You only get one honeymoon.
I’ve talked a bit recently about my wedding, and how the planning for that is moving right along. Slowly but surely, we’re hammering out the details. Since we’re in debt, we’re always trying to opt to find ways to save money, cut costs, DIY, and generally have a beautiful wedding, without spending the next six months paying for it.
I have around $18,000 in debt right now, between my student loans and my car loan, and I really have no interest in adding to that. It’s taken me over a year to pay off that first $20,000 in debt (I used to owe almost $38,000), and I’m literally counting the days until the whole balance of my debt is gone. I really, really didn’t want to add to that balance, so, like a responsible person, I’m keeping my wedding budget very reasonable. I don’t have the final numbers on anything yet, but so far it’s looking like I won’t be taking on any debt to pay for it.
Which brings me to the topic of honeymooning while in debt. Most everyone can understand getting married while in debt, after all, the heart wants what it wants. But what about honeymooning? If getting out of debt is my #1 priority (and it is, just check out my goals), shouldn’t I forgo the honeymoon and put all of that extra cash towards debt. If I really insist on having a honeymoon (which I do), shouldn’t I try and find something modest and local, so I can have my honeymoon and my debt repayment too?
Well, you wouldn’t be entirely wrong if you agreed with the above statements. That would be the good, responsible, Vulcan thing to do.
Is Honeymooning While In Debt a Good Decision?
Personal Finance is Personal…
Ha, as Lauren from L Bee and the Money Tree recently ranted about, that’s the phrase that every blogger uses before justifying a bad financial decision. Personal finance is personal, yes, but spending a significant bit of cash on an expensive honeymoon while still in debt is a bad decision, no matter which way you cut it.
Sure, it’ll be beneficial to our mental health. After the months of stress of being frugal and scrimping and saving, along with planning a wedding and running a half marathon, spending a money on an awesome honeymoon would be a wonderful way to recharge.
That still doesn’t change the fact that it’s a bad decision. No matter which way you look at it. That money could be put to much better use, getting me out of debt months earlier than planned. It could be used to help me save hundreds in interest charges, and allow me to start saving for retirement and building wealth earlier than planned.
From a financial perspective, the benefits of a non-frugal honeymoon are far outstripped by the drawbacks. In fact, it’s not even a competition really, and anyone who tells you different may be trying to justify their own decisions.
Life’s Not Only About Making Good Decisions
That said, I’ve made a lot of good decisions in my life. I got good grades in high school, which allowed me to attend a decent university. I worked hard throughout university to obtain a degree that would allow me to become employed after graduation. Upon graduation I immediately began to work, and pay off my debts. I moved to a tiny house to cut costs, and have paid off almost $20,000 in the 15 months since I started making payments.
My life has been nothing but good decisions so far. It’s time for a bad one. I figure, if I only make a bad decision every once in awhile, I’ll still come out ahead of the game.
So, here’s the low down on my bad decision:
How to Honeymoon While in Debt
My fiance and I looked at a bunch of different options for our honeymoon. We decided that we wanted to go somewhere that would give us good return for our money. We agreed that being able to consume a lot of food and alcohol was a priority, as was being able to relax and recover from the wedding.
Europe
My first inclination was to go to Europe. I’ve been twice but my fiance hasn’t. We talked about renting a car and driving around the UK for two weeks, or visting Germany. After looking at the prices and our budget, we passed on this idea, deciding that it wasn’t going to be enough bang for our buck, mostly because of the high cost of getting over there.
The West Coast
I’ve also always wanted to visit the west coast. We roughed out costs for a possible San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, Vancouver trip, or various combinations of those options. This option was more promising, since we could stay with family along the way.
Down South
The more we researched and talked about it, the more it became obvious that we wanted to go down south. Neither of us have ever been, and the idea of relaxing, warm and lazy on a beach while eating and drinking as much as we wanted was very enticing.
Once that was decided, my fiance started researching trips. We saved about $1,000 on the cost of the trip, which allowed us to pick a higher end resort. We saved so much by booking a full year in advance, and watching for deals like hawks, we decided where we wanted to go, signed up for email promotions, and waited for a good one.
Saving that huge amount of money up front definitely set my mind at ease about our choice. Going to Cuba was definitely the most cost effective choice for us. We don’t have everything ironed out yet, like travel insurance and accommodations for the dog, but I’m still incredibly excited for the trip.
Going on an extravagant honeymoon might not be the best financial decisions, but sometimes I’ve got to quit being so analytical, and remember to live once in awhile too.