It’s no secret that I am a self-proclaimed terrible money manager (I know, I know – I should go through the Dave Ramsey program). I’m as open as it gets with it. I *know* what I should do, but it’s like I can just never get to the point where we have the extra money to do the right thing, even with my (previous) well-paying career and my insane jealousy for people who can money-manage (because you know jealousy can fuel good results sometimes). I’ve *had* (self-proclaimed) to work for the past 11 years to pay my student loan payments and then once I had kids, I had to pay for insane amounts of childcare so that I could work to pay my student loans – vicious cycle. So most of my hard-earned salary went to those two payments…and, my favorite – going out to eat. But then there is also the ridiculous credit card creep – nickel and diming over 15 years adds up MUCH faster than the paying-it-off part.

After 11 years, I’m finally under 6 figures for my remaining student loan debt (woo! 😂) and I’m currently not paying for childcare…but I’m also NOT WORKING.  I was able to change my student loan payment to some sort of graduated plan (strange to do that 11 years in) where it is lower for the next two years. Yay! And my kids + me in a foreign country =  never wanting to go out to eat! Winning! (Except not, because I miss going out to fancy restaurants, hip and trendy restaurants, foodie restaurants and Chick-fil-A SOOOOOO MUCH). But I still have those credit cards to pay down, cut up and throw out!

So, no Chick-fil-A 5 times a week (or more?!? 😳), no restaurants 4 times a week, no Target, no childcare, and lower student loan payments? I should be way better off now, right? Except we’re in the land of amazing creams and cheeses, milk and honey, beer, wine, chocolate and history! We have so many amazing opportunities that I can’t turn down, but I REFUSE to worsen my situation. We will BUDGET. Budget is a word that has never entered my vocabulary before 😳.

3 months in, we’ve been able to do a lot on what we think is “the cheap”. We were able to travel here on an fab 14 Day cruise to 5 countries through a loophole in military travel (ah-mazing!). Plus, Belgium is small (smaller than South Carolina), so travel in-country is easy, close and drivable (cheaper than the train for 6 people). From our location, pretty much all of Belgium is a day trip. So far we’ve been able to knock out a ton of cool places here. Have a few more coming soon -Antwerp, Bastogne, and Liege (waffles!!!), and hopefully revisiting some of the places we’ve already been.

Also, Paris (going back this weekend!) is 2 1/2 hours away, as is Luxembourg, parts of Germany and the Netherlands. But the budgeting aspect comes in when we want to travel further or for longer. Ryan Airlines and other airlines have decently cheap airfares, but when you have to buy 6, it gets more expensive. Plus once you get there, you have to find someplace to stay…and eat.

Hotels have been difficult for us so far. They’re pricey to begin with, but Europe seems to have super strict rules on how many can stay in a room. Most only allow 3-4, but one hotel only allowed 2 per room – so what? We’re supposed to have two kids stay in a room without parents??? It’s strange, at best, especially considering some like Hyatt Place literally have enough sleeping space for 6 people, but only allow 3 (country specific). We’ve stayed in a few hotels in 2 rooms and conveniently they’re never next to each other. So we airbnb a lot more than we would’ve back home. It has its own advantages and disadvantages (I’ll save those for another time) but at least we’re only paying one price and all staying in the same place.

Back to the budget. How can I budget when our bucket lists are SO LONG? (Seriously if anyone has suggestions, I’m open to them). We already bring breakfasts, water and snacks, try to find cheap sandwich shops for lunches (or McDonalds 😬), stop at farmers markets in the cities for cheap fruit, try to order only what we think the kids will actually eat (usually one meal for the 3 older kids), AND look for the free museums/exhibits/churches/etc. Again, suggestions for other massive money-savers are appreciated.

Places we’d love to consider our “must-see” and *hopefully* can make happen in a 3 year period are Amsterdam (Sept 1-3, Anne Frank house and Van Gogh museum tickets already booked!), Switzerland and the Alps (hopefully Thanksgiving week partially paid for as a work trip! And we’ll be singing the Sound of Music  the whole time), Italy – all of it! (just kidding, we’ll probably only make it to the bigger cities, and hopefully we can see some in December when my family comes to visit), and Budapest and Prague. Natalie has her mind set on a Greek vacation, as well 👍🏻.

We have a ton of other “want-to” and “need to” (WWII sites) places to sneak in there too. And, I’ve got nothing but time to make these happen, I just need the money! So, we must budget. I must put aside money into some sort of travel fund…or something. Or perhaps I’ll actually go through with Dave Ramsey’s program?

Either way, we WILL budget-ish. We WILL come back to the US in 3 years without more debt, but more hopefully LESS debt. And we’ll have all those priceless (cheesy!) experiences and memories, instead of more stuff (except for all the junky souvenirs the kids HAVE to have).