So after working for 2.5 years to get out of debt, then a couple more years to build our emergency fund, we're finally taking a vacation this year!
 


We've never taken a family vacation! DH and I did go to Hawaii for our honeymoon 11 years ago and that started our debt problem.
 
It was an AMAZING vacation but I wish we'd gone about it differently. You know what they say about hindsight....

We also did go to Las Vegas last year and paid cash for that vacation, too. But it was just us, no kids, and we knew that this year about be "our year" to go on a vacation.

It started in February when we won at our church silent auction a week-long house rental in Orlando!
 
So that set off a chain of events that has led to us going on vacation soon to FLORIDA!! We're going to fly down and rent a car, go to Disney for four days, maybe to Cocoa Beach, swim in the pool at the house, etc.

I was just adding up what we've spent (we pay CASH for everything because we don't have credit cards--we're no long slaves to the lender) and we're saving for spending money, too. Then I thought I would look up the average cost of a vacation these days, because I was a little freaked out about what we've spent, and I was ASTONISHED to find that the average vacation cost is $1180..........per person!
 
That seems like a crazy amount!

Then I added up, with spending cash, what we've spent/saved so far and we're at $798/pp. Whew! I thought we were off the charts and it turns out that we're not so bad. That number first estimate doesn't include families that vacation at Disney--if you want to include Disney vacations for a family of five, that number increases by about 20%.
 
So I think we're doing okay.
 


We're really excited about our first vacation and can't wait to get away from it all!!

That's awesome, I hope you guys have a great time!

Thanks! We're looking forward to getting away from so much stuff going on at home and enjoying some time togther! Can't wait to make some fun memories with the kiddos!