1 income families - how do you budget for WDW?

[chip91]

Just curious if there are any other 1 income families out there, that manage to budget for WDW every few years or so.. My DH doesn't make what I would call a whole lot of money (55k/yr - gross), so take home is less than that..I've cut out what I feel I can & done things like reduced my homeowners insurance/car insurance premiums thanks to some great tips on this board, I'm working at cutting my grocery bill - even if it's only 50.00/mo, and putting that into the "vacation" fund..I just feel vacations are needed and important, I love my parents, but they were to cheap to take us anywhere when we were kids & they could afford it, not trying to complain, but it's the truth.

Anyway, just looking for some general money saving tips, as I'm trying my best to save to go back to the see the Mouse in about 1 1/2 years!!

And yes, the obvious would be for me to go out & work, but right now not feasible, with 1 still at home, looking perhaps in fall when she goes 1/2 days, but then I would have to find & pay a babysitter for days off/school vacations, etc.. And my DH does not work "set" hours so I can work when he's off, he is a truck driver and his shifts change day to day, no family close enough willing to help us out with babysitting either (not that I expect them to, they are my kids/my responsibility.) DH & I will take "odd jobs" whenever possible (I've typed term papers for college aged people before & earned some money, I babysit whenever possible, any extra always goes to vacation fund)


Thanks
Chip

 

[Figment's friends]

Consignment stores might take your kids clothes if you don't want to go the ebay route.

Shopping at second hand stores has been great for us and we often find great deals on new things.

 

[LisaNJ25]

try Ebay... that is what I am doing for out next trip.

 

[Kimberlyfamilyfv]

My vacation club account is the best thing ever. I treat it like a bill every month and it is deducted directly out of checking account every other week. Once you get used to not having that 50 or 75 dollars every other week it becomes easier to save. I get 4 free drafts a year from my vacation club account. The interest is very small but the ease of using it makes up for that.

For Planning the trip.

1. make a budget, give yourself a year to plan, and break it down to monthly payments to pay yourself and put in an account
2. start booking things as soon as possible and keep checking for rate reductions. For example car rentals you can start booking a year out. This is often when I find the best rates.
3. don't assume the rate you have for what ever is the cheapest, check , check, and recheck up until the day you leave.
4. when you do go on your vacation be sure to make a grocery stop and reduce your meals out.
5. buy gift cards for the restaurants that you want to eat at. For example, the rainforest cafe has gift cards for sale, I've found them at walgreens. For days at McDonalds buy McDonald gift cards. When you prepay for your meals before you go it is a wonderful feeling.
6. By so many dollars a month in travelers checks.
7. Check the rates of the airlines so that you have a good idea of what is a good price and a not so good price this is a great way to keep from over spending on airline tickets.
8. Don't for get to check on the dis often for great deals people have found.

Kimberly

 

[ScotnSteph]

Our income is very close to yours and we vacation a lot and don't go into debt to do it, so it is possible. I am definitely a bargain vacationer. Somethings that have helped us.

1. Ask for gift cards to restaurants for Christmas, birthdays, etc.
(My husband and I just went Hawaii and had a couple hundred dollars in gift cards for meals. It was great to think about the gift giver as we enjoyed a nice meal.)

2. Ask and give gift certificates for experiences on vacations.
(We went to Hawaii with the kids a couple of summers ago, stayed 5 weeks, and after airfare and housing we lived on a budget of $40 a day. It can be done. For Christmas I gave my husbnd and kids tickets to swim with the dolphins. My mother bought us all tickets to a Luau. Another person gave us money for a few days car rental.)

3. Use Priceline.
(I love Priceline. I get hotels for prices I would never dream to be possible. Check out the www.biddinfortravel.com to learn more about how to bid on Priceline. I have also gotten great deals on rental cars.)

4. Don't eat out every meal.
(In Hawaii with the kids we only ate out one meal every other day. I did have a partial kitchen where we stayed. Other trips I have stayed in standard hotel room and have eaten only one meal out a day. Use a styrofoam cooler to store food in. Just be sure to change the ice twice a day.)

5. Buy an Entetainment Book.
(Check out mousesavers.com for a link. We haved saved tons on buy one, get one free meals.)

6. Take the family on business trips.
(My husband often takes the family along on conferences. Free hotel room. His travel expenses are paid for. He often takes a week or two of vacation while we are there. His job is pretty flexible this way. May not work for everyone.)

7. Take advantage of free housing.
(Do you have relative with a cabin on a lake or a condo in Florida?)

8. Sign up for airlines frequent flyer programs.
(Can't beat free airline tickets. When booking be persistant.)

9. Travel at off peak times.
(Look at the difference in pricing. We got a bargain on the Disney Wonder last fall. I know it's hurricane season.)

10. Don't feel like you have to do something big everyday.
(We enjoy relaxing at the pool or beach and reading a good book.)

11. Look for free attractions.
(Many zoos, museums, etc. have certain days of the month when you can visit for free.)

A Disney vacation can be very expensive, but it can be less expensive. These boards are a great place to get money saving information. I would suggest that you don't have to keep up with everyone else. Do what you know you can afford to do. For us that means staying off site sometimes, eating few meals in the park, limiting our children to a set amount of money for souvenirs, driving rather than flying sometimes, buying tickets that will expire without the hopping option, etc.

I know that I want to get the most vacation I can for my money. I do pretty well at it.

Good Luck!

Stephanie

 

[BuzzPrincessMom]

Hi,
We are a one income family and we take a one week vacation every year since my kids were born. DS and DD will be 5 next week. We have done a few days at the beach on off season. Last year we went up to the White Mountains in NH with friends. Purchased the NH Lung card that gave you free admission for 1 child with a paying adult. Cost us $25 for the "card" and we earned that back the first day! Maybe your state has something similar.
Our vacation is Disney in June this year. Mom and Dad gave me Disney $$$ for Christmas to go towards our trip. We decided on meal plan so our cost would be fixed. I got cheap airfair from Southwest by checking daily until the $59 one way flights were available.
How are we paying for it...
* The Disney $$$ from my parents
* I have been using the Disney card for a few years now...we charge everything and pay it off each month to get the rewards. When we leave I would have earned 400+ rewards $$ which I used towards payment of the trip.
* Our IRS refund paid for our airfare
* The money budgeted for our DS and DD preschool will go towards the 6 months interest free on Disney card for the vacation.

Disney isn't something we can afford every year, but we wanted to be part of the Happiest Celebration!

Kim

 

[kfeuer]

I work part-time, but can relate to stretching to save for vacations on that salary level.

The biggest money saver is staying offsite. We planned a trip with extended family and decided to try a pool house and we ended up loving it! Our last trip we used Skyauction and only paid $208 for a 2-bedroom condo for a week. I love having privacy at night and space to spread out! I don't cook on vacation, but it's so easy to eat cereal or toast for breakfast and save a fortune. We also get takeout/sandwiches for dinner alot of nights and that's a huge money-saver. You could cut it back even more and make frozen pizza or lasagnas for dinner.

As for tickets, it's a big investment up-front but if you plan to go back your best bet is to get 10-day non-expiring tickets. It breaks down the cheapest per day (not counting AP's). Some people like to get AP's and use them for 2 trips, but I don't like being locked into that one-year time frame. If something bad happens, vacations are the first thing to go and I'd hate to not be able to use my AP's. Plus, APs just tempt you to make smaller trips you hadn't planned on . We skip getting the hopper option. We have to plan a little more carefully to see the fireworks shows, but we've done it and it's been fine.

For souvenirs, we hit the Disney outlets and even, gulp because I hate them, Walmart! Walmart's good for kids t-shirts, I refuse to pay the $18-$22 that Disney wants. We go often enough that we're pretty restrained on souvenirs, we only buy things that we really want and can afford.

And last but not least, do all the extra money makers you can--online surveys, market research groups, test drive incentives, mypoints, credit card rewards, etc. can all make a big difference. For example, between mypoints and one of my reward credit cards I already have $120 in gas gift cards to use on our cruise for the drive down, so unless gas keeps going up I won't have to budget for it. Every little bit helps!

 

[Kay1]

My biggest new thing to actually save money in general is to always buy second hand. I like garage sales, thrift stores, and church bazaars. I also look at what's on sale at the supermarket and then decide what we want for dinner. I also stock up when I see something on sale and buy bulk from the health food store. I've shaved the electric bill by only running the air a few hours a day, hanging the clothes outdoors, and using the grill or microwave instead of the range.

The vacation itself doesn't have to be expensive. You can save a ton by staying in a pool home or condo and cooking some meals. I really don't know how to save on passes, though.

 

[ILuvWDWorld]

We're basically on 1 income. I do work one day a week, but that money is used for tuition for our kids.

1. We love our Disney Visa Card. We actually have 3 (so that was $150 in bonus dollars alone.)

2. We save all our change.

3. We also save a lot of $1 bills.

4. I've been doing Creation Rewards & Sunshine Rewards to earn some spending money for the kids.

5. I do sell on ebay some. I sold my daughter's clothes from last spring/summer and made over $400. I also let my kids sell some of their toys on ebay to earn a little extra $. They sold 2 groups of toys and made $11 each after all the fees were decuted by ebay, paypal, etc.

6. I cut back wherever else I can. I shop for groceries using coupons and generally I only buy items that are on sale.

7. Sometime I request that the grandparents give Disney Dollars to my kids for birthdays, etc.

7. And finally, of course, I'm on the DIS boards always looking for any good deals that my appear!

 

[porterbl1]

I agree completely with the vacation club. I know we couldn't do it without it. We are a 1 income family. My DH will make 45-50,000 this year. We automatically put $75 per week into an account. This covers our christmas spending and vacations.
-Becca

 

[Chickysmom]

mypoints.com has a really great and easy system of just reading emails and earning points you can convert to all kinds of rewards...including buyng mileage, Rainforest Cafe, and Walmart for those things needed prior to a trip....check them out.

 

[Alice28]

We are very similar to you, and right now I am scrimping and saving for our DL trip in June. I want to pay cash for as much as I can (at this point the hotel may have to be charged, but we'll see).

I am:

Asking for Disney Dollars for birthdays, holidays, etc. So far the kids have about $60 each in DD and I have $70 tucked away for the food fund.

Do Sunshine Rewards- I just learned about this on the DIS two weeks ago, and have already earned $40 in Disney Dollars.

I ebay- so far in the last month, I have made about $250. I do not go out and buy stuff to sell on ebay- I rarely have luck with this. I sell my daughters good used condition clothes, the boys have sold a lot of toys (and some of the Star Wars stuff goes for WAY more than I paid for it- used even!), and just items around the house that I don't want anymore, but other people pay $5-10 for it (Pampered Chef gadgets, some books, etc).

We have a Disney Visa and it's like pulling teeth to get rewards, but we will have about $80 by the time we go. I figure that is 2-3 lunches or maybe a splurge dinner at a nicer restaurant.

I am helping my parents do odd jobs at their house/property- stuff they don't want to do cause it's either hard for them, or just one of those chores you dread (painting, weeding, etc). My mom is giving me $25 per hour to do these things; I realize a lot of people don't have this option, but I aim to work enough down at their house to pay for our park tickets. (which we are able to buy at a discount thru the military).

I agree with checking and rechecking Expedia or Priceline for the best deal on hotels, cars.

Any time I even have an extra $5 in my wallet, I put it in the Disney envelope, and I try to exchange these into Disney Dollars so I won't spend them! You could play a game of deducting one meal a week from your budget: whether it's fast food, a meal out or eating leftovers one night a week- take that $10-50 you would have spent, and put it in your Disney fund.

It's hard - we often struggle with paying outright cash for a vacation in whole. I feel good just being able to pay cash this time for tickets, food, souvenirs and gas. DH is able to double dip job salary in August (his work pays for him to do his 2 weeks with the Nat'l Guard in the summer, and then he gets paid by the army too....), so we are planning to pay off the hotel room bill with that money.

Good luck! Oh, and try and take advantage of deals like Disney has now of the free dining. For a family of four, staying at a value, I really think it's a good deal!

 

[hsmamato2]

I agree with all the other posts here, I consider each and every dollar valuable in our home(heck-I'll stop to pick up a penny!) Our salary is similar to OP's- and I homeschool the kids, that's my (very important) job-
I don't do much selling on ebay- lately it's seemed too labor intensive for the results I was getting-i.e. my time was worth more than that amount of money... But I do go there 1st when looking for clothes and things-especially for the kids, or i shop ALL the time at Goodwill- I buy very rare items brand new, and even then only good sales-
I coupon- I have a deal with my local paper and get it 2x a week for .37- cut and use coupons- shop all circulars with that- less than 400 a month for 4(1 w/ bad allergies)
I don't have much time for online surveys etc.- I just can't see spending that much time for a small return, but I know others enjoy it a lot
get a credit card with good bonuses,like citibank, where you get 5% back on every dollar at groceries,1% on other things- we pay everything on that and pay it each month- we get $300 a year from that
All extra money goes into as high a yield savings acct as I can- right now it's ING that's all returns, bonuses from cc's- and a regular savings budget
for vacations, I save save save! I don't spend $$ on stuff I can make at home, coffee,etc- we get videos and books at the library, we don't buy them-
keep surfing these boards for deals that other great folks post, sign up for travel alert emails, like travelzoo,etc and ding-
I found out about our $39 airfare last year on the Dis... you can also find the best deals on hotels here
When you see something you need,go home do research, try to find your cheapest way to get it, then go for it!
Like for dsl, cable,sattelite,cell phones- find your deals!
It's all a matter of what's important to you- we don't carry a debt- except the mortgage- own our home, 2 cars in very decent condition, 2 weeks vacation to Disney once a year, assorted other mini trips as we find the desire throughout the year- I really love trips-,yes,we could put that $$$ into updating our kitchen, but I can live with homely cabinets for while longer if I get to take my vacation!
And we are so *not rich*- that's why I'm addicted to the budget board

 

[brettgirl]

You said your child (ren) are in nursery school. Have you thought of subbing as an aide in the nursery school. I subbed in my sons's special needs school (I am a teacher, but not certified in my new state yet). I would switch with other teachers/aides so I would not be in his class or visa versa. All it took was getting finger printed and checked by the state to be sure you are not an abuser, etc. (in PA $20 for both clearances). There are also subs for school cafeterias.

I am in the same boat as you, my husband has a job that takes him away a lot so out goes nites for working and I do not have ANY one around to pay to babysit nor drive my oldest home from the bus stop. Plus the jobs we can take pay so little that by the time you buy gas and pay the babysitter you might as well have stayed home.

I will be working next year, son in full day kinder, but it all goes to college daughters college tuition savings! It never ends!!!

 

[momofmikey]

not to hijack, but Alice28, how have you made so much money on sunshine rewards? I just do the paid clicks, and have made $2.40 Are you testing products, or signing up for stuff?

Thanks!

 

[SusanD]

When my son entered kindergarten I received a call from the school (they knew I was a stay at home mom) asking I would be interested in doing before or after school child care for another child in the same grade. I know there are many parents trying to find someone to fill the half day.

The advantage is that you don't require a babysitter of your own, your kids have another child to play with and you would have extra money for your vacation fund.

 

[Alice28]

not to hijack, but Alice28, how have you made so much money on sunshine rewards? I just do the paid clicks, and have made $2.40 Are you testing products, or signing up for stuff?

Thanks!

A lot of the 'paid offers' are basically just giving your email out to companies, and they pay .50- $1-$2, each. I set up a separate yahoo account so I don't have to deal with all the spam. Easy. Some of the 'trial offers' are trying products for a minimal charge- like I got $5 for getting 20 pictures developed on Snapfish. I just paid $1.97 for shipping. I was going to get the pics developed anyway, and spend at least that if not more at Costco. I paid $1 for signing up for a trail offer of a vacation travel thing, and got $8 deposited in Sunshine Rewards. As long as the payoff thru sunshine is AT LEAST double if not more of the trial charge or shipping charge, I am ok with it. And I won't pay more than $3 in any sort of shipping or trial charges, no matter what the payout (like the weird bingo one.....or some are $6 shipping but you only get $8- no thanks- esp if it's a product I have zero interest in). I put the trial charges on a credit card I do not use, so I can monitor closely. So far I have been able to cancel all of the trial offers (4-5 of them) without any hassle or problem at all. It's much easier than I thought it would be....I was always hesitant to do this before. And they mail the Disney Dollars FAST- it only took 3 days to get my first batch.

I also ordered some magazine subscription renewals thru the shopping site- I was going to renew these anyway, and got credited $6 for renewing thru them (I only spent $27 or so - I had a $5 coupon, but they credited me 15% of what I spent before discount!). And one trial that was a biggee, but worth it for me was $10 for trying a scholastic book membership for the kids- they get to keep 7 of 8 Disney books they will send me, and I can cancel the membership by shipping back the 8th book (at their expense)...I'm always looking for new books for the kids, and to me that was a real steal- 7 nice Disney books for $4.99? AND $10 credited to my account? Cool.

Like I said, I have tried mypoints and other sites before and just got frustrated and thought it was too much of a hassle. But this is easy, IF you don't mind setting up a separate email, charging a few dollars, and taking a few extra minutes each week to keep track of offers to cancel, etc. Like I think I said, I have earned $60 already, and I would say I have only spent maybe $7 on stuff I wouldn't have normally bought....not bad!

 

[PrincessMommyof2]

Thanks for the insight, Alice28. I just signed up for sunshine rewards and it seems as if I never am offered any free clicks. I think I'll follow your advice; I was eyeballing the Disney books and the vacation travel thing anyways.

 

[we3disneygo]

we are a one income family way under the income you stated, we have been saving for about a year and a half.....I save change....it goes from the bank to the disney store for disney dollars, I paid for 3 park hoppers this way. I have also saved disney dollars for the all the meals. any extra money,checks, etc. goes into the disney fund, I bought my travel books with 30%-40% off coupons.we will be staying off site and eating am meals at our hotel. hope this helps.....everytime I want to buy something i say do I need this? where will I put this? will I really use this?????? most of the time the answer is no, and I save money!!! my dad taught me that !!!!

 

[takemetoo]

We are a 1 income family, too. We attempt a week at Disney every year, but dh's schedual makes it difficult (he's a teacher), and we usally end up going once every two years. We don't do anything in addition to what PPs have said (no consumer debt, buy second hand, use the library for entertainment, scour the dis), but wanted to chime in that we're here too!