I'm feeling a little emotional

I have a vacation/birthday celebration for a friend that is coming up that is going to cost me a lot more money than I had originally anticipated. A friend was supposed to come with me however she got a fantastic promotion, so now she can't. I could have made the trip shorter, however I decided to leave things the way they are because I really wanted to experience as much as possible while I'm there. I will only regret it later if I don't do what I have planned. I think I can save a few bucks here and there, like taking a taxi to the airport instead of hiring a sedan (Don't you look at me that way! It's my vacation dammit!). I was able to downsize my hotel in one destination to a single from a double, and my air fare was about $50 less than I had anticipated. I budgeted fairly high for food so I figure once I'm there, I can find ways to save on food. So some savings there.

While I would have like to have saved $5,000 for this trip, I don't believe that's realistic. I'll be closer to $4,100 (Actual savings would be $4,600 however $500 has been taken out for air fare). Although I believe by the time the 3% foreign purchase fee hits for ALL my transactions made on my credit card, it might be closer to $4,800. Heck, maybe even $5,000.

I'm emotional because there are things that I want to do before this trip that I can't because I need the money for the trip. It's not like those things are necessities. I just want to give myself some spa/dinner love for my birthday. That's important to me. I turn 35 this year and I think I deserve it. It would kill me to not acknowledge my own milestone birthday the way I want to because I'm busy acknowledging someone else's. Now don't get me wrong. It's not that persons fault. They didn't ask me to take a side trip, stay as long as I am, or be in the hotels I will be in. I own all the decisions...and possible consequences...that I'm making. I guess I'm upset with myself that I don't have enough money to do EVERYTHING I want. Actually, it's not that I don't have the money, per se, as it's a cash flow issue. My bday is two weeks before the vacation/birthday celebration.

You know what? I'm going to think about this some more. There's no reason why I can't bring in the 3-5 on my own terms, rejoice and celebrate the 3-0 of my good friend, AND not get myself financial trouble over. The good news in all of this is:

1. By the time I leave, I will have $4,100 saved.

2. By the time I leave, the billing cycle from my credit card will be JUST beginning. I will be back home after two weeks. I am hoping all the foreign transactions will hit my card at the most a week before the cycle ends. By then I can have a better handle of foreign purchase fees, etc. Also, I will have another pay check to help buffer.

3. I'm going to try and save whatever extra I can and look to see if I can work any overtime until then to get some extra money.

I think this could work. I just have to be thoughtful, planful, realistic, and ignore the voice in my head telling me that I might screw myself. To hell with that, Velvet's getting her damn pedicure and steak dinner for her birthday.

Whew! Thanks for walking through that with me. :)