Need to save $3500 in 18 months, HOW

[canwegosoon]

Well, you sound like a pro to me...and I'm sure you will do it. The sad thing is we are going in Feb of 06 (we are DVC owners/I teach, so it has to be a school vac) otherwise we could have been at WDW at the same time. I know what you mean about the ebay...always wanted to try, but I think a yard sale is too complicated sometimes...wish I could hire someone to do my Ebay

In my experience the trips that always start huge, end up shrinking , someone always cancels on me, so we go by ourselves and have a good time.

 

[Tiggerlover91]

Shellie,

Check your PMs

 

[fam4jc]

Denise - sent you a pm

 

[Tiggerlover91]

Shellie

Check you PMs

 

[*Flower*]

I do the same thing as Gail.........

Every paycheck that comes into the account, I deduct money and it's considered the 'vacation fund'.

For my last major vacation (Dec 19 - Jan 4) I had from Sept. of 02 to save. It was major because we were paying for most of it (my DB and his family came out for their first WDW trip). I asked them to pay for half of the room charge for the nights that they were staying. There were 4 in their group, and the two of us. (Of course I JUST figured out that they were there for 11 nights, and we only asked them to pay half for 10. Oh well.....)

ANYWAY, I started saving in September, and for the 16 months that I was saving- I saved about $13,000.00. I guess you could say that I went a bit overboard.

I've found that it's such an efficient way to save for trips, that I do it whether or not we have one planned!!!

Good luck, and have a wonderful anniversary........

 

[fam4jc]

Flower - WOW That's an unbelievable accomplishment! You and Gail are right, a little at a time isn't missed. It just depends upon how much "little" your budget can handle I see from your counter you are going to NYC. Have a great trip. I've never been there, but is is definately on my list of "must dos".

I'm going to count up my change bank and figure up my ebay winnings and I'll post my first balance!

Shellie <><

 

[*Flower*]

I worked hard to do that........

I saved all of our change, $1 bills, any rebates, coupon money that got deducted from our grocery bill was thrown into the jug too. And we shop Costco for deals!!

I also bank all of my survey money, and internet points (like MyPoints) for GCs.

I shop eBay for Restaurant.com GCs (we went out to brunch this morning, and after the GC was deducted, we owed a grand total of $2.45 for 2 breafast buffets and drinks).

Every payday, I'd deduct money from the paycheck, too!!
And we have an automatic savings deduction also.

My hardest task was convincing DH that he didn't have to buy every electronic gadget in the world. We saved more by NOT spending.

Our NYC vacation is a holiday weekend trip- arrive Friday and leave on Monday- but I got a Super hotel rate, and picked up a couple of Restaurant.com GCs for meals, too! Our one splurge meal will be Shula's on Sunday night, but we'll be splitting the entree........ their steaks are HUGE!! And I used my Delta Skymiles for my ticket. So it can be done on a budget also......

 

[nuzmom]

Wow, lots of great advice. I would just like to add a couple of things that I use to save for those "big" expenses (like WDW).

Let me first say that I quit work 2 years ago to raise our children (and homeschool). We LOST 2/3 of our income because of that. I can say that I've picked up a few tricks out of necessity and I can't believe how much money we used to WASTE!!!

First, I've been to every library around our town. Did you know you can borrow movies for FREE??? We very rarely rent a movie anymore and when we do we take advantage of specials and coupons (at Blockbuster's you can get a 2nd "old" movie when you rent a current movie early in the week). The best library around has a great stock of DVD's as well as videos. Wonderful way to rent movies you missed and kids movies. Watch out for returning movies late, but you usually get at least 1 week (one library gives us 3 weeks!!!) On our "libary day", I make sure to combine the trip with other errands to save on gas money.

Second, this works great for me, before you buy ANYTHING ask yourself "do I really need this or would I rather spend this $ on Disney?" That really cuts down on spur of the moment spending. I use this while I grocery shop, too.

Third, the "spend no money this week" idea sounds great. I do a variation of this with groceries. Have you REALLY looked at what's in the back of your cupboards? If they're like mine, there's food in there, just waiting to be fixed. Have a "clean out the cupboards" week and use the stuff in there!!!

Fourth, don't be afraid to try the cheaper variations on products. I can't believe what I used to spend on "Jone's of NY" skirts and blazers and such. NEVER again!!! I buy generic pop, skip "treats" until they're on sale, buy in bulk when cheaper, and make my clothes last and last. Do I really need another pair of shoes? I'd rather save for Disney.

Of course, I do the ebay thing at times and shop garage sales and second hand places. I ONLY buy items that I LOVE and NEED and I never want my kids to look like they have hand me downs on, but you won't believe what you find at garage sales that have never even been worn!!!!

Lastly, I find that I won't spend money if I don't shop (duh)!!!! I have to stay away from the mall and certain areas of Walmart or I buy without thinking.

Hope this helps in some way. Good luck with your goal. Just think how great it will be when you make it (maybe even early)!!!!

 

[vhoffman]

Staying away from the mall and WalMart really helps. I've found WalMart has the most expensive oil change in town. Its $15.88 for an oil change, which sounds cheap, but the wait is usually an hour or more. What do I do with that time? Wander around WalMart and find "bargains" I don't really need. So now I let dh take the cars in to WalMart. He usually goes in the morning before work. The wait isn't long and he doesn't have the time or desire to shop. Otherwise, I take the car to a Jiffy Lube. It seems like I'm paying more but I don't blow the savings shopping.

 

[fam4jc]

I just opened an ING account with a referal from a dis poster! We both got a bonus! I opened it with $10 and they'll give me a bonus of $25! Then I can transfer funds from my checking account automatically into this account! It pays a higher rate than my regualr bank savings account and you have limited access to the funds. Online only (and by telephone) takes 5 days to get the money back out. I say it is the PERFECT account for vacation savings! Idon't have referals yet, not until they verify my account, etc. But when I do, I'll let you know!

 

[fam4jc]

Oh Forgot - I counted my dis bank. I have $43 in bills and $45 in quarters. I didn't count the pennies, dimes and nickles! yippeeee! I'll roll this up and deposit it, then transfer it to my ING account!! Then I can't touch it.

 

[vhoffman]

Have you considered switching phone companies? We are in the process of switching from MCI to Vonage. MCI had a program of unlimited local and long distance calls (plus all the add-ons, such as call waiting, caller ID, etc) for $49 per month. However, our bill was always around $80. The difference was the taxes. Vonage is a VOIP plan (voice over internet provider). The calls go through your computer, not your phone. Since computer data isn't taxed, no taxes. Vonage's plan is $29 per month, local and long distance, plus all the extras like caller ID, etc. It doesn't affect your computer in any way, that is, you can use your computer and phone at the same time. I figure it will save us about $50 per month, which comes to $600 a year. What to do with all that money? It will probably just go for something else unless stashed away somewhere. I found the perfect place to stash my savings is my INGDirect account. There's no fees, no minimum balance, no minimum transaction amounts, and no limit to the number of transactions per month. I've made deposits as small as one dollar! Unlike CDs, you can get your money out any time. As I try to slice my budget, I take the amount we've saved and deposit that to INGDirect every month so its not frittered away. If you have any questions about how to set up an account, just send me a pm. Good luck!