Open Honesty to Help Others

I know how much reading other blogs or talking to people you know really has helped me over the years. Without talking about your problems or goals you don't realize you're not alone. You don't realize you can do something you didn't think you could. You don't realize that something really might be within reach and you might just give up on something or not start and lose sight of something you feel could be important; all due to fear.

Fear is strong. Trust me. I know. I am OCD, Type A and it consumes me on money and it's a point of contention for me. Since we decided that we were going to set a tentative date of going to Korea for next May or June (after school's out) it's time to really buckle down to see where the budget is and watch the costs of going to Korea and check into them more accurately.

 Doing so I can really see where my budget for Korea is. My high budget for all 7 of us to go to Korea is $22,000. WOW! Are your eyes popping out? Mine sorta do, but not really because I've thought about this for so long.  We've been saving for a long time.  Kaelin and I actually started talking about it when she was 3.  So, most definitely for over 6 years.  And I know $22,000 sounds like we're trying to go on this 1st class trip, but not really.  I'll cut it down here:  $2,000/plane ticket x 7 (economy class on the high side, hopefully), $90/parking at the airport, $70 bus to Seoul, $2,600/about 11 nights in Seoul, $715 to take the train and stay a night in Gwangju (Jaemin and Chelsi's birth city), $1,656 to fly to Jeju and stay 2 nights (Kaelin's birth city/island), $70 to take the bus back to the airport, $1,200 for 12 days of food for 7 people and 3 meals (should be on the high side), $200 for subway (not sure how accurate I am on this), $1,000 for souvenirs and incidentals (my catch all just in case).   Total is $21,601!

So, here's where we stand right now.  We will be getting our tax refund soon and we should end up with $14,630 in the Korea account.  Many refunds, Discover Card rewards, rebates, you name it we put the extra money in there.  We should get another tax refund next year and save some to put in another $6,000.  Great right!  BUT, I have a $2,000 estimate in my budget to pay for our septic field tweak we need.  The guy today says it should only be about $500, but I'm leaving my budget as is, just in case.  I also have Cole now getting braces.  I haven't reimbursed ourselves from our HSA plan for Chase yet, so I'll be able to use his HSA money and still have to come up with $500.  This leave us at $18,130 by next March or April.  This leaves me needing to come up with $3,471 by then.  That's a lot!  Not really sure it can be done, but we're going to keep on trying.

There's no way to know that Make a Wish will have the capability to grant Cole such an enormous wish, so we're going through with our plans for our family before Cole doesn't get the chance to do it before his surgery.  This is a real picture of how much a large family CAN save.  We don't make a lot of money, so I think it's pretty amazing.  But, we also know a lot can come up still and prevent us from going.  Not just the $3,471.  Anything can happen and start making that total rise.

Encourage yourself if you have a dream.  This is OUR dream for our whole family.  We are trying very hard to make it a reality and in the end at least we can't fault ourselves for not trying at all.  I realized that all things were possible after we adopted our 3 younger kids.  And after Cole has exceeded expectations for his heart.  Keep that in mind and go for it, no matter what.  Have no regrets.  That's what life is about.