10 yr anniversary trip vs. pay-off van

[gackle]

My wife and I are in a disgreement. We are supposed to take our 10 year anniversary trip in October. We just paid off her student loans in November and are now working on paying off our van (about $17k left). Besides the mortgage that is all the debt we have. We only have $500 plus a $600 credit toward airline tickets saved up for our trip. She is devoted to Dave Ramsey and thus does not want to contribute any more money towards the vacation until the van is paid off (which will be after the vacation go figure). My stance is it's hard to do something decent on only $1100. Our 10 yr anniversary will only come around once so let's save a little more money towards the vacation and pay off the van month or two later than scheduled. I agree mostly with DR as well, but what's 2 months vs. a once-in-a-lifetime 10 yr anniversary vacation? What does everybody think?

[JanH]

Where are you going? Is it a trip that you could take a couple of months later and both be relaxed and happy? I totally understand the significance of the day. Ten years is an awesome anniversary to celebrate. And going on time and paying off the van in a couple of extra months is not a bad thing. I have a feeling she is seeing the light at the end of the tunnel and she's going for it. Having been married for almost 30 years, I think I would be okay in moving the trip as long as we remembered the reason for the celebration! Hopefully, you are not feeling like she is not thinking of the anniversary the same way as you are. Maybe you could get into the planning together and not feel bad about the change in dates. By the way, Congrats on your tenth year together!

[scfr]

Hmmmmm.....

First of all, congratulations on so many things: On your 10-year anniv, on paying off the student loans, and on the progress on paying off the van!

What if you had a low-key celebration at home on the actual date of your 10th anniversary, finished paying off the van, and then had a belated trip to celebrate both events?

BTW, I'm sure you are already counting your blessings that you have a frugal wife and not one of those who goes out and racks up the credit card bills, right?

[gackle]

Thanks, JanH. Our anniversary is actually in May, but we are already postponing the trip to October. We have not been able to come to agreement on where to go until last night - Costa Rica for a week at an all-inclusive resort. I think we could afford this in our current budget right now since all food is provided and last year I saw charter flights DFW-Liberia for either $79 O/W or R/T (either way both are a great price). I can't find the specials right now, but I'm confident they will come back. I think the extra money could be used to do some excursions though (canopy tours, volcano tour, scuba/snorkeling) instead of sitting around the resort for a week.

[gackle]

Originally Posted by scfr

BTW, I'm sure you are already counting your blessings that you have a frugal wife and not one of those who goes out and racks up the credit card bills, right?

You're absolutely right. Thanks for putting me back in my place. Delaying until after the van is paid off might be an option. It's scheduled to be paid off in November and the trip is valid for travel until 12/24. Plus both of our birthdays are in December. I'm not sure I could get the cheap airfare that late though. It gets to be peak season in the winter down there. Current airfare is around $600. I think it would be counter-productive to delay in order to finish paying the last $500 on the van and then spend $1200 to get down to Costa Rica. I'll have to pay attention to airfare this summer.

[disneysteve]

Can you clarify something? If you take the trip as scheduled, do you have the money to pay for it in full or do you need to acquire new debt (like a credit card balance) to cover the costs?

If you have the money, I'd say to go. If you need to borrow, I'd say to stay home. Unless someone is dying, I don't believe in charging vacations. Your case is complicated a bit by the airline credits that have an expiration date. It doesn't make sense to let them expire unused, so if that was the deciding factor, I'd probably vote to go.

[gackle]

The $600 airline credit is through a USAA credit card perk (we keep the card paid off every month) so it won't expire before we go on the trip. We may need to borrow some if we have to pay full price for the airlines, but it depends on how much overtime I can work between now and then. I agree with not charging vacations, but can you tell I've got the travel itch?

[smartatmoney]

Originally Posted by scfr

Hmmmmm.....

First of all, congratulations on so many things: On your 10-year anniv, on paying off the student loans, and on the progress on paying off the van!

What if you had a low-key celebration at home on the actual date of your 10th anniversary, finished paying off the van, and then had a belated trip to celebrate both events?

BTW, I'm sure you are already counting your blessings that you have a frugal wife and not one of those who goes out and racks up the credit card bills, right?

YES! I agree.. do something small and nice... Then take the vacation later. Plus, she'll feel better during the vacation since she won't feel guilty that it was taken while there was debt.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Do it, save the snowball and hang off on the van an extra couple month. How long have you been on BS2? Long enough to change behavior? I bet if you held off on paying off the fast super fast you'd have enough to pay for the vacation in cash right?

[pearlieq]

If the difference is just 2-3 months and you wouldn't have to incur new debt to take the trip, I would vote for going. This is, of course, assuming you can get your DW to agree wholeheartedly to the idea. It wouldn't be much of an anniversary trip if she were fretting about money the whole time.

If it's really, really important to her, though, maybe it might be best to defer to her on this one. Getting out of debt is a pretty noble goal! Maybe you could defer the big trip a bit and celebrate your anniversary with a weekend getaway somewhere within driving distance. A hop to San Antonio? A weekend at the hot springs? Heaven knows your marriage will outlast the van debt by far!

Good luck with whatever you choose and happy anniversary!

[poundwise]

My take on it is that I would pay off the van first. Take your trip later. With a paid-off van and when you have, in full, the money to take the trip I expect you'll both enjoy it immensely more.

[Ima saver]

I agree with poundwise, I would pay off the van now and take the trip later.

[Daylily]

I vote for the vacation. It sounds like you could use a break.

[Aleta]

I think that your 10 year anniversary is very important. Your wife sounds a little like how I used to think, but she will remember it down the road. Your debt had been there and you're managing to pay things off.

I have a suggestion for you. Why can't you do a weekend thing together. I'm in South Florida and really don't know where you are, but weekends are great. If you could both take off on Friday and maybe come back on Sunday evening, I think it could be very special. There were times that my husband suggested to go away for a weekend. Sometimes a week can almost be too much. For an anniversay - a weekend would be perfect and you could really fill it up nicely without spending alot of money. I would say to your wife that although paying off debt is important that you also cherish your anniversary and that you want her to always remember it.

My husband did that after the 9/11 thing. We felt like it was important to support our local economy that suffered horribly as a result of the attack. Think about it and see if you can't do both. Maybe you can save your air miles and do it next year when it will be feasible and your debt will be paid off.

By the way, congratulations on your anniversary and may you have many happy years together.

[shengmei]

I would split it 50-50. Paying off the van is important but a vacation can say $$$ on couple counseling years down the road.

[gackle]

Originally Posted by smartatmoney

Plus, she'll feel better during the vacation since she won't feel guilty that it was taken while there was debt.

Speaking of feeling guilty, she just laid the guilt on me with your post. Sounds like the boss has won out. Thanks for your opinions!

Originally Posted by LivingAlmostLarge

How long have you been on BS2? Long enough to change behavior?

About 10 months. We're not "gazelling" it, but we are progressing on getting out of debt a lot faster than before the program.

[neatdesign]

Originally Posted by gackle

Thanks, JanH. Our anniversary is actually in May, but we are already postponing the trip to October. We have not been able to come to agreement on where to go until last night - Costa Rica for a week at an all-inclusive resort. I think we could afford this in our current budget right now since all food is provided and last year I saw charter flights DFW-Liberia for either $79 O/W or R/T (either way both are a great price). I can't find the specials right now, but I'm confident they will come back. I think the extra money could be used to do some excursions though (canopy tours, volcano tour, scuba/snorkeling) instead of sitting around the resort for a week.

Aaah, Costa Rica! One of my favorite places on earth! I've spent a total of three months there, traveling all around the country. It is a precious gem of a place.

My husband and I traveled around Costa Rica for 17 days, and everything including international airfare was about $2500. But that was during their green season (August), we traveled by bus everywhere, and we stayed in sparse bungalows that cost $15/night. Those were the days.

Do you mind sharing where you're planning to go? What area/city, hotel, etc? And what you'd like to do there?

~ Jenney

[gackle]

Originally Posted by neatdesign

Do you mind sharing where you're planning to go? What area/city, hotel, etc? And what you'd like to do there?

Hoping to go to the Premier Fiesta Resort on Gulf of Papagayo, about 20 minutes away from Liberia. Some of the reviews on tripadvisor.com mentioned canopy tours, volcano tours and snorkeling.

[Aleta]

I also check out trip advisor. I also check out all of the areas around where I am staying. I always have a general idea of the area.

[Broken Arrow]

Were it up to me, I would have paid the van off first. But, I will concede that, to some degree, it is reasonable to enjoy life's certain pleasures even if it means to take a hit financially.

I think what the responses in this thread has shown is that, sometimes, there are no clear cut answers. Sometimes, it's really a question of what will work best for the both of you.

If all else fails, I do like the idea of re-considering a 50-50 split though. Perhaps there's a way to keep down the vacationing costs without compromising much?