Anyone afraid they won't have enough money for their trip?

[Mercy]

Our trip is coming up fast.... I've got a lot going on in my life other than planning my Disney trip I just realized I need to get paying/saving for my trip. I hope we have enough come August!

Anyone else afraid they will be short moneywise when it is time for their trip?

 

[HeatherAnn23]

Count me in! Our saving was right on track - and last week my husband lost his job. We're still going to try to make the trip, but we're going to wait until the 45 day point to make the final decision. Life sure is full of surprises isn't it!

 

[Grand2me]

As you all can see, our trip is in a couple of days and between the cost of tickets and the rental carr and everytihng else, I am just hoping that we don't come back from this trip totally broke.

 

[deltachi8]

We are off in August, I pre-pay as much as i possibly can - I used priceline for the hotel, bought the tickets, airfare and the car is reserved (will be on the credit card - treating it as paid).

As for the big expense - spending - we have set aside money in an ING Direct Account. EBay money goes there as well as any referral money (although I have only given out one thus far). I dont even think about the ING Money - its just for disney and when we get ready to go, I will transfer it over to my "regular account" I think if we get some more referrals and sell more on E-Bay, we will be pleasantly suprised at what we have to spend for our short trip.

Now, if I were to lose my job, we would go (as most is pre-paid) and be on a very strict budget - these boards help alot in that case. (Eating in room, discount gift certificates, inexpensive stuff to buy.)

 

[mad4themouse]

I don't think that I've ever "not" worried about the bottom line. I try my best to anticipate costs but there's always that "something" that comes up to mess with my budget.

Now that I've got just about all the major things covered, it's the little stuff that's starting to prey on my mind.

I'm making the tip envelopes this week and I'm hoping to have them filled by the end of June. I'm thinking about the cost of refilling the gas tank on the rental. Who knows what gas will cost next week, let alone 6 weeks from now?!!!

And then there are the graduations, First Communions and weddings to consider as well. And birthdays, Father's Day, end-of-year teacher gifts, 8th grade send off dances, field trips...list of expenses is beginning to get very long. And with all of this, my DH still expects me to be able to grocery shop and put food on the table????

The best that anyone can do is get a good estimate on their total costs and hope that they don't go so far over that they end up eating mac and cheese for a year to make it up.

 

[missydisney]

WE always prepay hotel and tickets. But I've been unemployed since last July. My 21 year old is paying for this trip. He dosen't make much money so it is all going for this. We are going to try to eat cheap and pray that gas is not TOOO high.
Melissa

 

[Misty89]

count me in!
and we are not going until next year everyday i dwell on how much we need and what i can do to make happen. I decided since i am not a good saver ( i saved for 6mths, and the acct is empty - things came up-) every month i am sending 150 -200 $ to disney, no if's, and's or but's about it. thats that the only way i can get the trip paid for and not " have"( not really) to use the money ( put it this way.....i got into the mode " we are not going for 18mths, i can shop a bit )
so thats what i am doing...calling to make payment in a little bit !

plus..by pre- paying, i will build up a decent credit for my expensive meals i want - narcoussees, california grill , Victoria & alberts ( gotta work on DH for that hes not a fancy eater LOL and all our character meals



Tina

 

[kmb34me]

funny you should post this, I was just thinking this morning. trying to figure out what we can afford or not. luckily we paid for the plan tickets 3 months ago, and our tickets for Disney are paid for, I have $2200 left over , which seems like alot, but then theres the $500 for the hotel, which im wondering if I should change to a regular room instead of the family suite, we would save a couple hundred. then theres food to budget, so I think we will have about a thousand to spend.
ugh......

Kristen

 

[canwegosoon]

It is so nerve racking, but I try to always pull a little extra money from our food budget, because we will be eating 1 week at Disney. (so I hold aside 1/4 of the monthly food, as emergency money). I also have been know to buy a couple of extra bonds as gifts for my kids (B'd and Christmas) and can also use them as extras if necessary. Never have got to the point I need the bond money though (but it's there!!!). Hope you have a great trip!!!

 

[mom of five]

I'm trying to find every vacation dollar possible.

On a hint from these boards, I checked out my insurance coverage. I got the exact same coverage from a different National provider for $400 less. Yeah!

 

[pjlla]

Wow... you're going in August and you're just starting to save now?? Or did I misunderstand?

Yes, I would definitely be "short" if I only had 3 months to save! I saved religiously for our last trip.... every bit of extra went into the WDW account (although we didn't make any significant lifestyle changes.... we still went out to eat, to the movies, etc). From January to October I saved enough (just barely) to pay for the entire trip (airfare, park hoppers, 8 nights off-site hotel, meals, rental car). That was when we made the decision to go and started making reservations. I would be afraid to do it any other way. Although I suppose the pressure of already having reservations, etc would be good incentive to save!!

Good luck! Keep reading the "Budget Board" for great $$ saving ideas!.................P

 

[beansmom]

My h and I are separated now and I just decided for sure last week that we cannot make the trip to WDW this year...there is a possibility that *my* division of SBC may go on strike in December so I'm afraid to spend the majority of my savings on a disney trip.

So....we are planning for November of 2005 and by that time we should have plenty of $$$ to have a great time.

 

[Robbiesmommy21]

Mercy
We're in the same boat. We talked about this trip last November, decided against it. Well I just got a new job. Anyone know about Premier Jewelry? So I dedcided that it was time to plan. I haven't even paid our deposit yet, its not due till June 2nd. Its goindg to cost us 2800 to go. I'm trying to do everything I can to come up with this money. I'm holding a garage sale this sat. and I've got some shows set up. PLus my mom is the greatest. I have three sibs, b - 10, b - 16 and g - 20( she's ausistic(sp?). For babysitting them all at one time( and beleive me it gets bad when their all together) she pays me $300 for 2 nights. So I'll do that a few times and I'm so hoping I can pull this off.
We're going in Aug. too
Jacqueline

 

[always quiet]

I start planning for trips well in advance and TRY to allocate different cash for different things and do my best not to touch them!! (sometimes, that is not an easy thing!) With planning for 5, the cost really can skyrocket! I try to save all the change I can get my hands on, along with any rebate checks or checks from pinecone research and use that for gas (just counted the change jar and cashed it in yesterday - $93.00), I visit My Points and cash them in for gas cards. My family knows any birthdays or Christmas...I want Disney $$! Whenever I get the hankering to go to the Disney store to purchase something, I call CRO instead and make a payment on my ressie! Gives me a Disney fix and takes care of my reservation at the same time (I am down to $172.50 left on my bill!)

My biggest fear on these trips is the price of gas. We stay and FW and tow our camper down. At this rate, the $93 MIGHT be 2 tanks of gas!!!

 

[erinz]

I'm totally worried about not having enough for our trip. Our plan is to go in Dec 2005 and I haven't been able to save anything yet. I'm going to pay for the whole thing and will have to save about $250 a month starting next month. It's SO HARD sometimes! It seems like we just barely get by every month. But I'm determined, and If I just stop buying things I don't desperately need, I think I can swing it.

 

[mom2of2]

I also worry. I got a job just so that we can go to WDW. So far I have paid in full 2 trips last year and we are going again in July. My biggest mistake was not getting AP's last year but who knew that we would be able to swing 2 trips so close together?? I put all of my paycheck into a WDW savings account every pay peroid and have only had to not do that 3x in the past 2 years. It's hard sometimes but my thought is that it's going toward WDW and that's what helps me to save it all. Now if I wasn't saving for vaca's would I be able to continue to put that money away? I'd like to think so. After this trip I will begin saving so that we can move to Fl next summer so that should also be a great incentive.

 

[HenDuck]

I understand how everyone feels. I usually make up a budget WAY in advance and then wait for airline specials. I know how much I am willing to pay for airfare and, unless I have FFM, I don't plan a trip until my airfare is set. (Being from Hawaii, we don't have the option of driving, so it's always expensive for us to just leave the state!)

But then once the air reservations are made, I have to start picking hotels and planning the itinerary. THAT'S where I start to stress!

Unless I'm willing to stop saving for retirement, DS college fund, or stop eating , there's only so much I can save every month.

So I work with a fixed budget (where I usually ovebudget for everything), and then cut back on vacation expenses from there. So I consider staying at a cheaper hotel or one that includes breakfast, or we plan a day off in the middle of the trip to hit the Disney outlet to do our souvenier shopping, or find some other expense to cut back on.

Sometimes I think all my savings go to my Disney vacations!

This year, I am also trying to build my emergency fund back up and I'm trying to save for a couple for big vacations in the next 5 years, so I've really got my work cut out for me.

But if I didn't have something fun to look forward to, I would not be motivated to save at all, I suppose.

Good luck. You'll make it!

 

[frannn]

Before we bought a house, the money seemed to grow on trees. Then came the house, then the economy changed, and so did our ability to save. I am lucky enough to be able to still buy many of the things we want (buy bargain hunting and buying plenty on ebay!) but would not be able to save for a Disney trip unless it is forced, so that is what we do. I would never recommend my strategy to anybody, due to the fact that if you are a good saver, you would be losing out on a bit of interest. I have my company withhold more than necessary from my paycheck for taxes, then use my refund for home repairs, vacation, leftover bills, etc. It's nice to know that the $ will be there.

 

[HollyJoy]

Every day! LOL Actually, we just refinanced our house, so we are putting a little bit of that aside for the magical journey! Since we wont' be going until December, I am doing a lot of planning now, and taking advantage of things I see now (for car entertainment, etc..) that way, I won't have to buy tons of stuff right before the trip.

 

[DisKim]

I am so glad someone started this thread. It's nice to know that everyone feels the same as I do. Well, not nice, but you know what I mean. The cost of the vacation scares me. It seems that even though I put money aside, there are things that come up that I didn't budget for. I also decided to spring for AP's which was much more than I had originally allocated for passes. I just keep telling myself that there is no sense in worrying about the cost. We'll be okay and we will only look back and remember spending these precoious years with our kids at WDW. That being said, I'm going to give it a rest after this year and save money for other things.