Recovering From An Unplanned Vacation Cost

We all enjoy going on vacation, but we don’t always plan on the total expenses that come from them. Sometimes we go on a quick trip that should have been simple, and ends up costing more than double we expected. There was minimal you could have actually done to prevent it, as it ultimately comes down to not planning it all out or not knowing. So, what do you do when you get back? Do you freak out? Is it time to take out another mortgage on the house? No!

Stop and Think

Before you begin to let your head start spinning about how this happened and what you are going to do to fix it, stop and think. When these panicked thoughts come rushing in, a good place to start is to simply ground your thinking. The world is not collapsing around you, you are simply freaking out because you are temporarily not in control. Think about this and understand this. Once you are in a good spot emotionally, you can move on to the next step.

Make A List

The next thing you can do is to make a quick list of everything that was spent. Once the list is made, look through to see if there is anything that can be taken back. If you are still at a high dollar value, consider what was spent. What are some of the categories of the items which were spent? Consider using some of the budgeted money you already have to allocate for certain categories to your bill. One example would be for food. If you were already budgeting $200 a week for groceries, you can use some of that to apply for some of the food you ate while gone. This is money you already have available to you through your budget, use it.

Consider It As Debt

Unfortunately, if you are still not able to full pay down the excess, it is time assign it as debt. I know this can be a tough pill to swallow, but it needs to be done. If you are already paid off the credit card previously and are now working your way through other debt, this can be especially hard to go backwards to. It can be a quick turn around if you are smart though. Put this back at the top of the list to pay towards every month until it is paid off. Then you can begin allocating the extra money you have back to other debts.

Setbacks Are Okay

Having setbacks in your financial journey is fine. They are going to happen, and you just have to be ready to work through them. This was a specific example of something that actually happened to us just recently, and all of these things were done by me. Sure, we don’t have a ton of outstanding debt, but it is still a shock to bare when it happens.