Can't We Just Travel by Map? Oct 2013 PTR

[ash-n-brensmom]

All caught up! So it looks like we will be overlapping one day. We are going to be in the World from the 2-10th. We have a 3 night cruise on The Dream that we will be leaving for on the 10th. So, that leaves your arrival day. Depending on what your arrival day plans are, we may just run into you! I know it's a long shot, but it could happen!

Loved your kids costumes, too cute! And congrats on your award, looks like you guys went all out! Lots of fun, too!

 

[Chicago Mo]

Okay, I get it now...watersports stuff. Well, it is my opinion that we can do those sorts of things at home at a much cheaper rate: watersports, mini golf, video arcades...when I am at Disney I am going to spend my wad on stuff I can't do at home! If they give me Disneyquest vouchers for our whole family, it may be worth it to go on one of our rest days maybe, but otherwise...no thanks!

I can't agree more. Disney quest would be cool to check out though...

 

[DMGeurts]

So, last night was Halloween. Our church hosted a Trunk or Treat night complete with a jumpy house, bonfire for roasting hot dogs and marshmallows, hayrides, and lots of chili and fixings.

Our kids didn't end up picking Disney related costumes...but I thought they still looked cute...

Our decorated trunk:

The youth group at our church decorated the church bus with a Christmas theme...and the youth pastor was Santa! I thought that was a pretty clever idea!

You will see the "Christmas bus" in this picture of Charity with one of your friends:

And guess what! Our family won for best vehicle decorations!!! We won a $20 grocery gift card, bragging rights for a year and this nifty certificate:

How awesome is that!! Congratulations! I think your trunk looks magnificant!

Trunk-or-Treats must be a southern thing? We don't do anything here like that - probably because half of our Halloweens are below freezing? Or then, there's always "The Great Halloween Blizzard of 1991" scenerio too (I was in high school, so I actually remember that).

Okay, I get it now...watersports stuff. Well, it is my opinion that we can do those sorts of things at home at a much cheaper rate: watersports, mini golf, video arcades...when I am at Disney I am going to spend my wad on stuff I can't do at home! If they give me Disneyquest vouchers for our whole family, it may be worth it to go on one of our rest days maybe, but otherwise...no thanks!

I totally second this 100%... That is half the reason when I go, I don't want a "water view" - because if I want a water view, I can just go to the lake. However, I don't want a "dumpster view" either... So, this time, I am splurging the extra $100 for a "Garden view" at FQ... I am probably the only person in this world who wouldn't take the upgrade... Ok, maybe I would? LOL

How about a some actual "pre-trip planning" fun? The kids and I talked about starting our countdown chain, but MAN would it have been long! I had found a few ideas on Pinterest for longer countdowns, and decided on this one:

We have this beauty on the buffet in our dining room, since we do so much of our Disney dreaming at the dinner table. Isn't that such a cool castle picture? I found it online and just printed it out on plain old copy paper. It turned out so nice that I may just have to keep it after our trip is over. We have decided to put together the paper chain when we book the trip in January or February. Until then, this little dry erase countdown will work!

OOooh - I wanna steal this idea so badly!!! How awesome is this?????

D~

 

[solana131]

Love the trunk or treats! We were going to go to ours last night, but we just ran out of time. We have to drive 20 mins to my Gram's house, then another 20 mins back to DH's dad's and by then it was time for DH to go to bed (he gets up at 1am for work this week). Loved your trunk and I can definitely see why you won!

I agree with you about the extras at Disney. If we ever go for more than a week, we will probably try a mini-golf, or waterpark, but for now we are happy with the 4 parks and DTD. There just isn't enough time in the week for the stuff we can do around here.

I like your countdown thingy too....we decided to do a chalkboard type thing for now. I will be making a paper chain for Bradey's room once we reach the 200 day mark, but I think over 300 is a little excessive

 

[Pixiedust530]

I like your countdown thingy too....we decided to do a chalkboard type thing for now. I will be making a paper chain for Bradey's room once we reach the 200 day mark, but I think over 300 is a little excessive

Excessive?!? I think you must be confused! There's no such thing around these parts!

 

[oopsiDAISY]

All caught up! So it looks like we will be overlapping one day. We are going to be in the World from the 2-10th. We have a 3 night cruise on The Dream that we will be leaving for on the 10th. So, that leaves your arrival day. Depending on what your arrival day plans are, we may just run into you! I know it's a long shot, but it could happen!

Loved your kids costumes, too cute! And congrats on your award, looks like you guys went all out! Lots of fun, too!

Well, if you all continue to go every October, and we end up going every October our paths WILL cross eventually! Have you started that TR yet? I just love your TR's because there are always pictures of lovely WDW drinks in them...

I can't agree more. Disney quest would be cool to check out though...

Oh, Brian and Jillian would be in HEAVEN at Disney Quest! Hmmm~maybe if we get only two vouchers, I can send the two of them and then my parents and I could get our shopping on at DTD with the little ones...

How awesome is that!! Congratulations! I think your trunk looks magnificant!

Trunk-or-Treats must be a southern thing? We don't do anything here like that - probably because half of our Halloweens are below freezing? Or then, there's always "The Great Halloween Blizzard of 1991" scenerio too (I was in high school, so I actually remember that).

I totally second this 100%... That is half the reason when I go, I don't want a "water view" - because if I want a water view, I can just go to the lake. However, I don't want a "dumpster view" either... So, this time, I am splurging the extra $100 for a "Garden view" at FQ... I am probably the only person in this world who wouldn't take the upgrade... Ok, maybe I would? LOL

OOooh - I wanna steal this idea so badly!!! How awesome is this?????

D~

We love Trunk or Treat...especially since we live out in the country. Going door to door would be a challenge to say the least.

We plan to pay for a preferred room this time. You saw how spread out POR is, and we were in the waaaaaaayyyyy back. We want to be closer to the "stuff" this time.

Steal away!! I actually already had the frame (which was so unused that it still had the generic photo in it from the store) in one the cabinets in our buffet. So this little countdown project was absolutely FREE...can't beat that with a stick!

Love the trunk or treats! We were going to go to ours last night, but we just ran out of time. We have to drive 20 mins to my Gram's house, then another 20 mins back to DH's dad's and by then it was time for DH to go to bed (he gets up at 1am for work this week). Loved your trunk and I can definitely see why you won!

I agree with you about the extras at Disney. If we ever go for more than a week, we will probably try a mini-golf, or waterpark, but for now we are happy with the 4 parks and DTD. There just isn't enough time in the week for the stuff we can do around here.

I like your countdown thingy too....we decided to do a chalkboard type thing for now. I will be making a paper chain for Bradey's room once we reach the 200 day mark, but I think over 300 is a little excessive

We actually lucked out with having to fit in seeing family members this year for Halloween. The in-laws had their party the Saturday before, so they got to see our kids all dressed up and then we could enjoy Trunk or Treat at our church guilt-free.

I love the chalkboard idea too for the countdown.

Excessive?!? I think you must be confused! There's no such thing around these parts!

Excessive? Obsessive? Yep~quite normal behavior in our little Dis community!

 

[oopsiDAISY]

I would like to introduce another feature of my new PTR...my savings counter. We pay for the bulk of our trip with our tax return each year, but I always like to do my part to save for all the "extras" like gratuities, souveniers, gifts, etc. While I am not sure I will give myself a set goal this time, I want to save as much as I can.

I plan to post my savings total every Monday morning on here. I would love for any of you who are interested, to join in and keep track of your own savings if you would like to. Maybe we can all do a "check-in" on here every Monday together...shall we?

The biggest chunk of my savings will come from coming under my grocery budget each week. Before grocery shopping every Saturday morning I stop at the ATM to get cash for the grocery bill. Whatever cash is left after groceries are paid for gets tossed in the Mickey jar at home.

I have also signed up with E-Rewards to do surveys... but only with them. Last year I did surveys for so many different sights, and I really only made a substantial amount with one of them. So, this time around my focus will only be on E-Rewards. I am happy to report that I have done it for a week now and have only filled out 2 large surveys and 5 or 6 quick ones and my "bank" is already up to over $10. I believe this survey sight is going to be a good fit for me. I think I am going to post my survey savings only once a month.

Sooooo, to kick this off:

11/5/12 Savings Balance: $96

 

[LadyBeBop]

I'm in on the savings. I can't rely on the tax refund since there are years that we have to pay. Four years ago was the last year I could claim my daughters, and I could also claim DGD as well. We got a refund of over $4,000. Three years ago, we lost their exemptions and credits. I also worked a lot of overtime that year. As a result, we had to pay over $1,200. Two years ago, I adjusted withholding, and we broke even. Last year we had limited overtime, and we got back $1,200. This year, I'm working a lot of overtime. I'm hoping we won't pay, but I'm not expecting a big refund.

A lot of the OT is going toward Disney. Right now, we have about $900. So we are about a third of the way there. We have a Christmas/vacation fund in which we deposit a couple hundred bucks every month. So from Jan-Oct 2013, that's $2,000 (although it will leave us short for next Christmas). I'll probably get about $100 month additional in gift cards extra for the next 12 months.

 

[DMGeurts]

I would like to introduce another feature of my new PTR...my savings counter. We pay for the bulk of our trip with our tax return each year, but I always like to do my part to save for all the "extras" like gratuities, souveniers, gifts, etc. While I am not sure I will give myself a set goal this time, I want to save as much as I can.

I plan to post my savings total every Monday morning on here. I would love for any of you who are interested, to join in and keep track of your own savings if you would like to. Maybe we can all do a "check-in" on here every Monday together...shall we?

The biggest chunk of my savings will come from coming under my grocery budget each week. Before grocery shopping every Saturday morning I stop at the ATM to get cash for the grocery bill. Whatever cash is left after groceries are paid for gets tossed in the Mickey jar at home.

I have also signed up with E-Rewards to do surveys... but only with them. Last year I did surveys for so many different sights, and I really only made a substantial amount with one of them. So, this time around my focus will only be on E-Rewards. I am happy to report that I have done it for a week now and have only filled out 2 large surveys and 5 or 6 quick ones and my "bank" is already up to over $10. I believe this survey sight is going to be a good fit for me. I think I am going to post my survey savings only once a month.

Sooooo, to kick this off:

11/5/12 Savings Balance: $96

This is an awesome idea Oopsi!

I love how you save for your trips!

Well, because DH doesn't go with on our trips, I have to save a bit differently.

First of all, I feel guilty taking $$ out of our family budget to pay for our trips... So, that leaves out taking it from extra places like taxes, and extra pay checks through out the year.

That is where I got my hair brained sewing idea.

Then last year, when DH saw how much $$ I was making from my sewing (it really isn't that much) - he came up with a set amount of what I have to contribute to the family budget every month from my sewing. In all fairness - I am not working at Target as much as I used to - so that $$ I have to take out of my sewing funds actually makes up for the hours I am not working - make sense?

As of now... I have $122 in Disney GCs
I also have enough to purchase one more $50 GC from Target
I try to purchase items at Target that come with the free GCs... Then I save all those up and purchase Disney GCs with them. I do get my employee discount when using Target GCs.
I am not sure I am comfortable saying how much I have in my Paypal at the moment - LOL - but lets just say that I hope to pay off our resort portion of our trip by the end of the year... And the auctions I am doing for the next several days should help boost our funds a bit.

Once I have enough to pay off our resort, I will book our trip... At that point, I will start saving for park tickets, airfare and dining... Probably in that order?

At the very end... That's when I will start saving for extras like tips and souveniers... Since we have been going a bit more recently, and have a couple of trips planned in the future, I feel that our souvenier budget will not need to be very much... We were very happy with our $150 each (if I remember correctly) last time, and I really think we could do with less.

I am anxious to hear how everyone else saves for their trips.

D~

 

[::danielle::]

Hi Connie! I'm Danielle, from the multiple Disney Facebook groups.

I've been enjoying your PTR so far! I too might copy some of your ideas for our trip next year. I'll put up our countdown calendar after Christmas. I was going to do the typical looped construction paper one. I love the framed Castle idea!

I also love that you are posting your weekly savings! What a great way to hold yourself accountable!

I can't wait to read more about your trip plans!

 

[MrsBearcat]

I would like to introduce another feature of my new PTR...my savings counter. We pay for the bulk of our trip with our tax return each year, but I always like to do my part to save for all the "extras" like gratuities, souveniers, gifts, etc. While I am not sure I will give myself a set goal this time, I want to save as much as I can.

I plan to post my savings total every Monday morning on here. I would love for any of you who are interested, to join in and keep track of your own savings if you would like to. Maybe we can all do a "check-in" on here every Monday together...shall we?

The biggest chunk of my savings will come from coming under my grocery budget each week. Before grocery shopping every Saturday morning I stop at the ATM to get cash for the grocery bill. Whatever cash is left after groceries are paid for gets tossed in the Mickey jar at home.

I have also signed up with E-Rewards to do surveys... but only with them. Last year I did surveys for so many different sights, and I really only made a substantial amount with one of them. So, this time around my focus will only be on E-Rewards. I am happy to report that I have done it for a week now and have only filled out 2 large surveys and 5 or 6 quick ones and my "bank" is already up to over $10. I believe this survey sight is going to be a good fit for me. I think I am going to post my survey savings only once a month.

Sooooo, to kick this off:

11/5/12 Savings Balance: $96

I'll join in on the budget if thats ok? So far we have $150 in Gift cards and the $200 deposit paid on our May trip. I love Mysurvey but then again I won $10,000 in 2009 in thier quarterly drawings so that could play into the favortism

 

[DMGeurts]

Sigh... Yes, I am quoting myself.

As of now... I have $122 in Disney GCs
I also have enough to purchase one more $50 GC from Target
I try to purchase items at Target that come with the free GCs... Then I save all those up and purchase Disney GCs with them. I do get my employee discount when using Target GCs.
I am not sure I am comfortable saying how much I have in my Paypal at the moment - LOL - but lets just say that I hope to pay off our resort portion of our trip by the end of the year... And the auctions I am doing for the next several days should help boost our funds a bit.

Once I have enough to pay off our resort, I will book our trip... At that point, I will start saving for park tickets, airfare and dining... Probably in that order?
D~

I almost forgot... I have one random job that I do all year long. I don't make a lot of $$ from it, however, I get paid once per year and that will come at the beginning of December - that might cover a good portion (maybe 2/3-3/4) of our park tickets.

Now, I just have to pray for Free Dining...

D~

 

[ravensterling3]

We are planning on using tax return for the big chunk of it. Normally we get Christmas bonuses too but not a sure thing. Right now we have 450 saved.

 

[disny_luvr]

How about a some actual "pre-trip planning" fun? The kids and I talked about starting our countdown chain, but MAN would it have been long! I had found a few ideas on Pinterest for longer countdowns, and decided on this one:

We have this beauty on the buffet in our dining room, since we do so much of our Disney dreaming at the dinner table. Isn't that such a cool castle picture? I found it online and just printed it out on plain old copy paper. It turned out so nice that I may just have to keep it after our trip is over. We have decided to put together the paper chain when we book the trip in January or February. Until then, this little dry erase countdown will work!

What a great idea for a countdown calendar! I love it! I may have to steal this idea for our cruise next year.

 

[disny_luvr]

I would like to introduce another feature of my new PTR...my savings counter. We pay for the bulk of our trip with our tax return each year, but I always like to do my part to save for all the "extras" like gratuities, souveniers, gifts, etc. While I am not sure I will give myself a set goal this time, I want to save as much as I can.

I plan to post my savings total every Monday morning on here. I would love for any of you who are interested, to join in and keep track of your own savings if you would like to. Maybe we can all do a "check-in" on here every Monday together...shall we?

The biggest chunk of my savings will come from coming under my grocery budget each week. Before grocery shopping every Saturday morning I stop at the ATM to get cash for the grocery bill. Whatever cash is left after groceries are paid for gets tossed in the Mickey jar at home.

I have also signed up with E-Rewards to do surveys... but only with them. Last year I did surveys for so many different sights, and I really only made a substantial amount with one of them. So, this time around my focus will only be on E-Rewards. I am happy to report that I have done it for a week now and have only filled out 2 large surveys and 5 or 6 quick ones and my "bank" is already up to over $10. I believe this survey sight is going to be a good fit for me. I think I am going to post my survey savings only once a month.

Sooooo, to kick this off:

11/5/12 Savings Balance: $96

Another great idea, Oopsi! Now, if memory serves me correctly (and sometimes I wonder about my memory ) you were part of a thread last year where people kept track of the savings for their upcoming WDW trips. I enjoyed reading that thread and got some great ideas from it including this one - All one dollar bills have a letter in a circle on the right or left side (see, there goes my memory again) of the bill. I save all one dollar bills that have a letter in that circle that is the same letter as our first names. So for example, our names start with S, L, M, and B. If I have any bills with those letters on them I keep them and put them in a special envelope that goes toward our Disney savings. Last year (and I started this only about 3 months before we went on our vacation) we saved over $200.

The other thing I do is, every time my DH gets paid money is automatically withdrawn from our account and transferred into an ING account. I rarely check that account, but when I do it is exciting to see how quickly the money in their accumulates.

Do you clip coupons? I am a huge coupon clipper and am part of one of the coupon trains on here. When ever I go to the grocery store I add up my coupon savings and my bonus card savings and transfer the money I save into my vacation account when I get home. I average about $75 in savings every two weeks.

 

[Pluto0809]

It's looking like our trips are going to overlap some! When I'm at WDW in three weeks, I want to book a bounce back offer if there is a good one. So DH and I discussed dates last night for our Anniversary trip next October. We agreed on Sat Oct 12th through Sat Oct 19th. Now I just need to get my boss's approval and I'm good to go!

As for saving for my trips, I set a budget for the trip and then figure out how much I need to set aside each month to meet that budget. I don't feel guilty taking it out of our combined pay checks because DH plays ice hockey year round and it costs about as much each year as a trip to Disney! We don't have kids though (except for the furry ones) so our expenses are not as high as larger families.

 

[Chicago Mo]

I have also signed up with E-Rewards to do surveys... but only with them. Last year I did surveys for so many different sights, and I really only made a substantial amount with one of them. So, this time around my focus will only be on E-Rewards. I am happy to report that I have done it for a week now and have only filled out 2 large surveys and 5 or 6 quick ones and my "bank" is already up to over $10. I believe this survey sight is going to be a good fit for me. I think I am going to post my survey savings only once a month.

I do this too!!!

 

[ash-n-brensmom]

Fabulous idea for your savings...if only I could figure out how to use a budget...
I am just not that organized. Since I have started doing the Disney travel agent thing, I am hoping that I can earn enough to pay for our extras for this trip. I have a year, so I am going to kick it into high gear with advertising!

I really need to get started on that TR! There are some drinks in this one too...a new one has been added to my faves!!

Gotta go get ready for a field trip with DD today...fun.

 

[oopsiDAISY]

I'm in on the savings. I can't rely on the tax refund since there are years that we have to pay. Four years ago was the last year I could claim my daughters, and I could also claim DGD as well. We got a refund of over $4,000. Three years ago, we lost their exemptions and credits. I also worked a lot of overtime that year. As a result, we had to pay over $1,200. Two years ago, I adjusted withholding, and we broke even. Last year we had limited overtime, and we got back $1,200. This year, I'm working a lot of overtime. I'm hoping we won't pay, but I'm not expecting a big refund.

A lot of the OT is going toward Disney. Right now, we have about $900. So we are about a third of the way there. We have a Christmas/vacation fund in which we deposit a couple hundred bucks every month. So from Jan-Oct 2013, that's $2,000 (although it will leave us short for next Christmas). I'll probably get about $100 month additional in gift cards extra for the next 12 months.

Oh how I love OT pay...and miss it terribly! Brian and I both work salaried positions now. We didn't realize how much we relied on OT for our "fun money" until it was gone.

This is an awesome idea Oopsi!

I love how you save for your trips!

Well, because DH doesn't go with on our trips, I have to save a bit differently.

First of all, I feel guilty taking $$ out of our family budget to pay for our trips... So, that leaves out taking it from extra places like taxes, and extra pay checks through out the year.

That is where I got my hair brained sewing idea.

Then last year, when DH saw how much $$ I was making from my sewing (it really isn't that much) - he came up with a set amount of what I have to contribute to the family budget every month from my sewing. In all fairness - I am not working at Target as much as I used to - so that $$ I have to take out of my sewing funds actually makes up for the hours I am not working - make sense?

As of now... I have $122 in Disney GCs
I also have enough to purchase one more $50 GC from Target
I try to purchase items at Target that come with the free GCs... Then I save all those up and purchase Disney GCs with them. I do get my employee discount when using Target GCs.
I am not sure I am comfortable saying how much I have in my Paypal at the moment - LOL - but lets just say that I hope to pay off our resort portion of our trip by the end of the year... And the auctions I am doing for the next several days should help boost our funds a bit.

Once I have enough to pay off our resort, I will book our trip... At that point, I will start saving for park tickets, airfare and dining... Probably in that order?

At the very end... That's when I will start saving for extras like tips and souveniers... Since we have been going a bit more recently, and have a couple of trips planned in the future, I feel that our souvenier budget will not need to be very much... We were very happy with our $150 each (if I remember correctly) last time, and I really think we could do with less.

I am anxious to hear how everyone else saves for their trips.

D~

You are just a planning and saving guru, D~!!! We actually spend less for souveniers now too, since we plan to go back every year. I fully intend to visit Target to pick up my first gift card as soon as I hit $100...which should be after this weekend.

Hi Connie! I'm Danielle, from the multiple Disney Facebook groups.

I've been enjoying your PTR so far! I too might copy some of your ideas for our trip next year. I'll put up our countdown calendar after Christmas. I was going to do the typical looped construction paper one. I love the framed Castle idea!

I also love that you are posting your weekly savings! What a great way to hold yourself accountable!

I can't wait to read more about your trip plans!

Hi Danielle, WELCOME!!! I do believe we have been on other FB pages together before too haven't we? I feel like we have been sort of hanging out in the same Dis circles for a while. Anywho, glad to have you along!

I'll join in on the budget if thats ok? So far we have $150 in Gift cards and the $200 deposit paid on our May trip. I love Mysurvey but then again I won $10,000 in 2009 in thier quarterly drawings so that could play into the favortism

Um, yes I believe I would be a fan for life if I ever won that much from a survey sight too! That is truly awesome! Glad to have you join our little savings accountability team!

Sigh... Yes, I am quoting myself.
I almost forgot... I have one random job that I do all year long. I don't make a lot of $$ from it, however, I get paid once per year and that will come at the beginning of December - that might cover a good portion (maybe 2/3-3/4) of our park tickets.

Now, I just have to pray for Free Dining...

D~

Well, I know how much we all love you and your "ramblings", but I never realized how much you must love yourself...

So, oh mighty savings guru...is your money making money now and you just can't keep up with all of it?

I am on my knees right beside you praying for that FD...

We are planning on using tax return for the big chunk of it. Normally we get Christmas bonuses too but not a sure thing. Right now we have 450 saved.

I am such a goal oriented person, even though we use that tax $$$ to pay for the trip, I just want to feel like I am doing SOMETHING to make the trip happen...make sense? Brian has actually gotten into it more this time around too...he lets me sort of "fudge" and not use my cash if I have to pick additional grocery items up throughout the week.

What a great idea for a countdown calendar! I love it! I may have to steal this idea for our cruise next year.

Feel free to steal my stolen countdown idea!

Another great idea, Oopsi! Now, if memory serves me correctly (and sometimes I wonder about my memory ) you were part of a thread last year where people kept track of the savings for their upcoming WDW trips. I enjoyed reading that thread and got some great ideas from it including this one - All one dollar bills have a letter in a circle on the right or left side (see, there goes my memory again) of the bill. I save all one dollar bills that have a letter in that circle that is the same letter as our first names. So for example, our names start with S, L, M, and B. If I have any bills with those letters on them I keep them and put them in a special envelope that goes toward our Disney savings. Last year (and I started this only about 3 months before we went on our vacation) we saved over $200.

The other thing I do is, every time my DH gets paid money is automatically withdrawn from our account and transferred into an ING account. I rarely check that account, but when I do it is exciting to see how quickly the money in their accumulates.

Do you clip coupons? I am a huge coupon clipper and am part of one of the coupon trains on here. When ever I go to the grocery store I add up my coupon savings and my bonus card savings and transfer the money I save into my vacation account when I get home. I average about $75 in savings every two weeks.

I actually did start a thread last year called One Year to Save. I tried to ressurrect it this time, but couldn't locate it on here. Could be that the Dis drops threads after so long of inactivity...who knows. Anyhow, I kind of like doing it here...it makes for a more active PTR.

I tried couponing, but it just doesn't pay off for me. I end up purchasing things I never would have in the first place just because I have a coupon for it. I have found that doing the bulk of my grocery shopping at Aldi actually comes out cheaper in the end. Plus, since Aldi is a much smaller market, there aren't so many impulse items that tempt me to stray from my list...

It's looking like our trips are going to overlap some! When I'm at WDW in three weeks, I want to book a bounce back offer if there is a good one. So DH and I discussed dates last night for our Anniversary trip next October. We agreed on Sat Oct 12th through Sat Oct 19th. Now I just need to get my boss's approval and I'm good to go!

As for saving for my trips, I set a budget for the trip and then figure out how much I need to set aside each month to meet that budget. I don't feel guilty taking it out of our combined pay checks because DH plays ice hockey year round and it costs about as much each year as a trip to Disney! We don't have kids though (except for the furry ones) so our expenses are not as high as larger families.

I am not sure if they will have the 2013 bounceback offers available yet or not. We wanted to book a bounceback when we were there last, but the only ones available were for 2012. I wonder when they DO put out the bouncebacks for the following calendar year... You will have to spy it out for us and let us know. It would be nice to be able to take advantage of that now that we plan to go in Oct each year instead of March.

I do this too!!!

Did you get an invite from SW Rapid Rewards to do E-rewards? That is how I got started. I was just curious if it truly is "by invitation only" as they stated it was...

Fabulous idea for your savings...if only I could figure out how to use a budget...
I am just not that organized. Since I have started doing the Disney travel agent thing, I am hoping that I can earn enough to pay for our extras for this trip. I have a year, so I am going to kick it into high gear with advertising!

I really need to get started on that TR! There are some drinks in this one too...a new one has been added to my faves!!

Gotta go get ready for a field trip with DD today...fun.

Oh, I didn't realize you had become a Disney TA. I thought about it, but just don't feel like I would be able to give it the time and attention that is necessary to actually make money with it. It would be SO fun to do, though!

Get that TR started already!!! Can't wait to see what new elixirs made your must do list this time...

 

[oopsiDAISY]

I hope everyone is having a good week. Brian and I got I-phones this week. Yeah, we were still stuck in the 90's with our phone technology... I have been downloading new apps for the last few days. I really like it a lot and can't wait to use it for line apps when we go back to Disney next year! Hopefully by then I will have learned how to use the Disboards app and I will be able to do live updates on here as well. I did post some things on Facebook last time we went. I now have a twitter account. I haven't been posting on Twitter as much as just following other Disfriends on there. Yeah, this ole mama has hit the big time with social media now!

This Saturday night is our next MOVIE NIGHT!!! The movie for this weekend is Toy Story. I have more than one activity, so we may do kind of a marathon with all three movies randomly throughout the day Saturday, depending on what else comes up. I have one pretty difficult project for it that Brian may end up doing the bulk of... But when finished, it will add a great decoration for the table!

The funny thing about this theme is that the weekend it was plucked from the movie night theme jar the kids had been sick all weekend and we had ended up staying in our jammies all weekend and having a Toy Story movie marathon...then Gabe picked the movie from the jar the next day. I asked if they wanted to draw a different one from the jar and Brian the kids decided they wanted to just do it anyhow. I am looking forward to it. I have come up with a fun menu, fun decorations and really neat activities to go with it.

Guess, I need to get some work done now. I hope ya'll have a good day and if I don't "see" you tomorrow, have a great weekend!