My daughter earned her high school graduation cruise. I'm a dad of three, I'm 40 years old and we planned for this trip for over a year.
My daughter earned her high school graduation cruise. We planned for it for over a year. Saved intentionally. Had a budget. Did everything right.
Then the flight got cancelled.
We needed a rental car. Then an Airbnb because my son Trey 8 years old, is a Kung Fu fighter in his sleep and there was no way he was sharing a bed with me lol
Then we needed clothes because everything was checked. Toothbrushes. Underwear for five people. A Walmart run because the kids needed snacks.
When I got home I added it all up. $1,200 to $1,500 in damage.
Then I realized something that broke me.
That exact amount, the amount we spent on the emergency, was the same amount we had saved for the trip. We had the money.
We had been saving for over a year. But we kept dipping into it. DoorDash here. Something we needed there. $50 at a time until it was significantly less but still felt the remaining "was enough".
The savings had no lock on it. So life spent it.
I've been sitting with that realization for a while now. Curious if anyone else has experienced this where you are saving intentionally for something that matters and watching the money disappear before you get there.
What do you do to actually protect your savings from yourself? Lol