Setting aside funds

Avatar for mquin73
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Registered: 03-27-2003
Setting aside funds
4
Wed, 04-19-2006 - 12:35am

Dh re-enlisted and received a very hefty bonus. Most of this bonus is/has gone for debt (I've already paid off 3 cc's - will be paying off at least one more). I have already set aside $1000 for our emergency fund and $2500 for tax/title/licensing for another vehicle that we have to buy come June (we are expecting twins and we have 2 other children already so there is no way around not getting a bigger vehicle). I want to set aside money for a much needed vacation for our family (we would like to take the kids to Disneyland or Disneyworld) and money for moving expenses as we will be moving somewhere around the beginning of next year. The military will be moving us, however, they only allow us 10 days stay in a hotel, we have to cover the rest, and whatever travel expenses we incur while heading that way usually does not get paid until after the move (we will probably get some money up front, but not all of it). Plus we may have to rent a place, put a deposit down, pay first months rent, etc, etc. My question, with the best guess possible, is how much money do you think a family of 2 adults and 4 kids (2 of them babies) would incur on a vacation to such place and on average what moving expenses we may incur next year? I have never moved WITH dh from one duty station to the next (dh has always gone first and stayed in the barracks or with someone until I've moved with him). I know that most are not military here, so it may not be possible to accurately say how much it would cost, but for those that have had to relocate I would love to hear any advice that you have. I really do not wanna mess up this opportunity we have with this chunk of money and get carried away with other things, kwim?

TIA
Michelle


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iVillage Member
Registered: 12-28-2005
Wed, 04-19-2006 - 2:56am

recently i've seen comercials for disney...family of four, flight/hotel/addmission, i think for a week for $1500. i think that sounds like a great deal!

sorry, don't know about the moving...although we were military (out 6 yrs), we always did everything as CHEAP as possible, usually with kids and i staying with family while h did the move.

Avatar for 2locachicas
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Registered: 05-14-2003
Wed, 04-19-2006 - 8:46am

If you are interested in a disney vacation there is a disney board here and they always have the good deals...also I LOVE www.travelzoo.com they have a top 20 list every week with the best deals the find from all over the web.

Generally disney's packages are not the best deal. Also, with the babies you might want to consider getting a condo or something with a kitchen. We went a couple of years ago and spent under $1000 and that included food. We had a 2 bedroom condo with a full kitchen and it was great.Remember that you are going to have to pace yourselves to the kids and they will be totally trashed if you try to go to a park every day. We generally go for 5 days and only spend 2 in disney. We also do character meals outside of the park and downtown disney for fun. But we have a pool day, a shopping day, things like that so they dont go into sensory overload & they aren't so tired no one has fun....but I have LOTS of opinions on disney. We love it so much but have seen so many people do it so wrong......

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-23-2005
Wed, 04-19-2006 - 1:01pm

We were active military a few years ago (doing the natl guard thing now). A lot depends on your DHs orders and where you will be moving to & from. We always moved ourselves, but mainly because our move was only a few states away and we could rely on friends & family. With 4 little ones, that might be a huge undertaking for you. But one thing about it, you can make more money that way b/c you are paid by the weight of your items, truck rental fee, mileage, per diem for all family members etc. Until you know where you're moving, I would keep that option open. Maybe DH could get a friend or relative to help with the move since you'll like have your hands full with the babies.

As SOON as you know where you are going, DH should call the post's Housing Office and ask about the waiting list. Many of the military posts have gone to a privatized housing system which offers MUCH better accomodations that what used to be available. Hopefully you can avoid the whole rent issue by living on-post. We lived in military housing the entire time we were active and although ours wasn't "the grand palace", it was suitable for us and much more convenient. I think in 4 years we went to Wal Mart less than 10 times. Especially during times like 9/11. You don't even want to imagine the traffic problems during high security times like that. Just something to consider.

Congratulations on the bonus and the babies! Looks like you've got an exciting year ahead.

Avatar for mquin73
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Registered: 03-27-2003
Wed, 04-19-2006 - 1:33pm

We actually know where we are going, from TX to KY. We have done DITY's before, but it's way TOO stressful so we are planning on doing a partial dity and have the army move all of our big stuff (we'll move our most precious things that I don't want them touching. lol).

As for post housing, my concern is not having a basement. As far as I can tell what I have seen of floor plans on where we are going none of them have basements. I REALLY want a basement so that would be why we would look for a place off post. We currently live in post housing now and it's not bad, but I don't like the fact that we don't have a basement here and we have hardly any storage room at all. Also our post housing is off post so we still have to deal with the issue of going through the gate when going ON post, and yes it can be a pain especially since there are just too many people here.

Thanks!
Michelle


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