Who Cares if We Can't Afford It?

[juliebug1997]

Whatever you do, do NOT go to the thread "So Not Doing the Happy Dance". The Dave Ramsey disciples are out in full force.

Last year, when we booked our trip, I had just gotten out of the hospital with pancreatitis. I was docked for twenty four days of work (I'm a teacher). When we left for our trip in July, my mom had been in the hospital from a semi-experimental surgery after her strokes (she died in early September). I might have gone crazy if we hadn't taken a trip last summer. Sometimes, it's necessary no matter what the disciples think.

 

[jennb529]

Very happy to see this thread. I am trying to talk my husband into another Disney vacation while our kids are still fairly young (11 and 6). We are very lucky that we don't actually have much debt (one student loan and our mortgage), but we just built a house and he is just making lists, upon lists of what he wants to do (extend the driveway, brick the metal shop, lots of landscaping)...I'm of the opinion that we need a vacation now!

So I'm going to push even harder for a vacation...and for the memories we will make

 

[loveysbydesign]

Lovin this thread! I actually feel very sad for the people who do not realize the stress they are under and how much better they will feel if they actually take a vacay and spend time with their loved ones!
If I died tomorrow I would be so happy that I shared so many magical memeories with my family!(even though we do owe debt)

 

[disneychic2]

Some of these stories just break my heart. There is so much suffering in so may families! I'm truly glad for all of you that you are comfortable with your priorities and are so looking forward to your trips. Life IS short and every moment with family is a unique memory.

I wish we had been able to take our children to WDW when they were small enough to feel the magic. We had a blended family of six and it was difficult to get them back-to-school clothes twice a year with the growth spurts we had, let alone take a vacation. We didn't have a credit card to our name (out of choice). We had the usual debts and just one income. But, when we finally took the kids to Disney, they were sort of ho hum about it. We took the two oldest first thinking we would take the two youngest the next year. Turns out they didn't want to go! We finally took our youngest when he was 17 and he had a blast! This year, believe it or not, we are going with our only "child" who has not been...he's 31!

We are debt free at this point in our lives and enjoy our family tremendously, but a small part of me wishes we had thrown caution to the wind and taken the whole family to WDW. Don't hate on Dave Ramsey. There is room in this world for people who save and people who don't without judging each other!

Enjoy your trips! I hope life treats all of you better this year!

 

[PIRATEGIRL007]

See I knew you guys could make me feel better, I'll be letting DH read this one later to be fully convinced we are actually going to be able to make our annual trip this year. We have had a rough year of sorts I was off work almost 2 months sick, had surgery for my 30th bday, and just 2 days ago had a tornado touch down not far from the house, we were protected and had very minimal damage comparatively speaking. I think its well passed time for some Disney and I think Disney knew that too when they offered up free dining for our dates. So debt be darned, I'm going to Disney!!!

 

[letthewookiewin]

See I knew you guys could make me feel better, I'll be letting DH read this one later to be fully convinced we are actually going to be able to make our annual trip this year. We have had a rough year of sorts I was off work almost 2 months sick, had surgery for my 30th bday, and just 2 days ago had a tornado touch down not far from the house, we were protected and had very minimal damage comparatively speaking. I think its well passed time for some Disney and I think Disney knew that too when they offered up free dining for our dates. So debt be darned, I'm going to Disney!!!

Now that the spirit!! I've decided WDW trips are like kids. If we wanted to go to WDW until we could truly afford it, we may never go. There will always be other things money can be used for..bills, savings, retirement. If you keep putting money into all of those things and you might never get to take a vacation. Then you'll end up like Jack in The Shining.

 

[lamb616]

N If you keep putting money into all of those things and you might never get to take a vacation. Then you'll end up like Jack in The Shining.

good point. I'll never forget one year we went to a timeshare presentation (for Disney tix as a matter of fact!) and we got the ONE guy there who was doing a super hard sell -- everyone else had gotten their tickets and were LONG gone but this guy would not let up on us. He was from India or someplace like that and was eating oranges with pepper on them the entire time........ ANYWHO, he kept going ON and ON that it's been PROVEN that people who don't go on enough vacations end up in psychiatric hospitals, lol. I totally think he's right.

 

[Twirly41]

... but that didn't stop me. Am I crazy - I just paid for a trip in 3 weeks. Nothing like speed planning

 

[lilpeople]

Why put of for tomorrow what you can do today. Hearses do not have luggage racks.


It has been a rough two years. In october of 2009 i had a mild heart attack while at work. everything was starting to look better. i finally found a dependable car that i loved that march. in august of 2010, my daughter and i where on our way home from her dr appt, when we where tboned by an 18 wheeler. I was out for two months. Dh is a stay at home parent. We got really behind in those two months. In October i received the payment for my car. We used half to buy Christmas for dds and the rest to get a car at a bhph. It turned out to be a pos. I couldn't afford to get anything else so i continued driving it. In march i received the rest of my settlement. We will be in WDW in 25 days. Motels are paid for, resort, and food is paid for. We only have to worry about gas, souvenirs and food when we are not at Disney. some how i will figure something out. to heck with everything else. it will still be waiting for us to come home

 

[Dallas_Lady]

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?

I agree. Sometimes the Disboards makes it seem like it's a sin to step a foot outside your house if you have even the slightest bit of debt. We have a mortgage, car payments, student loans and some home improvement loans. We both work full time, our bills arel manageable for us so I don't feel guitly about taking a vacation even though we have debt. My kids will remember the memories we create, they could care less about our net worth.

 

[Cin]

You only live once and you never know which day will be your last. You should live life to the fullest and not look back with regret wishing you had done something you didn't. Go and have fun and look back with fond memories and fulfilled dreams and wishes that come true. Debt or something else, will always be there, and as long as you are not incurring more by using credit, then go and have the time of your life! Yay! You're going to Disneyworld!