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"Everything will be okay in the end. If it's not okay, it's not the end."
Postponed Honeymoon or Buy a House?
Hi all! I know you ladies always give honest advice and I am in need of some. DH and I were married in August and we also have a 15 month old daughter. Our original plan was to postpone a honeymoon until the summer of 2013 to give us time to save and so our daughter would be older. Financially, this past year has been the worst we have ever had so that was another reason for us to postpone.
However, now we are both in great jobs and we are getting back on our feet faster than I thought. The prospects of owning a home in the next few years are suddenly possible and it has got me thinking: should we put a honeymoon on the back burner and work our butts off and save for a home for our family? We are also planning to have baby #2 ( and our last baby) sometime in the next year and I know I would love a home for them to grow up in.
DH agrees for the most part but his argument is this: with 2 children, it will be quite some time until we are actually able to go on a kid-free vacation. He is thinking that we might regret not indulging in some couple time in order to go for the home. I can absolutely see his point and would love to sip drinks on the beach with him and have an uninterrupted conversation over dinner lol.
Any suggestions? TIA!
"Everything will be okay in the end. If it's not okay, it's not the end."
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Re: Postponed Honeymoon or Buy a House?
Instead of going to say Hawaii, could you go to the Florida Keys? You could drive to them. Or if you are nature lovers, you could rent a cabin for a week. There are many great places to choose from, plus a variety of price points, at vrbo.com, you will rent the cabin from the properties' owner. They usually provide almost all of the linens and kitchen stuff needed, just read the listing. This could allow you to cook meals yourselves often, to save money.
If it's out of the question to do both, then I would totally go for the house.
It really depends on what your version of "going all out" is. We are doing our 9 day honeymoon to Puerto Rico for less than $3k, and that includes flights from California, the rental car, and hotels. Flights from NY to Puerto Rico are a lot cheaper. We are staying at adorable cottage style inns, because we wanted to support locally owned hotels, instead of big corporate spots (like Hyatt or Marriott).
Of course, we will need money for spending, food, etc., but you could easily do a really amazing honeymoon for less than $5K. Or, you could do a really amazing budget honeymoon for probably less than $2K if you want to stay a little more local.
ETA: PS - our rooms are all oceanfront, so we didn't go crazy cheap. There were a lot cheaper options, and we were still able to make it affordable and get beautiful rooms/views.
Websites/blogs where our wedding has been featured:
http://www.dapperq.com/2013/11/a-very-dapper-wedding/
http://www.onabicyclebuiltfortwo.com/2013/10/wedding-christina-g.html
http://4realequalityweddings.com/2014/05/16/g-christina/
Did you book your HMs yourselves or through a travel agent? We've never tried an agency but I'm thinking they would have all the scoop on cheaper trips. I've even suggested doing a trip to all of the US national parks because he has wanted to do that for some time. He really wants to go to an island, though.
[QUOTE]Sorry that I didn't clarify! Ever since we saw the movie Couples Retreat, he has been hooked on going to a place like that (I believe it was filmed in Bora Bora?) I thought we could do something cheaper like Mexico or someplace that had an all inclusive package so we could save money. We toyed with Hawaii but they don't offer all inclusives and he's not a fan of cruises. Did you book your HMs yourselves or through a travel agent? We've never tried an agency but I'm thinking they would have all the scoop on cheaper trips. I've even suggested doing a trip to all of the US national parks because he has wanted to do that for some time. He really wants to go to an island, though. His mom lives in PR and even though we've been there countless times, perhaps we could stay on a different part of the island so it would seem like a different place :)
Posted by Darbie914[/QUOTE]
You could try an all inclusive resort in Jamaica or the US Virgin Islands, etc. I wouldn't recommend PR, since it's a family destination for you in the past, and you might feel obligated to go spend time with his mom.
I booked my HM myself. I did a ton of internet research, read reviews. Kept an eye on flights, etc. and got great deals. We were planning on going to PR over xmas, but after some research, cut our flight prices in half by going over New years instead. There are ways to make things happen on a budget, you just have to be willing to compromise and do the leg work.
It's really up to you. If you have your heart set on an extravagant "couples retreat" style honeymoon, and nothing else will be good enough, don't waste your money on a HM that you won't enjoy because you'll be pissy that you didn't get the "couples retreat" service. But, if you are both willing to have an open mind, there really are ways to have an amazing honeymoon and buy your house.
Websites/blogs where our wedding has been featured:
http://www.dapperq.com/2013/11/a-very-dapper-wedding/
http://www.onabicyclebuiltfortwo.com/2013/10/wedding-christina-g.html
http://4realequalityweddings.com/2014/05/16/g-christina/
[QUOTE]Sorry that I didn't clarify! Ever since we saw the movie Couples Retreat, he has been hooked on going to a place like that (I believe it was filmed in Bora Bora?) I thought we could do something cheaper like Mexico or someplace that had an all inclusive package so we could save money. We toyed with Hawaii but they don't offer all inclusives and he's not a fan of cruises. Did you book your HMs yourselves or through a travel agent? We've never tried an agency but I'm thinking they would have all the scoop on cheaper trips. I've even suggested doing a trip to all of the US national parks because he has wanted to do that for some time. He really wants to go to an island, though. His mom lives in PR and even though we've been there countless times, perhaps we could stay on a different part of the island so it would seem like a different place :)
Posted by Darbie914[/QUOTE]
hahaha "Couples Retreat" was actually on last night. Trudy: 'I don't eat fish" lol, my fave part! :)
That said, what kind of home do you want? Are you willing to compromise on the home to have the honeymoon of your dreams OR would you prefer to compromise on your honeymoon so you can have the home of your dreams? It's really about what's more important to you. For me personally, I think if I felt this was the only time I could truly have the vacation I want, I'd go for the honeymoon and maybe postpone the homebuying or buy a smaller home than I wanted or a townhouse/condo instead of a house. I kind of feel like a honeymoon is a one time deal, so do it exactly how you want. There will always be a home to buy and postponing that will give you more time to save and really get the most out of your purchase.
Good luck to you.
[QUOTE]My husband and I have forgone a honeymoon for the prospect of being homeowners much quicker. The market is so low right now, we doubt we'll be able to get these great house prices another 2-3 years down the road. But I'm in Michigan...I can get a pretty dang nice house for <strong>$35k-$65k</strong>...so the cost of a vacation is pretty much the cost of a down payment for a house. It seemed like a pretty easy decision to make. If we had kids I would be itching to be in a house even sooner.
Posted by entropicbeauty[/QUOTE]
wow that's crazy cheap. Average houses here cost $300k. That's why I am saying go for the honeymoon lol
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I'm also in NJ! We just bought a home in January for 200k and its a 3 bed 2.5 bath, fully remodeled. South jersey tends to be cheaper though
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However, I think your best bet is to take the PP's advice and try to do both. Take a modified HM and still save up for a house. Like others have said, mexico can be very affordable, as are many AIs in the caribbean. We did Hawaii and did book with a travel agent. We could have done it chaper than we did-I think flights to and from Chicago plus an oceanfront room for 9 nights was $6500. One thing to consider if you really wanted Hawaii was that you could check vrbo.com for rental houses or condos. We checked into one for Maui and it was 900 for the entire week.