YOLOing Your Way: Should You Book a Trip if You Have Credit Card Debt?

Oh mah god, I can hear Suze Orman screaming while I write this post.

I’m not a big fan of musicals, but I’ve been known to shout NO DAY BUT TODAY at friends when it comes to making things happen. This mantra suits decisions related to fitness (“I’m going to go to the gym tomorrow…” NO DAY BUT TODAY!!!!), applying for a new job (“I’m not happy in my job anymore. I should redo my CV and start looking for something else.” NO DAY BUT TODAY!!!!), working on one’s relationship (“we should probably look for a couples’ therapist.” NO DAY BUT MOTHERF’ING TODAY!!!!), or travel. Your friends don’t always love being shouted at in this manner, especially if they’re just looking to complain and don’t want to actually change anything. Read the room.

There are a million ways of saying NDBT (not to be confused with NKOTB).

Carpe diem.

Seize the day!

YOLO

Live like there’s no tomorrow.

But, if you’re playing the odds, there will be a tomorrow. Actually several tomorrows, which will mean that the credit card debt you’ve YOLO’ed up will eventually be a very crushing daily reality. It will be more yoyo than YOLO.

For me, the struggle comes in with regards to travel vs. balancing our finances. My partner is a PhD candidate, which means most travel expense comes out of my pocket. I don’t like carrying credit card debt and was free of it for four years until very recently. By most people’s standards, my balance is very low, and I’m paying it off as I go along. Of course, I just bought a $1200 (uuuuuuggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh) plane ticket home for the holidays yesterday, jacking the balance right back up. At the same time, I am itching to schedule another trip between Copenhagen in a few weeks and late December when we head back to Philly/NYC. I’m looking at cheap options, but it will still lengthen the amount of time it takes to pay my balance off. And by having a monthly payment, it will continue to impact what trips we can plan in the future, especially as we eye up Iceland for early 2014.

To explain my circumstances more clearly, my UK visa just got extended for two more years. In September 2015, I get booted back to the US. I’ve been traveling around Europe as much as I possibly can while we live here, and will continue to travel as much as possible when we move back. Because we only have two years remaining, I’ve been chewing on my fingers to try to find a balance among spending on travel, eliminating debt (I have serious student loans, too), and saving for our eventual move to the States + future + family.

When I look at it all at once, it feels like one of those fuzzy models of a molecule from high school science class. My opinion on it changes every day. On Tuesday, I had resolved to not book any more trips until my credit card balance is paid off. Today, I’m thinking I’m going to book that trip to Riga if the flights are still cheap next week. Here is my current reasoning:

-We live in the UK and have NHS coverage. If we get sick or hurt while we’re here, it won’t mean the same massive debt as it might mean elsewhere *cough* America.

-We will never be able to travel so cheaply or easily again in our lives, whether because of finances (I’m debating $100 for both of our flights, where it would cost $1,000+ from the US) or because of children.

-I could spend frivolously on travel in 2014 and get more serious about saving in 2015, though we all know that’s unlikely to happen.

Possible solutions:

1.       Pay off credit card and then worry about saving and booking travel. This is the most responsible option, but is also the most boring in the immediate future. Of course, it would be the most freeing in the longer term. CONFLICT.

2.       Continue to travel while making sure that amount spent is less than amount paid off. I’ll call this the slow burn method of paying down debt. Or indecisive.

3.       Go crazy and live in a constant state of joyful abandon and soul-crushing financial panic.

What I should do? Number 1. What I’ll probably do is number 2 with a peppering of number 3, complete with midnight teeth-grinding.

Crunching numbers is all well and good in real life, but I’m in real life limbo. I have a real job, but one that I probably can’t keep when I move back to the United States. If I have a small credit card balance when I move home, will I really be that sad about it? Or will I be sadder that I blew the opportunity to do all of the travel I want cheaply while I had the chance? I’m all for financial responsibility, but there are so many intangibles involved in travel experiences.

That isn’t to say I won’t say “no, we aren’t going there for dinner. Let’s have a 2 euro sausage, instead.” But the expense of getting there, being there, and experiencing it is minimal in comparison to the cost of missing out while I have the chance. So I’m taking a two year hiatus from full responsibility and just half-assing it. I’m sure I’ll pay of my cc as soon as I can while feeling okay about my state of travel affairs. Deep breaths, eyes forward, and just keep swimming.

Photo by me - Cinque Terre, Italy