Who Cares if We Can't Afford It?

[momof2intx]

Sharing the same boat with ya'll! Saving every extra penny from now until June to make this a Mouse-tacular trip!

There is that old saying...."you can't take it with you...."

Love the memories we make at Disney and neither we nor our kids are getting any younger. Pretty soon we won't have the opportunity to do these things. Enjoying WDW with my parents while we can too....not everyone will be around forever.

Carpe Diem!

 

[princessjodiebo]

we are from the u.k but in exactly the same boat and have thought what the heck lets go for it !!

we got married last year and on our wedding day my brother found a tumour

he got diagnosed with cancer and spent the whole of last year having chemo and at one point was only hours from death due to an infection !!

it made me realise that if anything happened to him some of the most important things in my life arent posessions and fancy clothes but the memories of the times we have had together as a family especially when my brother and i went to WDW 15 years ago

we decided there and then to take our kids on our honeymoon and now have the trip of a lifetime at POFQ for 2 weeks in may

if i have learnt anything its that lifes too short bills and housework will always be there but what makes them bearable is happy memories

 

[Disneylvr1971]

Agree with everyone! Sis and Bil penny pinch to no end. They don't have any fun and spend their lives miserable. (They plan on retiring early) I plan on spending every penny and living life to the fullest at Disney.You can never get those memories backBring on the MAGIC

 

[cbeehler3]

Add us to the club.
We are DVC members.. Have always gone on elaborate Disney trips.
My husband suddenly lost his job last year, we ate all of our savings and lost our house. We are together and doing OK and CAN NOT WAIT for June 17th
Cash and points only.

 

[gigi1313]

wow!! 44 posts and not a naysayer in the bunch... love it!

we should probably make a payment on our disney visa but instead, i'll be charging a deposit for a november vacation

 

[lamb616]

So glad to see this thread. I'm tired of seeing the posts where people act like it's blaspheme to even think of a vacation if you have even a penny of debt. To me, vacation memories are more important than that. My FAVORITE childhood memories are of our vacations. I don't remember much else besides that. If we waited until our debt was all paid off to go -- most of us would NEVER GET TO GO!!!! There is more to life than WORRYING ABOUT BILLS!! I am not saying if there are bill collectors ringing your phone and the bank is slapping a foreclosure notice on your front door that you should ignore it all and take off to WDW, but if you can realistically manage, why not?

We've had a tough past few years -- layoffs, pay cuts, medical bills, etc. and unfortunately had to rely on credit cards to get us through. We now owe several thousand $$ in medical bills and several thousand $$ in credit card bills. It will probably take us many years to pay it off. No way in heck am I going to put off going on vacation for several years while my kids are at the most fun age!! (3 & 7). So last year when I decided I wanted to go to WDW, I started scrimping and saving pennies (literally). Gave up my daily DD Iced Coffee, starting doing survey sites, PTC sites, Swagbucks, Mypoints, etc. All sites where I could make some money. Started really taking advantage of my credit and debit rewards - used them for EVERYTHING, didn't use cash at all; told my family to give me and DH Disney g.c. for our birthdays and Xmas, etc. Sure enough, I was able to pay for the entire trip with cash. Didn't end up charging a thing (well, I did, so I could get the reward points -- but only when I had the cash to pay it right off.) I am SOOOO glad we did. Even DH gets tears in his eyes now when he sees a Disney commercial and he never did in the past.

A variation of the above that we've done in the past with NO regrets, is back when we didn't have a lot of credit card debt, but we also didn't have the extra cash to pay for a vacation -- we charged as much as we had to for the trip, and then paid it off over the next year. That's what credit cards are for, IMO!

Phew that was longer than I planned. Its something I feel strongly about thos. My FAVORITE memories of my own family now (my children and DH ) are of our vacations. We make photo books of them and look at them every once in a while. I can't wait to plan our next WDW trip (not 'til 2012) and guess what - we'll probably *still* be paying off this credit card and medical bills when that time comes, lol.

 

[cbeehler3]

So glad to see this thread. I'm tired of seeing the posts where people act like it's blaspheme to even think of a vacation if you have even a penny of debt. To me, vacation memories are more important than that. My FAVORITE childhood memories are of our vacations. I don't remember much else besides that. If we waited until our debt was all paid off to go -- most of us would NEVER GET TO GO!!!! There is more to life than WORRYING ABOUT BILLS!! I am not saying if there are bill collectors ringing your phone and the bank is slapping a foreclosure notice on your front door that you should ignore it all and take off to WDW, but if you can realistically manage, why not?

We've had a tough past few years -- layoffs, pay cuts, medical bills, etc. and unfortunately had to rely on credit cards to get us through. We now owe several thousand $$ in medical bills and several thousand $$ in credit card bills. It will probably take us many years to pay it off. No way in heck am I going to put off going on vacation for several years while my kids are at the most fun age!! (3 & 7). So last year when I decided I wanted to go to WDW, I started scrimping and saving pennies (literally). Gave up my daily DD Iced Coffee, starting doing survey sites, PTC sites, Swagbucks, Mypoints, etc. All sites where I could make some money. Started really taking advantage of my credit and debit rewards - used them for EVERYTHING, didn't use cash at all; told my family to give me and DH Disney g.c. for our birthdays and Xmas, etc. Sure enough, I was able to pay for the entire trip with cash. Didn't end up charging a thing (well, I did, so I could get the reward points -- but only when I had the cash to pay it right off.) I am SOOOO glad we did. Even DH gets tears in his eyes now when he sees a Disney commercial and he never did in the past.

A variation of the above that we've done in the past with NO regrets, is back when we didn't have a lot of credit card debt, but we also didn't have the extra cash to pay for a vacation -- we charged as much as we had to for the trip, and then paid it off over the next year. That's what credit cards are for, IMO!

Phew that was longer than I planned. Its something I feel strongly about thos. My FAVORITE memories of my own family now (my children and DH ) are of our vacations. We make photo books of them and look at them every once in a while. I can't wait to plan our next WDW trip (not 'til 2012) and guess what - we'll probably *still* be paying off this credit card and medical bills when that time comes, lol.

Hear hear! (or should I say Ears Ears!)

 

[TXdisney]

I this thread!!

 

[concept5123]

i love this thread!!!!! our cruie was a must! needed to getaway

 

[jking6]

We are in the same boat as alot of people but for different reasons (several actually) My DD 19yrs old loves Disney and said all I want for Christmas is to go to Disney so I thought that would be her present so I booked it in October and starting paying it off. I even booked airfare as soon as I could.
Little did I know hard times were coming. DH was laid off, I was already displaced at work as one office had closed in September and was only working part time. but then in Feb during a routine doctors appointment I was diagnosed with melanoma. Not the so nice kind. needed surgery ASAP. lost my medical insurnace when I lost my full time job. Doctor needed over $6000.00 before he would schedule.
they had to take a spot about the size of a finger nail and remove that along with everything around it about the size of a baseball. then take several lymphnodes out. I am still bed ridden toes ablove the nose due to nurses error. but I have not canceled my trip for MAY.
We need this vacation and so does my DD this has been very hard on her being away in her 1st year of college. We rely on each other for everything.
so with that being said and financial strapped people including other relatives think I as crazy to still go on this trip.
I need it, we need it....... it was paid before all the other issues came along.... it was originally booked for her spring break and we had to postpone it but I am not canceling it.
am I wrong?
On the bright side DH just went back to work!!!!!!!!!!

 

[xXMyTwoPrincessesXx]

You are all so irresponsible!!! How dare you even think of taking a vacation when you have debt??
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KIDDING!!

We are in the same boat as well.. We have been wanting to go ever since we got married, and DD has been begging to go for two years now. We always said "next year".

Sometimes you have to decide that certain years will never come back.. and if we wait until our debt is all paid, other things will come up! DD will be little for such a short amount of time! And while yes, she can enjoy it when she's a little older, but I seriously can't wait to see her face when we get there! She's at such a perfect age!

 

[xXMyTwoPrincessesXx]

We are in the same boat as alot of people but for different reasons (several actually) My DD 19yrs old loves Disney and said all I want for Christmas is to go to Disney so I thought that would be her present so I booked it in October and starting paying it off. I even booked airfare as soon as I could.
Little did I know hard times were coming. DH was laid off, I was already displaced at work as one office had closed in September and was only working part time. but then in Feb during a routine doctors appointment I was diagnosed with melanoma. Not the so nice kind. needed surgery ASAP. lost my medical insurnace when I lost my full time job. Doctor needed over $6000.00 before he would schedule.
they had to take a spot about the size of a finger nail and remove that along with everything around it about the size of a baseball. then take several lymphnodes out. I am still bed ridden toes ablove the nose due to nurses error. but I have not canceled my trip for MAY.
We need this vacation and so does my DD this has been very hard on her being away in her 1st year of college. We rely on each other for everything.
so with that being said and financial strapped people including other relatives think I as crazy to still go on this trip.
I need it, we need it....... it was paid before all the other issues came along.... it was originally booked for her spring break and we had to postpone it but I am not canceling it.
am I wrong?
On the bright side DH just went back to work!!!!!!!!!!

YAY for DH going back to work!!

Enjoy your trip!!!!! Sounds like a well deserved trip!

 

[letthewookiewin]

We are in the same boat as alot of people but for different reasons (several actually) My DD 19yrs old loves Disney and said all I want for Christmas is to go to Disney so I thought that would be her present so I booked it in October and starting paying it off. I even booked airfare as soon as I could.
Little did I know hard times were coming. DH was laid off, I was already displaced at work as one office had closed in September and was only working part time. but then in Feb during a routine doctors appointment I was diagnosed with melanoma. Not the so nice kind. needed surgery ASAP. lost my medical insurnace when I lost my full time job. Doctor needed over $6000.00 before he would schedule.
they had to take a spot about the size of a finger nail and remove that along with everything around it about the size of a baseball. then take several lymphnodes out. I am still bed ridden toes ablove the nose due to nurses error. but I have not canceled my trip for MAY.
We need this vacation and so does my DD this has been very hard on her being away in her 1st year of college. We rely on each other for everything.
so with that being said and financial strapped people including other relatives think I as crazy to still go on this trip.
I need it, we need it....... it was paid before all the other issues came along.... it was originally booked for her spring break and we had to postpone it but I am not canceling it.
am I wrong?
On the bright side DH just went back to work!!!!!!!!!!

You are not wrong for not canceling it. Go and leave all the stress at home, and have a wonderful time. Grats on DH going back to work. Hopefully that will take some of the stress off.
Lately, I think just the idea of a WDW is keeping me sane. School was a nightmare this last session. (I went back to school to get a computer programming degree.) We had to move in with my inlaws in early December thinking it would be for only a few months. That was before my totally paid off 1998 Ford Explorer had to be replaced. Now we have $500 in bills we weren't planning on, so I don't know how long it will take us to get out. Luckily, my fil hired my DH to work for him in his appliance repair business. He had been an out of work IT for 2 years. He has 1 bachelor's in networking management, 1 master's in something IT related, and is 1 class short of his MBA. Then this week, my bil (who was also working for fil) decided to quit (for the 4th time) and my fil has been in a terrible mood. Then to make things even more lovely, my mil thinks my 13 yr old has diabeties and we have no health insurance. We just need the vacation. I don't care that we should be saving up money to move out, I need a sanity break. Sadly, that is just a small bit of the stress of the last few months, so I just keep thinking WDW, WDW, WDW to get me through each day. We are planning on driving to save money, but will take our time getting there to see some non Disney things. We haven't been away, just the 4 of us, since October 2006 and it is long over due.

 

[acf_1991]

Good for you! My family and I are in the same boat, but who cares. Life is too short!

 

[kstgelais4]

We didn't take a vacation for 12 years. Our first was to Disney in October 2010. I didn't know what I was missing. I've been sick for a lot of years, and we had a lot of financial issues with my husband owning his Construction business and work dwindling down to nothing in the last 3 years. He finally got a job as a working superintendent (Happy Dance) with a great company, and I started a small but successful business last summer. We used our tax return to book an eleven day trip, and can't wait to go. I just feel like we work so hard. We didn't take any breaks, and I think it nearly broke us. We didn't even realize until we took that time and went to Disney. Now we recognize that it is important to our sanity, our marriage, our family, etc... We started out with a 7 day trip, and have added a couple days based on specials that came out during the time between booking and now. I really feel like we just needed the time. When you never take time for yourself and the health of your family, the stress can overwhelm and take over. I refuse to let that happen, so I'm going to Disney! Peace out!

This was us. My DH decided to let go of his business last year. It was hard, and he had a hard time finding a job after. Our 6th child was born last year at the very start of the mess and I can say he was a blessing, truly holding our family together. My DH got a decent job and we are doing alright now. I think of our upcoming trip as a celebration. It's a surprise to our kids, and they were so used to us telling them that we wouldn't be doing things like going to WDW that they are going to be shocked... and I can't wait for that memory and the rest that await. it will be so much more rewarding than putting that money in retirement. Somehow we'll make it through that too I'm sure.

 

[Wadecool]

We are in the same boat as alot of people but for different reasons (several actually) My DD 19yrs old loves Disney and said all I want for Christmas is to go to Disney so I thought that would be her present so I booked it in October and starting paying it off. I even booked airfare as soon as I could.
Little did I know hard times were coming. DH was laid off, I was already displaced at work as one office had closed in September and was only working part time. but then in Feb during a routine doctors appointment I was diagnosed with melanoma. Not the so nice kind. needed surgery ASAP. lost my medical insurnace when I lost my full time job. Doctor needed over $6000.00 before he would schedule.
they had to take a spot about the size of a finger nail and remove that along with everything around it about the size of a baseball. then take several lymphnodes out. I am still bed ridden toes ablove the nose due to nurses error. but I have not canceled my trip for MAY.
We need this vacation and so does my DD this has been very hard on her being away in her 1st year of college. We rely on each other for everything.
so with that being said and financial strapped people including other relatives think I as crazy to still go on this trip.
I need it, we need it....... it was paid before all the other issues came along.... it was originally booked for her spring break and we had to postpone it but I
am not canceling it.
am I wrong? On the bright side DH just went back to work!!!!!!!!!!

If any family in the world ever deserved a Disney vacation, you guys do! Have fun!

I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer last year, had my entire thyroid removed and have had radiation treatments. Our trip next week is costing way more than I thought it would, but I have learned that memories are much more valuable than money. Seeing DD3's face when she gets to meet Cinderella will
be worth everything in the world to me! I've got plenty of time to worry about bills when we get home.

 

[sheldonsmom]

Our family went on our first trip last July. I can not tell you how special it was (although, you all probably know).

Then, the month after we came home, I lost my job! I was SOO happy that we went, because if I had lost my job before we went, we would have stayed home.

This year, I am going on a sister's trip. It will be the 20th anniversary of my sister and I going the first time, when our dad worked at Pleasure Island and we were teenagers (big hair and all)! We saw our first "New Kids on the Block " concert through the windows of his store!

I am working full time again, and we are doing fine, but my sister has had a very hard year. This trip is just what she needs, and what I need after what we both have been through.

God bless you all, take a trip with your family and cherish every precious minute!

 

[lamb616]

but I have learned that memories are much more valuable than money. .

That's exactly it. In all my long-winded posts on this matter, that's what I was trying to say -- MEMORIES ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN MONEY!!!!

 

[redboxcar]

A variation of the above that we've done in the past with NO regrets, is back when we didn't have a lot of credit card debt, but we also didn't have the extra cash to pay for a vacation -- we charged as much as we had to for the trip, and then paid it off over the next year. That's what credit cards are for, IMO!

I definitely fall under this variation! I have enough money to pay my credit cards, bills, etc, but no extra cash to pay for a vacation... I have twice in the past four years taken very nice, relaxing vacations using solely credit cards and have over time paid them off. Sure, I paid more than the person who paid cash for the same trip, but I can't imagine having gone four years without a vacation!

And guess what... I'm still alive! I put the vacation debt on my credit card, have been paying steadily, and it didn't kill me to use a credit card for a "splurge"!

If I had to wait until I had ZERO credit card debt before I allowed myself to explore the world, experience different cultures, and have a little bit of fun... I can't imagine how much I would have missed waiting for the day...

 

[jking6]

Thank you all for the kind comments and we all deserve a vacation. Here is to wishing every one some pixie dust