Budget Woes: Is Vacation a Necessity?

With the start of another year, many are reflecting on personal and familial habits that may need to be re-examined. For families, the top slot on this list is often the family budget.

The budget tends to burst at the seams comes January. December can bring, “It’s a little much, but it’s such a perfect gift for ----,” and, “We can’t stick to the grocery budget, it’s the holidays and we’ve got things to bake/cook and memories to make.”

Every January we sit down with the budget and cut the fat. It’s not that difficult of a job. We know what we’re comfortable spending in each category and it’s easy to see where we are falling short. We look at the numbers and plan out the next year for our family. We think about each month and what our needs will be and everything runs smoothly - until we get to the summer months and one budget category jumps out.

That category: Vacation.

Should we take a family vacation?

No matter how much (or little) money there is, we’re frugal. It’s just how we live. What we have we save because we know there’ll be a time of need. There are student loans that could be paid or a home that could be saved for. Do we spend a large chunk of money over the course of one week in the summer?

The answer for this family is a resounding YES! For us, a vacation is a necessity and something that needs to be budgeted into our lives.

A few years ago my husband, who struggles with a chronic health issue, had a complication after a surgery and I had to rush him to the hospital. There was a serious question as to if he would live or die. I called a few friends to sit and pray with me as the doctors worked and I waited. During that time I didn’t think of our budget, the student loans or if I’d gone over on cell phone minutes. Instead, I was haunted by something my husband had recently shared with me,

“My favorite thing in this world is when we’re traveling and you all fall asleep in the van. I love to drive my sleeping family.”

This memory was interrupted when the doctors came to tell me they had found the problem and that my husband would make it. My friends smiled and looked at me for tears or leaps of joy.

There were tears, but the only thing I could think of to say was:

 “I want to go on vacation for our anniversary.”

Our favorite things are important, especially if they help bond us as a family unit. For us, it's vacations. They are the thoughts that haunt us when we are reminded that this life is temporary and they are the first memories of our very young children.

There is something to be said about cramming five people into a mini-van and living out of a cooler for five days every summer – if it’s done together.

We’re not millionaires over here, so vacations mean other sacrifices throughout the year. We can do vacation on a dime. My husband and I even play “fun games and challenges” to help ensure vacation is possible for our family. You can make dinner for five out of a cooler for consecutive nights and those “free weekend if you take our timeshare tour” trips are actually really fun - and they serve lunch.

Taking his three daughters to Disney World is my husband’s dream. Old age isn’t likely for him, so I’m determined to make it happen sooner rather than later. We even have a code phrase for the dream in our home. “Someday, when we go to the Mouse’s House” we say as we dream while attempting to not tip off the children. It’s a bit early to share our dream with them. We’ll wait until the vacation category in the budget can grow. Until that time, vacation will always have a place in our budget, even if it is a small one.

Does your family have a “Mouse’s House” dream vacation? Does your family have a favorite vacation spot you want to recommend?

Vacation: taking time to climb rocks

Modern-Day Slaves

We are modern-day slaves. I guess I shouldn’t be speaking for you---but we, the Rutchik clan, are modern-day slaves. Who is our master? What a great question, thanks for asking! We are slaves to the American culture, what Pope John Paul II, and many other Catholics, refer to as the culture of death.

This is my daughter Tessa flashing her "don't boss me" look!

As I have grown into my faith over the past few years, I feel I’ve made tiny baby steps in waging war on this culture. My husband and I vote pro-life, cart our kids to Mass each week and our 17 month old knows she can’t even think about picking up that fork until we’ve prayed together as a family. I truly believe this idea of creating your own moral code and having unlimited options or “freedoms” is oppression in its UN-finest form. But, that is another post. My point is that in our little, mediocre ways, we as a family have waged war on the moral culture we live in…or have we?

It wasn’t until recently that we realized we were rolling over and playing dead in one of the most important battles in this war---the financial fight. I came across the book, “The Total Money Makeover” by Dave Ramey and I love it! Due to my six years of private collage, a medical condition and a lot of poor small choices, we are drowning in debt. The belief that living like this is “normal,” or “the American way” is pure brainwashing! Who is their right mind would believe that? I did! I believed it. The culture of death does not just attack our ideals, its attacking our wallets and waging war on the future security of our families. What happens when the well being of my family is left only in the hands of the government—a government that does not have a good track record on protecting human life and dignity? I don’t want to find out! The feeling of entitlement we have as Americans is ridiculous. I’m a good person, I work hard, so I DESERVE ----fill in the blank---. I know I have justified lifestyle choices by telling myself this in the past. The truth is, it is really hard to come to terms with the fact that we deserve nothing. Everything we have has been a gift from God, a gift given only out of love. It’s hard to accept such unconditional love! My family has vowed to make a better attempt at accepting this vow of unconditional love from God. And, in an effort to give our unconditional love to our children, we have made a commitment to their financial security and are now on The Total Money Makeover! It’s really hard. I don’t much care for pancakes and fruit for dinner. However, it’s a darn cheep meal while still be nutritious for our bodies. I’ m sad I have to work and have now put myself back on the job market. But, I have an education to pay off and as of now, the education of two little ones to pay for. So, I will work.
As any mama bear will tell you; no one, and I mean no one, wages war on my family and gets away with it! I am a slave to NO man!