I am very excited about this board....

[Grumpy'sWife4Ever]

I just discovered DISboards, and when I found that there was a budget board I felt like I had finally found my "people!" We had one family DL trip in '06, and the whole year prior it became an obsession to scrimp and save for the "Disney Fund." My husband, my kids and I had a great time budgeting, cashing in pop cans, and making economic choices. We made a game out of it, and we ended up with over $200 in "extra fun money" for our trip. This time around I set the bar much higher. For Christmas I asked my husband to make me a wooden box with a slit in the top and no way in without tracking down a motorized screwdriver.....
How do you all save your money? Do you do the little pocket change, piggy bank approach like we do? Or do you have a real bank account set up? Do you come up with family projects for earning a little extra? Besides the afore mentioned can-cashing, we are planning a yard sale this summer..... What other ideas are there? I know we can't be the only ones squirreling away every nickel and dime we can!

 

[miss missy]

Welcome to the boards!

You are in the right place if you are planning for a Disney trip!

I myself, have a real bank account that I put X amount into each week, it is my trip fund. I also sell things around the house on ebay. I get frugle leading up to a trip.

A yard sale is a great idea. Keep looking around and you'll learn even more ideas.

Dont foget to listen to this sites podcast- see link in my signature below.

 

[happygirl]

Welcome, you can get some really good ideas here

 

[Rootskate]

Welcome!

You will find some great ideas here!

 

[pumpkinfish]

Hi Grumpy'sWife!

We save for Disney several ways. We have a vacation jar that loose change goes into along with giftcards and my checks from surveys. Every little bit counts!

But we really don't use cash much anymore. No real reason too since we don't eat fastfood and only eat out/order in about once a month. Cutting out all extras from our budget helps us with saving and not putting our trips on credit.

We have a vacation fund I set up once I took over budgeting. This allows us to earn interest while we prepare.

Once again welcome to the boards and make sure you ask if you have questions and post when you have budgeting ideas

 

[Frankiesmom]

We put aside $100 in an acct every week from DH's pt job and $75 into the same acct every 2 weeks from his full time job. We don't miss it and it makes a huge difference!

 

[Braque]

Welcome Grumpyswife!

We save our change and put it into 'the Disney box'. When it gets close to full, we count and roll and the money and put it into an ING Savings account online.

We also put all dollars earned through paid surveys into the Disney Fund, by transferring from Paypal to ING - very easy.

We also use a Disney Visa for reward points to only be used for trips. Though it is our primary card and paid each month - it still takes three years before the rewards are enough to purchase Park Hopper tickets for four - we got seven day PH's in 2006!

 

[kfeuer]

Welcome! Here's my favorite ways to creatively fund our budget Disney trips:

Credit card rewards (only if you're disciplined enough to limit your spending and pay in full each month, though). I'm going to have about $425 in gift cards/cash/Disney reward dollars for our upcoming trip.

Online surveys

Mypoints (online reward program)

Ebates (gives you cash back for online purchases)

Become a Bzzagent and get free products to try and share (technically I don't use this stuff for Disney, but it does help me stick to my budget because it feels like a treat)

Participate in market research groups, they usually pay $75-$125 for 2 hours. We especially like doing automotive ones, they pay $100 and it's common to get called back for a follow-up for another $100

Do test drives for incentives. Sometimes these can be used at Disney, sometimes not, but either way it's fun money. I'm waiting on a $50 Best Buy gift card right now.

Use coupons for prescriptions whenever possible, especially at Walgreens (they are the only pharmacy that lets you buy other merchant's gift cards with their gift card). A new location opened near me and I was able to fill 2 prescriptions at $25 apiece. I'm going to use that $50 to get some kind of restaurant gift cards for our trip.

Hope this gives you some new ideas. We love our budget trips, and I feel proud that we're able to do it on a shoestring budget while still feeling like we're on vacation.

 

[sarahlovesmickey]

Hello and welcome aboard!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! There is a great group of people here with wonderful budget ideas.

I do some rewards sites where I get gift cards and Disney dollars.

We also save change in various jars around the house.

We also have an ING account called "DISNEY FUND" that I put money into when I get a chance.

It all adds up!!!

 

[Kate and Pete]

Welcome! Here's my favorite ways to creatively fund our budget Disney trips:

Credit card rewards (only if you're disciplined enough to limit your spending and pay in full each month, though). I'm going to have about $425 in gift cards/cash/Disney reward dollars for our upcoming trip.

Online surveys

Mypoints (online reward program)

Ebates (gives you cash back for online purchases)

Become a Bzzagent and get free products to try and share (technically I don't use this stuff for Disney, but it does help me stick to my budget because it feels like a treat)

Participate in market research groups, they usually pay $75-$125 for 2 hours. We especially like doing automotive ones, they pay $100 and it's common to get called back for a follow-up for another $100

Do test drives for incentives. Sometimes these can be used at Disney, sometimes not, but either way it's fun money. I'm waiting on a $50 Best Buy gift card right now.

Use coupons for prescriptions whenever possible, especially at Walgreens (they are the only pharmacy that lets you buy other merchant's gift cards with their gift card). A new location opened near me and I was able to fill 2 prescriptions at $25 apiece. I'm going to use that $50 to get some kind of restaurant gift cards for our trip.

Hope this gives you some new ideas. We love our budget trips, and I feel proud that we're able to do it on a shoestring budget while still feeling like we're on vacation.

How do you find test market groups to join? This sounds interesting...I signed up to be a BzzzAgent, but never heard anything back. Hmm...

 

[Kate and Pete]

How rude of me - I didn't even welcome Grumpy'sWife!


Hi there! This board is wonderful - I'm on here a few times/day looking for hints! You're going to love it!

 

[kfeuer]

How do you find test market groups to join? This sounds interesting...I signed up to be a BzzzAgent, but never heard anything back. Hmm...

Try looking in your yellow pages or online for market research places. You need to get into their database so that they'll call you when you might qualify for a study. Some let you do it online, some do it on the phone, it just depends. Try asking around and see if anyone in your area has done it.

Most places only let you participate every 6 months, so it pays to be signed up with more then one place if possible. Be sure to sign your DH up as well, I think they have a harder time finding men for studies because he gets called more then I do!