Memories and Money

“Take vacations. Go as many places as you can. You can always make money. You can’t always make memories.”

My fiancé (Kuripot Pinay) and I discussed about traveling last night and it just so happened that I quoted the phrase above last night to her. She said that it’s probably unwise in some situation, and I have to agree with her, probably because of the misleading context behind the statement.

Let’s clarify the statement

Now vacations will cost you money, regardless of the location. We’re not saying that it’s idiotic to go on vacation, but it’s idiotic to go out on a limb to borrow money just to go on that vacation. For example, I can have this friend who’s burnt out and he wants to go on a vacation in Boracay because he’s never been there. He can’t go because he doesn’t have the money. Instead, he swipes his expenses on his credit card, from the hotel to the plane tickets to his daily spending whilst in Boracay. When he got his credit card bill, he now owes them a 5-digit amount to which he cannot pay immediately in bulk. He got more than what he bargained for.  In the end, he is stuck with a huge debt that he’s slowly paying over the next 3 years in exchange for a 5-day vacation.

Let’s compare it to another person, but this time with a different approach. Let say there’s this person who wants to see a concert of his or her favorite group. He or she saves up for the entire thing, from flight to concert tickets to accommodations. At the end of it all, he or she still has enough money to spare after the concert and after everything.

Which do you think ended up with the better deal?

If you want to go on a vacation or if you want to make memories as mentioned in the fancy picture above, be sure that you’re financially equipped and independent to do so. It’s not worth it if you have to go on a vacation, only to end up getting stressed out of debt repayment for the next couple of years. My fiancé and I learned this the hard way. Now, we make sure that alongside planning our vacations, we also plan our finances accordingly. As early as three months before the actual vacation, we look for cheap accommodations and cheap travel. Of course by cheap, we mean getting the best value for your buck. If it’s lackluster in quality, then it’s not cheap. You got ripped off.

Last words

Making memories is fine. Enjoying vacations is fine. As long as you are financially equipped to go on that vacation you want, you’ll be fine. It’s not worth it if you end up being buried in debt for the next few years.

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