A small setback (LONG)

**treeluva** · 10-30-2006, 01:53 AM

So, I have encountered a small setback, but I am not stressing over it. Nor am I angry with myself.

As you may know, I am currently living in Europe. I have been here for 2 years, and I am getting ready to leave. I have seen a couple of things since being here, but not even close to the things that I really wanted to see while being here.

There was always going to be "time" to see them, do the things that I wanted.

Well, now that I am getting ready to leave in 1-2 months, I realized that I will probably never come back to Europe again, and my children may or may not have an opportunity to come back here.

So, for the last two weeks, my children, my best friend, her son, and I, have gone and seen some things. The first road trip included Idar Oberstein in Germany, Luxembourg, Bastgone, Belgium, Brussels, Belgium, and Paris. We left on a Thursday and got back on Saturday night, so it was 2 nights in a hotel, and a whirlwind of activity. But my children saw the Mona Lisa. We went to the top of the Eiffel tower. They played on the playgrounds in the park behind the tower. We stopped at the Euro Space Center. We saw the war memorial for the WWII Battle of Bastgone.

The second roadtrip, we left at midnight on Tuesday(wednesday morning).... drove all night, until we arrived to Rome. We stayed 2 nights there.... and my children got to see the Vatican, the Collisum(SP?) and many other beautiful sights and ruins. On the way back, we stopped in Pisa, so they could see the leaning tower. We drove through Switzerland, and the Swiss Alps are absolutly gorgeous.

There are still some more things I would have liked to have seen and done, but I happy with these two trips.

But I guess, for me, the point is, although it may have set back my financial debt free goal a few months, there was never going to be another time in my forseeable future to be able to bring my children to see this history and culture. I couldnt let this opportunity pass my family by.

Of course, I tried to do it as frugally as possible. We drove to Rome, for instance, 12 hours, instead of flying or taking the train. We stayed in small hotels. We picked 2 main things we wanted to see in each city (that charged admission) and stuck to those 2 things, instead of trying to cram in tons of stuff. Souveniors were limited to basically postcards, and watercolor prints to hang in the house. We brought a cooler with drinks and food, to help offset eating out. Heck, the Louvre was only 8.50 Euro admission, and everyone under 18 is free..... so the children got to go see the beauty that is the Louvre for free. Had I been more planful, though, we would have gone the first Sunday of the month, where it is free to everyone.

My point is (do I even have one? lol) is that sometimes, the financial goals DO take a backseat to actually LIVING. I know that I am fortunate enough to have been able to go to these places. I know that had I not been in Europe that these trips would not have been possible due to international airfare. But everyone has had the mindset that there is "always going to be time for that later", but time flies, and sometimes, you just never get around to doing them.

**autumnlynn** · 10-30-2006, 01:59 AM

Sounds like a wonderful time of family and learning. You did the right thing to do these things with your family. That is why we live frugally, so we will have money to do the things most important to us. Like John Lennon said, "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans".

Maybe your debt free date will be set back a few months, but the experience with your family is priceless!!

**Kisobel** · 10-30-2006, 02:23 AM

i totally agree with you. i have been working at paying off debt for 41/2 years. getting close. but i want to take a real vacation( our honeymoon was 2 nights in kingston,ont) with my husband for my 40th birthday next year. after much meditating and thinking we decided to go for it. now we are not charging anything. we are paying for our hotel every month. oh it would help if you knew it was disneyworld. if we get close to our reservations in october 07 and murphy visits we will just change reservations. i have in the budget our park tickets for this month. i guess what i am saying is this is a CASH trip. yes it sets back our fully funded ef by about 3-4months. but you have to live now. now if i were to charge this trip then i should be shot. ok long ramble- late at night

kate

**treeluva** · 10-30-2006, 04:46 AM

Well, yes, I did not charge the trip. Well, I used my credit card (in Paris, it is about the only way you can pay to park!) and for the hotel.... same for in Rome, but as soon as I came home I paid off the amount that I had charged. So, I am not adding more debt to the mix... just more time.

**rosebron** · 10-30-2006, 05:24 AM

You did do the right thing!!!
This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunty.
You seized the moment frugally and your kids (and you)
will cherish these experiences for years to come.

I'm of the opinion that when we get older, all we'll have are our memories.
Continue to make them great while you can.

**PrairieRose** · 10-30-2006, 08:16 AM

I completely agree that it makes sense to do what you did. So what if it takes a little longer to get your debt paid off? I mean you're still on track, it's not like you'll be doing this again soon so no guilt whatsoever. You've given your children wonderful memories to cherish for the rest of their lives. Now that's priceless (at the risk of sounding like a credit card commercial).

**Emjo** · 10-30-2006, 10:50 AM

I would have done the same thing; what a wonderful experience for your children that they will cherish forever! Europe is on my "someday, when my kids are older and we've got 2 incomes again" list.

**Darlene** · 10-30-2006, 01:26 PM

Good for you! Those memories will last a lifetime & beyond when they tell their children and on and on it goes.

**Katybird** · 10-30-2006, 01:46 PM

I think you did absolutely the right thing. You can always add more time to the final debt payoff but as you said, the trips were a once in a lifetime opportunity and you have made memories that will last a lifetime. It truly is priceless to have those beautiful scenes and settings etched in your memory.

**betharoo0** · 10-30-2006, 02:12 PM

Its not like you fell off the wagon with crazy expenses!
Had you come home and not done any of those things I bet you would have regretted it.
So I hope you guys had a good time and now you have more wonderful memories!

**Scattymum** · 10-30-2006, 02:39 PM

I would have done exactly the same, experiences like those dont come up very often.

I was in paris last year and was amazed at how cheap the admission to the louvre was, we spent nearly the whole day there it was amazing ( couldnt believe how tiny the mona lisa was though LOL) most of the attractions were pretty reasonable but snacks were a ridculous price!

sounds like you had an amazing few days, we are planning on going to Rome next year sometime for a couple of days

**starsapphire** · 10-30-2006, 03:47 PM

I agree with everyone else, you did the right thing. You have to take opportunities like that while you can, otherwise you miss out. Before I found FV, I was already paying down my CC debt, then an opportunity to go to Hawaii came up. A bunch of friends were all going there right around the same time and DH and I wanted to go too. I stopped my debt snowball and started putting money away, it took about a year to save up for this trip because at the time DH was not able to contribute as much as me. I would have been debt free alot sooner, but I don't regret it one bit. We had a wonderful time.

**ewokgirl** · 10-30-2006, 05:51 PM

I agree 100%! Sometimes you have to decide what's more valuable to you and your family at the time. You can never do Europe that cheaply again if you have to fly in from the States first! I think you made a wise decision. Your kids will have wonderful memories from this experience.

We are going to London for Christmas this year. My dad is giving us the flight and hotel as our Christmas gift this year, but all meals and other expenses are on our dime. I've been substitute teaching this year to help fund the trip, but last week DH received an unexpected and nicely-sized bonus. That more that covers the cost of our expenses in London! Part of me knows that it would be so much better if we could just leave that money in our emergency fund, but this trip is so important to us. We'll be spending Christmas with my sister's family, who now live in London. I miss my nieces so much! This is one of those times that the experience outweighs the practicality.

**frugalnana** · 10-30-2006, 06:23 PM

Treeluva so it was a set back but you, your kids, friend and her kids will have a lifetime of memories. My oldest son was born in Germany and he was three when we left. I took every opportunity to site see frugally while living their. Paris is embedded in my mind forever, the food especially the bakeries and surrounding sites. We have so many pictures of castles, churches, different cities. Although my son was to young to remember he enjoys looking at the pictures with him in them. One day in school when your kids have history and they see something in the books they can actually say they were there.
I don't know if Phantasia Land is still running but it was suppose to be the duplicate of Disneyland.
I hope you and the rest had a blast.