So its been awhile since I checked into this thread. My father passed away in April so needless to say, it has not been a great few months. My parents live about 15 hours away so between traveling to be there for his final few weeks, traveling to his services, etc, I racked up a little bit of debt. However, that is money that absolutely needed to be spend and I don't regret a penny of it.
After he passed, my mom told me that he left explicit instructions for her to pay off all of their debts, including my brother and I's student loans. This came as a big shock. That saves me a few hundred dollars every month. While I am beyond grateful for that gift, I would obviously trade it in a second to have my dad back. But knowing him, it made him so happy to be able to do that for our family. And I intend to put those savings to good use.
So with those savings, my DH and I decided to finally book the
Disney cruise we've been dreaming of-7 Nt. British Isles in 2019. I really wrestled with this. We've been talking about this cruise for quite awhile and never could pull the trigger. But if I got anything from my father, it is a crazy love of traveling (he was a retired airline pilot). And he always always always said that life is short...if you want to do something, you absolutely need to do it. So we did it. And I think he'd be beyond excited for us. Heck, I'm sure he'd book it with us in a second!
Long story short: Yes, it's important to pay off your debts, but don't forget to live and enjoy your life too!