Over the weekend my wife and I took a quickie vacation for the memorial day holiday. It was just meant as a quick getaway in lieu of our normal full summer vacation that we're not taking this year. Even if we're not able to get away for a full vacation, it's still nice to be able to get away for an extended weekend to just relax.
What was meant to be a cheap in-town hotel getaway quickly became more expensive than we anticipated. We had paid $119/night for our nice hotel room for 2 nights, but those costs quickly got larger as we started justifying more expenses. We started to get into the whole “we deserve it” attitude that says – “We work hard, why not spend some extra money? We deserve it!”.
The $240 we spent on the room quickly ballooned as we also paid for room service several times. Our breakfasts were supposed to be on the house, but we ended up ordering extra at those meals – meaning an extra $25-30 bill. When all was said and done, instead of spending around $300 as we had planned on spending – we actually spent over $400. Small things add up quick!
All in all, our little mini-vacation was extremely relaxing, and we didn't go as overboard as we could have, but we still ended up spending more than we had planned.
So how do you keep yourself from justifying expenses – and keep yourself from getting into a “we deserve it” attitude? Have you ever been on vacation and ended up spending more than you had budgeted? Tell me in the comments!
Links And Carnivals
Here is some good reading from around the web this week. Have some free time at lunch? Check out these links:
Links
- Is Becoming A Millionaire The Rule Rather Than The Exception?
- What’s My Credit Score Made Of?
- Disney Vacation Tips and Lessons Learned
- 104 Ways to Save Extra Money
- Credit Card Rewards or Credit Card Regrets? – PF Comic #5
- You don’t know what you have until it is gone
- 100 Best Blog Posts for Extreme Budgeting
- Best Jobs for College Graduates
- How Does Fraud Detection Work on Your Cards?
- 8 Places to Clean that Might Escape You
- What’s the Difference Between an Investor and a Trader
- How to Opt Out of Credit Card Offers and Junk Mail
- 5 Tips for Getting Back on the Credit Card Ladder
- How to Boost Your Saving Power
- 401(k) Contributions With Outstanding Debt
- Don’t Be Fooled by Sneaky Labeling!
- Elite Budget Tips From Well Regarded Personal Finance Bloggers
- Are Your Passwords Putting You at Financial Risk?
- Now’s Still the Time to Buy a House
- Another Way Dave Ramsey Gets It Wrong
- Bloggers and Their Relationship with Money
- Getting a Notice From the IRS – What to Do!
- How To Raise Your Credit Score
- How to Spot Counterfeit Money
- How to Examine Your Healthcare Plan and Save
Carnivals
- Best of Money Carnival: I was chosen as #4 in the top 10 money articles of the week for my article on cosigning.
- Carnival of Debt Reduction: My article about the Dave Ramsey debt snowball was included in the mix.
- Carnival of Personal Finance: My article about Roth IRA contribution limits was included.
Hello–
Thanks for the mention of my post!
I appreciate it.
Thanks for the mention!
Thanks for the mention of my link round up! I totally get it! You gotta have an idea in your mind about what you will spend and on what, and then stick with it. Best, Barb Friedberg
I think when you go on vacation you have to have it in mind that you are going to spend some money and budget for it.
Thanks so much for the link love, virtual hubby! ;)
xoxo
Mrs.
LOL.. you’re welcome!
Sounds like you had fun, even if you spent a little more than anticipated. Thanks for mentioning my post about jobs for college grads!
I think we all get a little caught up in that mentality. It’s not as bad if you are debt free and are just going for an occasional splurge; but it’s when you use debt to give yourself what you “deserve” that you get into trouble!
You deserve anything that you can afford outright w/o sacrifing other necessities
That’s the way I look at it