We were a month and a half into paying off our 80k of debt. For the first time, my wife and I were analyzing all our spending, trying to eliminate unnecessary expenses, and adopt better money habits. Going on vacation during debt payoff was the furthest thing from my mind! For as long as it would take, I was fine without taking any trips away for vacation, while we temporarily focused on ridding ourselves of debt. We were fired up and focused on the fact that A) this is temporary, and B) this is worth it. However, this is the story of a detour we took during our debt payoff plan, but how at the end of the day the detour was much bigger in my head than in reality.
First, I’d like to introduce the driver in the outcome of this story:
“Just let your word ‘Yes mean yes, your ‘No,’ no….”
Matthew 5:37
Yes to what? Yes to something I first said Yes to, but later wanted to change to No.
The vacation destination
A good friend of my wife’s (edit – great friend) had moved to Toronto a couple years prior and they hadn’t seen each other since. Right before Dave Ramsey became a household name for us, my wife had made tentative plans for us to go visit her, which was 4-5 months away at the time of making the plan. I agreed, but we did not make travel arrangements at the time.
Fast forward, now that the time to make actual arrangements was approaching, my wife and I were nearing a breaking point in our common interests. If you asked me, the deal was off – our conditions had changed. We no longer booked flights on credit cards and worried about paying it off later. This trip to Canada was obviously incompatible with our current lifestyle. We can’t be paying for plane tickets and attractions and eating out and all those vacation-y things! You just don’t take vacation during debt payoff!
Then came the mic drop
It was at this time that my wife, whose happiness is directly proportionate to my own life’s happiness, laid on me the “let your yes mean yes” wisdom quoted earlier. It stopped me in my tracks. I recalled that months earlier, I had agreed to the trip. “But but!!” I insisted. She wasn’t having it. We were taking a vacation, to another country, while in Baby Step 2. I was terrified this would knock us off the wagon! It would loosen all the strings! Reverse the good habits we had started to develop with spending! But I was trapped – bound by my “Yes”, and my desire to keep living with a happy wife. So we went to Canada!
Taking a vacation during debt payoff
We were going, but we worked to minimize travel costs. Flights came free thanks to Citi American Airlines credit card points. For lodging, we stayed in our friend’s place. Transportation was riding around in our friend’s car. We were also reasonable with our food & entertainment decisions during the 4-day trip. Because of all this, it had a minimal impact on our debt payoff timeline. Oh, and also, “happy wife, happy life” has a value that is hard to quantify in dollars. (husbands you know what I mean!) A note of caution, though, the month we took this trip did end up being the month we paid the least towards our debt.
Final thoughts
Would I recommend taking a vacation during debt payoff? No – for a few reasons.
- The temporary relaxation of discipline can easily allow bad spending habits to creep back in. If you lose momentum to finish the step, you’ve done more damage than the cost of the trip. It’s not unlike being on a diet to lose weight – the pull of a “cheat day,” or the “treat yo self” mindset can wreck your good routine, throw you out of rhythm. What does that end up costing you? Time. A longer time you’ll be above your desired weight, a longer time you’ll be in debt. Remember we’re trying to buy back our time.
- If you and your family decided to commit to something ‘abnormal’ like no longer using credit cards and sticking to a budget, part of that is discontinuing some routines that may have been part of your life. Like taking plane trips. Restraining yourself may at first feel uncomfortable, but those are the moments that test how strong your resolve to accomplishing your goal is.
- Even if you decide you need to take a break, you can still do it responsibly. Take a small trip, going out of state instead of out of the country to a fancy resort. While there limit your meals out to once per day, and get groceries and prepare food the other meals. This gives you the breather you need without the added stress of setting back your timeline too far.
So overall, I wouldn’t recommend it. But in our case, I definitely played it up to be bigger than it was. How about you? Would you consider going on vacation while paying off your debt?