Been trying........

[Tomandtammy]

Ok I am about to quit for 3 years we have been trying to save for a family vacation to disney. We are a family on a limited income due to the fact I am a stay at home mom, my husband works two jobs, And our kids are 3 and 6. Well in trying to save we have saved exactly......0.00, yes ladies and gents not a damn dime! Well my mom, miss wonderful has booked us a vacation with her for March of 2002. Ummm well first off Im not all that happy about it, BUT it is free lodging and travel, all we need to do is save for tickets, food, and suviniers! DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY IDEAS ON HOW WE CAN SAVE??? Anything is appreciated! We would also like to try to save so we can go just the 4 of us sometime too, But I guess this is a start and the only way I can get my kids there...... Thanks again:bounce:

[eeyorefanatic]

One of the easiest things you can do is start a change jar. You can even have the kids decorate it to help motivate them. All that spare change in the sofa, change from pockets in the dryer etc... REALLY adds up. On my first trip we had well over $300 just in change, which paid for our entire hotel bill. I also put any change at the end of the day in the jar as well.

Good Luck!

[Saffron]

We save change too. We also have just started doing this: we buy a newpaper and collect the grocery coupons. When we finish buying groceries we write a check for the amount of money that the grocery coupons saved us. We ask for change when we cash the check and throw the change into the change jar.
This works great if you are not already clipping coupons.

There are a couple of web sites that will give you web bucks: coupons for cents off of your next gocery bill and web sites that will give you rebates for groceries.

There is a discussion board here for ways to earn money, gift certificates and Disney Dollars by using the internet. It is called Disney Reward Programs forum. You can check that out for ways to earn extra money or gift certificates for dinner etc...

Good luck!

[Kaitysmom]

Though not exactly saving money, we give Disney dollars as birthday presents, ask for them for Christmas gifts, etc. This helps buy souvenirs and maybe a character meal. My daughter collected $75 Disney Dollars for her spending money this way! Good luck!

[WebmasterBob]

I have the perfect source for a trip to Disney and you get your house cleaned at the same time. YARD SALE!!!!!!! We put all the money towards a trip each year and it really got the kids involved in the project. The other thing to do is look at your expenses and see what you can eliminate and put that money in the fund as well.

[SandraC]

Buckle down and be determined. I saved for three years and managed to save enough for two Disney trips (we took one last month). I was determined to save. I paid the DISNEY ACCOUNT before everything else. Once I got of about $2000.00 the saving part of it became addictive and it was fun watching the account grow.

Just a matter of REALLY wanting it.

[Beverly Lynn]

also when making purchases take advantage of rebates. I get between 200-500 a year in rebates! I use mine for xmas shopping but it still adds up! and then when I go to buy somethign I think long and hard do I really need this? if not then I take the money I would have spent on that item and put it in my disney fund!

[Lewisc]

Some ideas for a budget trip:
1) iDrive if you have a reliable car. You'll save on airfare and car rental.
2) Stay offsite at a home or condo with a full kitchen. You can splurge for 1 or 2 character meals but otherwise eat like you would at home (cook, fast food...).
3) Limit your souvenirs (maybe even go to Disney outlet store).

[Mic]

With a 3 and 6-year-old, I think you would enjoy the trip more if you were on-site. Book a trip for the off-season, and stay at 1 of the All-Star resorts(whichever is running a special)since there are 4 of you. Using codes, ads, AAA, whatever, get a good rate($49-69 a night) and book this as soon as you have enough for 1 night's deposit. Make weekly or monthly payments to Disney for the room to pay in full before arrival. Take advantage of Bounce-back tickets(they may be called something else now)since leaving 1 park and "hopping" to another is time-consuming with a stroller(speaking of these, bring your own to save on rental fee). Divide the cost of the tickets by the number of months you have until your trip, and put that back each month...No Matter What! Treat the Disney fund like any other bill...it must be paid. All loose change should go into a huge jar, and you will need to count and roll this 2-4 weeks before you leave. Use this money as your food $$(the expense you have the most control over); if you save a lot, you can eat more sit-down dinners. If you only have $300, you can do mostly counter-service/food court meals. In the 2-3 weeks before the trip, stock up on breakfast food for your room(this saves time and a ton of money)while doing your regular grocery shopping so you will hardly notice the cost. You will need some snacks and drinks(capri suns or juice boxes work well in the parks)to put in your backpack/diaper bag(Disney's price for these are a real budget-killer)and maybe some sandwich fixings for dinner in the room 1 night if the $ is really tight. Bring your own cooler for the milk, etc., and use the ice machine at the resort to fill it. Drive, if possible, because airfare is a big expense. Ask relatives to give the kids disney dollars for birthdays and holidays, and use this as souvenier money(at 3 and 6, this cost should be minimal). You will be amazed at the fun your family will have just being at Disney, without buying a lot of stuff. The characters, rides, and shows(all paid for with your tickets) will be enough to keep you busy. Your kids won't care that they are eating peanut butter sandwiches for dinner...you will be glad that you are not waiting in line somewhere to be seated! Planning your trip is another topic...you will get lots of info from this board. Just know that saving(while planning)for the trip can be half the fun if you are committed. Trust me, it was a lot easier when my kids were as small as yours(we have 4, age 7-12)to plan a budget trip! Good luck.:cool:

[aide4]

I started our Disney fund in May 2000. I have learned to put money in there FIRST, no matter what. I have now managed to save $2500.00 in only a year and we are planning our first trip in Feb. 2002. I also have a change jar, which adds up fast!!! You can do it if you put your mind to it!!! GOOD LUCK!!!!:pinkbounc

[aec]

Some things that worked for our Nov 99 trip will a 2yo and 5 yo.
Several tips for reasonable souveniers:
1) I brought 14 of the $1 disney figures (Found them at toysRus before going.) Every night Mickey came to our room and left a figure for each of them. They were a huge hit. My now 6 1/2 yo still talks about the figures mickey left. She's a believer, what can I say. Mousekeeing had fun arranging them while we were at the park too!

2) I bought several other small dollar store type items (such as character beanies) to give them in goodie bags before the trip. That way we could pass by the numerour stuffed animals and beanies on sale at the parks.

3) also in the goodie bag was a autograph book and fat pen (from big lots) and a disposable camera from costco. I gathered this stuff very slowly over the course of the year as I saw stuff which spread out the cost.

4) for their birthdays prior to the trip, grandma gave them disney dollars. They were told that they could buy whatever they wanted on our last day at downtown disney where mommy could use the disney club card for 10% off. 5 YO DD picked a cinderalla barbie doll. 2 YO DD picked a soft mini-soccer ball with characters on it (about $3) and three of the little die cast vehicles with characters driving them. They were on clearance for about 2:50. They still play with the vehicles and the barbie. The knowlegde that she had all of these disney dollars (I think it was $25, but it seemed like a fortune to her) and could chose whatever she wanted at the end of the trip actually worked. We had no whining and begging in the parks.

5) The only thing I can remember buying at the park was a passport in EPCOT.

6) As fas as the food goes, we kept it very inexpensive. We brought in PBJs and drinks for a big snack about 11:00, and then we had a snack later (either split counter service food, at back at the room (we had a fridge) or just grabbed a turkey leg or something. For dinner we usually did a light counter service meal and then had substantial snacks when we got back to the room. We also had a car so we ate a number of meals offsite at fast food. The way I look at is if I keep the food costs down, it's not too much more than we wouldv'e spent for the weeks food at home.

7) park tickets will be the only killer. Their expensive and the discounts are slim!

[sablair]

I just deposited almost $500 that my DH tossed in the change jar for Disney :) He and the kids were so proud this weekend when they totalled it all up and realized their change will pay for our food at WDW. If you cant trust yourself to put the money away in savings, you can do what we did and save money too. Bank your entire trip one step at a time. I booked our rooms through priceline once I had the room money set-aside(make sure your dates are firm and study up on bidding if you decide to do this!) . It was a big savings on the room and they took the money out of my account immediately. I did the same with our airfare. You can buy your passes as you go too. As soon as you have enough saved to buy one, get it and put it away until your trip. If you have the room and park passes taken care of up front you wll be more likely to follow through on the other details.

If you dont have the extra cash - having a yard sale is a great idea. And I dont know how close you are to your Mom, but you could try explaining the situation to her (she seems to want you and your kids to experience Disney pretty badly). Maybe the two of you could put your heads together and come up with other ideas.. my mom is alway wanting suggestions on what to get the kids for bday, christmas, etc... this year she bought six flag tickets for my son and we funded the rest of his bday trip.

Hang in there and good luck!!!

Sheila

[zachsmomie]

The best thing I did was get Disney Dollars! At the end of each pay, I'd make sure to budget in at least $20-25 to buy Disney Dollars. We had to sacrifice eating out several times, renting movies, and buying those "extras" that really add up. But when I bought the Disney Dollars, I knew there was no turning back since they couldn't be used anywhere else.

Sandy

[OhioDaddy]

Try this one, it adds up quick! If your family goes out to eat, order ice water instead of soft drinks, coffee, alcohol, etc. make a mental note of the amount you saved and put it into the "change jug" when you get home. My family does this and it adds up!:p

[Pembo]

Hi there! The only way I can save BIG bucks is my tax return! We used ours for our trip this spring.

I also do the change jar but with only one income we seem to need that change to buy milk and stuff. I bought a big plastic pop bottle filled with popcorn at Xmas, emptied out the popcorn and now use the bottle/bank for change.

I also try to pay myself every paycheck. $10 minimum. Sometimes that is hard to do.

My last tip is look for some little jobs you can do to make a few extra dollars. Working a part time job, a few hours a week, if your DH can babysit, you'll make a little money but it will add up.

Good luck! I know how hard it is to save when there isn't much in the first place.

[Jenn]

Disney Dollars for birthdays, Christmas, etc.

We went in March and brought my sister-in-law and her 5 kids. We shared the cost of her family's airfare with my in-laws and we are DVC (Disney's timeshare) owners so we used that for our rooms.

All she had to come up with was tickets, food, and souvenir $$. We had a long talk with the kids and explained that if they really wanted to go it was going to mean a few sacrifices as far as gift giving goes for about a year. They totally agreed. So, for Christmas and birthdays they each got $50 from Mom and Dad, Nanny and Papa, and Uncle Jimmy and Auntie Jenn (us). That was $150 per kid. Then for smaller holidays like Easter and Valentines Day, they each got $5-$10 along with candy, little Easter trinkets, etc. Instead of buying for my sister-in-law and her husband over the year, my in-laws and my husband and I gave her $500 in DD for spending money.

The kids managed to save enough to pay for their own passes and souvenirs, and my sister-in-law used the $500 towards food (we stayed 5 days).

The yard sale is also a great idea! Another idea is to bring your kid's clothing you no longer need to a consignment shop (that is if you aren't having any more children and don't want to keep them for hand-me-downs).

[friskylady]

Even a mom w/ 2 young kids could figure out something to do at home or a few evenings when dad is home, right? How about a few babysitting jobs? Raking leaves in fall, shoveling snow in winter? or just wearing a paper hat and saying "May I take your order?" someplace for a few hours a week?

A pt job will add up the $$$ much faster than all the savings tips combined and you will only have to do the pt job for a few months to save what you need!

[phins_jazy]

That's exactly what I do. I stay at home during the day with our 2y/o. But when DH gets home at 5:00 mom is out the door by 6:00 and I work until 10:00 at the mall. It's only pt about 20-23 hours a week but when the paycheck gets here, that's all disney money!!!! It will be used for airfare, tickets, meals, hotel and spending money. I didn't like having to get a job but if it meant us going to Disney because of it, it makes me want to go to work now. Working the hours that I work I can get about $500 a month saved. That either goes into our savings account or directly into Disney dollars. I know you're going to hate to leave your littles ones but once you think about how happy they will be in "the world" it will make leaving the house and going to work a little bit easier. It does for me. We also have a change jar. It doesn't grow as quickly as I would like it to but it grows nonetheless. My SIL and I are also going to be having a rummage sale at the end of summer to help fund our Disney trip. Good luck to you. With hard work and determination it can be done!!

[CapeCod53]

Lots of good ides so far. With the change jar, we actually have made the effort to use bills only for any purchases, never pay with change so that you always generate some change with every purchase.
2nd idea: round up every check you enter into your checkbook to the next full dollar. When you balance your account to the exact balance on the bank statement, write yourself a check to correct the balance back down(actually I just keep a running total written in some bright ink color until it gets to be a large amount).
3rd idea: Easter baskets, Christmas stockings, valentine's give the kids Disney things. ie for Easter my kids got smalll amount of candy, Disney Dollars, new sunglasses & clipon case from Old Navy, insulated water bottle with strap, travel game, palm sized squirt gun & $.94 battery operated keychain fan from Walmart.
4th idea: use your library for not only books but video rentals, books-on-tape, kids storyhours, etc. We can also get free passes to local & Boston museums, used to go on Sundays to avoid crowds & parking fees.
5th idea: along the lines of part-time income for you, how about a paper route? May sound strange but if you have a daily paper delivered in the afternoon you could do this with kids in the car or stroller or maybe while older child is in school. A family on our street does this as a group effort & use all the tips,etc for family activites & they make a lot without much effort except for the weekend paper. Good luck!

[sherry7]

The idea about bringing breakfast items from home is great. If you don't want to tote the stuff to Florida with you, you could stop at a grocery store in Orlando instead. I would buy granola bars, snack crackers, juice boxes, etc to give the kids for snacks while in the parks. If you have a Big Lots in your area, browse the aisles to look for Disney items to save for souveniers. They are always really cheap there. Sometimes they even have t-shirts. Sneak these to WDW with you, so Mickey can leave them in the hotel room while the kids are asleep. Do you use grocery coupons? If not, start using them and when you get home put your total savings in a Disney change jar. Have you ever heard of consignment shops? These are second hand shops where you can take your childrens outgrown, gently worn clothing. When they sell it you get part of the profit. Summer is coming up, and many parents will be needing a summer time babysitter, if you want to do something like that. Buy the film for your camera at home, I've heard that it costs dearly at the parks. Final tip (this is one that I do), is to have a certain sum of money from your husbands paycheck directly deposited into a separate savings account. If you save money before you see it, it's a lot easier.

[MaryAnne70]

For TONS of ideas on how to save (as well as invest) money, try the discussion boards on The Motley Fool (http://www.fool.com). Under the "Managing Your Finances" boards, my favorite is the Live Below Your Means (LBYM) board. I've been amazed at all of the ideas I've gotten on how to live more frugally.

Mary Anne

[violet13]

We are soon to be a family of 6 and I am also a stay at home Mom, with husband earning approx $28,000 a year. I love this Budget Board because we are a REAL frugal bunch, we've never lacked, even when my husband just a few years ago only made $20,000 a year. "Saving money" must become a way of life, I feel. If you are able to take advantage of a Credit Union deducting lets say $25 a week or more out of your husband's pay- I'd say this is the way to go, the $$ will never slip thru your hands and you won't be tempted to take it out of a jar somewhere. You will "learn" to live within these means- to make your dream of Disney a reality. Some use their Tax returns. It is true- once you get started saving $$$, it gets easier and easier seeing it grow. But it takes discipline and doing without- and this is NOT easy at first if you are used to buying what you want when you want. For us, we only buy food on sale with coupons, we only order water for drinks when eating out- which is not often- and must have a coupon for that also, we choose to own old cars, we do rebates regardless of what brand something is- after all it's fun trying new things. No matter what we decide to buy, we wait till it goes on sale or buy it used. Now we're planning our trip to Disney, we found a few hotels for a family of 5 in the price ranges of $30 to $40 in the off season, and less than 10 miles to Disney, they all have pools, some have free shuttles to Disney, free fridge in your room, we still aren't sure which we will choose, but searching for the best deal is great fun! This "board" comes in handy to hear the opionions of those who have stayed at these hotels off site. We realize these places will be plain- but their prices help us afford the trip. After all we only plan on sleeping there. It's all in your lifestyle and what you are willing to "give up" to acheive a dream... I know for us...we'll be buying all our souveneres at the closest Walmart, probably be eating at the closest Ponderosa with coupons in hand.. Best of luck in saving.. :p

[PrincessPoppy]

Gather up any old knick-knacks, old nice clothes (especially kids clothes), old collectibles sitting in a box, dishes, toys, ANYTHING, and list them on eBay. You would be amazed at what people buy, and the listing fees are very small, about 50 cents to $1, depending on what you set as the minimum bid. List lots of items at dirt-cheap prices and you will make money.

[faith]

Whatever else you do take your own snacks! This will save a lot of money.Park prices are outrageous. Maybe family can give the kids money in lieu of birthday gifts, etc.This could be their spending money.
You'll get a world of info on the trip planning board, community board, Disney tipboard,etc. Have fun planning!

[friskylady]

CLOTHING!
when my children were small and we lived on my husband's modest salary I bought their clothes at yard sales as much as possible. Then I sold their clothes at my own sales. it really saved us $$$$ and the kids didn't care! (wish it were true now for my 15 yr old daughter!)

Food

Learn to use beans. This might seem icky to some. But a pot of bean soup costs only about $2 to make and can last 2 days for dinners. do that once a week and you'll save big time on your grocery bill. and you will ADD to your health!

Save on gas money

Do you do a lot of driving for shopping or chauferring kids? Car pool w/a neighbor or friend.

but the best idea is to Get that part time job! :)

[staylor]

I am afraid I may be repeating what others have already said. But, the first thing I did was buy our passes at the Disney Store. Each month I would buy one pass. After I had our passes, I started buying Disney Dollars. I don't know about you, but I am not the type of person who can just put $ into my drawer to save. But, I can't spend the Disney Dollars so they just keep adding up. I looked the other day and we have $860 in Disney dollars. For our trip in two days (May 19th) I got our rental car through priceline.com $20 a day for a SUV from Hertz. We are going back in Oct. for MNSSHP and The Food and Wine festival. For this I am bidding on our room with priceline. So far, people seem to be getting the 4* hotels (Dolphin, Swan, Wyndham Palace, and Hilton) for about $35-$40 a day. I found so much invaluable information at the following website

http://pub4.************/bpricelineandexpediabidding

Check it out!
I hope this helps!
Good Luck!
Staci:bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

[Cindy B]

Lets see, we drive down, even with gas high, it still costs less than airfare for four...

2 adults 2 kids as well

I also work two part time jobs, about 4-8 hours a week. All the part time money, so far almost $600 this year goes straight to Disney Fund.
We also do payroll deduction, change jar, stay offsite, hey you could even work at TDS if need be...

Good luck