Mom on a Mission: A Day out with Thomas, and why this was so significant for us.

June 9, 2012

A Day out with Thomas, and why this was so significant for us.

When it comes to family activities, we are all for the free/cheap fun. I have discovered that my kids typically will have just as much, if not more fun without costing us much or any money. So when I saw the price tag on the Day out with Thomas tickets, I was more than a little hesitant. The tickets would cost a little more than $60 for the family, not to mention that gas money for the two hour car trip. And while that may not seem like a lot for some, for this frugal momma, it was enough to make me more than a little uncomfortable!

After a lot of discussion with the hubby, going back and forth about it several times, we realized that events like this are why we wanted to get our budget under control. My son, Jameson, is absolutely nuts about Thomas the Train. There is not a day that goes by when he doesn't play with his trains, heck, the kid has a Thomas the Train bed! This was not something that would just be a fun outing for the family- it would truly be a dream come true for my little boy.

A year or so ago, something like this would have resulted in one of two scenarios:

1. We would decide not to go because we couldn't afford it since we had no money in savings and be bummed that we couldn't get this experience for my kiddos.
2. We would go anyway, put it on a credit card, and I would feel guilty about it the whole time.

But this time, the money was there. We have been saving for a mini-vacation for our family this summer. Based on our preliminary figuring, it is going to be a pretty inexpensive vacation that we had over-saved for, which meant that we had plenty that we could pull from that budget column to pay for the tickets. Also, we have been really good at conserving our gas this week, so we would have plenty in the gas budget to cover the extra gas for the trip.

Since we have gotten such a grasp on our finances, we were able to easily pay cash for the whole thing. Again, I realize that while $60 isn't much to some of you, others might actually think we are crazy for dropping that kind of money on a 20 minute train ride (since the other activities were all free). But you know what? We had the money because we have worked hard to save it, and we created family memories that we all, especially Jameson, will not soon forget. Want more convincing? Let these pictures do the job: