28 days possible???

[DisneyMom5]

It just occurred to me that now that you can book for 14 days at a time we COULD book 28 days of Free Dining instead of JUST 21 days like we did last year.

Thought I would ask some of you expert budget planners here. Am I right about this AND can you think of any other 'tweaks" I could add to this trip that I might not have thought of yet?

Slightly Goofy-who is old and slow and NEEDS more days!!

Wasn't free dining limited to 10 days per ressie?
(Hmm, if it is offered 8/26-9/22, you technically could get 3-10day stays out of it! LOL)

Did you do 3-7day ressies last time?

If not, I'll book 11, instead of a room only night tacked on the end!

 

[Microcell]

Wow! I am glad I was rude, it gives me inspiration to be just like you when I grow up!

 

[bonzarella]

Hi SG Did I miss it? When are you planning on going? We will be there second week of Sept, booked on bounceback program. Maybe we won't have to wait til Dec to meet

 

[clkelley]

FYI - When we booked the bounce back free dining it was limited to 10 nights.

 

[IndyJammer]

Indy Jammer, would you please go to your front door and wave hi to my bil and sil??

It is awfully hard to think of retirement when you are all so young but that dollar saved today will be worth hundreds tomorrow, if not more. Too many wait until late in life and then they do not have the advantage of decades of compound interest.

There is a thread on the Budget Board about how to become Debt Free. Step by step. It is a game and one that anyone can win!

Slighlty Goofy

SlightlyGoofy - Where do your BIL & SIL live?!?

We've been doing the "Dave Ramsey Plan" for about 4 months now & have really noticed a difference. CCs are GONE - except for the Disney Visa one, I'm having a hard time cutting that one up! We DON'T use it anymore, but there's an emotional attachment to that "Cardmember Since Day 1" on there! We are using Cash a LOT now & are working on becoming Debt Free. That way, we can invest (love that Compound Interest!) & spend our Golden-Age Winters at WDW!

 

[SlightlyGoofy]

IndyJammer, my bil and sil live in a huge house on top of a hill in Pendleton near Geist. Sounds as if you are on your way to being able to Disney all your retired life. Keep the Disney card if it is near and dear to you but just do not carry it with you. Too tempting. Cash is KING!! Did ya know that you can often wrangle extra discounts by using cash as the merchant does not have to pay fees like with credit purchases? Does not hurt to ask.

Clkelley and DisneyMom5, the old rules had it at ten days per ressie but I have read it here that it is now 14 days. I had to make two ressies last time to get the 21 days. We came in a day early and added a day before seperately.

DisneyMom5, you sly fox. 30 days possible huh? Only downside is that we would have to get THREE one day tickets instead of TWO and it is not quite worth it for an extra two days. HOWEVER, we could just add the two days seperately at the end of the trip since the Food credits are good until midnight of the day you check out. After all that free food for a month it would not hurt us to fast for ONE day.

C'est Bon!! When (and IF) the Free Dining comes out we will decide our dates and it is well within the realm of possibility that we might see each other before December. It takes a lot of effort for me nowadays and the idea of going the end of the FD period, coming home for a few weeks, and then heading back down does not interest me. Last year we booked in toward the end to catch the F&W festival. It costs us about $300 just to get down there and back so we tend to go toward longer trips and fewer of them nowadays. One year we went 4 times in one year. I have abandoned hope for a Spring trip this year as I am having some health problems right now. Old age is not for sissies.

Slightly Goofy/Linda

BTW, for those of you who are interested please find a 'financial calculator' on the Internet, plug in some numbers and be prepared to be in awe in how little it takes NOW to have big bucks in the FUTURE. The younger you are the better off you are if you start NOW!!! BUT, it is never too late to do something.

 

[Mel6197]

28 Days at Disney!


Just wanted to say how nice it is!
Have a Magical Trip!

 

[SlightlyGoofy]

The only thing that would make the trip better is if I could take ALL of you with me.

Slightly Goofy

 

[cdrn1]

I know a few nurses that would love to escort an elderly couple on vacation

Add me to the list, please!

 

[SlightlyGoofy]

I am not elderly, yet, but I sure would like someone to accompany me. (especially if they would pay my way)

cdrn1, sometimes I put my socks on the wrong feet. I even manage to put on ones that are mismatched. Cannot figure it out as I always have an identical pair in the drawer when I go looking later too.

Slightly Goofy

 

[Lizziejane]

Slightly Goofy, I just LOVED reading your story!!! My full-time job is to educate our employees about their pension plan, why they should try to save a little extra for tomorrow, and how to build a financial plan. Your story is a prime example of what I'm trying to knock into the heads of every 20 year old who starts with our company. Could you please come to my seminars and be living proof that a little restraint today (just a little!) is worth it in the end?!

Jane

 

[SlightlyGoofy]

Lizziejane, I have decades of teaching such under my belt. I have given speeches at the local schools for many, many years. My first line is "If you do not have enough money you have two choices, you can work harder and earn MORE or you can spend less and the very best of both worlds is to do a bit of both".

So much of what we buy is perceived NEED and is in fact WANT. I have a sister who is constantly buying 'stuff' and complains about being broke all the time. She continually cleans out her closets as they are overstuffed so that she has room to buy more 'stuff'. Much of what she discards still has the price tags on it.

A bit of sacrifice is well rewarded. Recently I bought a new car (shopped for carefully and bargained for even more so) and was able to write a check (that did not bounce) for the balance. I attempted to pay for it with my credit card to earn more reward dollars but they balked.

I would encourage your employees to play around with the financial calculators on line to see just how much their debt is costing them, in terms of dollars and time spent working for those dollars AND how much a small amount of savings, invested early in life can grow to. Tell them it is sort of like racking up big scores in a video game. Something they can relate to.

I grew up poor and never had any financial training, married a much older man who was deeply in debt and allergic to work AND have a tendancy to 'think small' so I had a lot to overcome. If I had gotten smarter younger we would be in much better shape than we are but it is not too bad.

Thank you for the compliments but many taught ME along the way. All one has to do is have a goal and then "do something about it". Step by step.

Slightly Goofy