does know that I always book a "Moderate", because the "Deluxes" are too expensive for us! That being said, he really doesn't ask questions about what costs what, because he knows that I would never go overboard and book something we really couldn't afford.

 

[bdcp]

We are 100% honest with each other. Hmm, maybe that's why we're still happily married after 24 years. Anyway, we've alwasy talked about staying at GF, but after seeing that it was 3 times as much as SOG, since we can stay there , we are for less than $120/night. I can't justify spending what GF wants, especially since we spend most of our time in the parks, not the hotel. We hide nothing from each other, even with the "justification of protecting" each other which sounds more like avoidance to me.

 

[shelly3girls]

We are 100% honest with each other. Hmm, maybe that's why we're still happily married after 24 years. Anyway, we've alwasy talked about staying at GF, but after seeing that it was 3 times as much as SOG, since we can stay there , we are for less than $120/night. I can't justify spending what GF wants, especially since we spend most of our time in the parks, not the hotel. We hide nothing from each other, even with the "justification of protecting" each other which sounds more like avoidance to me.

Well said!

 

[meandtheguys2]

Some folks like numbers, some don't. when our house burnt down, my DH was nervous about the ins. and everything, until I let him know that we are good to go. The numbers bothered him, though. ($11,000 in tools gone, etc.) Different strokes... Doesn't mean our 13 year marriage is any less solid...

 

[ducklite]

My husband just doesn't care. He leaves the planning all up to me. He has looked at the folio's a few times out of curiosity more than anything. Because I take care of the finances in our house, he rightfully assumes that we'll stay where we can afford to stay. The only time I've involved him was when we bought DVC.

Anne

 

[shelly3girls]

meandtheguys2-
I agree with you and often my husband really doesn't care either. That isn't what I meant about being open and honets. IMHO honesty isn't about reporting every penny spent but I do know women that lie about prices and hide it when they spend money. I even know one that has a seperate account that DH doesn't know about. I would never judge anyone b/c I am not in their situation but that is what appears to be dishonest to me and are lies that could degrade a relationship.

I know my DH doesn't realize how much our cruise is costing even though I told him originally. I think he just wants to go enjoy himself and not think about the $$. He sometimes prefers not to know so he can enjoy himself and not think "wow, this trip could have paid for a new refrigerator..."

 

[DannyDisneyFreak]

Tell him how much the entire trip will cost (with the stay at the the Deluxe) if he's like most people (I'm assuming he's never been to WDW) he probably already thinks WDW is expensive. If he does ask be honest, and if you can afford it I'm sure you could convince him how nice it would be, show him pictures of the resort you want to stay at compaired to pictures of the all-stars, since you don't have kids the all-stars may not be his cup of tea. Wilderness lodge is the cheepest deluxe I think, maybe he would go for that? My wife and I are staying at the Pop century though and we have been to the all-star music before, dosen't bother us, we are trying to save money. One day we will get that castle view at the GF though.