In this conversational video, two parents reflect on the financial stress of taking their children to Disney and how pre‑saving through a strategy they call “The Money Habit” transforms the experience. Speaker A recounts the anxiety of paying for every hot dog, drink, and meal on the spot, describing how the constant calculation detracted from family enjoyment and left a lingering memory of a cheap hot‑dog stand. Speaker B explains that by budgeting ahead and paying for everything in advance, the family can focus on the moment, even though the expense is still significant. The dialogue highlights the emotional toll of on‑the‑fly spending, the desire to give children a “dream trip,” and the relief that comes from disciplined saving.
Chapters
I like that we're saving for these kinds of experiences because then they're paid for however long it takes. You don't have that stress of thinking— like when we took the kids to Disney, right? It's such a big trip. It takes so much out of you. And you see people who don't have the money to be there. This is a dream trip. They want to do it for their kids, but they're fighting. The kids are melting down. And usually it's the father going, "You get around that birdie!" And it's like insane.
But you get it.
We get it, but it's like not worth it.
It's a total loss.
It's not worth it.
You do everything to have a family moment and that's the moment. But prior to us doing The Money Habit, we would go to Disney and I was worried about, should we really be going to that pasta restaurant as opposed to just getting a hot dog? But now we pay for everything in advance and it just changes the whole experience. You can just be there. It's still painful to spend that money, but it doesn't distract from the moment. Because it's already addressed.
Yeah. When we took the kids to Disney one year, California, I remember we were paying for the trip as we go. So you were definitely calculating every single drink, right? Do you remember?
No.
4 hot dogs, 4 drinks, $100. You talked about it all day long, and that was me sharing with the youngest.
Oh my God.
So it was 4 instead of 5. All day. I still think about it every time I pass that hot dog place.
That's unbelievable. I'm gonna share something with you that was ridiculous happened this weekend. So Jake and I went to a sporting event. One thing we save for is an annual trip. I do one with each of our kids every year. So this year, Jake and I went to see a basketball game, and we're in the stadium, and he's like, I'm hungry. I'm like, I'm hungry too. Let me guess something. It was $100 for 2 sandwiches. He wanted a beer, 2 waters, and 2 hot dogs. At the end of the week, I could eat a little bit more, and I didn't care at all. I'm like, I don't care. But I also saw people coming up going, oh my God, like, this is ridiculous. I can't afford it. I get it. But because we pre-saved for it, it's just like, it's right in the account.
