In my previous post, you may have noticed the incredibly dusty Valentine I left for my husband on our coffee table. I swear our house is not normally this filthy. There’s a perfectly good reason for all the dirt, but unfortunately, that reason is eating into my savings account.

I’m not a big spender. I certainly have my moments of weakness (usually around the holidays), but that’s more often than not the result of an irresistible sale. I’d rather hoard my money and then spend it on plane tickets or splurge on a nice hotel. But every now and then, something pops up, and I have to bite the bullet and make a big purchase.

The dust bomb is one of those reasons.

My in-laws are coming in from South Africa in just a few weeks, and my husband and I have decided to update the bathroom before they get here. To be honest, the bathroom has needed renovating since we moved in. A moldy stench has been coming from behind the walls and permeating the entire house; we have two rather large dogs, so for the house to smell like anything other than dog is pretty disgusting. And aesthetically, well, I’m not sure what I’ll miss more: the vanity, the musty carpet, the silver wallpaper (that really should have velvet on it), the black toilet, or the decaying shower tiles.

To be fair, if the bathroom had been functional, we probably would have left it as is and spent the money on our next trip.

How about you? Have you ever had an unexpected expense eat into your travel budget?