1 Year to SAVE!!!

[Chelley00]

We are planning a trip in October next year with my family. We had a very expensive summer (house fire in which my husband was injured and has lots of medical bills, mite infestation, dead car etc) so our emergency fund and vacation fund were pretty much emptied. Our emergency fund is almost funded again, so we are now starting to save our vacation money again. It may be a quick budget trip instead of the longer one we had planned, but we're all okay with that.

We've decorated a "Mickey Money" box for everyone to throw change in. It's totally taped up and can't be opened.

We've told family we'd like Disney gift cards for Christmas/birthdays.

We started taking money out of our checking account each payday. We don't even notice it's gone.

Everytime I grocery shop, I take the amount of my coupons and transfer that into savings.

We don't get much of a tax return, but anything we do get back goes into our vacation fund.

Our vacation account is an online account that I can't access without transferring (which takes 3 days) Knowing it takes that long to get the money makes it not usable for impulse purchases.

 

[Mickeyflower]

Well, I totally want to get in on this! I honestly don't know when my next visit will be. But, I'm thinking if I start "finding money" now, and start banking it away, I should be able to go HIGH LUXURY all the way! Since I'm unemployed, finding money will be more difficult, but I can definitely find at least $50 a month. Not much, but when I know my next trip won't be for another year or two at least, I can get it to add up quick!

Thanks for the motivation!

 

[hereyago]

We are planning a trip in October next year with my family. We had a very expensive summer (house fire in which my husband was injured and has lots of medical bills, mite infestation, dead car etc) so our emergency fund and vacation fund were pretty much emptied. Our emergency fund is almost funded again, so we are now starting to save our vacation money again. It may be a quick budget trip instead of the longer one we had planned, but we're all okay with that.




.

I just wanted to write and say I am sorry your famiily has had to go through all that. How is your husband doing now? Hugs to your family( I cant get my emotion thing to work.

 

[hereyago]

Since I'm unemployed, finding money will be more difficult, but I can definitely find at least $50 a month. !

Thoughts go to you in being able to find a job.

 

[Carina]

I do online surveys and rewards
I have made over $200 in my paypal ( which I can cash out at any time to my bank account) from online survey payouts and Superpoints

I have a $50 southwest airlines voucher from swagbucks - I am 1/2 way to another ( I am not a hard core swag bucker so I hope to do the other 1/2 in time)

I have airmiles rewards ( It's a rewards card here in Canada that you can use at stores - I don't need to fly to use it) I can get my Universal studio's tix this way ( or car rental)

I have Best Western hotel rewards card that I have been scraping up bit by bit. Not only can it be used for free nights but it has a few gift cards you can redeem on there

I have enough Mypoints rewards for a $25 voucher - plan to use it for gas or resturaunt.

Doing this wouldn't get the 5 of us there within the next decade - but it can put a dent in the money I need to save/earn to take a trip.

 

[kimberlym322]

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!

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.

The idea to save with coupons can be done. It is hard at first until you get the hang of it. However to save with coupons is that at the bottom of your recite you will see your total savings--this would be what you saved with coupons and store cards--that amount of money is what you want to put away. Or another way to look at it is like this...if you take 50.00 worth of coupons in the store with you and use them then put that 50.00 away.


Good Luck! Hope you can do it!!!

 

[Janepod]

Every time you go to the grocery store, just before you get on the checkout line, take one thing out of your cart - a bag of chips, a bottle of water, whatever. Just buy a little less than you think you need.

(And definitely don't grocery shop with your kids! They are the worst for staying on budget!)

 

[griswalds]

For 1 year I paid for everything using dollar bills and saved all the change. When we cashed out we had saved $450 very painlessly. And that basically covered all our excursions on our Disney cruise.

 

[oopsiDAISY]

Thanks everyone for joining in... this is gonna be so FUN!

RE: Couponing....I shop at Aldi, so it is already super cheap and everything is off brand, so coupons are not necessary. I have warned DH that we will be eating lots of brothy soups, beans, and rice this winter to save $$$.

I do need to look at how much I could put from my bi-weekly paychecks into the savings. I have a few things I could probably sell on E-bay or Craigslist. I have never done that at all so I am a bit intimidated by it. I have a WII Fit that I just HAD TO HAVE 3 years ago, and I only used it for like a month. I have the accessories for it too (barbells and yoga mat). I am sure I could probably get $100-$150 for it, but again, I have never sold anything online, so I am a bit frightened to try it.

DH has agreed to sell his motorcycle on Craigslist so that we can pay off his car loan. There should be about $500 left that we can put in savings as well. I just don't want to count that $ until it is there, you know?

RE: WDW gift cards for birthdays an Christmas....we want to surprise the kids this time! DH and I did agree that whatever cash we get for Christmas and birthdays would go into the fund, and we will put $ into the fund instead of giving each other gifts for anniversary, birthdays, Christmas and Valentines.

Re: Dining Out...we don't. Seriously, our kids think it is a TREAT to go to McDonald's or Ryans!

I know we can do this we just have to stay faithful to it and not get burnt out on "cutting corners". That is the reason I wanted to start this thread, so that I would have a daily reminder of why we are sacrificing our small luxuries and conveniences.

Thanks everyone for cheering us on and to those who are joining me on the savings journey....WELCOME and let's DO IT!!!

 

[oopsiDAISY]

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

We have a GREAT opportunity to stay offsite. My mom and dad own a timeshare and have said they could get us an Orlando getaway week for about $400-500 for the whole week at a 5 star resort...alas DH says he doesn't want to stay offsite and he wants the dining plan. SERIOUSLY???

I am looking into doing a 5 night/six day instead of our usual 6 night/7 day. I have also checked into renting DVC. The problem with that is that the rooms are either "sleeps up to 4" or "sleeps up to 8". There is a significant price increase in "sleeps up to 8" and we are a family of 5. We really like the family suites at the values, they work great for us.

We are not big "souvenier" people. We usually try for just one each. The children saved last time to be able to get whatever they wanted. That worked great, but how do you accomplish that when the plan is to surprise them?

 

[oopsiDAISY]

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!

WOOHOO!!!! Way to go Cierese!!!! I look forward to sharing the journey to WDW with you this year! Here's a little saving mojo for ya...

 

[oopsiDAISY]

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

What are toonies and loonies??? Don't know what they are, but just the words themselves made me smile, LOL!

 

[budafam]

I started in July to start saving $1800 for our trip next May. I have only $350 left!!! So DH is letting me go at the end of the month as well with just DS. Good luck!!!

 

[oopsiDAISY]

I started in July to start saving $1800 for our trip next May. I have only $350 left!!! So DH is letting me go at the end of the month as well with just DS. Good luck!!!

Good for you!!! I just love it, you are an inspiration! Have a BLAST on your mommy/son trip!

 

[Lucille1963]

Thrift shopping saves me a ton of money. All my sweaters and tops are second hand. I came home with a stack of cashmere last week, the most I paid was $4/each and I'm very picky about color, style and condition. Its great for kids clothing too, from play clothes to formal, its amazing how much good quality stuff is out there for a buck or so a piece. I'm always getting compliments on how well my kid is dressed. Little do they know it is thanks to the Salvation Army and the clearance racks and Bloomingdales (seriously, stuff gets CHEAP there!) Additionally, I don't find it nearly as hard to shop as TJ Maxx or Marshalls. In many cases in my area, the 2nd hand stores are better organized

 

[tzeitel]

I do need to look at how much I could put from my bi-weekly paychecks into the savings. I have a few things I could probably sell on E-bay or Craigslist. I have never done that at all so I am a bit intimidated by it. I have a WII Fit that I just HAD TO HAVE 3 years ago, and I only used it for like a month. I have the accessories for it too (barbells and yoga mat). I am sure I could probably get $100-$150 for it, but again, I have never sold anything online, so I am a bit frightened to try it.

You could always take the Wii fit to a store like Game Stop which buys back used equipment - you can also get trade credit if your kids want games for the holidays. I understand being intimidated when trying Ebay for the first time - especially for electronics. I have been selling on Ebay for about 13 years and I am not crazy about selling high priced items there. I sold some Wiis at Christmas when they first came out and was worried until the buyers left feedback. Now if you do want to try Ebay you can PM me and I can give you some tips If you have any toys, games, stuff that can be given as gifts then Ebay is a huge moneymaker during the holidays. Even w/o big name/"hot" items I usually make over 1K between late Oct and early Dec.

I did Craigslist for the first time before we moved last year just to get rid of some stuff we did not need anymore (and did not want to drag half way across the country!). A great time is late July/early Aug when college kids are getting ready for school - things like futons, small dressers, desks etc do very well. Kid furniture is also something ppl look for on Craigslist. DH was skeptical about selling on CL but when the emails started coming in he changed his mind

Another good way to save is using discounted gift cards for things you were going to buy anyway. I use Gift Card Granny to find the best discount on gift cards AND if you have unwanted gcs you can sell them - they find the best price for the card you have Here is a link to their site

http://www.giftcardgranny.com/

Do you use My Points? I love to combine MP with GCs and get an even better deal. My Points has Rainforest Cafe and TRex cards so if you want to take the kids there when at DTD you could easily get enough points in a year. I saved enough points for $150 in gas cards for our trip to DLR in Oct, it took me 9 months with no huge effort. Now I am saving for our WDW trip next year.

Swagbucks is also a good one, I get the Amazon cards (best value they have) and have bought many things for our trip and for the holidays.

 

[bigsis1970]

Hi there - followed you from the eat at home thread.. what a great idea for a new thread..
I am going in the beginning of April 2012 - and maybe in July 2012 (still working out the details) but I have some saving to do! I do not have a set goal as my budget has the trip cost figured in - so this would just be fun $$ for when we are there

right now I am at $9.23 in change - going to make a "Mickey Jar" that will be all taped up and plan on dropping in my change and savings from the grocery store then we can't steal from it!
I am going to have tables at the "ultimate yard sale" next weekend - its held at a local fairground and you purchase a 12x12 space ($35 pd for in summer) to sell your unwanted household items! so all that will go in my jar..
Can't wait to see all the savings add up here..

 

[kwhite1022]

Great thread! I wish I had longer to save, but my trip is now only 178 days away My MIL gave us the use of her condo (bonnet creek) so we dont have to pay for that, and we already prepaid for Hoop Dee do, and cinderellas lunch.....so here is what I still have to come up with:

Tix to parks: 1200
Gas there/back: 400
Food: 700
hotel down/back: 120

Grand Total: 2420 In six months

Good news, hubby has ample opportunity for sunday work (double time) which he has been doing for the past year, so that makes things easier. Also, due to the high taxation of his overtime, and double time, we will get a chunk of change back for taxes....honestly probably more then what I need to save, but I dont want to count on it!!!!! Our other plus is thankfully the week we leave hits what will be the third paycheck for March, also a bonus month too, so I anticipate having my food/gas come from there. I do have $100 rewards card currently through my bank rewards, which Im hoping may be closer to $150 when I submit it Hubby may also have speedway gift cards for us to use as well, so Im keeping my finger crossed. On paper it looks it should be NO problem....but life happens so I hope to have it saved sooner then later.

 

[Karenj2]

Great thread! Hopefully it'll keep us motivated to save, save, save!!

We were planning our next trip to be in August of 2013, which leaves us plenty of time to save up for our vacation, even though we'll probably stay at a deluxe & get dining. However in talking with friends, we're now thinking of ALSO doing a trip in Feb/March of 2012 (either camping or value, most likely), which leaves us much less time to save up!

We had already GCs through DH's company's awards program and I have close to $600 in DRDs (the total being enough to completely cover the camping trip), but we'd really like to hold onto the GCs for our 2013 trip, since we're hoping to have another baby in the meanwhile , and our ability to save up will probably go down.

So, I will be saving my pennies, etc. as well!

 

[SnowWhite607]

I did this for my trip back in March. Just a sample of what I did:

sold things on Ebay - Halloween costumes, etc 70.00
rebates 17.00
online surveys 97.47
change jar 42.00

so you can see that was over $200 painlessly! Plus I used some survey points to get GCs to RFC at AK.

I have another trip planned for June 2012 and need to make $2500 so I am ON BOARD!