Where else can I cut cost?

[Jajone]

I am taking my DD 15 and her 2 friends in July for a week. I am usually pretty budget savvy and am on a strict $3000 budget. Just looking for additional savings I may have overlooked. Friends are paying for Disney tickets and flights. Here's the budget so far:

townhouse 988 (this is a done deal after much research, I know there are some cheaper, but this one works for us)

car rental $250 (Dollar with a discount code, will keep attaching for price drops)
parking for 7 days $120
flight for me and DD (paid some with points on Southwest) $285
travel insurance $89
airport parking $35
Disney tickets $764 (will be slightly cheaper once I get the mousesavers newsletter)

that leaves us $469 for food for the week

I am hoping to give them each a $5 snack per day (it is July and I know I will want something cold to eat)=$140

We plan to eat all breakfasts and suppers at the townhouse so also looking for easy meal ideas

 

[jskacoc]

I would find out if there is a crockpot. You could start it in the morning and have dinner ready when you get back.
Chicken tacos, shredded bbq chicken sandwiches, creamy Italian chicken with pasta, chili, etc.
Also have you seen the thread about discounted Target gift cards and buying your Disney tix that way?

 

[mistysue]

Can you get a ride to the airport? If you are taking 2 friends, it seems like they must be getting there somehow too.

 

[Jajone]

I would find out if there is a crockpot. You could start it in the morning and have dinner ready when you get back.
Chicken tacos, shredded bbq chicken sandwiches, creamy Italian chicken with pasta, chili, etc.
Also have you seen the thread about discounted Target gift cards and buying your Disney tix that way?

No, can you please direct me there?

Can you get a ride to the airport? If you are taking 2 friends, it seems like they must be getting there somehow too.

Actually, no, we are driving 2 hours to the airport and gas would cost more than parking.

 

[disneylove69]

Keep checking rental cars. Also, I find most times if you enter a discount code you end up paying more than if you didn't put in the code. If the town home doesn't have a crockpot you can get them at Walmart for around $10.

 

[uccats97]

About Target gift cards: you can get them at a 5% discount by using your Target Red Card to buy them. You can also get $150 Disney gift cards from Sams Club for about $142. Doing this would prevent you from purchasing your theme park tickets thru Mousesavers though. The Disney gift cards can be used to buy your food in the parks at the very least. It's a small savings but better than full price! Don't forget, cups of ice water are free in the parks! A cheap dinner could be ordering pizza. Pick it up on your way back to the room to save on delivery charges.

 

[jskacoc]

No, can you please direct me


http://www.disboards.com/threads/12-off-disney-gift-cards-target.3364853/

I did this for the 1st time last week with no trouble. Got the Disney cards yesterday so it all took under a full week.

 

[worm761]

I would suggest you and your daughter and her friends start doing Swagbucks to make a little extra before the trip. It isn't hard and can be done while watching tv. Just run videos. Even if they only do the Swagbucks TV mobile app on their phones/tablets, that is still $10 a month. It could help with the ice cream budget.

Also, what are you doing for water? July is hot so you will be needing water.

If you would like to do a splurge, Via Napoli wouldn't be much more per person than a CS if you get a big pizza to split between the four of you.

As for meal ideas: breakfast- cereal, eggs, frozen pancakes/waffles.
Dinner, think of things that would work double duty. A rotisserie chicken and a deli side one night turns into chicken wraps another. A take and bake pizza is always good. Publix deli has good food. Their subs are good and I have never gotten anything I didn't like out of their deli case either.

I would also suggest that if money is tight, bring some snacks with you into the parks. And if this isn't something you normally eat, I suggest you start buying and trying them out.

 

[chartle]

Have you factored in water? If you buy in the parks 4 people at least 3 bottles a day adds up. I know you can get cups of water at the CS places but you you need to drink constantly not just a cup every once and awhile.

I would get Britta bottles, hey take the taste out of the water.

 

[katie111]

That's a really tight food budget. Basically $329 for 4 people once you take out the snack budget. If you buy 7 days of lunches at $10 per person that only leaves you $49 for breakfast and dinners. And lunches can easily run over $10 esp if the kids don't want to drink water, share meals, or order kids meals. I would have the kids pack whatever they like for breakfast & some snacks in their suitcases. I would also make sure you are very upfront with them about what the plan is before you go. Many kids are used to just getting what they want when they want it when they are on vacation. Besides splitting meals, drinking free water, and bringing snacks with you I don't see much more wiggle rom in the budget. If at all possible, I think you are going to have to up it some (either yourself or your daughter's friends) or you are going to have some very cranky teenagers on your hands.

One recipe I would suggest is Sweet Baby Ray's crockpot chicken. It's super simple & really good. You can just google it.

 

[Thing 1]

I think the food budget is going to be pretty tough. It is going to take quite a bit of that to buy enough groceries for two meals at the home. I would suggest too that the girls try to earn a bit of money for snacks etc. A counter service meal for 4 is going to be around 40-50.00. That eats up that money fast. As much as I hate to carry anything, I think taking some food into the parks with you is going to be a HUGE help. EAch girl can carry a bag filled with snacks and light lunch items. You could also keep some things in a cooler in the car. You can also rent a locker. You are going to find that you will not want to leave every day to go back to the house for dinner. You will want to do some of the night time activities. I would feed everyone a really big good breakfast at the house, and pack stuff for the park, and do counter service as you can afford it. Get cups of free water and take flavor drops to add to it. Splinting CS meals might work fine too.

 

[Marionnette]

car rental $250 (Dollar with a discount code, will keep attaching for price drops)
parking for 7 days $120
flight for me and DD (paid some with points on Southwest) $285
travel insurance $89
airport parking $35
Disney tickets $764 (will be slightly cheaper once I get the mousesavers newsletter)

Are these 5-day hoppers? Drop the hopping and save $60 per ticket.

ETA: I would also reconsider the travel insurance. Make sure that it covers you for the condo rental and airline tickets purchased with points. They may not reimburse you for additional days of airport parking or car rental in the event that your return is delayed. And they may not reimburse you for lost days on your ticket if a situation prevents you from using all of the days on your passes.

 

[HM]

Have you already paid the travel insurance? I'd skip that.

Instead of cutting anything else, I'd find a way to get more money before the trip. Can you do a yard sale? That could bring in a couple hundred. (We did this when my DD wanted to take a friend). Could your DD take on some babysitting or petsitting jobs and contribute?

 

[ronandannette]

That's a really tight food budget. Basically $329 for 4 people once you take out the snack budget. If you buy 7 days of lunches at $10 per person that only leaves you $49 for breakfast and dinners. And lunches can easily run over $10 esp if the kids don't want to drink water, share meals, or order kids meals. I would have the kids pack whatever they like for breakfast & some snacks in their suitcases. I would also make sure you are very upfront with them about what the plan is before you go. Many kids are used to just getting what they want when they want it when they are on vacation. Besides splitting meals, drinking free water, and bringing snacks with you I don't see much more wiggle rom in the budget. If at all possible, I think you are going to have to up it some (either yourself or your daughter's friends) or you are going to have some very cranky teenagers on your hands.

One recipe I would suggest is Sweet Baby Ray's crockpot chicken. It's super simple & really good. You can just google it.

I'd be a little concerned about this aspect too. Hungry kids are NOT fun. Is the plan for the kids to pay for their own lunches in the parks? If not, I don't see how this will work. Even modest lunches for 4 will be $30 or so dollars a day. Not saying your plan can't succeed - I just know I personally couldn't figure it out and would not enjoy constantly having to tell 3 teens what they can and cannot have. Are we missing something?

 

[sharona]

If you really can't up that budget, maybe switch it up with the meals and not eat any in the parks. When we're on vacation and it's hot out, we rarely want to have 3 big meals each day. Have a substantial breakfast before heading out. It will be hot hot hot and you'll all want a mid day break so go back to your rental and have a light lunch/snack then a very early dinner before heading back to the parks for the night. Bring your own snacks to the park.

Quick and easy meal ideas - the girls can make all of these themselves while you rest!
Baguette pizzas (french bread, sauce and cheese toasted in the oven)
BFD (breakfast for dinner) pancakes or egg sandwiches
Grilled cheese sandwiches and salads
Pasta is cheap, goes a long way and teenagers have big appetites - if you don't want to used jar sauce just saute some tomatoes with some basil and garlic for a dressing for the pasta
Pick up one of those $4.99 rotisserie chickens on the way from the park to the rental and have that with a salad

Bring reusable water bottles

Don't pre-pay for hoppers, wait to see if you want/need them and if so you can add it on later. We really could have done without them our last trip and with the new FP+ rules, hopping is now very unattractive.

I would assume that the friends will have their own spending money for snacks etc. I would never send my DD with someone else for even 1 day without making sure she had money for meals/snacks etc.

 

[richmo]

...car rental $250 (Dollar with a discount code, will keep attaching for price drops)
...

Decent chance this will drop. I wouldn't be surprised if you wind up paying a little over half of that, all in. Don't bite on a prepay...chances are you'll see the best rate anywhere from 2 to 21 days ahead of time.

 

[mom2AidanAndEli]

That food budget seems REALLY tight! Even eating some meals at the condo, you're going to be in the park for lunches. Are you bringing lunch with you every day? Honestly, I couldn't be at Disney for a week without eating at least some meals there. Packing sandwiches for lunch every day will get old quick.

Do you really need the travel insurance? Is there a reason you suspect you'd have to cancel? And what is it going to cover if you do?

Someone mentioned skipping park hoppers. I think that's a great way to save. We bought them our first trip and never used them. Haven't bought them since and been just fine. That's $120 for you and your daughter right there.

Are your daughters' friends flying down with you? If so, couldn't one of their parents take you to the airport? That would save you the parking charge--and seems the least they could do if you're taking their kids on vacation!

You have nothing in there for souvenirs at all. You don't need to go crazy, but won't you want something?

If you're driving back and forth to the parks each day, you'll also need gas money.

I think as others have suggested, it would be best to come up with some ideas to add to the budget a little--just for some wiggle room!

 

[auger]

OP, if I were you, my first thing would be to start picking up discounted WDW gift cards, as previously suggested. If you have a Kroger and can take advantage of the 4x fuel rewards, that's a great way to go! Buy the Target gcards from Kroger, then go online to Target and use them to buy the WDW cards. See the gcard thread on this board.

Those cards can be used on park tickets from Disney. Depending on your method of buying the gcards, this may net a better discount than UT for the tickets.
You can also use the cards for park food and souvenirs. I believe you can use them for parking as well, but someone please correct me if I am wrong on that.

Next thing I would do is to start thinking of foods I could take from home (where I can buy them as they go on sale) that would be used for meals in the condo and snacks/meals in the parks. You said you are flying SW, so you each have a two bag allotment. Use a bag for packing those foods! Plan your dinners ahead of time and plan meals that contain easy to pack ingredients. We are heading down with another family next month and already have our "at home meals" figured out. I make homemade hotcakes(pancakes) from a family recipe. So I premeasure the dry ingredients and put them in ziplock. That way, I just have to dump it into a bowl, add the other ingredients, and mix it all up. Crock pot meals are a life saver! Go simple with recipes that have minimal ingredients.
Cici's Pizza is always one dinner for our trips, as most people in the family love it. If you are making the snack packs each day and have a SAMs club membership, or know someone who does, they have boxes of 48-count trail mix for about $8. We always take those into the parks with us for snacks. I haven't found anywhere that I can buy that any cheaper. And since they are already individually packaged, I don't have to mess with putting loose mix into baggies. And don't be afraid to ask each of the friends to bring along a few of their favorite snacks.

Look online for other discounts. For example, just before you go, each of you sign up for the Earl of Sandwich Club. They will send you an email for a free sandwich. Use it at the DTD location.

Definitely keep watching the car rental, and watch other companies as well. That will more than likely go down before the trip.

You will have a car, so pick up a case of bottled water, or get free cups of water at the parks. Encourage the kids not to drink a lot of soda, as they will need water for hydration in July.

I second, or third, or whatever number I am, reconsidering the travel insurance. We go every year in September (peak hurricane season) and never buy travel insurance. But that is a personal choice you have to make.

Good luck! I know you are getting a lot of good info from folks, so you should be able to figure out some ways to save more money!

 

[tarheel618]

Will the friends be bring money for their own snacks and souvenirs? Also, can you include your normal home food budget into your total? Also, is there a way you could cut an extra 10 dollars from your food/spending budget each week until your trip? That would give you about 120 more to your food budget. I also second seeing if you could have a yard sell or maybe go through your closets and sell some stuff at a consignment shop. If you have a Platos closet close by they will pay you on the spot for your stuff.

 

[KingofJapan]

I agree. The least these friends parents can do is drive you to the airport and pick you up. Also these parents of these friends should throw a little $$ your way for groceries. Also dump the park hoppers. You will never use them. Now when it comes to parking in the parks, there are ways around that. Park at downtown Disney and take bus to park or do a little bit of searching online on how to "save" on parking in Disney. Forget about cooking at home. You will be burnt out from being in the parks all day. Like someone mentioned, go to publix and pick up some food there. They have plenty of pre-made food like chicken, wings, salads, etc.... Order pizza a few nights. Stay away from that via Napoli pizza. Way overpriced. Me personally I will drop the travel ins. Only time I get that is if I am traveling internationally.