:( I had to dip into my Disney savings :(

[mommymanda]

I've been planning this trip for 5years now, but each year something bigger has come up and taken our trip fund (nothing negative, we had a baby, got married, bought a house, all positive life things that were just as exciting).

This year I am set and plan to book by the end of December for an August 2014 trip. I have us on a pretty strict budget in general at home, in the end I should have $4800 to put towards our $4755 (rack rate) trip...as well as $1200 for extra spending funds.

Well I messed up our budget this month and forgot that our car sticker is needed, to make it even more disappointing DH needs his licence renewed and we are needing the Etest this year. So I had to take $250 from my Disney trip savings today to cover those missed expenses.

I know its not a huge chunk in the long run, and I'm sure I can even replace it here and there by the time we leave...but my biggest fear is we'll keep dipping into the savings and next thing you know nothing is left.

I have been so excited with planning and the expectation that nothing will stop us now...but today I'm feeling defeated over it. Guess I just need a little whine today, and maybe some fingers cross that an unexpected $250 arrives this month.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

That sucks . Sending you some pixie dust for less taxing financial days ahead.

If it helps any, I feel your pain. This year we need a big ol' ash tree taken down in our backyard (before it fell down....it had rotted inside) to the tune of $1700. Then we decided to put down a new kitchen floor (another $1700), install new interior doors ($2000), and replace our irreparable driveway ($4100). Just when we thought we were done, we had an issue with our eavestrough and needed to replace that too ($1000). Then my left wheel bearing went in my car....another $225. And then (yes, there's more!!! ) our outside tap blew while we were away at a family reunion in July, causing water damage to our basement bathroom and alerting us to a foundation issue ($350 for new drywall and paint, $3000 for foundation repairs). We enjoyed an idyllic couple of months catastrophe-free, then our tub surround in the upstairs bath cracked in two places, which was a $400 replacement, and my right wheel bearing went the same week ($225 once again).

Have I made you feel any better yet??

So I totally get how dang discouraging it can be, and send you a big hug . My mom kept reminding me (as I had a good cry from time to time) "as long as your worries are all in the fixable things and not in the health of the people you love, there's always a solution".

 

[mommymanda]

That sucks . Sending you some pixie dust for less taxing financial days ahead.

If it helps any, I feel your pain. This year we need a big ol' ash tree taken down in our backyard (before it fell down....it had rotted inside) to the tune of $1700. Then we decided to put down a new kitchen floor (another $1700), install new interior doors ($2000), and replace our irreparable driveway ($4100). Just when we thought we were done, we had an issue with our eavestrough and needed to replace that too ($1000). Then my left wheel bearing went in my car....another $225. And then (yes, there's more!!! ) our outside tap blew while we were away at a family reunion in July, causing water damage to our basement bathroom and alerting us to a foundation issue ($350 for new drywall and paint, $3000 for foundation repairs). We enjoyed an idyllic couple of months catastrophe-free, then our tub surround in the upstairs bath cracked in two places, which was a $400 replacement, and my right wheel bearing went the same week ($225 once again).

Have I made you feel any better yet??

So I totally get how dang discouraging it can be, and send you a big hug . My mom kept reminding me (as I had a good cry from time to time) "as long as your worries are all in the fixable things and not in the health of the people you love, there's always a solution".

OUCH, yes I couldn't imagine dealing with all those financial extras, but I see you still got your trip so that's good too I like that quote as well, reality check really.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

OUCH, yes I couldn't imagine dealing with all those financial extras, but I see you still got your trip so that's good too I like that quote as well, reality check really.

Yes, we still got our trip . We are offsiters, though (by choice) so that keeps our overall trip expenses generally much lower than those who do onsite stays. That allows us to absorb those little (or large ) unexpected expenses and still foster our Orlando addiction.

Fingers crossed its smooth sailing for you from now until August 2014 .

 

[alohamom]

I think you should be very proud of yourself for saving so much and budgeting so well! Do you know how many people just slap big ticket items like trips on credit and then take out line-of credit loans to pay for them once they realize they really couldnt afford it! My cousin keeps re-financing her house to pay off credit cards and is a vicious cycle she cannot seem to understand needs to stop! So be very proud of your job well done and I am sure you will be fine-enjoy the planning!

 

[AndreaO1983]

I thought I was the only one. My husband things I'm crazy because I'm planning our 2018 trip to Disney. We've been married 3 years and we've spent over $30,000 in repairs to our house and vehicles at this point. All unplanned. I'm planning now so that we have the money to do this. $45 every week into our Disney Fund. And then every time we find extra money (birthday money, income tax, child tax credit, etc) that will go into our Disney fund.