Okay really need sensible advice

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his_sweetpea
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Okay really need sensible advice
5
 Sun, 06-01-2003 - 10:09am
My husband and I want to take our children to Dinseyland in Nov for a family vacation. He has family in CA and they have invited us to spend Thanksgiving with them although we would be in a hotel the other nights.We also would be driving instead of flying across county. ( National Lampoons Vacation comes to mind)Anyway...heres where I need help.

Should we save for this trip as part of our budget now and plan to have all the money saved my than? Or shoulr we count on the tax rebate thing that everyone was supposed to have by Sept I believe it was? We are also trying to refinance or home and if that goes through we wouldn't have a house payment due in July which would give us a few weeks of pachecks that could go toward actually paying off a few bills as well as the trip. We would also get all the money back from our old escrow account becuase we created a new one with the new loan...although this refinance is not written in stone yet so not guaranteed and netiher is the tax break thing.


Any ideas???

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cl_phocid
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
In reply to: his_sweetpea
Okay really need sensible advice
 Sun, 06-01-2003 - 10:42am
FWIW - I always budget vacations throughout the year. I usually apply any tax refunds to debt, but I never *count* on getting tax money or plan to make regular bill payments with that money simply b/c the gov't *never* seems to do anything on time.

HTH

Danni

All my best,
Danni

heather_head
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
In reply to: his_sweetpea
Okay really need sensible advice
 Sun, 06-01-2003 - 12:23pm
I would save for it. I think I enjoy vacations more when I've had to scrimp and save for them, instead of just applying a lump amount that comes very suddenly. We *did* use a lump sum for this summer's vacation, but only because I had lost my part-time job right as we were starting to save for it, and we had already committed to the vacation (it's a family reunion), and there was basically no other source to pay for it. As a matter of fact, though, we were counting on a tax refund to pay for it, and it didn't come in time, so we had to pull money from other places--an excellent illustration of why you shouldn't count on the tax refund.

If the refund does come, then you can use it to pay down debt or add to your savings.

Blessings,

Heather

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mymartes
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
In reply to: his_sweetpea
Okay really need sensible advice
 Sun, 06-01-2003 - 4:30pm
if you can save the money for this trip, it will be better. you have three months. go for it. if the tax money comes in before great.

msfit777
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
In reply to: his_sweetpea
Okay really need sensible advice
 Sun, 06-01-2003 - 11:13pm
I agree with the others - save for it as part of your budget, then IF the tax rebate comes through in time, pay down some of the debt with it, that you might have paid down anyway if you hadn't been saving for the vacation.

I have one question though: why not fly? There are some awesome airline rates right now, and if you buy tickets in advance you can save bundles of $$. If the choice to drive is just based on cost, are you sure you figured in the cost of snacks/drinks when you stop for gas, wear and tear on tires, extra meals on the road, motels... etc. It's often much cheaper to just fly (besides the wear and tear on your nerves with three kids in the car, amount of time taken from your vacation for driving, etc.)

Just my own experience, but I know it's much cheaper for my son to fly back and forth between my XH's state and mine than it would be for either of us to drive or meet halfway. The round-trip (twice- before and after visitation) driving normally costs about $200-250, plus wear on the car and tires, but I can buy him one round-trip ticket for about $65 when I buy in advance.

Just my two cents.

Msfit

                  &nbs

his_sweetpea
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
In reply to: his_sweetpea
Okay really need sensible advice
 Sun, 06-01-2003 - 11:31pm
I would love to Fly...but H is sooo afraid to fly it isn't even funny. I keep making him watch National Lampoons Vacation...really..I do...he doesn't seem to get it. He has also managed to turn the kids against me in the sense that he has them thinking how wonderful it will be to see the moutains and the country...Im thinking great large balls of twine..I can hardly wait...Ive even asked if I could fly there and meet them...hee hee...I really have zero desire to drive. I hate the way he drives. Okay so that really has nothing to do with debt but you asked. So anyway...Thank you all for your advice. Basically you told me what I already knew but I guess I needed to hear it from others.

Thanks again for the awesome support

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