Best money saving tips - post here!

[Debi]

Every once in a while, I like to do these money-saving tip threads. Please post your best money saving tips here! Here are my two favorites:

1) Save all your change. It's amazing how fast it adds up. The trick is to not cash it in until just a few days prior (better yet, the day prior) to your WDW trip. This way, you're not tempted to spend the money.

2) Save all your $1 bills. These can be used for Mousekeeping tips, waiter/waitress tips, bottles of water, etc. In 3 days time, I've put in $20 in singles. Multiply this over a few months, and a lot money is saved. Plus, if you put them in a container, envelope, or someplace at home, you're not tempted to spend them in a vending machine at work/school.

Who's next?

 

[disneymac]

Any money I get from mail in rebates goes in the Disney fund. I also have a change jar...

 

[DisneyTeasers]

We do the change and dollar saving thing, too. We also take any unexpected money and put it into the bank and designate it as Disney dollars. It's fun watching it grow! :thewave:

 

[pooksma]

We also do the change jar. Since in Canada we have coins for our $1 and $2, it adds up really fast!

My work also lets me have a deduction made each pay that goes into a savings account. This $$ has provided emergency cash and Disney money.

 

[gary4jenn]

I use our Flex spending money (pre-tax dollars) as our trip money. Each year we can designate up to $5000 for childcare and/or $5000 for medical costs (copays, prescriptions, over the counter meds, etc).

SInce I do daycare in my home we don't need the daycare account, but I designated $2500 in our medical account so all I have to do is submit my receipts and we will have our trip pd. for.

I already have spent over $2500 (daughter had ortho care) that money is mine whenever I want it.

 

[Girlie Goofy]

We have adult children and 3 grandchildren. For Christmas, anniversaries and birthdays, we buy or give each of them a $20.00 gift or money, and put $80.00 in their can for their trip. My husband and I also put $20.00 in our can whenever we want to eat out, and DON'T eat out. We also save our change, put bonuses from work into savings for our trips, and $100.00 for every day we work overtime.

 

[DisneyMomx7]

1. Like the other posters said - save change! It really adds up and you don't miss it.

2. I buy Disney dollars every week. This year I got hurt because they were out of Disney dollars for awhile, but in a year's time I was able to save $1500 buy buying them faithfully. I also had grandparents and others give the kids disney dollars for birthdays and such and they each have $150 in Disney dollars to spend on souveniers.

3. Since we go every year we buy an AP and make the second year's trip two or three weeks earlier than the year before so we get two year's worth of trips out of one AP.

4. I book the room a year in advance and make monthly payments. It makes it easier than shelling out the big bucks all at once.

5. Use our Disney Visa and get disney reward dollars.

6. Put big ticket items on AE and every other year we are able to get free airline tickets for all five of us.

 

[stahshee]

Every once in a while, I like to do these money-saving tip threads. Please post your best money saving tips here! Here are my two favorites:

1) Save all your change. It's amazing how fast it adds up. The trick is to not cash it in until just a few days prior (better yet, the day prior) to your WDW trip. This way, you're not tempted to spend the money.

2) Save all your $1 bills. These can be used for Mousekeeping tips, waiter/waitress tips, bottles of water, etc. In 3 days time, I've put in $20 in singles. Multiply this over a few months, and a lot money is saved. Plus, if you put them in a container, envelope, or someplace at home, you're not tempted to spend them in a vending machine at work/school.

Who's next?

I am doing the same. In three days tim I saved 14 single dollars and six dollars and fifty cents in quaters. Two dollars in dimes and 70 cents in nickels. i am giving my 4 yr old pennys to put in a jar. my total in 3 days is 22 and 20 cetns. I will use the singels for tipping. The quaters for laundry and the times and nickels for air port travel( snacks coffee) I am going in the end of Sept so I should have 200 or more! When are you going?

 

[Debi]

I'm traveling twice this summer: July 15-18 and August 8-13. I figure that I can take two shorter trips for the same price as one longer trip, so I decided to take two trips. When are you headed to WDW?

 

[gobledygook]

4. I book the room a year in advance and make monthly payments. It makes it easier than shelling out the big bucks all at once.

This probably sounds dumb, but how do you do this? Do you send payments directly to the resort? Do you have to send a certain amount? And can you still apply AP rates when they come out for that time period?
I like this idea a lot but I'm not sure how to go about it. Thanks!

 

[jimmiej]

-Buy your tickets early.

-We've earned two free airline tickets by using a credit card with points.

 

[johnruuu]

Book the Hilton in WDW (select date(s)) in June right now for as little as $98 direct. That should save some money--it saved us.

 

[saucymb]

My Grandma is a coupon clipper like you wouldn't believe! My Granddad always kept her on a tight budget (cash only, no checks/credit cards), but she always wanted to give her 5 grandchildren a little something extra each summer when she and my granddad and mom took us to Disney World. So here is what she did:

Each time she had a "save $.25" coupon that she used at the grocery store on a product, when she got home she put a quarter in a cigar box...she literally SAVED twenty-five cents! She did that all year long with products, and come summer time she usually had enough to give us each $20-30 for our vacation.

Now this was 10-20 years ago, and she did end up buying things because she had a coupon that she normally would have never bought, but I'm adopting her strategy.

My husband and I can afford groceries without clipping coupons, and dinner's out without worrying about the save 50% off coupon things. But I clip coupons anyway and try to "save" money...but now I will really SAVE it in a cigar box I got from Grandma years ago, and though it won't be a huge huge amount, it will add up and we'll do something special at WDW with it.

 

[Kuffam]

1. Disney Visa-pretty much use it for everything (dangerious I know), but it will pay for some meals and souvenir.

2. Work Bonus!!! :thewave:

3. Overtime

 

[DisneyMomx7]

4. I book the room a year in advance and make monthly payments. It makes it easier than shelling out the big bucks all at once.

This probably sounds dumb, but how do you do this? Do you send payments directly to the resort? Do you have to send a certain amount? And can you still apply AP rates when they come out for that time period?
I like this idea a lot but I'm not sure how to go about it. Thanks!

You can either do it over the phone with your credit card or send a check to the address on the back of your confirmation letter. You can send whatever amount you want and yes you can still apply the AP rate. For us it works out really well - doing this we are able to go GF Lagoon view this year!

 

[newchic99]

1. We do the saving change thing.

2. Any rebates are added to the Disney fund.

3.Any coupon savings that I have. I only save the actual coupon amount. Not doubled or store savings. This year, I had $350 in coupon savings alone to make our down payment with.

4. Ebay profits. I don't do much , but a little bit helps.

5. Yard sale money. If we have one.

 

[gurleym]

I also think this works for the kids. We have an M&M dispenser like the gumball dispenser that you can buy that you use your change with. The kids use there change to get M&M's and I empty it out and put it up for our trip. Now tell me what kids doesn't like M&M's. We have saved at least $40 in the past 5 months. I also split up their allowance into smaller bills for example my oldest son gets $20 every 2 weeks for doing his chores and helping babysit his younger brother. I give him his money and then say would you like me to put part of this up for Disney for your souv. money. It seems to be a lot easier to put up a portion of his allowance than all of it. In general he usually goes half and half. So he saves his money but he still has some money he can spend on other things. Paying his allowance twice a month instead of every week really works better for us because he gets it in more of a lump sum instead of spread out in smaller amounts he seemed to want to spend it faster the old way.

 

[ntburns22]

Everytime we right a check we round it up for the register. For example if I wrote a check or debit for $25.15. I will put it in the register as $26. Last year we had about $500 extra dollars in our checking account.

 

[pooh2001]

Great ways to save $$'s for WDW.

But what we also do - CVS is our area had plates & bowls in different fruit patterns for 75 cents each. More sturdy than paper and better for the environment at WDW.
I bought a set of 4 bowls/plates.
We will use them for breakfast and snacks at the WDW resort.
I also have 4 sets of plastic forks,spoons and knifes.

We ship breakfast items - buy milk at the resort and do the food store stop on the way to WDW from the airport.
We use the bowls/plates for breakfast in the room each morning.
I also buy dish detergent and paper towels at the food store stop.
I am the first up - get breakfast going and then wash up the plates, bowls
and utensils. It does not take more than 10 minutes to clean up breakfast in the room. We do not create lots of garbage with plastic and paper throw aways in the trash each day.

We save on breakfast and the kids learn not to fill up the land fills.
I am sure WDW creates tons of paper trash each day

 

[RweTHEREyet]

not a savings in advance tip, but savings while you are there. Did you know that when you order counter service, like at the ones that show the chicken strips baskets, etc., you can order the chicken strips without the fries. If you have several people ordering, you don't have to all get the fries and you still have plenty to share. Not getting the fries takes off $2.00 from the cost of your meal.