Leana and I do not profess to be personal finance gurus. Nevertheless, I’m going to delve into some very personal finance issues that are on my mind because they relate to travel.
Obsession with Personal Finance Goals
Just a few short years ago, my favorite TV show was the Suze Orman show. My husband will attest to that. I watched her every Saturday night. Her no-nonsense approach to personal finance kept me riveted. I’m not even kidding.
I’ve always been into number crunching, as my previous career was largely based on that. But when I quit my corporate job to become a stay-at-home mom, I channeled all of that number crunching into our personal finances.
My husband and I set a goal to pay off our mortgage early. We re-financed from a 30-year mortgage to a 20-year mortgage when the rates were low. We had a plan in place to pay extra principal on a monthly and yearly basis.
Our goal was to pay off the house before our oldest kid went off to college. In our minds, if we could be debt-free while our kids were in college, we could more easily help pay for their college education if their 529 plans were short on funds.
We adjusted our monthly mortgage payments to be split into two payments per month with an extra $150 for principal in our automatic payments. On top of that, we were mailing in checks for additional principal pre-payments. Some months, we were paying $400-$500 extra in principal.
I was uber focused and obsessed with meeting this goal.
Living on a Too Tight Budget
Money was tight in those first few years after I quit my job. In order to stay within our budget and still make those extra mortgage payments, we had to sacrifice some things.
We sacrificed the fun stuff. Not just travel, but other stuff that most people take for granted. We all but eliminated going out to eat, only going out once a month. We never went to the movies or did anything on the weekend that required spending money.
Since we went out to eat so infrequently, there was a lot of pressure to pick the right restaurant for that special night. And if one of the kids was having a meltdown during dinner, I would feel like our once-a-month splurge was ruined.
I traveled to the next town to go to the cheap grocery store, and we entertained ourselves with free redbox movie codes. My kids were younger then, so we didn’t have a lot of peer pressure to contend with from them.
Finding Balance
After a year of being strict with the budget and pouring everything extra into our mortgage, we started to grow weary. Sure, our mortgage was shrinking, but at what cost?
At some point, we realized that we were sacrificing too much just to hit a number. And what would happen when we hit that number? Was somebody going to give us a medal for paying off our mortgage early? Nope.
And even when we do pay off our mortgage, will we be broadcasting that to the world? Again, no.
Could we live like this until my oldest graduated from high school? Maybe, but it wouldn’t be much fun.
As my kids and my parents started to age, I realized that we would never get back that time. We only have 18 years with our kids living under our roof (and only 15 years with my oldest since we adopted him at age 3). Of course we don’t have to spend money recklessly during those years, but I’d rather add back in a little bit of fun than be obsessed about hitting that early mortgage pay-off number.
Gradually, we started to ease up on our extra mortgage payments and we began adding entertainment back into the budget.
Fourth Grade Bucks
My middle son is in 4th grade. As an incentive for students, his grade level has its own currency that students earn for good behavior and responsibility. Earning 4th grade bucks is a huge motivator for my son.
Kids can spend this fake money on things like sitting with a friend at lunch, chewing gum in class, taking off shoes and no homework days.
The other day, my son told me excitedly, “Mom! I almost have $1000. If I turn in that permission slip for the field trip on time, I will reach my goal of $1000.”
Me: “Great! What are you going to spend it on first? Lunch with a friend?”
Him: “Nope! I’m going to keep saving it until I get to $2000!”
Me: “But you realize that you can’t take this money with you outside of 4th grade? You either spend it and enjoy it, or you lose it at the end of the year?”
Him: “But I really want to have $2000!”
Uh-oh. My frugal ways have rubbed off on my son.
You Can’t Take It With You
So the old saying you can’t take your money with you after you die is true. But, good memories with your families will last you a lifetime.
Losing my dad earlier this year and dealing with my mom’s Alzheimer’s/Dementia has really confirmed in my mind where my priorities need to be. That doesn’t mean that we will become irresponsible with money and start spending like there’s no tomorrow. But I do hope that my family can continue to find balance with our savings for the future vs. splurging on the here and now, including meaningful vacations.
Readers, do you struggle with allocating your budget for short-term vs. long-term pleasures and goals? How does travel fit into your priorities?
Click here to view various credit cards and available sign-up bonuses
Author: Nancy
Nancy lives near Dallas, Texas, with her husband and three kids. Her favorite vacations include the beach, cruising and everything Disney.
This is such an important thing to consider! Watching where your money goes is so important, but it’s also important to make sure you have fun with the people you love. Great things to think about!
Love this take on it. I think being frugal and having a budget is so important, but so is making memories and doing things that are important to you, as a family. Way to go, mama!
I agree that it’s so important to find balance! Great post 🙂
Thank you, Kay!
Fantastic post. Balance is key. I quit a side freelance job I had and scaled back greatly on my second job for that very reason. No amount of money is worth loosing memories because you were to busy working to be there.
@Emily I’m glad you were able to scale back and find some balance!
Such a great post! Totally agree with all points here. It’s not so bad to want to achieve financial goals earlier than most people do, but a little bit of fun here and there never really hurt anyone. And it makes this journey called life much more memorable! Love the post!
Belle | One Awesome Momma
@Belle Thank you. I really had to go through a lot to get to a point where I could stop over-achieving on the mortgage to enjoy everyday life. But it’s been worth it!
Going from two incomes to one was a real blow when I started staying home with kids. We tried hard to watch our spending, but too often we got out of whack and underwater financially. Even if we had wanted to travel, there was no way financially we could stomach putting ourselves in debt even more. As the years passed though, we got better about controlling our spending and his income increased, so we’re in a much better place now financially. I’ll never forget the first big vacation we were able to take the kids on. We surprised them with a trip to Legoland California when my son was 8 and my daughter was 5. Luckily, I don’t feel like we missed out on much when we couldn’t afford travel when they were younger than that. After our Disney World trip this past summer, my husband and I were actually relieved we didn’t try to travel while our kids were still in diapers, needing a stroller, throwing tantrums, etc. We have many great travel plans for the years to come now, and I’m so happy we can afford them finally and still plan for the future.
@Erin C I’ve never felt more stressed financially than that first year I quit my full-time job! That was brutal.
Now when I look at families traveling with babies, I have a hard time imagining doing it. I remember our first trip as a family of five, Alyssa was only 3 months old. I think I had an entire suitcase devoted to diapers and bottles!
Balance is key…That being said it is hard to strike the perfect balance of saving and spending. I think small splurges are important to make you feel like you aren’t giving up too much.
@deliciouslyplated I agree, small splurges are important! I still struggle to find balance in our finances, but I’ve relaxed about it more than in earlier years.
I also think it’s important to have fun and make memories while the kids are young. That’s why we’re typically willing to spend on travel and experiences that add value to our lives.
We give up other stuff to make it all work. No car payments. Zero debt other than a small mortgage. We rarely dine out when not traveling because I like to eat at home. We do free stuff most of the time when we can. We have pitch-ins with friends instead of going out, etc. It’s a trade-off for sure.
@Holly Yes! It’s amazing how much dining out costs (even take-out). I added up the cost one month when I was still working full time, and the amount was staggering. I actually get really sick of cooking most nights, but I have to remind myself how much money we are saving for trips and more fun things.