I’ve already mentioned that my birthday (30th) and me and my honey’s anniversary are coming up—really soon. We’d been talking about doing something, such as a little getaway. My main goal was to do it inexpensively, of course, but that wasn’t the same as my husband’s.
My honey wanted to have a great time and more specifically go to a casino and not really care about how much money it ends up costing. *cringe* He says that is the reason that we save money, so that we can use it instead of credit.
I understand the idea of paying cash and not using credit to pay for things, that’s superb stuff there. What I don’t get is working so hard all year long to save money when all we end up doing is spending almost all of it in a week.
Trying to think from my honey’s perspective
My husband works hard, really. I don’t mean that he sits at a desk and does paperwork or computer stuff all day, I mean outside, manual, hazardous, stressful, physically taxing work with frequent overtime. I wouldn’t be able to do his job and I respect how hard he works to take care of us. He never complains about much, never asks for anything (except for meat, it must really suck when a non-meat eater does the grocery shopping) and treats me like a princess.
He’s an exceptional dad and never gets angry, he just laughs stuff off. We’ve been together for like 10 years, engaged for 7 and married for two; we’ve never had a single fight. We do our best to communicate and work out any potential issues, which involves sometimes talking about feelings—which has got to be rough for him. 😉
He is one of most selfless people I’ve ever known and deserves to use some of his hard-earned money if he wants to. Did I mention that he’s the only one working? How could I tell him no, he pretty much gives me anything I want. Aside from going gambling, he’s also trying to give me a great birthday and a special anniversary, which is really sweet.
So that’s why I’m going to suck it up and not complain or gripe (too much) about the massive amount of money that is going to be spent very soon. I’ll try and do my best to save us money while we’re there and come up with more suggestions for entertainment than gambling alone. 
So how much is it going to cost?
A lot. I’m actually a little scared to think about it. We’ll be driving there, which is about 200 miles round-trip, staying in a hotel for 6 nights, we’ll need to eat and there’s also the cost of doing stuff. Honestly, I think the biggest cost will be the gambling.
Last time we went gambling, we spent $500 and that was only one day. Imagine the damage that could be done in 6 days, oh my. I’ll do my best to keep our spending low but I’m preparing myself for the total cost to be around $2,000. That’s nuts, right?
It could have been worse
Originally, my honey was set on going to Las Vegas. That was actually my fault for mentioning it, it just sounded fun. So, we compromised. He still gets to go to the casino and I get to save some money. Vegas is so expensive, at least when you hang around the strip. $2,000 is nothing compared to the amount we would spend in Las Vegas.
Why 6 nights?
I know six nights seems like a long-time but my birthday and our anniversary are 3 days apart, so if we wanted to be away for both, then it would be 4 nights. The additional 2 nights are actually my doing, I really need a chance to clear my mind and recharge.
I’ve just been so overwhelmed this past year and it seems like my daily tasks keep multiplying, it’s really exhausting. I’ve been having difficulty focusing and there are a billion things swirling around in my brain at once, it’s driving me mad.
I’m hoping that getting away from most of my responsibilities and chilling out for 6 days will be enough to help me relax and realign my priorities and hopefully restore balance to the force. 😉
Thankfully, we’ve got a house sitter, babysitter and pet-sitter already lined up just in case we went somewhere, and it’s all free. It really helps living close to family sometimes. But what about my blog? Worry not, I’m trying to get my posts written ahead of time for the days I’ll be away and then I can just schedule them for when I’m gone.
As for your comments (which I love, by the way) I’ll most likely wait and reply to them when I return. I do promise that I will reply to each and every one of them, just like I usually do. Unless, somebody goes on some crazy comment binge and things just get ridiculous. I’m hoping to have posts for every day so that I don’t have to shove in a bunch of guest posts.
It’s really going to suck to drain all this money out of our savings but sometimes you gotta do things that set you back a bit. I’ll really have to get my save on after this holiday.
Image Credits: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sophistechate/2670949414/ and http://www.flickr.com/photos/ragingwire/5873815259/
Vacations are awesome and can help you reconnect with each other and get your focus back. I hope you and your hubby have a wonderful time! Sounds like you have a plan to keep your spending in check and you have the money saved up – Enjoy!!
Thanks Dana. I hope so too.
I understand your pain. Vacations are amazing but it always hurts when you get the bill. Good luck managing it and I do mean luck – on the gambling aspect as well.
Haha, thanks 20’s Finances.
I guess if spending so much money didn’t bug me (like my husband) then I probably wouldn’t be blogging about saving it all the time. Hopefully I’ll be able to relax and have a good time anyways.
Hmm, sounds like your vacation would just stress me out if I was worried about how much money we were spending. Maybe you can come up with some other activities some nights besides gambling – if you think you’ll blow $500 in a night of gambling, then it might be worth it to pay $150 each for tickets to a good show instead, for example.
Rather than just saying no to the expensive parts, you could suggest some fun things to do that are less expensive (Just don’t pick them only because they’re cheap! You still want to have fun!)
Yep, stressful and exciting at the same time. I’m pretty sure there’s some stuff I might be able to talk my honey into doing there. Money just goes so quickly in the casinos. Ick.
have fun on your trip! I’m going away for a week to St. Lucia down in the caribbeans for my honeymoon in two weeks so reality will set in once I get back 😀
Thanks Aaron. Oooh La La. St. Lucia, that’s going to be awesome. I hope you two have a brilliant honeymoon and marriage too.
Good luck managing your finances while away and I hope you have a blast
Thanks Andrea.
Have fun. Try not to stress about it too much, or you’ll ruin the whole point of a vacation.
Me personally, I hate gambling. I’ve been to Las Vegas too many times for work and I never gamble. It does nothing for me and I don’t feel like handing my hard-earned money to the sleazes who run casinos. Maybe go for a pampering spa day.
Thanks Harriet, I’ll sure try. I just think about how long it takes to save money. I always have fun gambling—until after the money is gone.
I also want to do something nice for my 30th (January), but I’m worried that I might not have enough money to splurge. I was thinking about just doing a staycation for the weekend at a hotel. I mean, it’s my 30th b’day. I want it to be memorable in a good way! I hope that everything works out for you Jen. Vegas sounds like fun!
Yeah, 30’s a big one—you gotta do something special, it doesn’t have to cost a lot of money though. Thanks Elle, oh, we’re not actually going to Vegas—that way my honey’s 1st choice though. We’re just going to a casino nearby-ish. It will help keep the costs down compared to Vegas.
I went to see the Ramones on my 30th birthday! It was really fun. Also, it was 1995. /old
The Ramones! That must have been awesome, Harriet. Too bad I won’t be able to see them.
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