A Timeshare ? Yep, an indicator of something else.

We , my wife & daughters, and I took up the offer by Marriott Resorts to stay at their Orlando location for 4 or 5 days free of charge. In exchange we (wife & I ) had to sit through 1.5 hour sales pitch for a timeshare. We had done a similar thing a few years back in Myrtle Beach in exchange for tickets to a show. We held our ground and  definitely said no to the sales pitch of some vacation offer.

We went to Orlando for a final family trip to Disney & Universal before our daughters went off to college in the next couple of years.  We had a grand time, Disney & Universal were more fun as the girls were now older teenagers. The resort was absolutely fantastic, the pools provided cool relief when we returned from the hot August days spent trekking through the entertainment parks.

The day of our sales pitch arrived. I told my wife to remember the words , NO NO. I was memorized by the salesman's presentation. Usually, I'm a person who resists this stuff, I said YES. My wife was surprised, and asked if we could afford it. We discussed and I convinced her we could. We signed the papers for the purchase & a loan. 

A few months later I started to spiral into the depths of depression. I was always a fiscally conservative guy. But, I wasn't thinking about the Marriott timeshare. I started to think about daughter's college costs & how to pay for them. I started to worry about money and my job constantly. I found it hard to focus. I was becoming depressed again, damn I thought that was a one time thing.

Then in January, we got an invoice for the annual maintenance fees & real estate taxes for the time share. Damn, we had costs and we hadn't even used it yet. I frantically began doing research on buying timeshares, something I should have done before we bought. But, my slightly manic mind in August didn't think straight and I was allowed to be seduced by the beauty and convience of the Marriott location and ignore the costs. Dumb ! 

Anyway, it hit me very strongly that with two kids soon in college, a timeshare was the last thing we should've bought. I found a way to be able to sell the timeshare and recoup some of our money. My mind was racing about this much of my days. I laid it out to my wife, she scolded me for assuring her back in August we could afford it, but also saw my mind was compromised. We sold. I felt relieved, but I also beat myself up for being so dumb.

It wasn't until 6-7 years later after I was diagnosed with BP II , that I realized my mind was operating in a manic and compromised mode that August. It was an expensive slip up, but I'm thankful I didn't spend more money on irrational purchases.