Yesterday was Mother's Day. We were fortunate enough to have my parents staying at our house over the weekend. For months, we have been asking if they would watch our kids for a week while we take a vacation to celebrate our 10-year wedding anniversary this January. So yesterday we finally started looking at plane tickets, car rentals, etc. The problem is, once you find a flight, you don't want to lose it!
So what did we do? We booked the vacation of course! That's right, just weeks away from finishing Baby Step #2 of being debt free besides the house, we booked a Hawaii vacation. After my parents left to catch their plane back to Montana, we looked at each other and said, "We just broke all of Dave Ramsey's rules." I told my wife that I couldn't see any other way around it. The date is getting closer and closer, and the seats on the plane are just going to be filling up, and ticket prices getting higher. We decided we would think on it a bit during church that morning, and talk more after church.
Luckily, we had ordered from Orbitz, which has a 24-hour cancellation policy. After clearing our heads a bit, we came home from church and cancelled everything we had booked. Realistically, we will still have 6 months before the vacation once we finish Step #2 of our total money makeover around the end of July.
Looking back on this, the analogy that comes to mind is premarital relations. I know that sounds a bit harsh, but there are a lot of similarities. Having premarital relations in and of itself is not bad. In fact it is a very good and positive thing... after you are married. Some say, what is the big deal if you get the piece of paper before or after? But in reality, timing and the ordering of these events does matter, since you are following the plan that God has designed. Similarly, God does not want us to be in debt. Being in debt is like being in financial bondage. God does not want us to be in bondage to anyone. It limits our ability to freely serve and build His kingdom. So for this very same reason, the ordering of purchasing luxury items and paying off debt also matters. I'm glad my wife and I were able to sit down and have a great discussion about what we should do in this situation... and that we ultimately made a great decision by cancelling the vacation reservations until we can pay for the vacation debt free!