A testimony from Emily
Background
My husband and I were married on April 12, 2008 and moved to a new city 200 miles away the very next day! Our “honeymoon” was spent unpacking, getting to know the city and working. Not at all romantic, I must say!
My parents surprised us with an all-major-expenses-paid family (their children and spouses) cruise in January, 2010. We were stoked! It was my husband’s first cruise, and he came away hooked!
Our Goal
My husband turned 30 this year, so for his big day I wanted to do something special. Since he was now hooked on cruising, I (with his help, of course) decided to book one for just the two of us as a birthday celebration/belated honeymoon. We paid cash for the deposit in March and then devised a plan to pay the rest of the cruise with cash, by that October.
How We Did It
My husband picked up as many “over time” shifts humanly possible! He sometimes worked seven days straight, for several weeks at a time. I agreed to babysit for a few friends to make as much extra spending money possible.
We cut back on things we really didn’t have to have: monthly hair appointments at $40+ a pop (appointments every two months work just fine), NFL package with Direct. etc. We transferred money from each paycheck into our “cruise fund” and did not transfer back a dime no matter what! (This was really hard — especially when other “things” pop up!) We also continually talked to reassure each other that we were on the same page, and to remind each other that paying with a “card” wasn’t an option!
The Result
After working extremely hard and saving every dime possible, we paid cash for the $1200 (plus tax/fees) cruise fair, $600 (plus tax) air fare and $500 for onboard expenditures! We had the time of our lives that trip and it was made even sweeter by only having memories and not debt to come home too!
Emily and Ben live in the suburbs of Memphis, Tennessee. She is a pre-K teacher and he is a Police Officer. They have two dogs and hope to soon become parents! They are striving to be completely debt-free (minus house) by the end of 2011!
Have you saved up and paid cash for something — large or small? Submit your story for possible publication here.
Laurie says
We love to travel. Myself and kids 3/7. I have travelled to china to adopt my girls twice last 6yrs. Paid cash for total $50,000. since then we have travelled to wdw twice are booked disney cruise june 12. I have paid cash for everything. We have a travel acct,debt free and only have a motgage. I am 39,single mom by choixe and earn very middle class income. If I can do it anyone can. Thanks dave ramsey for setting us free and living like no one else. All the glory to god.
JD says
This is my favorite series, it is such an inspiration! my goal is to pay for a new car cash
Tiffany @ Home Grown Families says
Wow!! These posts are great! It gives me a new way to look at vacations, houses, etc.
Congratulations!
Tiffany
Michelle says
How inspiring!
We are in the process of planning our first “family vacation” in 7 years … we only had 2 children then and now we have 4!! We are planning a “once in a lifetime” (cause we’ll only be able to afford it once!) trip to Disney and I am DETERMINED to pay cash for the trip. So far, we’ve got about 40% saved … onward and upward!!
Julie@thethriftymommasays says
This series is such an inspiration!
Katie says
Our honeymoon was Vegas for 5 days for $800. We had the time of our lives! We don’t even gamble!! There were so many free things to do and see. Since then we have gone to Mexico, Hawaii, Europe, ect. and I still think Vegas was the most fun we ever had!
maria says
hi there! can you please tell me any fun things to see/do in vegas?? we are in texas, but i really just want to go and see vegas, but we dont gamble as well (or drink for that matter), so we would like to know what else is amazing/ fun to do there?? thanks for your help in advance!
Katie says
Here are some of the fun things we did for free! These were fun do to because we had never been there before but had always heard about them.
Watch the fountains in front of Bellagio.
Watch the volcano in front of Mirage
Watch sirens of treasure island (free show in front of the hotel)
Walk through the shopping area in Caesars Palace
Check out the indoor lion habitat at MGM grand
Walk through all some of the different hotels
M&M world
We also rode the rides on top of the Stratosphere, took a gondola ride at the Venetian, took in a Vegas show, ect. Those cost a little bit of money, but they were well worth it!
Cori says
Sounds like so much fun! You wouldn’t have remembered those haircuts or football games anyway, and now you’ve got amazing memories you’ll have for a lifetime! I love stories like that. 😀
Leighann says
That is awesome! My husband and I have been married for almost 9 yrs and still no honeymoon for us 🙁 I’m terrified of ships, so a cruise is out (he designs ships lol) but I’m hoping to find a good idea for a vacation for us and save for it using the strategies I read about here. Stories like this inspire me!
Need A Nap2 says
Don’t know what part of the country you’re in, but lots of places have secluded type cabins that are nice for a getaway trip/honeymoon. We honeymooned in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. I know a lot of people travel to/honeymoon in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. I originally wanted to go to the Poconos (northeastern Pennsylvania). I think a honeymoon is more about spending time together as a couple and needs to involve something you both want to do (I guess not a cruise for you!). 🙂
Brooke says
I second Gatlinburg, TN! It is THE cutest little town ever! They have these little cabins in the mountains that seem SO romantic. I have been there several times, but all before my husband and I were married. I’m actually thinking about taking him there sometime this year. Definitely something to look into! 🙂
rebekah says
I third Gatlinburg! 😀 A beautiful cabin in the mountains and lots of fun things to do! We also paid cash for our honeymoon. I’m so thankful for a husband that worked so hard years before we even met to pay for our new life together.
Angie says
Our honeymoon (almost 5 years ago) was to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. It was not well known at that time, but has become one of the vacation hot spots as of late. They have white sandy beaches, crystal clear waters. We stayed at an all-inclusive resort, so we didn’t have unexpected expenses once we were there. We went through AAA (if you’re a member, I think its a free service) to plan our honeymoon, and also used Apple Vacations. Loved it! And we hope to go back someday. I really wanted to go to Jamaica or the Bahamas, but they were too expensive. But I absolutely loved the location we chose and all the amenities we had.
Amy Lauren says
This is so awesome! My husband and I are leaving on our honeymoon tomorrow, and it’s a cruise (also belated, we got married in March but hubby is in college for a 2nd degree so we had to wait until college ended for him).
If you save up, you can really go on a nice cruise without going into debt. We’re even driving to the port (8 hours for us), spending the night at a hotel that lets us keep our car there during the week of the cruise (saving us probably $100 in port parking fees), and taking a cooler of drinks and snacks (bought with coupons or sales of course!) for the car ride so that we don’t have to stop at rest areas for snacks!
It’s really inspiring to read stories like this, too!
Crystal says
I love it! Have a wonderful time!