Wife is Canadian- we live in the US. She has money up there and we aren't going to move it until the exchange rate improves. It wasn't all that long ago that the Canadian dollar was a few pennies higher than the US dollar. Plus you have a car that is 8 years old and still isn't paid off- and unless I misread your post, it sounds like the income tax refund wouldn't even pay it off completely. You didn't mention a six month emergency fund- which is the standard when employment isn't secure. I would pay down the loan and wait, put away money each month from the interest you are saving on the car loan- and plan for the trip by saving for it. Give your kids a small weekly allowance and give them the opportunity to learn how to save for their souvenirs. If you don't already have one- take a part time job. Set a two year goal, and start crossing off months on the calendar.
There is no such thing as 'found' money as a PP put it (unless you find a loonie on the sidewalk)- that money was earned, and I would use it to get out of debt. Yes, there are a lot of 'what if's' in life- so what? All of the males on my dad's side of the family are dead except me (yes, all of them) including two younger brothers- from congenital stuff- that doesn't excuse me from financial accountability to my wife and kids. The other side of those 'what if's' are that your car needs to be replaced and/or your husband's contract doesn't get renewed. The odds of your car needing to be replaced are probably better than the odds of a heart attack or whatever.
We are all different, and you have to do what is right for you and your family. As for us, we have been living debt free for many years now- and pay cash for everything- but it wasn't always that way. It took focus and sacrifice to dig out of the interest pit caused by credit cards and bank loans, but now we have the freedom to do what we want when we want. Your kids will still be the right age to go when the time comes to pull the trigger on another trip.
You misread, yes. The old car is paid off. We have two cars, one of which has a loan, the other is completely paid off.
And we have never had, nor ever will have a 6 month emergency fund. We have a savings account for large emergency expenses, and then another savings account for regular occurring expenses (Dave Ramsey sinking funds style), and then a "fun account" (that often in the past was always empty, lol)... But having 6 months salary set aside is honestly not a concern to us, as DH will always have some kind of work, even if he loses his current job, plus we have very good health and disability insurances to replace income for those sort of scenarios. I guess for me the comment/concern about him not getting renewed is - now, we're able to pay off debt faster, are able to build our savings faster, and able to contribute to education plans for the kids. For the first time in many, many years, we're not living pay check to pay check, and we can watch our debt totals going down. We can splurge on stuff. It's nice.
How that would change if his contract were not renewed I guess would depend on many different variables. I mean, worst-case scenario he'd be unable to find a job and he'd have to go on unemployment insurance while he looks for work. In which case, it'd be paycheck to paycheck living again - we'd still be able to meet debt, but there'd certainly be no money for any extras. However, I guess realistically the chance of that happening is slim to none. My husband was a contractor before he got his teaching job, so, whether he worked for someone else, or worked for himself, there'd always be work. I also know that the job he had many, many years ago, would jump at the chance to hire him back on, as they've asked him a few times over the years and we still keep in touch. So... I guess realistically there's not much chance of him NOT having work. It's just that the work would not pay what he makes now, so were his contract not renewed, we'd definitely be taking a cut in salary, which would mean less savings (or not being able to put any extra into savings outside of income tax return time), and of course, not being able to pay extra on debt (but we'd still be able to meet the payments we have now). I'm realizing most are right - there's just too many variables to try and plan around them for a Disney trip. The only constant is the car, lol.
all that's just to say mileage is more important in the life of a car th an chronological years.
