1 Year to SAVE!!!

[Colleen27]

Well, we're home from Disney and it is time to get serious about saving! The plan has changed a bit... DH isn't sure he wants to do Disney without the kids right now (talk about a wrench in my surprise Disney anniversary idea!), but DD10 loved her YES class so much that we got to talking about surprising her with a trip for the Girl Scout 100th event over Memorial Day. So there's my new savings goal, 3 months closer than I'd thought. On the bright side, it is also a few hundred dollars less expensive than I'd planned on an anniversary trip being.

$1200 - new saving goal
$166.44 - saved to date
$1033.56 remaining

I would love to get some tips on Swagbucks from those who have had success there. It seems like I'm not making much, and I know part of that is just not putting the time in but I can't help thinking there's something else I'm missing too.

 

[goofy's_gurl]

I sat down and thread this thread all morning long! I am inspired by every single one of you guys. I recently started a website on how to save money and everything and you guys gave me a lot of inspiration and ideas!

I have a trip planned for Dec. 15-20, 2012 with my best friend. Right now my figures is to save 650, but that may change. I will come back with my totals!

 

[goofy's_gurl]

I am looking around $700 to save.... Here is what I have so far!

Deposit:106.37
Change:4.20
Hidden bills: 7.00
Jingit: 1.39
OpinionOutpost: 14.50
TreasureTropper: 12.65
Disney GC: 25.00

Total: 171.11/700

Only 528.89 left to go!

 

[Cierese]

most likely paying OOP for meals since its F&W! Plus need to pay for MNNSHP if we decide to do that, too.

I'm just going to work on paying off the site first. (If we get a PIN I may upgrade, but the kids are excited about camping)

$469.45 is the total for 8 nights Fort Wilderness Campsite!
-$60.75 paid so far
$408.70 left?
$350 -estimated gas (may be less)
-$25 Shell Card
$325 left?
$800 -Max $ for 4 YES tix
$1200 -food estimate

$3000 savings goal
$340.10 saved so far
~$2659.90 Left?
------------
Saved up:
$75.41 in change jars
$14.25 left on a disney gift card
$58.69 Inbox
$25 shell gas card
$8 Savings Star
$17.69 WeReward
$38 QuickRewards
$40 Free Visa Debit Card
$11 ParentSpeak
$50 Ebay (January)
----Cans (taking them in on Monday)
----Taxes (TBD after paying off some bills)
-------------
MISC.
4 FREE tickets to Dinosaur World
3381 Checkpoints balance
5379 Swagbucks balance

 

[Marionnette]

I was going thru the pockets of some clothes that I'm taking to the Salvation Army drop off. I found $15 in one!

I'm under the $1700 mark!

$1687 left to go!

It's been a while but that's because I haven't had anything new to add until now. Yesterday's mail held some nice additions to my savings.

I got my rebate check from Ebates for the last quarter of 2011. A whopping $5.85 But I guess the good news is that I didn't fall to the temptation of impulse buying online during the holidays.

Then there was the letter from our heating oil supplier. Our budget payments are going DOWN to the tune of $100 per month for the remaining 3 months of the contract thanks to a mild winter. I wasn't expecting that so it was a nice surprise.

And lastly, I got my Chase Sapphire card. If I spend $3000 on it in 3 months, I 'll get 50,000 points. That translates to about $500 in cash or gift cards. Plus I get double points on travel. I immediately booked our summer trip and the deposit went on the card. The annual fee is $99 so I'll make out by $400.

My new savings goal: $810 by December

 

[jennyf2]

Well I officially booked today w/ a FD pin! Now I need to figure out my balance & start saving

 

[AnjieNet]

Well I officially booked today w/ a FD pin! Now I need to figure out my balance & start saving

Dang it, where's my free dining pin?!?! I've got sample packages just waiting to book if they'd just give me a deal, please! My luck, if I ever do get a pin, it'll be when there is no way we can use it.

Anyway, I sold some baby stuff on Craigslist in the last couple of weeks putting $300 into my Girl's Trip fund. Woo hoo!

$2000 Savings Goal
$1087 Saved to date
--------
$913 Left to save

 

[Marionnette]

It's been a while but that's because I haven't had anything new to add until now. Yesterday's mail held some nice additions to my savings.

I got my rebate check from Ebates for the last quarter of 2011. A whopping $5.85 But I guess the good news is that I didn't fall to the temptation of impulse buying online during the holidays.

Then there was the letter from our heating oil supplier. Our budget payments are going DOWN to the tune of $100 per month for the remaining 3 months of the contract thanks to a mild winter. I wasn't expecting that so it was a nice surprise.

And lastly, I got my Chase Sapphire card. If I spend $3000 on it in 3 months, I 'll get 50,000 points. That translates to about $500 in cash or gift cards. Plus I get double points on travel. I immediately booked our summer trip and the deposit went on the card. The annual fee is $99 so I'll make out by $400.

My new savings goal: $810 by December

I went on my state's unclaimed property website and found that I had some money waiting for me. They don't tell you how much, just that it is either over or under $100. Mine was under $100. I filed the paperwork over a month ago. The check arrived today...$28!

My new goal is under $800 now!

$782 by December!​

 

[Cin]

We're in the middle of saving for a move back home and buying our own home so it's going to be hard to convince DH we need a Disney vacation, much less both of us get time off to do so...but I dream big so I am still planning hopefully and saving vigilantly for our next dream trip. Hoping for late Jan 2013 or early Feb. So far my trip is pricing out at $4500 of which I have $540 left from last trip in my change purse, $20 in my makeup drawer, and $1500 set aside in my savings. I'm almost halfway!!! Only $2440 to go.

 

[Cierese]

most likely paying OOP for meals since its F&W! Plus need to pay for MNNSHP if we decide to do that, too.

I'm just going to work on paying off the site first. (If we get a PIN I may upgrade, but the kids are excited about camping)

$469.45 is the total for 8 nights Fort Wilderness Campsite!
-$75.00 paid so far
$394.45 left?
$350 -estimated gas (may be less)
-$25 Shell Card
$325 left?
$800 -Max $ for 4 YES tix
$1200 -food estimate

$3000 savings goal
$558.84 saved so far
~$2441.16 Left?
------------
Saved up:
$354.54 in savings
$25.63 in change jars
$72.66 Inbox
$25 shell gas card
$2 Savings Star
$20.29 WeReward
$37.72 QuickRewards
$21 ParentSpeak

-------------
MISC.
4 FREE tickets to Dinosaur World
5514 Checkpoints balance
5782 Swagbucks balance

 

[B&Bforever]

Cierese

Can you tell me what WeReward and Swagbucks are?

 

[jcmaro]

I love this! I just downloaded 3 of the apps I saw on here. We are going in just under 8 months and -

We Need - 5000 (hoping for free dining to lower this number)
We Have - 1274.65
Left to Save - 3725.35

 

[Marionnette]

I went on my state's unclaimed property website and found that I had some money waiting for me. They don't tell you how much, just that it is either over or under $100. Mine was under $100. I filed the paperwork over a month ago. The check arrived today...$28!

My new goal is under $800 now!

$782 by December!​

Looks like I'm going to have to change my countdown again. A friend just informed us that their daughter is getting married the same weekend that we were planning to attend a conference in Orlando. So, we might be going in September, again. Or maybe we'll go in December, just a week later. But we aren't sure about either trip right now.

It's good to see how well everyone is doing with their saving. It certainly is encouraging to see that is is possible. I have pretty much hit a snag in my savings. We have two kids who will be moving to new apartments this summer. We've had to place deposits on their new places but won't get the security deposits back from their current apartments until June or so. It's made money a little bit tight right now. No chance to put anything aside for Disney.

So I'm still at:

$782 by ?!​

 

[Desnik]

Some things have changed so I wanted to update my progress.

This budget is for our trip in Aug for 8 nights staying at BCV and BLT. We are DVC members so I don't have to budget for hotel costs. Our airfare is also paid so I'm not including that.

Budget:
$165.00 Airport parking
$925.00 Food
$770.20 Park Passes (YES tickets)
$30.00 Tips for DME & Bellmen
$25.00 Taxi to BLT from BCV
Total $1915.20

Saved so far:
$30.00 Disney movie rewards gift cards
$217.50 Change jar
$85.00 Disney Visa Rewards
Total $332.50

This leaves me with $1482.70 to save before Aug!

 

[debbiedana]

Well it's been a million years since I posted on this thread. Competitve Dance took over my daughter's life (and therefore mine) so we've been busy!

We were originally going to shoot for Labor Day 2012, but my daughter of all people said she wants to wait for the new snow white ride and the rest of fantasyland to be completed when we go. So the new plan is to go Labor Day 2013 and that feels sooooooooo far away!

The good news is that I have about $875 socked away already. I have to check again for a new budget for next year, but I'm confident I'm more than halfway there (Pop Century, YES tix, etc.) I have a major garage sale coming up, and a few other opportunities to make some $$$$. I have to save for DD's dance for 2013 season, but I only need about $300 more and that will be good enough. Everything else will be Mickey Money!!!

Good luck everyone!

 

[SnowWhite09]

What a great thread to start oopsiDaisy - thanks so much! Thanks to everyone else as well. We are coming from Australia hopefully at the end of 2013 so lots of money to save between now and then. One thing I have started doing is taking my own lunch to work every day which saves $50 per week. Groceries are so expensive here in Australia - I wish there was a way to keep groceries under $100 per week for 4 people, but even with budgeting pretty hard, it is still closer to $250 per week. It used to be a lot cheaper when we lived in Sydney and could shop at Aldi, but unfortunately there is no Aldi here in Adelaide. Good luck to everyone with their savings!

 

[oopsiDAISY]

Hey Gang! Been a LOOOOONG time since I posted on here. We went to the World in March. Crowds were horrendous, so we made the executive decision to switch our annual trips from spring to fall. Does this mean we get to go back this fall? NOPE! Gonna have to wait until fall 2013 to go back!

We will use our 2013 tax return to pay for the bulk of the trip, but I like to throw in my own savings just to show DH how motivated I am and how badly I want to go back! So, it's now time for me to get back into the swing of saving....

Goal: $1500
Saved: $0000
Left to Save: $1500

 

[DisneyEater]

Hey Gang! Been a LOOOOONG time since I posted on here. We went to the World in March. Crowds were horrendous, so we made the executive decision to switch our annual trips from spring to fall. Does this mean we get to go back this fall? NOPE! Gonna have to wait until fall 2013 to go back!

We are in the exact same situation switching from Spring to Fall. Going to be a long 18 months. Good luck with your saving!

 

[AnjieNet]

Six months next week (ADRs can be made on the 25th woo hoo!) and I'm steadily reaching my goal.

$2000 goal
$1505 saved
-------
$495 left to go

May have to increase my goal amount if I can't find any cheaper flights or if free dining for October doesn't come about. I'll be looking at saving another $400 - $500.

 

[mommadebbied]

Our trip is not until September 2013 but starting to save now and planning for Disney makes me happy. (even though I'm sure I annoy the crap out of my husband!!)

Goal: $4200.00

Saved: $223.00

Amount left to save: $3977.00

Our 1st family trip to Disney World was last September and we fell in love so our plan is to go every other year.