Two years ago, I wrote a Marvelous Money post about preparing financially for a baby. I did not, in fact, have a baby at the time, and so I took great pains to tell you to take my advice with a grain of salt. I also promised to revisit the topic at some point in the future. Today I wanted to touch on one aspect of our financial life post-baby, and I hope there will be more to come in the future. And good news! Whether or not you have kids (or ever plan to), I think you’ll find this post helpful, because it centers around what I feel is one of the most important personal finance topics to truly take to heart: trade-offs.

In preparing our 2017 budget, we decided to cancel the trip we’d planned to take to the Southwest this year.

Here’s the thing: we have the money to take this trip. It’s sitting in our bank account. But, because we also have the Very Big Goal of paying off our mortgage in the next five years, we are choosing not to take it.

(Why am I connecting these extra mortgage payments to our foregone vacation instead of, say, our extremely expensive childcare? Because we were able to take more expensive vacations and still make extra payments before we had June, it might seem to make more sense to “blame” our childcare costs for this trip cancellation. But, because childcare is a must-do, and the extra payments are something we’re choosing to do, to me it seems like the payments are squeezing out the vacation.)

Were we disappointed when we decided to postpone this trip? Yes. But, it’s hard to feel disappointed when I think about all of the marvelous adventures we’re still going to have this year. We’re going to spend ten days on an Island in Maine with my family. We’re going to use the week we would have been in the Southwest to travel to Michigan with John’s family, a trip that will cost less than $1,000 compared to the $4,500 we were estimating for the Southwest. We’re going to take two long weekend 30th birthday trips (more about those soon!). And, as I shared in my 2017 goals, we’re going to have lots of fun right where we are, having everyday adventures close to home that cost next to nothing.

I think it’s very important to carefully consider your trade offs, and make them ones you can live with. We are sacrificing a lot in the hopes of paying off our mortgage more than 20 years early – fancier vacations, new cars, clothing, going out to eat, home purchases, etc. We know that the freedom we’ll have when we own our home outright – and the cash flow we’ll have in our budget once we’re not making a monthly mortgage payment plus more every month – will be more than worth the sacrifices we’re making now.

But we also knew the trade off wouldn’t be worth it if we were miserable for eight years, living in a holding pattern, eating peanut butter and jelly every night, and never spending anything but the absolute minimum. So, we still go on vacation. We still eat out. Though compared to some of our peers we might be scrimping and saving, by many people’s measure we are living high on the hog — and that’s how we choose to see it. We feel immensely lucky to do all the fun things we get to do while still being able to save so much for our Big Goal.

Do you have a big goal, too? Paying off your student loans? Building an emergency fund? Buying a car? Saving for a down payment or an adoption? Maybe you want to pay off your mortgage, too? I’d encourage you to look at the trade offs you’re currently making, and see whether you can make any changes to both save more money AND have more fun. I truly think it’s possible, but it might take a mindset shift even more than a change in behavior. As Tony Robbins said, start rich.

I’m cheering you on!! And I’d love to hear – what big financial goal are you working toward now? What trade-offs are you making to get there?

I am not one of those people who had the nursery tied up with a bow by the time their second trimester rolled around – in fact, we were still adding the finishing touches several months after our girl arrived! On time or not, I’m happy with how my vision came together, and on a budget of less than $500, too. Let’s take a little tour, shall we?

Not to start off on a negative note, but I used Jenny’s pelmet tutorial for the blue buffalo check curtains and MAN it was a beast. I don’t know if I was doing something wrong, but I wouldn’t recommend it. I will begrudgingly admit the pelmet is still on the wall and looks good a year and a half later, though, so I guess it worked out in the end…?

The dresser was a vintage find at the Raleigh Flea Market (I LOVE the color of the wood!), and the painting was a very special gift from one of my best friends – she made it herself after the wallpaper I was considering was discontinued! So talented!!

One of the main differences between my nursery inspiration and June’s finished room is the crib skirt. I originally planned to do blue toile like Jessie, and even ordered a blue toile skirt off of Etsy, but when it arrived it just didn’t seem right. A few months later I bit the bullet on a favorite Liberty of London fabric, and my aunt graciously sewed it into a skirt. The fabric itself was not exactly cheap, but it’s my favorite thing in the room and added the feminine note the space was missing!

That little cat is the first stuffed animal we bought for June, when we were in Paris and I was pregnant!

My amazing aunt also KNIT this horse mobile after I showed her an exorbitantly expensive one I had fallen in love with! I have absolutely zero sewing skills, but it’s definitely a goal of mine to learn so I can one day make my niece or granddaughter’s nursery dreams come true. Gotta pay it forward :)

Let’s talk about one more project that may or may not have been worth my while. We wanted to have a line of scripture or a hymn on June’s walls, and while I considered a beautiful piece from Between You and Me or House of Belonging, I was scared off by their pricing. So I decided to make one myself, and while I am mostly happy with how it turned out, it was a lot of work! AND, I knowingly had to spell one alleluia wrong, because I couldn’t fit another L on that line!! Argh. Oh well…

Missing a few nursery-specific items you expected to see? June’s glider and changing station are both downstairs in our bedroom, because that’s remained our hub of activity for the most part. We also recently hung her baptism cross over her crib, and it’s one of my favorite additions!

I’ve listed sources below, but if you have any questions, ask away! I’m happy with how June’s sweet space came together, and hope you like it, too!

All photos by the very talented Nancy Ray.

Wall paint: Simply White by Benjamin Moore (were I to get a redo I would paint the walls Love & Happiness by Ben Moore instead) | Buffalo check fabric: Calico Corners in Blueberry | Twin bed: Craigslist | Pink pillow: Target | Blue quilt: Garnet Hill | Dresser: Vintage | Wooden frame: Target | Horse painting: Custom | Lamp: Target | Crib: Hand-me-down | Liberty print fabric: Alice Caroline Supply | Mobile: Custom | Sheep rocker: Pottery Barn | Faux sheepskin rug: Ikea | All Creatures art: DIY | Book bin and stool: Homegoods | Sunshine banner: Small Branches | Felt balls for garland: Gracie & Marie | Flush mount light (which you can’t see in these pictures, but is really cute!): Pottery Barn Kids

Tired of seeing photos of my family yet? :) I hope not, because I’ve got a few more to share from our session with Nancy!! After our photos at the house, we drove to the North Carolina Museum of Art to take some outdoor options, mainly for our Christmas card. We love going for walks at the NCMA, and it’s also where we took our engagement photos, so it was fun to come full-circle with this location!

I always see people posting these beautiful photos while holding their babies up in the air (ahem, Victoria Strader :))… and then I tried it and was like, yep, this is as high as I can lift her! Oh dear. Mine’s kind of a halfway hold :)

I’ll end with perhaps my favorite photo from all of the ones we took that day…

That’s my heart right there. Love those two.

Thank you again to our dear friend Nancy Ray for these photos. They are a gift our family will treasure forever!

Back soon to share June’s nursery!

I’m so happy to share the first part of our family photo session with Nancy Ray today! You may recall that Nancy gifted me the session of my choice at my baby shower. I thought long and hard about how to use it, and eventually decided to save it until June was a little bit older. I am SO glad I did, because these photos, with all of June’s grandparents, could not be more precious. (They were visiting for her baptism!)

I’ve broken the session into three posts; today, I’m sharing a few favorites from the ones we took at home, day-in-the-life style. (This was our inspiration.) Enjoy!!

A favorite!!!

Please enjoy that John is wearing his crocs in almost every photo… he considers them the equivalent of slippers :)

And now let’s mix in some grandparents! I mean, how much are we all going to treasure these for the next 50 years???

June’s main goal in life is to get the cats to let her pet them, so this was a very exciting moment that Nancy captured.

This particular photo is very special to me… reading with my Dad is pretty much my number one memory from childhood, so seeing him do the same with June almost makes my heart explode. I am SO, so, so grateful our baby gets to have all four of these wonderful people in her life, as I know not all kiddos are so lucky.

Best Dada I know :)

I hope you love these photos as much as we do! I know I’m biased, but I think Nancy’s work here is just magical. Next up: more family photos outside!

P.S. In case you are wondering, my sweater and June’s dress are from Old Navy (I ordered it in a size large so it would be oversized!), and her headband is from Simple June. I did my own makeup (what?) and conveniently scheduled my regular hair appointment for the morning of our shoot so it looked better than usual :)