13 Days, Family O' 7 $2642 Budget!

[mickeyfan2]

I don't go to the grocery to shop for food items to bring to Florida- I'm shopping from my own personal pantry/stockpile.

In Florida, I would buy an entire box of pancake mix to feed my family one or two pancake breakfasts. The unused mix would be thrown away. By bringing it from home, I portion out what I need for the trip with the remaining mix left at home, to use later. I've got a zillion bottles of pancake syrup in the pantry that I've gotten for free or very cheap, so I'll grab a bottle and add to the box. My son eats easy mac, so we always have a box of the packets here - I throw in one or two of the packs for him. I'll bring a bag of 4-5 potatoes to use when we grill out, so I won't have to buy a 5lb. bag or potatoes at Publix, When we drive, we bring a cooler, so I'll pack some steaks from our freezer, and if I've gotten a good deal on lunch meat, I'll throw that in the cooler, too. Those are just some things I can think of from our last trip. We've also thrown in packages of microwave popcorn, pop tarts, peanut butter, etc.

With all that said, I also do what the OP does. I use my weekly grocery budget as part of food spending for the trip. I check the Publix website before we leave, and read the sale ad and plan my shopping accordingly. If I have time, I'll go through my coupon stash

Now that makes more sense.

 

[mickeyfan2]

Wow, another page of posts, I will try to keep up!!
First of all, Yes I homeschool. It makes traveling off season more flexible.
I have been checking on flights, the cheapest I'm finding from our city is $267 roundtrip, not enough to save significantly. As far as meals in the condo, my Dks love breakfast, so we are bringing our Mickey waffle iron with us and plenty of pancake mix. So for breakfasts(always eating in, except for CM) we will have cereal, pancakes,bananas,eggs, waffles, toast,and juice. The other meal in will consist of a variety of meals, mac n cheese, hot dogs, a treat at our house is Homestyle Bakes, chicken and biscuits(bringing coupons)(I know this isn't gourmet food, but then some of the kids are picky eaters), spaghetti, tacos, we will have a grill at Cypress Palms, so hamburgers and chicken sandwiches and we will have leftovers a plenty! I'll write down what we eat and the cost as we go for the trip report. Please keep in mind that when you add up GCs, regular food budget and rewards our total for food and spending is...over $650. That is about $50 per day, we don't buy lots of souvies, we get plenty free. We also take food with us to eat in the car so when we drive we don't stop more than 1 per trip out, and then we will only spend @ $7.00, so that will increase the other days spending allowance. I have done quite a bit of research on nutrition and based on that, our family does not eat big meals, we eat three small meals and two snacks or three everyday. In doing that we always have leftovers to use for snacks or other meals. Two breakfasts on the road are provided at Comfort Suites and we can take what we don't finish as long as it's portable..ie..fresh fruit, breakfast bars, wrapped pastries, or yogurt since we will have a cooler, to use as snacks. This hotel also used to make homemade cookies in the evening...not expecting...but hoping!!
Prior to leaving I go through coupons, print out menus for GCs and restaurants we will be visiting, look at the Publix sales add online, and prepare our cooler and travel food( I actually save this up little by little and use coupons and watch the sales).
I assure you that we won't starve!!
Thank you for the advice and input, I am taking notes!!

All I can say is WOW I am impressed. I have something to shoot for. This would be a great way to vacation as we enter retirement (not that close yet! )

 

[TNKBELL]

I don't go to the grocery to shop for food items to bring to Florida- I'm shopping from my own personal pantry/stockpile.

In Florida, I would buy an entire box of pancake mix to feed my family one or two pancake breakfasts. The unused mix would be thrown away. By bringing it from home, I portion out what I need for the trip with the remaining mix left at home, to use later. I've got a zillion bottles of pancake syrup in the pantry that I've gotten for free or very cheap, so I'll grab a bottle and add to the box. My son eats easy mac, so we always have a box of the packets here - I throw in one or two of the packs for him. I'll bring a bag of 4-5 potatoes to use when we grill out, so I won't have to buy a 5lb. bag or potatoes at Publix, When we drive, we bring a cooler, so I'll pack some steaks from our freezer, and if I've gotten a good deal on lunch meat, I'll throw that in the cooler, too. Those are just some things I can think of from our last trip. We've also thrown in packages of microwave popcorn, pop tarts, peanut butter, etc.

With all that said, I also do what the OP does. I use my weekly grocery budget as part of food spending for the trip. I check the Publix website before we leave, and read the sale ad and plan my shopping accordingly. If I have time, I'll go through my coupon stash

Yes, we do this too, I certainly don't consider this a "hidden expense" this is just using what I would have had we been home. The "BUDGET" part is saving what we need for the trip IN ADDITION to normal day to day expenses. I guess it is a matter of perspective and perspective is always subjective.

 

[MEM]

Well explain it to me. I am also going to be bringing some staples down (we are driving) as well as cooking in the condo. The stuff I bring down still cost me money and is part of my weekly grocery budget. However, I CANNOT feed my family on $75 per week at home, let alone on vacation. She is planning to eat out EVERY night. I don't get it at all.

Did you check out her prior trip report? Someone posted a link to it a few posts above. Its worth a read. She and her family are big on sharing meals plus she uses restaurant.com gift cards and such. It works well for her but would not work for me - DS12 will eat his own entree and half of mine and still be hungry! We now order 5 entrees for 4 people!

 

[mickeyfan2]

Yes, we do this too, I certainly don't consider this a "hidden expense" this is just using what I would have had we been home. The "BUDGET" part is saving what we need for the trip IN ADDITION to normal day to day expenses. I guess it is a matter of perspective and perspective is always subjective.

I understand that now. Your budget is what you would spend over what you would have spent at home. I do the opposite. I include all the food eaten on vacation as spent on vacation. I even include the Disney reward money as having been spent.

How do you get the restaurant GCs? Are they rewards, gifts or do you pay for them.

 

[TNKBELL]

Well explain it to me. I am also going to be bringing some staples down (we are driving) as well as cooking in the condo. The stuff I bring down still cost me money and is part of my weekly grocery budget. However, I CANNOT feed my family on $75 per week at home, let alone on vacation. She is planning to eat out EVERY night. I don't get it at all.

You are right, I won't be feeding my family for $75 a week while on vacation. It will be more like $50 per day for total spending. That is what I spend on groceries only at home.

 

[punkin]

Did you check out her prior trip report? Someone posted a link to it a few posts above. Its worth a read. She and her family are big on sharing meals plus she uses restaurant.com gift cards and such. It works well for her but would not work for me - DS12 will eat his own entree and half of mine and still be hungry! We now order 5 entrees for 4 people!

I looked at my previous post and niticed that I sound whiny. Well. that's because I am somewhat jealous. I can't imagine feeding a family of 7 (OK I know one is a baby) on $75. It boggles the mind.

I have family who eats like yours. We do share meals, but that's because we want to try everything. My DD8 will eat a full adult entree and ask for desert. DD14 eats everything. DH is (how do we phrase this nicely) Pooh sized. We like to eat and we like to eat good food. No Mac & Cheese for my kids. Hot dogs are also a very rare ocurance in my house. For example, last night I made a crustless spinach quiche, salad, and bruschetta. That was a cheap meal (about $5.50) to feed 5. However, I am not going to slave over a stove during vacation so the meals have to be FAST (but still nutritious). That costs more money.

My weekly grocery budget at home is $100 (sometimes under and sometimes over) and that does not include one meal out per week. I think for vacation, I should budget $125 for the week, not including going out, and we will only be eating most breakfasts and some dinners.

I have a headache.

 

[TNKBELL]

I understand that now. Your budget is what you would spend over what you would have spent at home. I do the opposite. I include all the food eaten on vacation as spent on vacation. I even include the Disney reward money as having been spent.

How do you get the restaurant GCs? Are they rewards, gifts or do you pay for them.

If you look at my first post in this thread, it says Restaurant.com GCs....$12.50, that is for 6(which I have listed) at a discount that included a free $10 GC promotion last month.

 

[punkin]

You are right, I won't be feeding my family for $75 a week while on vacation. It will be more like $50 per day for total spending. That is what I spend on groceries only at home.

Maybe it is my reading comprehension that is lacking here. If you feed a family of 7 on $50 per day, that means you are spending $2.38 per person per meal (assuming 3 meals and no snacks). I can understand that for breakfast, but dinner and lunch? And what about those snacks? Maybe I could do that for a day or two, but ALL THE TIME? I am impressed. My family would revolt.

 

[TNKBELL]

I looked at my previous post and niticed that I sound whiny. Well. that's because I am somewhat jealous. I can't imagine feeding a family of 7 (OK I know one is a baby) on $75. It boggles the mind.

I have family who eats like yours. We do share meals, but that's because we want to try everything. My DD8 will eat a full adult entree and ask for desert. DD14 eats everything. DH is (how do we phrase this nicely) Pooh sized. We like to eat and we like to eat good food. No Mac & Cheese for my kids. Hot dogs are also a very rare ocurance in my house. For example, last night I made a crustless spinach quiche, salad, and bruschetta. That was a cheap meal (about $5.50) to feed 5. However, I am not going to slave over a stove during vacation so the meals have to be FAST (but still nutritious). That costs more money.

My weekly grocery budget at home is $100 (sometimes under and sometimes over) and that does not include one meal out per week. I think for vacation, I should budget $125 for the week, not including going out, and we will only be eating most breakfasts and some dinners.

I have a headache.

I'll pray for your headache...ouch!!
Hot dogs will be a special treat... I hate those things, we only have them a few times a year. As far as Mac n cheese we do eat that for lunch about 1 per week, but Dh and I will probably have leftovers instead of that. If you look at the age of my Dks, they like simple things(pb&j, grilled cheese) and are overwhelmed by new and different things(according to Doc, this is normal), not my Ds10 he is at a fun age and loves new things.

 

[madge]

Now that makes more sense.

we love to travel... and with a family of 5, I learned a long time ago I had to make it affordable if we wanted to take a yearly vacation. Whether it's the beach, mountains, or WDW.. I do things very similarly.

The OP has inspired me to take a closer look at my budget. So far, I think my numbers are pretty good For my family, doing one day at Epcot and MNSSHP will cost $546... I hadn't really thought about only doing those 2 parks. It's definitely something for me to consider!

Right now, I'm looking at spending $900 on gas/tolls/lodging.
- $250 in gas from Kentucky (per the AAA fuel calculator)
- $150 in hotels down/back using www.roomsaver.com or other discounts
- $500 for 7 nights at Vistana Villages (2BR)

I also have enough points for 2 free nights at the Dolphin. If we decide to go to the MNSSHP, I'll use one of the nights then - if for no other reason that it will be nice to get on the bus and be back at the room after the party is over. We also plan on using one of the nights on our arrival day - we can enjoy the Boardwalk, take advantage of the preschool magic hours, and evening EMH at the MK.

That's as far as I've gotten with my actual spending. I'm collecting visa rewards dollars, doing MyPoints, and watching for other deals along the way. I'll be watching the OP to see what other deals she finds!

 

[mommiepoppins]

Well explain it to me. I am also going to be bringing some staples down (we are driving) as well as cooking in the condo. The stuff I bring down still cost me money and is part of my weekly grocery budget. However, I CANNOT feed my family on $75 per week at home, let alone on vacation. She is planning to eat out EVERY night. I don't get it at all.

I drove and I brought tons of stuff from home. We only ate out once on the awy home . That was at wendys because we were so sick of driveing and needed a rest.

We stayed at the Embassy suiets in Brunswick Ga and we had a free breakfast.. It was a smorgaeboard (sp) tons of food that was included with our stay

here is what I had on the way down for 2 rest stops.

salid with salsla and cheddar cheese and sour cream 7yummy we also had turkey lunch meat and grapes. We ate both times at the rest stop ( that fed all 7 of us and we are big eaters)

On the way home we ate pbj and p chips and I brought pop tarts for breakfast.

I bring tons of stuff from home also ( I love to bring the stuff I get for free)
So it helps make the budget way less

 

[punkin]

I'll pray for your headache...ouch!!
Hot dogs will be a special treat... I hate those things, we only have them a few times a year. As far as Mac n cheese we do eat that for lunch about 1 per week, but Dh and I will probably have leftovers instead of that. If you look at the age of my Dks, they like simple things(pb&j, grilled cheese) and are overwhelmed by new and different things(according to Doc, this is normal), not my Ds10 he is at a fun age and loves new things.

Thank you. Prayers are always welcome (though I'm sure a tylenol would work too.)

I am sure you can do the trip as cheaply as you say. I am just comparing my family's style (and I like to consider myself extremely frugal) to yours and it just would not work for us. We are paying less than half of what you are for hotel; we are not renting a car, but using our own, we have less people to feed, we will cook in the hotel (condo) and bring our own snacks into the parks. Yet, by the time we are through, we will probably spend almost as much as you will.

I admire your frugality. Have fun.

 

[Kat77]

TNKBELL, what a super job you have done!

I could only pull off a trip like this IF I left DH at home.... Unfortunately, he insists on tagging along on my vacations! He is MUCH worse than the kiddos.

Has anyone else been trying to mentally prep themselves not to freak out over paying $9 for children to eat mac n cheese in the World restaurants ($9X4=$36 for my kids to eat $2 worth of mac and cheese!!!)? I know there are other kids options but mine will always pick the mac n cheese if given the choice...ugh!

 

[punkin]

I drove and I brought tons of stuff from home. We only ate out once on the awy home . That was at wendys because we were so sick of driveing and needed a rest.

We stayed at the Embassy suiets in Brunswick Ga and we had a free breakfast.. It was a smorgaeboard (sp) tons of food that was included with our stay

here is what I had on the way down for 2 rest stops.

salid with salsla and cheddar cheese and sour cream 7yummy we also had turkey lunch meat and grapes. We ate both times at the rest stop ( that fed all 7 of us and we are big eaters)

On the way home we ate pbj and p chips and I brought pop tarts for breakfast.

I bring tons of stuff from home also ( I love to bring the stuff I get for free)
So it helps make the budget way less

On the way down, I am also planning to bring sandwiches, drinks, snacks, fruits. So, I will try not to stop to eat. On the way back, we will probably have to stop somewhere so I have that budgeted, but there will only be three of us going back (the little ones are flying to Kansas from Orlando for two weeks) so it should not be too bad.

 

[PaulaSue]

Sorry to be noisy but why are you renting a minvan to drive there? Don't you already have one or another kind of car that your whole family will fit? It just seems like using your own would be a way to cut the $ down.

Kuddos for the tight budget. Here I am thinking I need 2 times as much for just one week for a family of 5.

 

[mommiepoppins]

I think the more we go the less money we spend on food and souvies...however It cost me more and more each time. Gas,tickets and airfair. . The cost of tickets for one day is really kicking my butt. For one day for all 6 of us is 393.. That is what I make for 2 weeks doing day care. ( I only do b4 and after school care now )

 

[tar heel]

TNKBELL -- You mentioned My Points. Do you also do Sunshine Rewards? If not, I would consider picking up that program for your trip as I consider it to be significantly better than My Points. I do surveys, clicks and sign-ups that don't require a credit card only. I've been doing it for only two months and and have ordered a $25 gift card and have $15 toward my next one. I should easily have three or more of the gift cards by the time we leave in August, and I spend about 15 minutes a day plus an hour or so every week or two going through the offers.

There also are lots of other reward programs. I do a couple of other survey sites, and that will produce another $150 for the trip. Visit the Rewards Board for more information.

Like Kat77, I would have to leave DH home to pull off a trip like yours, but I admire you for it and am looking at your budget for new ideas!

I do a lot of things to economize, though. We bring drinks and snacks for the entire week, eat breakfast in the room, eat most table service meals at lunchtime, etc.

 

[ILuvJimny]

Sorry to be noisy but why are you renting a minvan to drive there? Don't you already have one or another kind of car that your whole family will fit? It just seems like using your own would be a way to cut the $ down.

I was wondering the same thing about your car. You are spending almost 1/4 of your budget on the rental alone.

As far as the rest of your budget - you are amazing! You're family will have a great time and experience some fantastic things!

 

[punkin]

I think the more we go the less money we spend on food and souvies...however It cost me more and more each time. Gas,tickets and airfair. . The cost of tickets for one day is really kicking my butt. For one day for all 6 of us is 393.. That is what I make for 2 weeks doing day care. ( I only do b4 and after school care now )

It costs less per day if you buy the longer tickets. Maybe buying a 10 day non expiry and using it for 3 trips would work for you. I know it's a big lay out of money (and I personally cannot do that right now) but it is something to consider.