Anyone not go to WDW on a budget?

[BounceyOne]

NOt sure where to post this.

I read so much about how much $ to bring for certain things. I am curious, who just goes to WDW without a budget in mind?

When we go we just wing it.. I don't calculate how much per day or things like that.
Am I the only one?

 

[DaisyDebbie]

I wing it too. I basically know in my head how much I've spent, plus I keep all the receipts I get. I don't want to have to worry about keeping track of money when I'm on vacation

 

[kilee]

We have to budget. Not because I'm that obsessive (well maybe a little). More so because we go with different amounts all the time. One trip we may be really tight on cash, and another may have the cash much more abundant. If I didn't budget it, on the more tighter trips we'd be out of money within 48 hours. DH really likes to spend, especially on vacation. He is one of these people that wants a souviner from everywhere, and most of them get packed up and never looked at again. So, I make sure I budget our food per day and total souviner money per person before we go, then they know what to expect. This is of couse after the rental car, hotel, airfare, parking money, laundry money, grocery money, and other have already been deducted. We have never had to charge anything on a trip yet, so it must be working.

 

[skiwee1]

We do not have a budget. We spend whatever we want and not have to worry about it. I have no idea what we spend until we get the bill. Then we pay it and plan another trip! I imagine it can be tough to go to WDW and have to watch your $$$ and I feel for the ones that have to do this. I do know that I couldn't go to WDW like that. I'm sure there are plenty out there that doesn't budget so we are not alone!

 

[june@imsarc.com]

We save in our special "Disney account" all year--we put in a certain amount of money from each pay--based upon what we spent the prior year. I really believe that when you are on vacation you should have fun and not have to worry about how much you spend. This method helps us because we know we have it in our account and we don't feel guilty about spending while we are there.

Our two oldest kids bring the money that they have earned specifically for the WDW trip and that is how they buy their souveniers.

This works for us.

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

Originally posted by BounceyOne
NOt sure where to post this.

I read so much about how much $ to bring for certain things. I am curious, who just goes to WDW without a budget in mind?

When we go we just wing it.. I don't calculate how much per day or things like that.
Am I the only one?

Same here and I don't really plan either. I am a wild one, I am.

 

[DisneyDiver]

I'm not one for planning budgets... With us, it's more a case of spend first, ask questions later!

 

[3for Me]

We budget for the hotel, rental car and airfare - but the rest we just sort of do what we want. I mean, we don't eat at the most expensive restaurant every night, or see every show - that sort of thing- but we basically just do what we want. That's why it's a vacation!

 

[Melora]

We don't have a budget either.. this year we are taking 9 people (5 kids and the grandparents). Airfare alone was more than $2300. While we are there we just wing it. I don't let the kids go overboard with souveniers but its vacation and I justy want to enjoy myself.... of course we're lucky not to have to worry about money.... If I was still married to my ex husband we would be going and stuffing he and I and 4 kids into the cheapet hotel possible and sharing food just so we could afford to go. New husband, new life..... HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY!!!

 

[sarahandhannahsmom]

Well I guess we are the lone ducks. Having never taken a disney vacation, i'm sure i'll be way off on my budget, but we'll try.

Unfortunately we don't have unlimited amounts of money so we have to watch our p's and q's. i alotted money for the hotel, the trip there and home, and money to pay for our character dining.

Then I threw in money for our daily adventures: counter service, souveniers, ice cream, popcorn, drinks, etc.

If I didn't budget, we'd spend $10,000 and never get to go again. I'm jealous of you Diser's who don't have to budget. But until we win the lottery, we have to be thrifty.

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

Originally posted by sarahandhannahsmom
Well I guess we are the lone ducks. Having never taken a disney vacation, i'm sure i'll be way off on my budget, but we'll try.

Unfortunately we don't have unlimited amounts of money so we have to watch our p's and q's. i alotted money for the hotel, the trip there and home, and money to pay for our character dining.

Then I threw in money for our daily adventures: counter service, souveniers, ice cream, popcorn, drinks, etc.

If I didn't budget, we'd spend $10,000 and never get to go again. I'm jealous of you Diser's who don't have to budget. But until we win the lottery, we have to be thrifty.

I don't have limited funds either, I just save 500.00 per month for our two vacations.

 

[sandieb]

To Budget or Not To Budget? Well, I have tried to budget once, and it didn't work. Now I just try to use common sense. We plan to eat dinner out (we stay at DVC so we have a kitchen). Sometimes it is just pizza or fish & chips, so it is reasonable. We will do a couple breakfasts out too. We rarely eat lunch out...a snack suffices, and we usually return to the Beach Club Villas in the afternoon and eat something there.

Certainly WDW is not cheap, but the costs stay sane if I do...I think the biggest splurges are the Cirque de Soliel and Hoop-de-doo, and I save for them in advance.

I would rather budget at HOME and splurge at the World...Sandie

 

[DisneyDiver]

I'm not saying I have an unlimited supply of money, but if you're a bit sensible then you can just work out things as you go...

 

[sue1013]

I don't have unlimited funds either but it is vacation. We do pretty much what we want. I don't think I could budget for food, how do you know what you're going to want each day? Three sit down meals is just too much food for us, but I won't bring food and snacks with me. I'm responsible for the family's meals at home vacation is a break for me also. I guess its all personal choice some will spend more on a hotel room and bring food with them, others will stay at less expensive hotel and eat out every meal. Whatever works for you.

 

[April in Disney]

I look for the best possible rates for specific resorts and plane tickets, Give my DD(8) a GC with limited amount of money( I have found out she is more careful with her money than with mine). And sit back and relax and enjoy. We have no budget while there.

 

[Forever a Princess]

I budget before we go and then ease up when we are there.

Each month we buy Disney Dollars from the Disney Store, clip coupons and save our change. This helps in that we can splurge on lots more PS ressies and character meals while we are there.

I set the budget before we go and then try to follow it (sometimes this is impossible) when we are there. I do this by taking out so many travelers checks out every day and once that money is gone we do not spend dollars on souvenirs for the rest of the day.

We do not have to budget but I'm just a thrifty gal. We do not have credit card debt from our trips and I plan to keep it this way.l

Best of wishes to all of you.

 

[crazymomof4]

We used to "wing it" back before we had kids!

Now with four kids and me being a SAHM, we do a rough budget and pile as much money as we can to inflate the account that we will use to pay for the trip. We try to pay for most of the trip way ahead of time.

 

[NancyIL]

I'm petty frugal, even at WDW. While we don't allot only X amount of dollars per vacation, we look for the best deals on hotels and admissions, and enjoy nice meals within reason. (I am not terribly fond of cooking at home, so there's NO WAY I'd be making breakfasts or lunches in the hotel room!) I write down all of our expenses, so I know what the trip costs as we go.

 

[DJGifford]

We are definately on a fixed income, only one salaray and having my own small business isn't paying what I made as a FT nurse...

But, I "know" what I spent on the airfare, room etc. If I want to eat I have to pay, so we don't budget, but I do keep track of what we have bought. This past trip we went a little over board with pins..dd got 18, ds 16 and little dd got13 EECK!

I don't constantly want to say nope to everything. A few Character meals, as they do add up and such like that...

We try very hard to not go overboard, lol

 

[iwannabeminnie]

In a way we budget, but in a way we don't. I'm not sure what you mean by "budget". The room, passes, airline tickets, etc. are paid for before we leave home. Cirque tickets, show tickets, etc. are paid for before we leave. UPH's offer the most flexible options for us. However, I do the traveler's checks in the envelope game. One envelope per day. Most days we have money left over at the end of the day. I tuck that into the next days envelope and maybe splurge a little on something I maybe wouldn't do without the extra (like the pictures of you on the rides......those can get steep). We rarely use the credit card on vacation, but if we see that special something that we just CAN'T live without......... Anyway, it keeps the credit card bill down. I don't think I could enjoy myself on vacation knowing I would be facing a huge bill when I got home. I would rather work first and then play than play and then spend the next year working it off.