What have you sacrificed?

[Lilminx]

We are planing for a Feb 2017 trip and Iv gave up getting my nails done. Ok doesn't seem a lot but at €30 a fortnight that's €1080 until the end of January 17 or $1203. It all adds up! I'm also not going to go back to slimming world that's another €6.20 a week or €452… that's quite a bit of spending money!

I'm still lifting the €30 each fortnight and stashing it away

So what have you sacrificed in order to get some extra dollars and pounds together?

 

[BadPinkTink]

dont buy newspapers or magazines, read online
€3 or €4 a day saving

make coffee at home instead of going to Starbucks or other coffee places
buy €4 packet of ground coffee in supermarket, make at home using French press, lasts me 6 weeks, compared to €3 a day at coffee places

 

[Beezle2]

Not specific for Disney but lately we have:
Dropped cable $54 saved a month using Plex and Amazon Prime for free
car insurance $60 saved a month. We have 2 cars but only need one again so we are mothballing one to save until the one we are driving dies.
Verizon $80 saved a month with their new plans.

We will be happy with the extra to save!

 

[DalGal]

For our upcoming October trip, I sacrificed my summer. I am a teacher and usually have June and July off (minus professional development requirements) but this year I worked another job specifically for Disney funds.

 

[yeahdisney]

I am taking out my cash allotment for groceries and sticking to it. If i use my visa I tend to run over. So I am not spending more.

 

[StitchBuddy]

This probably sounds crazy, but we do not buy drinks when we go out to eat, we drink water and no appetizer or dessert. We also only g to the dollar movies. We take out $100 for entertainment and $120 groceries each week. When it's gone, it's gone and we are done. Works for us.

 

[tvguy]

Sacrifice to me indicates giving up something necessary. I don't sacrifice anything necessary, just shift discretionary income.

 

[superme80]

Trying to spend less on groceries, hardly eating out, and less impulse purchases.

 

[pjlla]

I live pretty lean in regards to spending for personal stuff (hair cuts, manicures, etc), so when I am trying to cut back I actually find it DIFFICULT to figure out where I can cut without asking OTHERS in the family to make concessions (like asking DH to give up his satellite HD tv). So I opt for being more creative in the kitchen and wasting NOTHING (hence saving on groceries whenever possible), working more hours (whenever possible), and clipping every coupon, hitting every sale, and maxing out every reward program!

Like DalGal, I work in the school system as a substitute teacher and I gave up my "me" time this summer and worked full time. It was hard work and it didn't pay an outrageous amount, but the extra $$ was much appreciated! Just got the last summer check today.

I find staying AWAY from stores like Target and Costco, staying OUT of the thrift stores and away from the yard sales DEFINITELY saves me money! Since the first of the year I've made VERY FEW stops at any of those places! And when I DO hit Costco it is because we need groceries or something SPECIFIC that they sell there (DS likes the jeans from there and DD needed a new laptop, so my last stop there was expensive!)..................P

 

[mommy2allyandaveri]

I don't get my nails done anymore, at about $55 per month. I do gel at home myself. Over a year ago I invested about $75 in equipment/polish and still use it.

We don't eat dinner out. If we eat out, it's papa murphy's or chipotle so it's about $20 for our whole meal.

Things that I didn't actually cut, but just don't do because of the cost. Color or spend a lot on my hair, I get it cut for $25 every 6 weeks (short, so it has to be kept up). I go to starbucks about 5 times per year and it's usually while on vacation.

If for some reason we do go out to dinner, like on a date we do happy hour drinks and aps.

I haven't had a new phone in years, I just take DH's hand me downs.

I joke that I work to vacation.

 

[SandyinMonterey]

I (we) don't specifically sacrifice for a Disney vacation. We do try to save whenever and wherever possible. We discontinued our long distance on our land line (saves $30 month). Would of liked to just shut it down but need it for ADT. I do much of my grocery shopping at Target and Walmart and ALWAYS use coupons. I only shop at local supermarkets for sale items (grocery stores in my area are ridiculously expensive). I shop Costco for meats in bulk and freeze. Hardly ever go out to eat. When we do, it's a special occasion like birthday or anniversary and sometimes even then we get a pizza. Couldn't tell you the last time we went to the movies. We wait till it comes out on DVD. I just renegotiated with ADT our monthly charge. It has more than doubled, so I called and asked for a better deal and if not, told them I'd go some where else... got it cut in half. We have a garage sale twice a year and sometimes that adds up to about $1000 total. My next thing I'd like to do is find a better cell phone plan. It's not just one thing in our lives that does the trick, it's all the little things that add up that make the difference.

 

[DisneyMommyx3]

I gave up my gym membership. It ranged from $150-200 a month so that goes straight into the Disney fund now. I've taken up running and do workouts at home.

 

[Lilminx]

Some great sacrifices. We are also not eating out as much. We where thinking about a meal out on Saturday and I said nah I will just cook....every little helps.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

We have long since given up buying each other "stuff" for birthdays, anniversaries, and other special occassions. If we need or want something, we generally buy it when the need/want arises, so we used to struggle to find gift ideas when those celebratory occasions arose. Now, we generally pre-purchase something for our next vacation (MNSSHP tickets were my birthday gift this year) in lieu of more "stuff". We're not big on accumulating tons of material crap anyway.....we would much rather spend our money on experiences.

This year, in lieu of a traditional Christmas, and taking an extra family vacation to Orlando. Not having to buy presents x 3 people makes a holiday trip very affordable.

 

[angierae]

Sacrifice to me indicates giving up something necessary. I don't sacrifice anything necessary, just shift discretionary income.

This, pretty much. I mean, we gave up our Cedar Point season passes + food plan this year and next year, but it wasn't a sacrifice, we just decided that was $2k that we'd rather spend going to Disney next year. ($600 a year for two passes, plus the money we spent on gas and extras going (it's 2.5 hours away)

 

[kiramay]

We moved and I have no living room furniture. I want a new dishwasher. And our extra laptop started on fire. (We still have one but I have 3 kids who need to use it.)

However, we decided those purchases can wait because we'd rather go to Disney. After our trip is paid off then we'll start saving for those things.

Also cut dh and the kids hair.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

Not giving cards to each other such and birthday and Valentines day ect. We only eat out 2 times a month and if we need to do it more than twice a month we do Subway. We get a foot long and split it.
I shop using Ebates.
Make our own home repairs. The garage door spring broke. Local company wanted $280 to fix. Instead we got the part on Amazon in 2 days for $48. Motor on wash went bad we fixed it for $40 and Sears wanted $225.
When we are at Disney we never eat on property.

 

[pfalcioni]

Sacrifice to me indicates giving up something necessary. I don't sacrifice anything necessary, just shift discretionary income.

You can't give up truly necessary things because they are actually necessary. You can give up things you really want, or things that make your life easier, but you can't give up actual necessities.

 

[tvguy]

You can't give up truly necessary things because they are actually necessary. You can give up things you really want, or things that make your life easier, but you can't give up actual necessities.

How many times have we read about Senior Citizens giving necessary prescription medicines because they couldn't afford it? You can give up necessary things.

 

[Princesspolly0110]

I gave up my gym membership. It ranged from $150-200 a month so that goes straight into the Disney fund now. I've taken up running and do workouts at home.

Where do you live that a gym membership is that expensive?! We have gyms here as low as 10 dollars a month