by Beks
Vegas, in all its glory, was fun. We had a good time but…
I was hit with some unexpected expenses.
Friday, we were invited to a club by a promoter. Our drinks and cover charge were free. Woo Hoo for night one!
Saturday, the bridesmaid/ trip planner took us to a nice dinner at the Palms. None of the prices were on the menu but she had told us we would pay $75 for the dinner and for an all access wrist band to the clubs. After the meal was finished, the bill arrived and I was quite surprised when I was asked to pay double and pitch in for the bride to be (the bridesmaid/trip planner had told us she would pay for the bride to be but then decided not to pay).
I was really upset, especially since the bridesmaid had known the full price but had accidentally added incorrectly when telling us the individual price a few days earlier. Plus, when she decided to not cover the bride to be for anything but instead, divide it among us, I felt deceived. Had I known in advance, I could have made a better decision about going or staying home.
Yes, I could have made a huge scene and demanded more money from the bridesmaid but…
This bride to be is my future sister in law and it just wasn’t worth it to ruin the trip.
So…
I paid way too much and we’re not going to make any progress this month.
Sometimes we just make bad decisions.
Ugh.
Beks is a full-time government employee who enjoys blogging late into the night after her four kids have gone to sleep. She’s been married to Chris, her college sweetheart, for 15 years. In 2017, after 3 long years working the Dave Ramsey Baby Steps, they paid off more than $70K and became debt free. When she’s not working or blogging, she’s exploring the great outdoors.
So sorry to hear that! It’s one thing when you have added expenses because your car breaks, or your electricity is higher. But to have someone basically tell you the wrong price is really hard. Good luck!!
What a drag! Ugh. You did the right thing in not making a scene – not worth the family drama.
In my experience, once you are traveling AND especially when others are involved, there are pretty much ALWAYS unexpected expenses. Next time you travel experiment with budgeting an “unexpected” amount as well. If you don’t need it, GREAT! I have found that something often does (in my case, extra charges for bottle of Pedialyte at an “all-inclusive” Mexican resort when I got sick – I try not to think about what I paid for salty sugar water!).
brooklynchick, always carry powdered gatorade to mexico. They sell it in the grocery aisle with the gatorade in little orange tubs with a screw-on lid. Can’t tell you how grateful I’ve been to have that with me, on several occasions. The group finally stopped going to Mexico. Thank God.
Gotta love wedding drama. My friend who is completely broke and unemployed went to a bachelor party and knew it was going to be around $100 including pitching in to pay for the groom. He went, of course, but I couldn’t imagine what he would have done if he found out he had to pay double at the last second!
Glad to hear you had fun in my home town of Las Vegas. The Palms has some nice restuarants and the clubs can be fun. On the other hand I am sorry to hear that you were suckered into having to pay way more than you expected. Don’t sweat it though. I know you will pay that off in no time.
Unexpected expenses almost always come up with travel, fun nights out, cruises, etc. That’s why such luxuries should be saved for when you’re out of debt. No need to use our society’s over-the-top and somewhat recent wedding norms to justify spending money you don’t have.
I hate when unexpected expenses show up, PLUS these are not even your fault. It’s rude when people say they’re going to do something and end up not. But I would have handled it the same way you did. Not making a scene, especially since it’s family. Sorry that this month isn’t helping any but hopefully next month will be great!
Ugh… why does it seem we have all been affected by deadbeats? I would be so embarrassed if I promised to pay and then reneged.
It’s definitely a different perspective to get from you that will teach me to be a better, stronger, and more frugal person.
I ALWAYS end up paying extra whenever i go out in a group for any occasion, a farewell dinner, clubbing, birthday dinners/going out, …Anything!
In fact, i expect to pay double so i always take double.
It may be that i have some friends who are bad at math and not pay the full share of the bill….but after reading your blog post, I think i’m going to start getting angry about this phenomenon! Why the heck haven’t I been angry about this before??? Thanks, Beks!