by Hope
I’m playing hooky from life today…well, really last night through tomorrow afternoon! One of the downsides to homeschooling for my older two is that they miss some of the social aspects of public school, read dances! So last night a large homeschool group in our extended area hosted a once a year formal. And to make it even more cool is that it is hosted at the local Great Wolf Lodge! And to make it even more economical, they negotiate these outrageously cheap rates for homeschool families for the entire week!
So, since all the expenses for this month’s travel have already been saved and planned for, I blew the budget a bit and reserved a room for two nights. We got here yesterday afternoon and enjoyed the water park before the boys had to get ready for formal. Then today, we are spending the entire day just hanging out together with other homeschool families we know and enjoying Great Wolf. We’ll resume our regular schedule tomorrow!
The cost breakdown:
Amazing 1 bedroom suite (typically $309 per night) @ $161 per night (all taxes and feeds included in that number) – this includes 6 passes to the water park for 3 days *I paid for one night to reserve the room in April, so only 1/2 comes out of this months budget
Breakfast buffet @ $50 for two ornings – ordered this with the reservation to get the discounted rate
Formal – $70 per ticket (these were paid last month so not coming out of this months budget.)
Formal clothes – nada! The boys both wore suits they received last year for Easter and neither took a date so no flowers necessary.
Other food – we brought a ton of food from home as we have a kitchnette in our suite and will be doing lunches, dinners here. I did budget enough for one meal out, but am not sure we’ll use it as most of the other homeschooling families are picnicking it as well.
So yes, I broke the budget this month, but I’m so glad I did. My older boys are really finding a good group of positive friends in the homeschoooling community, they got to dress up and go to a dance and we will have had an amazing couple of days as a family.
Hope is a creative, solutions-focused business manager helping clients grow their business and work more efficiently by leveraging expertise in project management, digital marketing, & tech solutions. She’s recently become an empty nester as her 5 foster/adoptive kids have spread their wings. She lives with her 3 dogs in a small town in NE Georgia and prefers the mountains to the beaches any day. She struggles with the travel bug and is doing her best to help each of her kids as their finish schooling and become independent (but it’s hard!) She has run her own consulting company for almost twenty years! Hope began sharing her journey with the BAD community in the Spring of 2015 and feels like she has finally in a place to really focus on making wise financial decisions.
Be ready for the arrows to fly here at BAD, Hope! That’s what they do best. I’m glad it was a fun trip for your family and a great experience for your teens.
Hi Hope,
sounds like everyone had a great time! Enjoy!
can you explain why you decided to homeschool?
Kiki,
As a missionary kid, we moved around ALOT. And as you’ll see in upcoming posts, I have a natural tendency to be rootless. While I am conciously trying to raise my kids in the same city, we do travel alot. Initially, I had to travel for work, and would just take the kids with me, but as I transitioned my work travel was cut back significantly and now we travel for fun/pleasure. So having the flexible schedule has always been key to me.
But more importantly now, since we’ve been homeschooling for going on 6 years now (since my daughter was old enough) and I’ve been exposed to the local public schools through my foster kids, I am convinced that my kids get a far better education. I am able to teach them the way they learn, we have flexibility to follow their strengths and interests and so much more. I could write a book on this as I am very passionate about it being the right choice for most kids, and have written about our adventures and my thoughts on different subjects on my personal blog if you want to read more. http://hopeeternally.com/category/homeschooling/
Thanks for asking!
Thanks for the link! Now I have a lot better understanding of your choice.
This is a perfect example of when it’s Ok to break the budget a bit. You were reasonable with your spending, your boys had great social interaction and you got to spend time as a family! I know most people want to get out of debt as fast as they can, but you also have to live a little. So glad you are having a nice time!
It was definitely well worth it, and I did not come away with buyer’s remorse which was even better.
Good for you, Hope, It sounds like you planned well for this end-of-school trip. I also like it that you are surrounded with other families who opt to eat meals in rather than restaurants x3 each day for the whole family. Huge expense and usually the food is overall not good for you.
We rent a house at the beach each summer and we eat all breakfasts and lunches in (well, lunch is a picnic,but it is food we pack ourselves). We are there 7 nights and we eat in 5 nights and we go out 2 nights … but those 2 nights are planned for very carefully.
We have a mountain of debt from a family situation, plus credit card bills brought on by dealing with the family situation and we are plugging away at it, bit by bit. We save for this one vacation each year and we stick to a strict budget. One good thing about where we go is that there is literally nothing to do but beach, bike ride, playing outside. No mini golf, no fast food, no arcades. There is a nature center (free) and lots of other free family activities and we take advantage of all of them. We rent directly from an owner vs going through the resort and that saves a lot of money, too.
Have fun on your mini-vacation!
Susan,
You are so right. It was great to be around other families who were budget conscious and us mom’s even started talking about how we could do it next year again. It was a great “down time” for all of us, and the kids were well entertained with their friends so I really got to relax!
I like your take on those long vacations. We always look for a place with at least a kitchnette so we can cook alot too, or I just take my crockpot 🙂
Very enjoyable!
We also homeschool, so I understand everything this trip meant to you and your kids. Don’t forget the benefit of adult time you’re getting with other homeschool parents! Or, the value of a great budgeting lessons for the kids when you were planning this trip. You didn’t go overboard, took advantage of a good deal, and for a three day “vacation” managed to spend less than many spend on one day at a water park.
You are right, Andrea, as a single mom, my adult time is EXTREMELY limited and getting to do this really made me feel not quite so alone AND many of the other homeschool families are as budget conscious as us seeing as many of them are single family incomes as well.
Sounds like a well-planned (and fun) trip. Being able to bring your own food and prepare it in the suite is something we like to do as well.
oh, all the awkwardness! i hope you got pictures.
sounds like a wonderful weekend.
Ha! You are right. The boys weren’t too keen on mom around snapping pictures, but I did get a few in the hallway right before we walked down to the ballroom. I posted one of them here: https://www.bloggingawaydebt.com/2014/05/the-boys-go-to-camp/
Sounds like a good reason to stray from the budget a bit. Sometimes you just have to live a little. 🙂
So what is the total final figure for this outing? For example the $70 ticket costs, is that $140.00 for your two teenagers or did you and the smaller children attend as well?
Lynn,
The formal was only for the twins (ages mature 12+ were allowed) so the total was $140 for the two of them. The little ones and I just enjoyed the water park (included in the price of our room) and ate dinner from food we brought; although each of them did use some of their own money to get ice cream.
Never underestimate the power of sabbath. I’ve had over 2 weeks of major upheaval and deadlines and no time to stop. Even on the Sunday I wasn’t working, I wasn’t able to get to church because of my deadline for Monday morning. I just didn’t need the additional stress or distraction.
But in all that time I knew Tuesday would be my sabbath. I planned a trip 120 miles from home, met with a friend (who needed sabbath as well and we had a 3 hour lunch together, just talking and connecting through our common interests) and then more fellowship and worship with other ministers and church volunteers before coming home.
Despite awful news yesterday (my house sale may fall through tonight) I am feeling much more positive and competent today than I have for weeks and I’m looking forward to the writing have to do for this weekend’s services.
Yes, sabbath doesn’t have to cost an expensive lunch and 250 miles of gas, but there are times when the cost is secondary to the benefits of renewal and recommitment.
CanadianKate,
You are so right. I hadn’t thought of it in those terms before we went, but as the stress of our day to day lives was melting away a bit as I enjoyed the company of other moms in the “adult only” hot tub, that really came to me. Having down time, away from the kids, even if it’s just a gated off area of 10 feet, makes a big difference in my life outlook and energy levels.
Well worth it, thank you for your perspective, I know it’s something I need to make time for in my own life.
Wow, sounds like you really planned and budgeted for this trip! I think that’s key when trying to pay down debt, even something as “simple” as a 2-3 day trip needs to be budgeted and savings always need to be found. I’ve always found that no matter how much I want to pay off my debt, I need to let off some steam every now and then! Sometimes it’s a movie on discount Tuesday (only $4.25!) or it may be a drink or two with friends. Just something to get me out of the house and interacting with people 🙂
You’re right, KK, I’m looking forward to the $2 movies our local theatre offers during the summer. They may be kiddie movies, but for almost 2 hours I can sit quietly and not think about life, debt, schedules or what’s coming next. A much needed break from reality!
I would have made the same decision (which is probably why I’m also on a debt journey). These special occasions only come once in awhile and you don’t want to miss them – it sounds like you did it on a budget the best you could and didn’t go crazy. Glad you all had a fun trip!
We did, Jessica, and it was WELL WORTH it! Finding those deals on this type of adventure don’t seem to come very often so I was glad we were able to take advantage of it.
I think you did a good job budgeting on this trip. It’s a little tough paying down debt with four kids and little events like this come up and it’s nice to take advantage of them. You planned well for the trip and that’s always pretty tough in terms of trying to stay on budget and eat. The social aspect is just as important as the academic aspect so I totally understand the dilemma. Enjoy.
Thanks, Mary, allow I cringe at the thought that I could have paid off a smaller debt with this money, I think the memories and down time for my sanity alone were worth the compromise. Thank you for your support.