How important is a honeymoon to you v. putting that money down on a house or Town house?

Original post by BellaEyes

Apr 24, 2006 09:54 PM

Which would you do? I would definitley want to go on a honey moon BUT I try to look a the bigger picture and perhaps taking that extra expense and putting it towards a DP on something we can call our own would be more important.I mean if you can do both that's great, but what about the group of us that can't? Share your thoughts!

JazzyT Posted: Apr 25, 2006 08:51 AM

Re: How important is a honeymoon to you v. putting that money down on a house or Town house?

Posted by JandJ1224

Personally I think its important to take a vacation at least once a year. Everyone deserves thats. There are definitely options that are more economical then others. I know what you're saying though, I kind of feel the same way about the whole wedding!!

Ditto

tjs Posted: Apr 25, 2006 08:52 AM

Re: How important is a honeymoon to you v. putting that money down on a house or Town house?

I would rather a house...but definatley would mayeb do a small honeymoon like a trip to the city for the weekend or something just so we can be alone for a few days

meliss1019 Posted: Apr 25, 2006 08:53 AM

Re: How important is a honeymoon to you v. putting that money down on a house or Town house?

We feel the same way, we both still live at home & want to purchase something rather than rent sometime next year. I would like to take a few days vacation, but i'm looking to spend about $1k for each of us & about $1k spending money together b/c it's all inclusive... i have looked into this & it's doable for a 5-6 night stay...
You can even wait a few months before going away to get everything else in order & put money aside.

SPITSBRIDE Posted: Apr 25, 2006 08:59 AM

Re: How important is a honeymoon to you v. putting that money down on a house or Town house?

I would go for a less expensive honeymoon and put the rest of my money towards a downpayment.

Rachel1013 Posted: Apr 25, 2006 09:27 AM

Re: How important is a honeymoon to you v. putting that money down on a house or Town house?

Here's my opinion. You should definitely go on the honeymoon. It looks like you will be getting married around Thanksgiving, so you should wait a week or two after the wedding to take the vacation b/c it will prob be a little less expensive. Also, since early Dec. is off peak for travel since the holidays are coming up, you may want to book a last minute trip. You can check the travel section in Newsday on Sunday. They usually have great deals. Or subscribe to like Travelzoo or one of those sites for great deals. To me, the house is more important! Good Luck. And I think you can go on a great vacation for a lot less than 5K.

chellynyc Posted: Apr 25, 2006 09:36 AM

Re: How important is a honeymoon to you v. putting that money down on a house or Town house?

I would do a less expensive honeymoon, but I think you should defintely go on one!!

NovemberBride06 Posted: Apr 25, 2006 09:55 AM

Re: How important is a honeymoon to you v. putting that money down on a house or Town house?

FH and I have been debating this ever since we first developed our wedding budget. I know $5K might not sound like a lot but I feel every little bit helps when it comes to saving for a house. Considering we are pretty much paying for the entire wedding ourselves, we are carefully considering where every single penny goes. However, the idea of not going anywhere for a HM totally depresses me! I know that we will be exhausted from all the planning and stress and will want to get away from it all for a few days before returning back to normal life.

So, I completely understand where you are coming from. If it helps at all, FH and I are considering a very small get away for a few days right after the wedding. As long as we are together and enjoying ourselves, it doesn't really matter where we go. And then if money permits, we will celebrate our first anniversary with a nice trip somewhere.

julybride06 Posted: Apr 25, 2006 04:37 PM

Re: How important is a honeymoon to you v. putting that money down on a house or Town house?

I would put the money on a DP...I would also consider taking a low-key HM (maybe a weekend thing)

CLMon7906 Posted: Apr 25, 2006 04:42 PM

Re: How important is a honeymoon to you v. putting that money down on a house or Town house?

we are trying to keep our HM costs down so that the money we get from guests can be applied to cover some bills and pave the way for saving....if we get lucky, maybe we can do both!! (wow...that'd be great)

we really want a house, but we can't get a mortgage in the area (because the starting price is higher than what we are pre-approved for...bummer) we want anyway at this time, so we are waiting...and FH really really wants to get away. he's a lawyer, so i totally see why!!

BellaEyes Posted: Apr 25, 2006 04:51 PM

Re: How important is a honeymoon to you v. putting that money down on a house or Town house?

All these idea's are great.. thanks girls! will keep you posted on what we do!

Junebride3 Posted: Apr 25, 2006 05:55 PM

Re: How important is a honeymoon to you v. putting that money down on a house or Town house?

My oppion is that you only get one HM and that you can do something not as expensive. My friends just had the same issue a montha ago and decided that they would go to the pocons for 500.00 for a week .There are many resorts that are all inclusive. But definetly save some money towards a down payment.

stephanielyse Posted: Apr 25, 2006 05:57 PM

Re: How important is a honeymoon to you v. putting that money down on a house or Town house?

Posted by LR5883

How about a less expensive HM? Ours was not so much that it made a big difference in putting $$ towards a house.

I agree. FH and I are planning a honeymoon that will cost less than $1,000 but will still be awesome. If you go somewhere you can drive to you can do it for next to nothing, still have a great time and have plenty of money for your down payment.

SeptBride70 Posted: Apr 25, 2006 06:00 PM

Re: How important is a honeymoon to you v. putting that money down on a house or Town house?

if it were me i would want the townhouse, don't get me wrong a HM is amazing but i would probably try and take something small (weekend getaway) right after the wedding, get the townhouse with the money you saved, and THEN take a really nice vacation somewhere relaxing after everything from buying the condo has calmed down...

that all depends on how much money it's going to cost... if the HM is only around 3-4 thousand, i don't think (for me) it would make or break my condo buying BUT if it's around 10-12 grand then yeah it probably would. so it depends on your situation, talk to FH about it and see if maybe you could scale down the HM and then you can do both things when you want!!

HTH and good luck!!

SeptBride70 Posted: Apr 25, 2006 06:01 PM

Re: How important is a honeymoon to you v. putting that money down on a house or Town house?

Posted by BellaEyes

What if a HM is about 5k? That's still reasonable?

didn't see this at first...

ABSOLUTELY! very reasonable IMO

Boston&NY2006 Posted: Apr 25, 2006 06:38 PM

Re: How important is a honeymoon to you v. putting that money down on a house or Town house?

I would definitely go with the less expensive HM and save the rest for a downpayment. FH and I were very lucky to have bought a house before getting engaged (backwards, I know...my parents probably had mini heart attacks when I told them), and it was the best thing we ever did. I am so glad we sacrificed other things to become homeowners because it really is the best financial decision you can make.

I definitely wouldn't want to miss out on a HM, but it will be special because you will be there with your brand new DH, not because you do somewhere ridiculously expensive. Remember, the HM only lasts a week or two, but your financial well-being is forever....

SummerBride06 Posted: Apr 25, 2006 07:03 PM

Re: How important is a honeymoon to you v. putting that money down on a house or Town house?

we're doing both. we started saving very early in our ING accounts.

IMO, a HM only happens once. i wanted a big, exotic blowout. my HM is second only to my RH in price. but that's where we saved--my flowers are inexpensive, not doing favors, having a daytime wedding, etc...those things weren't important to me at all.

we are currently in contract for a house. yes, we could have used the 8K for the down payment, but in the grand scheme of things, it's only a dent. the memories of the Hm to tahiti and hawaii will last forever.

once we get the house and start having kids, we'll NEVER be able to do a trip like this again. so it's important to me to do it now.

BellaEyes Posted: Apr 26, 2006 01:30 PM

Re: How important is a honeymoon to you v. putting that money down on a house or Town house?

I have put things into perspective and I think the smart thing to do is take every penny we get from the wedding and put it towards a DP for a townhouse. I think if we spent 5 k on a HM, it would definitely not make sense, when you are buying a house, you need every penny you can get...I am going to look into something that's half of what we were originally going to spend on Mexico (5k) and MAYBE even LESS than half! Perhaps maybe look into 5 days away somewhere like either Domenican Republic, Florida ( Palm Beach, or even Miami, etc) and this way we can still get away for a nice amount of days and still be able to put money down for a Town house... for those that are going to affordable places for a weekend get away maybe or places like I mentioned please fill me in and let me know how much also, that would be a great help! Thanks!

BellaEyes Posted: Apr 26, 2006 01:37 PM

Re: How important is a honeymoon to you v. putting that money down on a house or Town house?

Posted by ZuzusPetals

Victoria, I always talk about keeping things in perspective when it comes to this whole wedding business. I thought this was a no brainer but Im obviously the odd ball out. I would 100% focus on putting a down payment on a house! You have the rest of your life to vacation. You can plan a little honeymoon on a t iny budget BUT to me nothing is more important than owning my very own home!! Best of luck with everything!

Thanks and now.. I totally agree...

Angel2006 Posted: Apr 26, 2006 01:39 PM

Re: How important is a honeymoon to you v. putting that money down on a house or Town house?

Posted by LR5883

How about a less expensive HM? Ours was not so much that it made a big difference in putting $$ towards a house.

Ditto! We are actually talking about thise very thing right now!

October Bliss Posted: Apr 26, 2006 02:03 PM

Re: How important is a honeymoon to you v. putting that money down on a house or Town house?

The way I look at it, yes it's a HUGE expense, which is probably better spent on a house. However, if I look at the HM that way, I should be looking at the wedding that way as well. After all, I'm spending a heck of a lot more money (triple) on the wedding so I can feed OTHER people, as opposed to the HM, where 100% of the $$$ is spent on us. Selfish I know, but, heck weddings are really the only time it's ok to be selfish.

As a second consideration, and much more important - we are planning on starting a family ASAP. I do not foresee the time, or the money to take this kind of vacation in the near, or even somewhat remote, future. For us, it's kind of now or never.