1 Year to SAVE!!!

[oopsiDAISY]

So I am on a mission! I want to go back to Disney a year from now so I have to get busy saving! We will get $ for our tax return, but I need to save about $1000 above that. DH doesn't think we can swing it and I am DETERMINED TO PROVE HIM WRONG! He is all for going back if we can swing it financially.

Who would like to join me in keeping a daily/ weekly savings tally? I do much better with cheerleaders, LOL!



So far this week:

* I dug $10 out of where I had hidden it for something else and forgot about it, LOL! I put it in our change jar and DH doesn't even know it.

* Our weekly grocery budget is $100. I plan to take cash to the store and put whatever cash is left into the change jar.

*oldest DD found $.50 in a parking lot that I will also put in the change jar...every little bit counts right?

Goal- $1000
My savings so far: $10.50....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
only $989.50 left to save!

 

[jdyer09]

I will cheer you on all you need! We were in the same boat, but every little bit does help. I put away $200 a month from my salary, and we kept everything else the same.

I dont know how we did it at first but we did. We werent scrimping and saving, we put the planned amount away in an account we couldnt touch except for emergencies, budgeted out after school care, bills, groceries and gas, then divided it by the number of days left until the next paycheck and came up with a "daily" budget. While we didn't have to spend that amount daily of course, it certainly forced us to look at what we were spending money on and how easy it was for us to waste money. We started eating at home more, no more Sonic runs for shakes or Iced Tea, it tastes just the same when made at home. And I quit making little runs to the store so often, that REALLY helped. If you stay within your daily budget it forces you to stay within your overall budget until you get used to it. Now that our trip is paid off and only 35 days away, we have extra spending money put away and have already started putting away for Christmas and our next vacation.

Also coupon, coupon, coupon! (If you dont already that is) You can really stretch that $100 grocery budget into almost two weeks easily! Combine the coupons with the sales and you will be amazed at how much you can save and stretch that dollar! Even if you make that into $150 every two weeks, that's about $100 extra a month going toward your trip that you already had budgeted for something else! See little changes are the biggest savers!

It seems daunting at first, and even if you can only put away $50 or $100, figure out how long it will take to get to your goal then plan your vacation for that time period. Its a very rewarding feeling! Good luck!

 

[LovesTimone]

Do you coupon, if not I would start, and take the saving out of the cash and put it into the fund for your trip. - So if you save 10.00 with coupons I would pull that out and in the jar it goes.

You could have a garage sale - all proceeds go to the Disney fund.

You could ask for disney gift cards for birthdays and special occasions, and get the kids in on the this so they have there own spending money while there.

I have a friend that's pays herself each week, 10.00 for disney, she said that she worth much more but this money she does not miss - I think she get 10.00 at checkout when she does her weekly shopping, and it goes in her Disney fund.

I think that you can "DO IT"

 

[starann]

I agree...coupon!!!!

Join Saving Star (I alrady have $9 in my account for buying things I normally buy)

Join Sunshine Rewards if you haven't yet and do surveys

Ask for WDW GC for holidays and B-days

I may join you., but gotta figurte out where all my 'hidden' money is!!!!

 

[hereyago]

I plan on going on next year as well! I have started couponing-joined the 2 coupon trains here on the budget board. I save change and it really does count up quickly.


Other posters have a great ideas: i like the ask for disney gift cards for holiday gifts.

DD13 does a kids survey: so that is her money to spend and I also do about 2 or 3 of them which goes towards a trip.

On the weekly grocery budget thing, do you eat out alot? if so, then cut that out lol and put more towards the grocery budget and eat at home-there is a thread about eating at home here on the budget board and they give great receipes and ideas.


I will help cheer you and anyone else on!

 

[sydneysmom]

any rebates you get, cash them and add them to the fund.
(and I agree w/ a PP ....coupons, coupons, coupons!!! ) I am able to take $20 out of our food budget twice a month and put it in the Disney fund. it's not alot, but it adds up !

 

[ericamcl]

I love all of the ideas I've read - thanks for sharing them!

One other thing I did for our last trip to save "Disney Money" was to get a Disney gift card at the Disney store- every time I got paid I would add $25.00 to it.
This way it was money that could only be spent at Disney World - we used the gift card to pay for our park tickets and some of our meals.

 

[LadyBeBop]

$3 a day. That's all you have to save. $3 a day.

Certainly, you can find a way to save $3 a day.

 

[Cierese]

$3 a day. That's all you have to save. $3 a day.

Certainly, you can find a way to save $3 a day.

Great way to look at it!! My kids and I just started a 'savings' jar for Disney this past week, too!

I'm IN!!!

We are still undecided on next Thanksgiving, Fall Break, or wait til after the first of the year '13. I'm a single mom and have been out of a 'real' job for almost a year. Just picked up my old party plan business and we are more on track that I ever expected!!! WOOHOO!!!

Will post our current savings here in a little bit!

 

[DOREEN1779]

$3 a day. That's all you have to save. $3 a day.

Certainly, you can find a way to save $3 a day.

You could do it!

 

[jennyf2]

I'm with you We were not planning on going back next year but other family members want to go so we are

I'm a HUGE couponer, I save ALL my change--if something is $1.0X I'll give $2.00 just to get the change--- it adds up fast, summer garage sale, taste tests, online surveys & part of my tax refund....

Here's to saving

 

[CaliforniaDreamin]

Yard sale before it gets too cold. I made a bit over $200 last month in one day.

 

[Cierese]

Yard sale before it gets too cold. I made a bit over $200 last month in one day.

That's exactly what I'm going to be doing this weekend!!!

 

[Applemomma]

I'm in!

I have to save about $2500 between now and Nov 2012 for a mother/daughter Disney trip. Right now I have a savings account I use for vacations with $193 in it. Most of that is from transferring the "change" from each of my debit purchases to it. I'll also put my CTB cheque (a government bonus cheque we get in Canada to help cover the cost of child raising) and $40 off each paycheque. I also have a Winnie-The-Pooh bank we squirrel spare change, money from turning in our refundable bottles and any other found money. No idea what's in there right now and I'll probably wait until after Christmas to count it and deposit it to the vacation account.

I only have to save about $200 a month so baring no unforseen expenses it should be doable (fingers crossed!)

 

[ToodlesRN]

I would also suggest to get Disney gift cards when you hit a certain amount $25, $50, $100. I found that no matter how much I save I always end up pulling it out for something else. This way the money is spent and saved for the trip for real!! Were leaving in a week and just by doing this I have over $700 in gift cards plus cash, so not bad by putting it in gift cards.

 

[Fjobe]

Don't forget ebay. I sold a broken iphone for $100 on ebay and a broken camera for quite a bit too (and clearly stated both were broken).

 

[happygirl]

Instead of doing Christmas present could that money go toward your Disney Trip?"?

You might also wanna try to find ways to make your trip cheaper

Staying off site if you stay onsite
Lessen your days there
Cutting back on gifts while you are there

 

[bankgirl05]

I just looked into switching my cable provider, since my cable internet and house phoneare bundled I can switch and save more than $100 a month. (but I'll lose my email address so still dragging my feet) but I may try to call my current provider and negotiate a new deal and see if I can save at least $50. It's worth a phone call, the worst they can do is say no!!!

Do you belong to a credit union? they usually have great vacation clubs you could set up, and if your and dh's payroll offers direct deposit, you could have it set up to automatically pay your Vacation club out of sight out of mind... Or set an account up at a different bank or CU and "pay yourself" through your regular bank's bill pay, treat it like a bill every week or 2 weeks(that way it doesn't seem like such a large amount as every month)

I'll bet you can save more than $1000. our last Disney jar(s) 2 -5 gallon water bottles, we saved for 3 years and we had well over $3000.00

 

[Celidh]

I just got my yearly raise at work. It's not much, only translates to about $23.00 bi-weekly on my paycheck but I plan on saving that money each pay for my Disney/car account (I will be needing a new car soon too).

Also, I save my change. I use my toonies and loonies for the kids' lunches but save my small change in my Disney tin. If there are extra toonies and loonies at the end of the week, I add it to my Disney tin. If i make a purchase with cash I dont give the cashier the change, I use bills so I get more change back to save.

When my current pay goes in the bank if there is still some leftover from the last pay and I don't need it to pay a bill, that gets moved to either my Disney/car account or my account I use for miscellaneous house stuff, like if I have to call a plumber or replace anything, that way I have a bit of extra $ without hitting up the Visa or something like that.

My partner and I just took my kids to Disney on our first family trip the beginning of September. The two of us hope to go back for sure in 2013, but would prefer next year. Her job is done in December as it was a term position so it all depends on what she finds for work whether she can take vacation and afford to go next year. I'm crossing my fingers for next year. As a single mom, I could really use a vacation without the kids! I haven't been anywhere without children since my oldest was born 14 years ago.

OP, good luck, don't give up and keep saving those pennies!

 

[Cierese]

Ok, so the kids and I finally sat down and counted that change jar. Pennies are a PAIN, and that's the majority of what's in there.

As of today, we have $22.93! Not bad for a few days worth of looking around the house!

Woohoo! The kids are so excited about this little bit, its so cute!