Are You Clear about How You Spend Your Money?

After talking about a fall vacation in the Adirondacks for months, my husband and I sat down at the computer to finalize the plan. We had agreed on a budget, the date, the general area and the fact we wanted to stay in a traditional Adirondack Lodge. "This is going to be easy", I thought. Two hours later, we had decided not to do this vacation - and both of us were happy about the decision.

It was an interesting process of getting really clear about what we wanted from this trip for each of us. We agreed on almost everything, but there were two differences. To him, it was important that we stay in a lodge that offered dinners on site. I didn't care about this so much as I really wanted the room to feel like my idea of "Adirondack lodge".

After much surfing and many phone calls, we realized that the number of lodges that offered dinner in the fall was limited. We did find one, but the only rooms available looked like those at a standard motel. We found another lodge with wonderful rooms, but it offered only breakfast. My first instinct was to go with the one that offered dinner. But then I realized that spending so much money for a week in a room that looked like a standard motel room didn't feel good. Just as staying in the perfect room but not having dinner in the lodge didn't feel good to Sandy.

So we decided not to go to the Adirondacks this September and both of us are comfortable with this decision. We still want to go some time, but it will be when we plan far enough ahead and find a time when more lodges serve meals every day and there are more rooms available that meet my standards. We both are happy that we decided to save our money for a vacation that will be everything that we both want it to be.

I learned two lessons from this experience. First, being really clear, even when it means disagreeing with someone close to you, is an important communication tool. Second, knowing that I am spending money on that which I really want is important to me.

I think we made a great decision to delay our vacation. What do you think?