My girlfriend and I often talk about getting married. We're not the marrying type - neither of us grew up dreaming about a house and a yard and three kids and a two car garage, let alone dreaming about a wedding - but we're very sincere about wanting to lower our taxes and wanting to go on a honeymoon somewhere warm where we can lay down on the beach and sip fruity drinks while we soak in the rays.
The tax thing, by the way, is obvious. If you can file jointly you'll save a bundle on your taxes, up to tens of thousands of dollars, depending on the amount you earn. Filing singly is a burden - one that sucks. For example, my father recently passed away. He and my mother were comfortably middle class, and they had some savings and owned their house. He was retired but my mom still worked and still does.
Well, when she filed for taxes this year, she had to file unmarried. And her taxes were five thousand dollars higher than they had been when my father was alive. Even though she was taking in less money with him gone.
Anyway, we know we'll save a lot of money ourselves if we just get un-lazy about it and get married. But it's a hassle.
Would any of the cheap all inclusive vacations that double as a honeymoon be worth that hassle? Probably. We have some friends who've been on cheap all inclusive vacations from everywhere from Belize to Hawaii to the Greek Islands in the Aleutian, and they've all almost uniformly had a blast.
The key to cheap all inclusive vacations is that you literally don't have to do anything. All inclusive means that you get to eat, sleep, laze around on the beach, shoot craps, do whatever you want, and not have to leave the comfort of the resort. For me and my girlfriend, who've been on more than our fair share of "adventure" vacations and "authentic travel experience" vacations, one of these cheap all inclusive vacations sounds like it's right up our alley.
I mean, who wouldn't want to wake up at the crack of ten in the morning, have a banana daiquiri, then head down to a lounge where they've already made you an omelette and a cup of coffee? Then after that you get to fall right back to sleep on the beach, soaking up the sun while polite attendants offer you more drinks or perhaps a newspaper to read.