Spryte Posted August 10, 2016 Share Posted August 10, 2016 The car breaks down 5 days before you leave, to the tune of $1200, and a rental car is needed to replace the car for the five days it takes to fix the stinking car, which adds on another $276, then you find out that the parents you are visiting who said, "bring your dogs!" actually meant, Board them!" which will add another unforeseen $500 bill... And this is all before you leave... You already know that the moment you get home you'll be replacing a hot water heater, aaaack! Do you still go? Do you throw in the towel? Do you postpone? I am feeling less than enthused about our trip. Ugh. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ottakee Posted August 10, 2016 Share Posted August 10, 2016 Are there other options for the dogs? Leaving them home with a pet sitter? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prairie~Phlox Posted August 10, 2016 Share Posted August 10, 2016 We would cancel, but that's just us. Is the vacation itself a hardship? Or is it just to visit family? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommyoffive Posted August 10, 2016 Share Posted August 10, 2016 Well poop. I am sorry it is raining on your right now. Are you out money if you don't go on the vacation? If it is just visiting family and you can go another time, I probably would. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bettyandbob Posted August 10, 2016 Share Posted August 10, 2016 I'd not go. since you are staying with someone, it sounds like you wouldn't be out any money by not going. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bolt. Posted August 10, 2016 Share Posted August 10, 2016 I'd postpone for a more opportune time. Everyone will enjoy it better if the family is less stressed. It's a waste to go on a vacation and spend the whole time with unpleasant undercurrents. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebel Yell Posted August 10, 2016 Share Posted August 10, 2016 Unless I had funds to somewhat painlessly cover all of the extra expenses, I would cancel... Unless the trip was for a major event like wedding or reunion, or ill parents that I hadn't seen in two or more years. The car repairs, rental, and water tank are money you'd spend no matter what. The unexpected dog boarding would be a deal breaker for me, 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hornblower Posted August 10, 2016 Share Posted August 10, 2016 I'd cancel / postpone the trip. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarlett Posted August 10, 2016 Share Posted August 10, 2016 $500 to board the dogs? Surely you can get a house/ pet sitter for half that. Or less. I just went through this. We had an expensive NYC vacation planned......and Dh lost his job. Literally one week before we were scheduled to leave. We had been gifted the plane tickets for 4 people...so really wouldn't have been out much to cancel. But we decided to go anyway. I am glad we did. It was awesome. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoobie Posted August 10, 2016 Share Posted August 10, 2016 Postpone or go somewhere that didn't just dump your dogs without notice. ;) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spryte Posted August 10, 2016 Author Share Posted August 10, 2016 Ugh. Thanks! I really want to see my mom, but goodness, this is stressful and less than fun. These bills won't break us, but they were not expected, and adding the boarding cost on top of everything else just felt like insult to injury. It's $500 to board both dogs for a week. We moved here about a year ago, and don't have an established house sitter yet, though paying for multiple daily visits added up to a similar cost, IIRC, where we used to live. HCOL area, I guess. I'm just disheartened, and in that, "What next?!" mood. DH still wants to go, which is cool of him because it's a long drive for what's not really a vacation for him. We haven't decided what to do yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarlett Posted August 10, 2016 Share Posted August 10, 2016 Ok tell me where you live and I will come watch your dogs for less than $500. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spryte Posted August 10, 2016 Author Share Posted August 10, 2016 Ok tell me where you live and I will come watch your dogs for less than $500. C'mon over! :) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frances Posted August 10, 2016 Share Posted August 10, 2016 Do you have any friends that would take your dogs? We've never boarded our dogs, just done exchanges with friends. The dogs seem to love it because they get to play together, and we like knowing our dog is with a family. Plus the price is right. We're not really cat people, but we also make twice daily visits to feed cats and scoop litter when our friends leave town. Right now we are fortunate to have two families fighting over who gets to take our dog during our next three week trip. Last time she came home with her ears cleaned, nails trimmed, and a stocking full of dog treats and toys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catalytic Posted August 10, 2016 Share Posted August 10, 2016 Ugh. Thanks! I really want to see my mom, but goodness, this is stressful and less than fun. These bills won't break us, but they were not expected, and adding the boarding cost on top of everything else just felt like insult to injury. It's $500 to board both dogs for a week. We moved here about a year ago, and don't have an established house sitter yet, though paying for multiple daily visits added up to a similar cost, IIRC, where we used to live. HCOL area, I guess. I'm just disheartened, and in that, "What next?!" mood. DH still wants to go, which is cool of him because it's a long drive for what's not really a vacation for him. We haven't decided what to do yet. I only used her for daycare, but I found a fabulous sitter on DogVacay.com. We used her while we were visiting DC during the day, so she wouldn't disturb the neighbors in the campground. (She's kennel trained, but we're pretty sure she cries/barks while we are gone.) Maybe you could get a sitter near your mom? Or even at home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted August 10, 2016 Share Posted August 10, 2016 :grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ausmumof3 Posted August 10, 2016 Share Posted August 10, 2016 The car breaks down 5 days before you leave, to the tune of $1200, and a rental car is needed to replace the car for the five days it takes to fix the stinking car, which adds on another $276, then you find out that the parents you are visiting who said, "bring your dogs!" actually meant, Board them!" which will add another unforeseen $500 bill... And this is all before you leave... You already know that the moment you get home you'll be replacing a hot water heater, aaaack! Do you still go? Do you throw in the towel? Do you postpone? I am feeling less than enthused about our trip. Ugh. Have you paid anything for accommodation, made bookings you can't cancel or scheduled work leave that's hard to change? If not I would definitely consider postponing the trip. We couldn't easily deal with an unscheduled $1200 car rental. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted August 10, 2016 Share Posted August 10, 2016 Postpone. Find cheaper dog accommodations. Fix your car. Go later. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joyofsixreboot Posted August 10, 2016 Share Posted August 10, 2016 At that point I'd feel like I deserved a vacation. Sort of a "We're already scr€wed we might as well enjoy it." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marbel Posted August 10, 2016 Share Posted August 10, 2016 (edited) We had a somewhat similar thing happen to us a few years ago. Car broke down on the way, we had it towed home and rented a car. In our case the dog had already been boarded, so no extra expense there, but between the rental car and the repair we were just done spending money. We turned the time into a "staycation" and ended up having a really good week together. However, in our case, the trip was sort of an obligation thing to visit family so it wasn't too painful to cancel it. If we had really wanted to go, we'd have made it work. Also, there was no financial hit from canceling. I'm sorry that "bring your dogs" didn't mean they were actually welcome. That right there might be a deal breaker for me. Edited August 10, 2016 by marbel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Elf Posted August 10, 2016 Share Posted August 10, 2016 We hired a pet sitter when we had cats but didn't consider it when we had dogs. We were worried how the dogs would feel in a house alone except for a few 30-minute visits, especially overnight. The current prices are $20 a visit. My dogs go out at least 4 times a day so that would be $80/day. That's still cheaper than the $500 we had to pay for boarding them. It's worth looking into for a future vacation, but with all of the stuff happening to you at one time, I'd cancel and stay home. You're already under enough stress. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanny Posted August 10, 2016 Share Posted August 10, 2016 I would postpone it until 2017. I liked your post, but really, my wife and I sympathize with your family. When it rains it pours. Thankfully, it is your car and your hot water heater and not an illness or accident. Consider having someone stay in your home to "house sit" and to take care of your animals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarlett Posted August 10, 2016 Share Posted August 10, 2016 We hired a pet sitter when we had cats but didn't consider it when we had dogs. We were worried how the dogs would feel in a house alone except for a few 30-minute visits, especially overnight. The current prices are $20 a visit. My dogs go out at least 4 times a day so that would be $80/day. That's still cheaper than the $500 we had to pay for boarding them. It's worth looking into for a future vacation, but with all of the stuff happening to you at one time, I'd cancel and stay home. You're already under enough stress. I only pay $15 per night for house sitter/petsitter. I ask her to not leave the dog alone for more than 8-10 hours. I wouldn't want someone just checking in with my dog twice a day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janeway Posted August 10, 2016 Share Posted August 10, 2016 The car breaks down 5 days before you leave, to the tune of $1200, and a rental car is needed to replace the car for the five days it takes to fix the stinking car, which adds on another $276, then you find out that the parents you are visiting who said, "bring your dogs!" actually meant, Board them!" which will add another unforeseen $500 bill... And this is all before you leave... You already know that the moment you get home you'll be replacing a hot water heater, aaaack! Do you still go? Do you throw in the towel? Do you postpone? I am feeling less than enthused about our trip. Ugh. I would postpone. We ended up not going on vacation this year ourselves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.