I need some savings ideas

[iNTeNSeBLue98]

I want, desparately, to return to WDW in 2002. We had planned on going back since our trip in 1999 and now, with all the hoop-la surrounding the 100 Years of Magic, I want to get there even more!

I've had a schedule and a budget planned for a few months, but plans were put on hold indefinitely until we are more financially stable. Now that DH is working two jobs, that should happen before next year.

So what I want to know is- How can we save say- $3000-$4000
in less than a year to make that trip a reality?

And, I know this has been asked before, but: What ways do you pay for your WDW vacations?

[Meagansmom]

Oh boy, there are so many ways.

1) This years tax rebate
2) next years income tax refund
3) buy disney dollars when ever possible
4) set so much aside each week or month
5) when you go to the grocery store, write the check for an even dollar amount, put the
put the change in a jar
6) have a garage sale
7) put all spare change into a jar
8) ask for disney dollars for birthdays, christmas, etc

This is a few things I could think of, think positive!

[LuvTigger]

Ditto what Meagansmom said.

Additionally, here are some things that help me:
* When I buy something at a restaurant or store, I try to use only paper money. For example, even if I Have change in my wallet, if the total is $4.24, I will give them a $5 and keep the change to put in a jar at the end of the day. If I can, I will put in a dollar bill or two as well. Additionally, I put $10 a week into the jar in addition to the change.
* Bring home lunch. I try to go out for lunch no more than once a week. This has helped save a LOT of $$$. Same goes for dinners. If you go out a lot, try to limit it, maybe only eating out on Saturdays for dinner, or something like that.
* Each payday, I go to the Disney Store and buy $25 in Disney Dollars and put them in a bag.
* Automatic deposit to savings helps a lot too. I used to try to tell myself that I'll call the bank to transfer $$ from checking to savings on payday, but never did. I finally went to the bank and set it up so that I automatically transfer $75 per pay check to savings. I'm less likely to spend it that way.
* If I have enough money to start a CD (Certificate of Deposit) at the bank, I will do that, if it's for a term that will end before the vacation. That way, if you touch it before the maturity date, you will be penalized.

I'm sure you will get many great ideas here!

[Debi]

Similar to what Luv Tigger said, bring your lunch to work. If you're the type to spend $5-$10 per day on lunch when you're at work, bring something to work with you. Either last night's leftovers, a sandwich, or a can of soup (if your company has a microwave you can heat it up in). This will save you approximately $50 per week alone.

In addition, as everyone has said, throw all of your loose change in a jar and save it. Even if your total is $9.01, hand them a $10 bill and throw the $0.99 in your change jar. You'd be surprised how quickly it adds up! I also throw $1 every day in this jar. You don't feel it when you only put in $1 per day, but it's easier than $7 per week or $30 per month all at once.

The thing that adds up the quickest for our family is throwing in all of our savings from coupons and store bargins. If you save $10 on your weekly grocery shopping by using your store's loyalty card and/or using coupons, throw that $10 in the Disney fund. I'd rather spend that $10 in WDW than at the supermarket! This also goes for sales at department stores, drug stores, etc.

Anyone else have ideas to share?

[iNTeNSeBLue98]

:D Thanks for the tips! Yes I do eat out for lunch almost everyday. It costs anywhere from $2 to $5- when you think about it, after a month that's upwards of $60 that could go towards Disney.

And the coupons and store cards- I save at least $8 a visit.

Come to think of it, I work for a department store, and one of our benefits is a 15% store discount. I could stash that savings plus whatever other special discounts are offered on my sale. THANKS! :D I can't believe I didn't think of that before.

If only I could get DH to quit smoking and save that expense!!!!!;)

[Debi]

One other suggestion: if you live in a state that gives you money for your recycling (such as soda cans, etc.), make sure to do this. While $0.02 per can doesn't sound like much, it sure adds up, especially if you're like my family and go through 4-6 cans of soda per day. Good luck! :)

[NancyIL]

Hmmm...I don't think we've ever spent that much on a WDW vacation for our family of 5 - but then we haven't stayed longer than 5 days (off-site) at a time. It's good to set aside as much money as you can, but I think most of the budget work is in paring down the cost of your trip.

Travel during value season - such as next fall (excluding Oct.) for the lowest hotel rates. Staying off-site is usually less expensive than on-site, but there are bargains to be had with on-site resorts. (I personally don't consider $150+ resorts a bargain - no matter how much the rack rate was BEFORE the discount!) Driving is less expensive than flying - unless you can snag really cheap airfare. There are lots of ways to save on meals. Go to www.mousesavers.com for all the latest ways to save.

[FrozenPiglet]

Like NancyIL, I don't think we have ever spent $3000 - $4000 on a WDW trip. But then we always have breakfast foods with us, etc. and save lots of money that way.

If you are flying, do you have ways of accumulating frequent flier miles? This doesn't have to be by flying. There are lots of ways to accumulate miles. My DD and I are going on a trip in a week that both airline tickets are from frequent flier miles.

If you have kids, make saving money a game. At the end of every month see which one found the most creative ways to put some money aside. Or, as my sister found with her daughters, they would have change left over from school lunches everyday. Make sure that goes into savings instead of toward a candy bar or soda.

Instead of ordering pizza (like our family has a tendency to do) get some good frozen ones. You can find them on sale and the rising crust ones are pretty good. It does save quite a bit over the regular delivery, plus tip for the person delivering the pizza. Put the saved money in your WDW savings and give the tip to yourself.

Ask family to contribute to the WDW savings instead of giving otherwise useless or unnecessary gifts for birthdays and holidays. Instead of multiple gifts during the holidays maybe cut down on the number of gifts and include some Disney $ or an amount of regular $ put into a savings account for the trip.

[mouseluver]

I am going Sept. 8-15 and have been planning/saving since October 2000. My best advice is whenever you get some extra $$$, buy Disney Dollars! Whether it's $3 or $30, every little bit helps. I could never keep loose cash around for a year because I would spend it, but with Disney Dollars, you can't! Over the last 10.5 months I have saved enough in Disney Dollars to pay for all our food and souvenirs.

[iNTeNSeBLue98]

Actually- $3000 to $4000 is for a 10 day trip to Disney, Universal & Sea World. I think I was planning Pop Century for 5 nights and Hard Rock for 4, but I'm still in a place where changes can be made. We can go for about $2500 and have a wonderful time, as we did in Nov. 1999. Another place I can look to pare down the trip expense is the food dept. Currently I have 3 meals planned per day- a number of charater meals, and perhaps dinner at Ohana's. I think we pretty much only ate twice a day last time and certainly could do it again.

There are some great savings ideas here and I've already cut back on the amount of $ I spend on lunch. Keep posting them!

[ceecee]

I suggest a garage sale...they are quite popular where I live and I made $1200.00 this year on basically my daughter's outgrown clothes and toys she no longer played with. All that went into our Disney Fund...

Eat at home more often if you tend to eat out alot.

Encourage your husband to quite smoking if he hasn't........My friend's husband did and I could not believe how much it saved them!!!!!!!!!

Plan your weekly menus around what's already on sale at the grocery.

[tonilea]

We quit smoking............savings = $90 per month
I started purchasing my morning 20 oz Diet Coke @ Walmart (in 6 packs) instead of the convience store.....savings = $20 - $25 per month
Eating out less..............savings = $100+ per month
Driving paid off vehicles instead of buying new ones.
Planning our menu around sales at the grocery store.

When I first found this board, prior to our 1st trip to WDW, I showed my husband and we laughed that people go back year after year...... now not only are we planning to go back in 2002 ....... we are going again in 2003! I think I must surely be addicted.....

[Humpbacks1962]

A little over a month ago, I posted a suggestion to sell your old books in Amazon.com. I have sold almost $600 in just weeks.

I simply took my old college and school books that were piling up dust, some books on hobbies, etc., and charged the recommended price based on the condition of the book. Some I had to relist, but I made a whole lot more than I would have if I just sold them in a tag sale!

So there's an easy way to make some money.

Wanda

[iNTeNSeBLue98]

Okay. I'm tweeking the budget. I realize that I haven't told you that the $3000 to $4000 figures I gave include everything- transportation, park tickets, food and souvenirs. Anyway I broke the $3000 mark, at $2900 for 9 nights/10 days- disney, Universal, Sea World- off-site accomodations (ruins the EE plan, but oh well). :cool: We spent $2400 in November 1999 for 7 nights/8 days at ASMo with the Resort Magic Plan (before I found these boards and learned where to cut costs! :eek:). So my budget isn't out of line, it's just over our heads at this particular moment. And, of course I am planning all this with the notion that the trip is paid in full before we go. These prices will be the same whether we go in June or November, but we'd like to make t in time to see the 100 Years of Magic festivities. I could probably borrow the money with a loan, or maybe get a credit card to help ease the strain, but I've got to pay down the store card debt I currently have. Wish us luck! I'll try to keep you posted as to how we're saving up for the big event.

[maci]

I like the buying disney dollars idea! Question? Is there any kind of a charge, or do you just go trade your real money for disney money?
I work at the mall, so this would be an easy way for me to save! Since we only have 63 days I need to do something quick!
Thanks for the idea!

[eller]

Check out the Rewards Board. If you have about 20 minutes a day you can earn points that can be turned into $$$ or Disney Dollars depending on the site.

Don't forget to buy a Disney Club card, and use your American Express; both will get you discounts and if you use American Express you can sign up for rewards and get more Disney things.

Good luck! The planning can be almost as fun!

Lori

6/1997 Off site, 2/2000 Off site, 2/2001 Poly, 10/2001 POFQ, AKL & Magic

[DiznEeyore]

Originally posted by maci
I like the buying disney dollars idea! Question? Is there any kind of a charge, or do you just go trade your real money for disney money?
I work at the mall, so this would be an easy way for me to save! Since we only have 63 days I need to do something quick!
Thanks for the idea!

maci:

You can just go buy 'em, no extra charge! :) They come in increments of $1, $5 & $10. You can also exchange them back for cash, just be sure to hold onto your receipts (I've heard many Disney Stores are requiring an original receipt).

It's a great way to save for WDW goodies!

[tonilea]

Have you considered Priceline for Hotel accomadations? We stayed 8 nights for under $300 using Priceline @ the Wyndam Orlando Resorts. Rack rate was $169. Lowest rate for that particular hotel, that I could find anywhere on the 'net was $99. We paid $35 per night plus a $5 bonus. We were very pleased with the resort. Also, you may be able to get better prices closer to your arrival date.




1st WDW Oct 2000
Nov 2002
Oct 2003

[leanne2255]

One of the ways we save is to ask all of our relatives for Disney Dollars for Christmas gifts. We really don't need anything and neither do our children. Last year we got over $700 in Disney dollars and used those to buy our Park Hopper passes. Since we are DVC members, our room is paid for and my DH works for the airlines. So, our only expense is rental car and food. We are doing the Disney Dollars/Christmas thing again this year, and will use that money to pay for the extras on the Disney Cruise that we are planning for next year. :pinkbounc

[206bones]

I havedone QUITE well at saving for our 2002 trip:

All change gets rolled & converted into Disney dollars.
We get 5 cents refund on cans - so all of that goes towards the trip.
I have signed up for Pinecone Research & I get a $5 check just about every month.
Any unexpected refunds are for Disney - like the federal one. I also had another unexpected tax rebate so because I wasn't counting on it, it went to the Disney fund.
Sell items on ebay - males more money than you think!

Good luck.

[TiggerTeen86]

Research stuff around your house using the Search function on EBAY and sell it there. We made almost $800.00 this way.

[maci]

Here is a question. When you save all your change, have any of you ever used one of those coinstar machines? There are at grocery stores, and you just dump your change in and it gives you the $ for it. So you dont have to count it/or roll it. Does any one know how accurrate these things are?

[SandraC]

We spent $7000.00 CDN Funds (9 days) for our April 2001 trip! Way too much, but it was a great trip and filled with character meals and frills. We planned to go every couple of years, but the kids are young so we want to go annually. This means instead of $7000.00 trips, we'll have to do $4000.00 trips (again CDN funds, that's about $2600.00 USF). With all the suggestions on these boards I think we'll save lots! We spent a lot at character meals, but we really wanted to do lots of them. But now that we've done several, we'll only do two next trip and eat in room and lots of picnics. Here are a few tips that I can add to save money.

(1) Change your bank account to a better interest account. I did this and now I can about $250.00 annually in interest! That's about three character meals!

(2) We are 'entertainment junkies'. We live to have fun. For example, we have season's passes to our local theme park (Paramount Canada's Wonderland). We've been 24 times this year ~ each time we pack our lunch instead of buy lunch at the park. The passes cost $100.00 each, that's a bit over $4.00 per trip (SO FAR). We also have annual pass to our zoo, $40.00 annually ~ we know how to have fun without spending a fortune. So how does this help us save for Disney? Well, the great amount of time of spend at the zoo and at Wonderland means we aren't spending too much $$$$$ at other places that cost a fortune. Just think, it's about $50.00 per person to do anything fun with the family. So we aren't spending that.

(3) AIR MILES! I just cashed in my Air Miles for $200.00 gift certs for my grocery store. I will now take $100.00 from the grocery account and put it in the Disney Account. We are still up $100.00 of free groceries and the Disney account grows!

(4) I am COUPON GIRL! Everytime I save significantly using a coupon, I place half the coupon value in the Disney account, again still up. I usually only do it for coupons over $5.00.

(5) I used to buy a coffee everytime I went anywhere. Now I'll make one at home instead of using the drive-thru coffee store. It adds up when you think I'd spend $10.00 a week on coffee!

[Mom B]

I guess I'm just doing it wrong...seems like I have to figure about
$1000 per person for every trip (fortunately we're down to 4 now, with
2 kids married off...so they can pay for themselves now!). Granted,
we've gotten spoiled and can't stand the thought of staying at the value
resorts or, heaven forbid, off site. And we are too fond of the "good"
restaurants and dinner shows (thankfully we don't have to do Victoria
and Albert's this time like we did for our 25th anniversary!)
I am working on trying to rent DVC points and doing my own
arrangements this time instead of using a travel agent, and using my
Disney Club discount on park passes, but LOL! it still seems awfully
expensive! I don't know how we're going to afford it...but we'll do
it somehow anyway, because you only live once, and once in a while
you just HAVE to go to Disney! :bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

[PoohMoma]

By all means Do Not get a loan just to go to Disney World.
We all love WDW and it IS wonderful, but get your priorities straight. Do you really want your husband to continue to have to work 2 jobs so you can go to Disney World. I bet if you use some of the tips on this board and start cutting back on unneccesary spending, you can go soon and you will feel so much better if you do not have that debt looming over you while on vacation! Good luck!!

[tink2dw]

I save money by not spending more,sample: I love diet coke but when it got to be $4.99 a 12 pk I looked for alternitives,I priced buying coke in a refill cup,verses store coupons and sales for diet coke, But my best price was at Winco for Shasta diet cola,it stays at $1.97 for a 12 pk and its as close to deit coke in taste as I could get. Also before Holidays they run sales at $1.59 and then I buy extra.

For grocery's I shop First at the Grocery Outlet,where I spent $50.00 on what at Safeway would cost me $150.!! Of course part of the trick to shopping at Grocery Outlet is to be Adventurerous Because the stock changes brands,may be there one time and not the next.
But dry pasta,is pasta who ever makes it,I look at ingredients closely[don't like tvp in my tuna,or flavored broth!] I check to see where things are made[bad experiece with jello cups packaged in Mexico] Candy and Cookies are alway 1/2 off name brand stores as is Olive oil. Oh,and never buy dressings for green salad as they are too acidic after sell by date. And then if I need something I couldn't find there. I go to Winco as they are consistantly lower priced than even using coupons.

One more thing I do Before checking out is look thru my cart to take out "the I want this items" do I need it or just want it,can I do without it,can the kids do without it,have they added stuff when i was deciding on which dressing to buy?? Can I buy the genaric soup? or the on sale favor of Rice a Roni? If I buy one flavored box of noodles I can fill the box with pasta from a bag to make that extra couple of servings instead of buying 2 boxes[and the flovor is the same].

All these thing help me save money!!

[pajamommy]

I've used the Coinstar thing, it seems accurate, however, they do take a certain percentage of every dollar as a processing fee, I think the last time I used it it was 13 cents/dollar. So that can add up, but I don't have the time to organize it and roll it all up, so I pay the 13 cents. I took a bucket that my husband had been putting his change in for about a year, and I got over $600.00 for a trip to Maryland, plan on doing it for WDW too! I love the Disney Dollar idea too, can you use them everywhere in WDW, such as the shops, restaurants, etc, or are there only specific places you can use them?

[AlicesAdventures]

If you are planning on staying off-site you might want to look at a hotel with extras. We will be going in Oct. and have made $89/night ressies at Hawthorne Suites on Palm Ave., LBV. They have 1 bedroom suites with full kitchens. They also offer a full breakfast buffet and an evening beverage social hour included in that price.

If you know when you will be going research airlines now. www.orbitz.com gives a pretty good sampling on the fares. If
you can swing it buy your ticket when the price is right. That's one thing that will already be paid for. We are planning on
going back again in February and Delta has a lower fare to Tampa than to Orlando at that time and it less than we paid for both
of us in Oct.

Since we know we wil be returning within the year we will be purchasing Annual Passes. I think the cut off time is if you will
be going more than 7 days, it will pay to get an AP. I purchased a DC card with the code on www.mousesavers.com and will be ordering (and saving) on our annual passes. That way we won't have to pay for tickets to the parks in Feb.

We also rent a car when we get there. If you have a Costco card you can save up to 25% if you use Budget, Alamo, Avis or Hertz.

Don't forget to check for any savings if you have a Disney Club card, American Express, Costco, AAA, AARP, Capitol One(or
other) credit card, any special savings through work (sometimes they offer DC), Gold C books or Entertainment type coupon
type books.

So far for airline, car rental, hotel and annual passes it will have cost approx. $2446 for 9 nights/10days. Our trip in Feb should be considerabally less - my brother is moving there in Dec. Most of all have fun saving and like someone else said- Don't take out a loan
for a trip to WDW.

And don't forget to put any rebates-from soap to computer equipment-that you might have sent away for in the Disney fund.

[maci]

Thanks for the info on the coinstar machine! I think I will roll it myself, it might be a fun activity for me and my son anyway, he loves to play with money! (who doesnt!)
Yes I believe the disney dollars are good everywhere at WDW. I think I will roll up and count all our change, take it to the bank, and then take the $ to the disney store to exchange it for disney dollars, so we will be sure to only spend it at disney!
56 days to go! :D :D :D

[R4racing]

I have taked to sticking any overtime, bonus or comission type pay into a separate vacation account. It isn't just for Disney, but any vacations, it is adding up quite nicely and we will have more than enough to pay for our next trip. We also have traveled with other family members and split the cost of the hotel, but our family is still small enough so we all fit in one room.

[Magickndm]

When you are there, try sharing meals, especially if you have kids. We get the chicken finger meals, then buy an extra fry and it can feed both me and my 10 year old daughter. Also, drink water instead of soda all day...each soda can cost $2.50 or more, this alone will save lots! When you do buy a soda in a bottle, save the bottle then reuse with water from a fountain.

[Daisimae]

1. Eat breakfast in the hotel room. Cereal for DH, (Milk is carried in the gift shops and we found out that one bottle will last for 2 bowls of cereal if we bring a small soft-sided cooler and refill ice am and pm.) PopTarts and cereal bars for me. Fruit Bowls and juice boxes for the both of us, those are stashed in the cooler to for the am. DH has to eat 2 hrs after breakfast. He brings PopTarts for that and gets milk in the park.

2. Share snacks, most fruit cups, frozen drinks (lemonade), are large enough for the both of us, inbetween rides. Or bring snacks into the parks with you.

3. Soda. Bring warm cans and at least one souviner cup, for every two people, into the park with you. When we were thirsty, we stopped at a food stand and asked for a cup of ice. Half the ice went into the souviner cup with halg the can of soda. The other half of the soda went into the ice cup.

4. Only eat one sit-down meal a day. and make that lunch if you possibly can. Meals are less expensive at lunch time and often it's the same menu, just smaller portions. Try getting the last lunch PS for dinner and picking up a snack of popcorn and water later in the evening. Use the menus at Deb Willis's Site (http://www.wdwig.com) and let the family plan where you all will eat and what you will have when you get there.

5. Break-up hotel stays. For the days we did non-Disney parks, (SeaWorld, Universal), we stayed at a nice hotel outside of Disney , that was closer to those parks. The rate was only $49.00 per night, it had free continental breakfast, microwave and fridge in room and free transportation to the parks mentioned above. It was a three-diamond AAA hotel.

6. Do reward programs. Next year, for the most part our sit-down meal every day will be paid for with giftcertificates from the rewards programs that we do. Rewards programs will also pay for a four-night stay at a non-Disney hotel, while we visit non-Disney parks.

7. Don't buy a package. They have extra stuff in them that you don't always get to use.

8. And bring your own medicine and first-aid in case someone gets sick. The price of Tylenol NyQuil and Band-aids is unbelievable, everywere at WDW

9. Book and non-Disney hotels early. The one we are staying at next year, has AAA rates that sell out very quickly. I'm booking as soon as they are scheduling them. Usually 11-12 months in advance.

10. Get a book that has touring plans and plan, plan, plan for everything, rides, PS's, counter service meals, breaks, rain-ponchos, tips, dead batteries, film, transportation. EVERYTHING!! Always have a plan B. Write it all down in a small notebook that you can keep with you. In the days, weeks, months and years :( before your trip, when you see clearances, sales and closeouts for items you might need, you will be able to buy them and put them away for the trip.

These are just some suggestions that I mostly found here that helped with our trip last year. They worked so well, I will use them again next year. Hope you find something that you can use too.

:bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

[kissafrog]

If you like to rent videos, check out your local library instead of the video store. Our library lets you borrow most videos/dvds for a week each at no charge. The only exception is the brand new releases, which are $1 a night. I have been surprised at what a great selection they have, and would much rather pay $1 than the $3 our video store charges. Dh and I like to rent movies over the weekend for after little one is asleep, and this saves a lot of money! :)