1 Year to SAVE!!!

[oopsiDAISY]

I was inspired by you. Our next trip will be in June 2012. So I only have seven months, but I'm gonna try my best. Use survey mastermind.com! You will make hundreds and eventually thousands! Try it!

WELCOME!!!! and I will go now and check out surveymasterminds.com...

 

[delmar411]

I'm going to keep track of our savings here as well. I'm just trying to save up as much as possible before our mid-Jan trip, w/o taking any money from our normal budget. Just extra earned/found money.

Our trip exps are:
tix: $1610
flight: $908 - paid for already
spending: $500
hotel fee: $95
airport parking: $40
food: $1160 - this is out of control IMO so while I'll budget it, we are going to try to come in way under this.

This is for a family of 6: 2 adults, 1 disney adult and 3 children

Total to save (minus flights): $3405

Total saved as of 11/9:
paypal: $0
bank acct: $1724
Disney GCs: $245
Visa GCs: $66
= $2035

Amount left to save: $1370

~We need to refill a lot of items in our owners locker so I have $64 in various store GCs (Target, Walmart, etc) to put towards those items.

~I also have a $25 McDs GC and $15 in Starbucks GCs put back for using in the airport so I'm not budgeting travel food/drink.

 

[Cierese]

My awaited savings update. Please note, my kids put $ in and so did I without keeping track.. just dropped in loose change and I had to recount everything!! LOL

So, my last total was: $61.19

My updated total is: $107.44

----------------

I had taken some of the money out of the jar (I think around $43) and purchased a Disney gift card for $50 and then I have a $25 money order I purchased to pay someone with.. glad I never filled in the 'to' spot because it turned out I didn't need to pay them! On top of that was spare change and dollar bills.

I've put the Disney 'can' on the top of my hutch so the kids can not reach it anymore and placed a smaller 'jar' on the lowest shelf so they can add to that. Every so often, I'm going to count it and add it to the 'can'. Currently in the 'jar' I know is a refund check from Geico and some other change the kids found cleaning their rooms I'll be sending off for 2 $10 rebates for the Cars2 movie soon as well as some other items such as the $9.99 rebate from the Olay gift pack and a few others.

I don't have a set amount we are saving towards yet, though I'm shooting for $2500? We are still debating on several options on when and where to stay and when we figure it all out we will know how much we need. Can not wait til we know something!!

 

[AnjieNet]

Well on my way by adding in birthday money from last week. Woo hoo! DH got me a $100 Disney GC (from Sam's with the bonus $10 Disney Store) to help on my 40th birthday girl's trip next year. Also got money from my parents and Nan so I used that to buy another card at Sam's. So I'm adding a whopping $200 to my total. If I get above my goal, I'll take my birthday money back out and buy me some vacation clothes before we go.


$1,500.00 Goal

$129.50 Discover Cashback Rewards Balance
$1.60 Ebates
$56.78 QuickRewards
$20.00 Disney Movie Rewards Gift Card
$300.00 Disney Gift Card - Sams
$30.00 Reimbursement
----------
$962.12 Left to save

 

[juliebug]

good job everyone!!

well saved some more so now up to
$830 saved so far
need $4000 so we can go in oct!

 

[zeferjen]

Can I join in? I am saving for a March 2012 trip. So far I have:
550 from chase reward points that I cashed in for gas coupons
50 in Disney gift cards that I bought with old target gift cards
200 I found in a seldom used purse (ridiculous, I know)
30 I earned from quick rewards

That brings me to 830. We need 2800 for room, tickets, and food. We are driving down, so will probably need 300 for gas. I just opened up a Disney credit card, so should get 200 from that. I plan to eBay a few things too. To be honest, I don't coupon now, so that is also a possibility.

Happy savings!

 

[scrappinmom]

So my total before today was $843.75 - Had to order dd's senior pictures...& even though I'm really proud of myself, I still spent about $400 on them. Had saved some of that, but needed to take $200 from savings to pay for the rest. It does feel great to NOT have charged them on a credit card though...so my new total is $643.75

Still have $2455.25 to go - I'm confident I can get there....just wish it was faster!

 

[delmar411]

I'm going to keep track of our savings here as well. I'm just trying to save up as much as possible before our mid-Jan trip, w/o taking any money from our normal budget. Just extra earned/found money.

Our trip exps are:
tix: $1610
flight: $908 - paid for already
spending: $500
hotel fee: $95
airport parking: $40
food: $1160 - this is out of control IMO so while I'll budget it, we are going to try to come in way under this.

This is for a family of 6: 2 adults, 1 disney adult and 3 children

Total to save (minus flights): $3405

Total saved as of 11/9:
paypal: $0
bank acct: $1724
Disney GCs: $245
Visa GCs: $66
= $2035

Amount left to save: $1370

~We need to refill a lot of items in our owners locker so I have $64 in various store GCs (Target, Walmart, etc) to put towards those items.

~I also have a $25 McDs GC and $15 in Starbucks GCs put back for using in the airport so I'm not budgeting travel food/drink.

adding in a $10 AmEx GC that I got from CVS today. I had to buy TP for the Car2 rebate so I threw in kisses (for my xmas baking) to get to $30 for the free $10 GC. I was thrilled to find out I could get an AmEx one!

And I got the stuff for the (2) Cars2 $10 rebates so I'll have another $20 to add to the fund when those arrive. Everything I bought was stuff we needed too.

Plus when we were at Sams today I took a look at the WDW GCs and the $50 one saves you $1.12 so we're going to take the cash savings and convert that into WDW GCs and gain an extra $50 from doing that!

So we were at $2035
+ $10 AmEx
= $2045

I'll include the other money when it arrives.

ETA: 11/11...adding in $4 from another paid job

$2045
+$4
= $2049

Should have another $10-20 to add tomorrow.

ETA: 11/12

$2049
+$11
= $2060
plus there is a $12 job pending payment and DH will likely be able to cash out today as well so another $10 there.

ETA: 11/13

$2060
+$10 from DH cashing out
= $2070
the $12 paid out but it takes a day or two to get to paypal...

ETA: 11/14
$2070
+$12 job paid to paypal
= $2082

 

[oopsiDAISY]

Grocery day and I had another good one! Budget is $100 and I came in at $68...$32 for the Mickey Jar!!!!

Goal: $1000
Former Balance: $775.80
Saved this week: $32.00
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Left to Save: $743.80

* I also have $35 accumulated in Quickrewards, but I don't want to count that until I actually cash out. My goal is to have at least $100 earned by the time vacation rolls around.

 

[edk35]

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!)

OR YOUR HUSBAND....we always spend a small fortune when hubby is with me when grocery shopping.

 

[edk35]

So my total before today was $843.75 - Had to order dd's senior pictures...& even though I'm really proud of myself, I still spent about $400 on them. Had saved some of that, but needed to take $200 from savings to pay for the rest. It does feel great to NOT have charged them on a credit card though...so my new total is $643.75

Still have $2455.25 to go - I'm confident I can get there....just wish it was faster!

What I did with our dd senior pics...... we paid the sitting fee and picked the yearbook picture from it. I think that was 25 or 35 bucks for the sitting fee. THEN...I took her to Sears and they did a whole photo shoot in different outfits and also took the traditional drape picture too....got a TON of pictures, the photo CD for well under 100 bucks. She graduated in 09..... then later in the year the company that took the school pics....will start sending emails about this discount and that one...I held out until the bitter end and got the 8x10 yearbook picture and some wallets to give a few family members so that we still had the ORIGINAL picture from the yearbook...and saved a TON. We have a son whose a Sr. this year....we are doing the same.

 

[oopsiDAISY]

OR YOUR HUSBAND....we always spend a small fortune when hubby is with me when grocery shopping.

now THAT is the truth!!!!

 

[scrappinmom]

What I did with our dd senior pics...... we paid the sitting fee and picked the yearbook picture from it. I think that was 25 or 35 bucks for the sitting fee. THEN...I took her to Sears and they did a whole photo shoot in different outfits and also took the traditional drape picture too....got a TON of pictures, the photo CD for well under 100 bucks. She graduated in 09..... then later in the year the company that took the school pics....will start sending emails about this discount and that one...I held out until the bitter end and got the 8x10 yearbook picture and some wallets to give a few family members so that we still had the ORIGINAL picture from the yearbook...and saved a TON. We have a son whose a Sr. this year....we are doing the same.

I thought about doing something like that - We did just the yearbook pose with the company that did the school pics & I bought NONE - but I've used the same photographer here in town since she was little - I'm an emotional gal...the same person that did her baptism, 1yr, 1st communion and confirmation pictures...did her senior pics. She had 7 outfit changes & over 200 proofs...I was good, I purchased a small package, just for us & grandparents - everyone else will get wallets. It was still $650 all in...a lot of money I know, but worth it to me to have that connection and have those special shots that I've wanted since she was a baby. I had to borrow some from my disney fund, but that's ok, I'll make it up by eating rice & beans for a month or two!

 

[oopsiDAISY]

WooHOO...more money for Mickey this week! I remembered an extra $35 I got for my b-day in August that I never spent, sooooo into the Mickey jar it goes!!!

Goal: $1000
Former balance: $743.80
Saved this week: $35.00
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Left to save: $ 708.80

 

[ditsypixie]

SO glad you started this! I really want to prove to myself (and DH) that I can save our spending/food money before our next trip. We haven't booked yet, we usually do that in January after DH gets vacation time and we use most, if not all tax return to pay for room and whatever is left goes towards tickets. We like to go in mid-October so if I start now, I have a little less that a year to get the spending/food money!

Thanks for all the great tips and inspiration!

 

[oopsiDAISY]

SO glad you started this! I really want to prove to myself (and DH) that I can save our spending/food money before our next trip. We haven't booked yet, we usually do that in January after DH gets vacation time and we use most, if not all tax return to pay for room and whatever is left goes towards tickets. We like to go in mid-October so if I start now, I have a little less that a year to get the spending/food money!

Thanks for all the great tips and inspiration!

This is a great place for encouragement, accountability, and inspiration. It is a great way to keep your eyes on the prize. Good luck with your savings!!!!

 

[Marionnette]

Today was a good rewards day in my mailbox.

I got:

• a $50 Visa gift card for switching my electric supplier back in September
• a check for $11.xx from ebates for my purchases from the last quarter
• a $50 and a $25 Best Buy GC from my rewards credit card, which I will combine with a $100 Best Buy Reward Zone certificate to use on Christmas gifts
• my Entertainment book that I ordered thru Mypoints.com to get 1,000 points towards a Landry's GC (to use at Yak & Yeti)
• the Entertainment Book has several grocery coupons for $X off produce and meat or % off my entire order (good at Acme).
• it also has car rental coupons, one of which is for a double upgrade for the I'm renting on my next trip!
• a $5 off my next order of $40 or more shopping order at Shoprite, thanks to Recyclebank.com

Even though most of them weren't cash, I can put the savings into my Disney account. So I kind of had the equivalent of around $100 towards my trip.

Now, among the "junk" mail was an offer from Southwest Rapid Rewards to redeem my points for GCs at a 20% discount. Hmmm. I could get a couple more Best Buy GCs with the points that I have...

 

[oopsiDAISY]

Today was a good rewards day in my mailbox.

I got:

• a $50 Visa gift card for switching my electric supplier back in September
• a check for $11.xx from ebates for my purchases from the last quarter
• a $50 and a $25 Best Buy GC from my rewards credit card, which I will combine with a $100 Best Buy Reward Zone certificate to use on Christmas gifts
• my Entertainment book that I ordered thru Mypoints.com to get 1,000 points towards a Landry's GC (to use at Yak & Yeti)
• the Entertainment Book has several grocery coupons for $X off produce and meat or % off my entire order (good at Acme).
• it also has car rental coupons, one of which is for a double upgrade for the I'm renting on my next trip!
• a $5 off my next order of $40 or more shopping order at Shoprite, thanks to Recyclebank.com

Even though most of them weren't cash, I can put the savings into my Disney account. So I kind of had the equivalent of around $100 towards my trip.

Now, among the "junk" mail was an offer from Southwest Rapid Rewards to redeem my points for GCs at a 20% discount. Hmmm. I could get a couple more Best Buy GCs with the points that I have...

OMGoodness, how you know how to work the system! I am just a novice compared to you! Way to go!!!!

 

[LMN]

Can I join you guys? Love the accountability and awesome savings tips that you all are posting! My family and I (5 people) are all huge Disney nuts and are saving for a June 2012 trip (13 days!). We are still calculating out how much this trip will cost but suffice it to say it will be lots of $$. We may end up only going for 7 days if we aren't able to save enough.

So we have our Mickey Money jar (a Snowman Mickey Popcorn Bucket from our Dec 2010 trip). So far in our jar we have:

$13.57- total of everyone's change that we scraped up this weekend


I'm getting ready to check out the online survey ideas that some of you have posted. Hope to make some money! We are also getting ready for a garage sale this weekend and have some items posted on Craigslist. So far, no bites on CL, but we'll keep our fingers crossed. And my next grocery store trip will be Friday- going to try to keep to our budget of $150- anything under that goes in the Mickey jar. I need to plan out some inexpensive meals for us to eat next week.

Thanks!

 

[oopsiDAISY]

and even MORE money for Mickey!!!! DH decided to contribute $20 of his own birthday money to the cause last night...

Goal: $1000
Former balance: $ 708.80
New "deposit": $20.00
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Left to save: $688.80

Just keep saving, just keep saving...