DISers who can easily afford a cruise need not post...

[geffric]

Originally posted by CRSNDSNY

. You should see how I track our spending at home. I use Excel, MSMoney and SPSS to track everything. DH thinks I'm funny -- but I tell him it's like a hobby! Darnit, I'm GOOD at it!!! [/B]

Crsndsny - how do you use SPSS to track ???? Only interested because that where I work.

 

[CRSNDSNY]

Originally posted by geffric
Crsndsny - how do you use SPSS to track ???? Only interested because that where I work.

It gets a little tricky and sketchy on my part when defining my variables, mostly because it's not like I am surveying or anything. My samples are basically monthly expenses with very limited criteria or variables. I mostly use it to obtain basic frequencies of my monthly spending criteria and values of that criteria based on a scale (as an example):

1 = $0 - $100
2 = $101 - $200
3 = $201 - $300, etc.

I'm a very visual person, so charts and graphs and itemized frequencies are great for analyzing!

 

[Padre Disney]

We are a family of 6 and need 2 rooms. We book really really early and while on board. We have cat 11's booked for March 2004. For our last two cruises we have delivered newspapers for about 6 to 8 months before our cruise. We get up about 4 a.m the same time that some people get up to excercise. We walk our paper route and deliver about 120 to 125 papers every day. We get our exercise and get paid for it. We earn between $500 & $600 every four weeks. As soon as we get paid the money goes into the vacation fund. It is hard waking up each morning but we think about the ship and how much fun we have.

 

[geffric]

Padre Disney we are on the same cruise as you... I wonder how come our countdown clocks are different??

CRSNDSNY great way to use SPSS... thanks

 

[Padre Disney]

geffric,
We leave on the 17th. Spending a few days in Oralndo before the cruise. I have a wierd way of counting. I never count the day I leave or the day I am currently on in my count down.
Makes it look like less time until we leave

 

[geffric]

Padre Disney - we don't leave until Friday night bc we both have to work and the kids need to be in school... but we will see you bright and early at the terminal...

Have fun in Orlando.... doing WDW???

We are staying the weekend after the trip for a few days... AP's are so addicting..


Oh OH another tip I just thought of... use the charge cards with the miles and get free airfare..just charde, then pay it off and collect those miles

 

[nuke]

Great Tips everybody!!

One thing I do is shop at the Wonder/hostess outlet store for milk and snacks.
I get a loaf of bread for 90 cents that costs $2.99 at the regular stores. I usually spend about $5 at the outlet store an have bread,muffins, bagels, lunch snacks and crackers, for the week.

 

[gdulaney]

Here are some of my tips:
- Pay yourself to use the washer/dryer at home. This is also a good way to save for new appliances. Basically you drop $.50 (or whatever amt you choose) into a jug whenever you run the washer or dryer.
- I also save the difference between my subtotal and after-coupon total. This can add up really quick!
- I've recently started using my Disney card for just about everything. I keep the money in my checking account, so that I can pay it off in full...but this way we've finally started earning some Reward Dollars.
- Make friends over on the "Rewards Programs" board. Everyday I do Memolink, CreationsRewards, Milesource, PCH points, Lucky Points, and Reward TV. The rewards?? Gift cards for Wal-Mart (great for the pre-cruise stop), restaurants, gas stations, etc.
We ate a great meal at Bahama Breeze (with frothy drinks, which is a huge splurge for us) for under $8.00...the balance was taken care of with gift cards from different sites.
- Before buying something, ask yourself...is it worth _____and fill in the blank with whatever. For example, is it worth 6 hours of work, is it worth an excursion on vacation, is it worth... you get the idea. I'll pick up lots of stuff, then decide that I don't want it that bad.
- The Dollar Store...I LOVE the dollar store (especially the ones where everything really is one dollar).
- I'm a bread outlet person too!
- We have a membership at a local warehouse club. But, beware...large volume isn't always cheaper!! This is true at the grocery store too! When I'm using coupons, I compare cost per ounce using the coupon. If I have multiple coupons, it's often cheaper to buy several of a smaller size (each with a coupon).
- I drink COKE...not Pepsi, generic, etc. I'll admit it...I'm addicted. But I do alternate with water (from the water fountain..I just refill my water bottle) and I've cut down on the number of Cokes.
- We have Netflix, which is a great deal for us. We love to watch movies, but hate to pay movie prices. Netflix is delivered to our mailbox and we don't have any late fees!!

I've learned alot from this thread. Some of the tips I'm already doing, but I've picked up a number of new ideas. Hope my ideas are helpful!

Ginny

 

[hydster]

We try to do 2 cruises a year with the kids but we are a 1 income family as well. Our tips for savings are pretty much what has been said here as well as a couple of other ones:

1-We buy clothing at the end of the year for the kids for the next year so at the end of the summer we go up a size for each kid and then stash it til summer time again. We also go outlet shopping once a season and do the same thing. At the Old Navy Outlet we got the kids a complete summer wardrobe complete with bathing suits, sandals and clothes and all 3 of them outfitted for less than $200.00 total. I have 1 girl and 2 boys so the boy stuff gets passed down. When I am done I usually sell it on E-bay or at a consignment shop here in town.

2- We dont have a Disney credit card because not all of our cruises are disney. We do however have an American Express card that we can use for airline tickets on Delta. There are sometimes that they do dobule miles so when we are going to purchase something large we usually wait until then and then get double miles. It really saves a fortune (almost $1500) for our family of 5 to fly to Florida.

3- We dont eat out hardly at all. We plan our meals at home usually limiting ourselves to 1 pizza we take out once a week the rest of the time we eat at home off of a menu that we all helped pick out the meals so everyone will eat it. We give ourselves a weekly allowance at the store ie: $100 a week to buy what we need. If we spend less than the 100 we write the check out for 100 and then put the rest in a trip savings account.

4- My husbands company will put a certain amount of each check into another account so we usually have about $100 put away from each check or $200-$300 a month depending on the month for our cruise fund. It is money we have NEVER EVER seen and we dont miss it. Currently we have enough money from doing these 3 things to take the kids on a nice cruise and for hubby and I to take a trip to Cancun later next year.

5- We take our IRS tax return every year and sock it into that savings account as well. We never use it for anything but the vacation fund because we figure we went without it for the year we can continue to go without it for the sake of a vacation.


Saving a little can really add up! I am happy to scrimp a little bit to take my kids on vacation at least once a year and usually twice.

Heidi

 

[Wendybird63]

I don't have much to add; everybody has been so creative!

There was something in The Millionaire Next Door which my DH and I have always practiced, but I never gave it much thought: Stay away from Starbucks. Others have pointed this out, and I have nothing against Starbucks. The point is: Do you need a $5 cup of coffee? That should be a treat, not a daily necessity.

Also, we have only one credit card which carries no annual fee. We have always paid it off at the end of the month. It seemed obvious to us that if you don't have the money, you don't spend it. The money which we've saved through the years by not paying interest probably has a lot to do with why I'm able to stay home with my children.

The same goes for cars in our household. We buy what we can afford and we keep them for years.

Many people have said that they just can't live like this. My DH and I have taken our kids on some awesome vacations, though. I think the memories from these times together will mean more to them, ( I know they do to us!), than how nice our cars were or how much "stuff" we had.

Wendy

 

[Tooth Fairy]

I, too, stay at home with our twins and have found it's just about what the most important to you. What do you want your kids to remember? That you got a new car every few years or the great adventures of traveling and not just Disney - although it is my personal favorite? DH and I look back on our childhoods and the most important things I remember all the good times with our family and traveling (esp. DH and his family
We do without the soda - not only is it costly - it's full of sugar and no nutrients! We do alot of the other things everyone has suggested as well. It really doesn't matter that much to us!
We love to travel !!!!

 

[scottygirl]

I know some of these have been mentioned already but I thought this was a really great thread and I wanted to participate!!

1)We are going during offseason when the kids have a short break from school so they will only miss 2 1/2 days.
2) Loose change in the jar, it really adds up and our bank has a machine that counts the change for FREE.
3) We have money taken out of our paychecks every month that goes right to GMAC Demand Notes. Out of sight out of mind.
I work part-time 3 days a week and I get the kids off to school and I am home before they get off the bus in the afternoon, so no day-care expenses.
4) Any extra money that comes in from rebates, refunds, bottle return (10 cents per can/bottles in MI), birthday, Christmas money goes in the vacation fund.


We do all this and still save for retirement! Remember to pay yourself first. Just put it in your budget like any other monthly expense.

 

[MrsPete]

All these suggestions are good -- eating out, change jars, etc. However, they may or may not fit YOUR family's needs.

I'm surprised that no one else has suggested this: Write down EVERYTHING that you spend in a week so you can see the bad spots in YOUR budget. You'll see if you're overspending on sodas, clothes, whatever. Then you can plan accordingly.

 

[SeaSpray]

I joined My Survey. Com about 6 months ago. You won't get "rich" from this web site, but it's fun. I've already gotten $10 in CASH, plus I've gotten brand name foods to try. I've gotten Lipton Noodles and Sauce, Lipton Rice and Sauce, Campbell's Chunky Soups, and a new margarine product to try. How this works: You go to their web site and fill in the info about yourself and your household. (In all the months I've been a member, I have not gotten junk email or junk real mail). Then when they have surveys from legitimate companies that want people's opinions, they will send you an email. You click on the link, answer the survey, and you get "points" for each survey. Most of the surveys only take a couple of minutes and you get 10 pts for those. Some that can take up to 15 minutes give you more points, sometimes 250 points. When you get up to 1000 points you can "cash out" and they will send you a check for $10. I've done this once already and now I have almost 900 points. When I get another 100 points I'll get another check in the mail for $10. We also think it's fun to try the products they send you. How that part works is: Sometimes the survey will have to do with food. At the end of the survey, they will ask you if you're willing to try and product at your home, then give your opinions on it. I've done this several times already. These are the surveys that give out a lot of points at one time.
I like My Survey because they send me an email whenever they have a survey for me to take, otherwise I'd probably forget to check in and see. LOL

Anyway, this is my small contribution to "saving" money. It's free to join, you can get actual cash, AND sometimes name brand products to try!

EDITED TO ADD: Ooops! I didn't realize that the link I had in this post is only for ONE time. I get a some points for referring people, and that link is how they credit me, but I just went back and reread it, and it says I need to give a new link for each person. Can you please email me and I'll immediately send a link to you, so I can get the credit? thanks, and sorry for the inconvenience.

 

[AnnMorin]

that is a neat one and I wanted to do it but the link gave me an error... you might be so popular with sending folks over they should put you in management I will try again in the morning .. that looks like one job I could handle.. hmmmm giving my opinion.. oh not me... I have no opinions...

 

[SeaSpray]

Originally posted by AnnMorin
that is a neat one and I wanted to do it but the link gave me an error... you might be so popular with sending folks over they should put you in management I will try again in the morning .. that looks like one job I could handle.. hmmmm giving my opinion.. oh not me... I have no opinions...

Hi Ann!

The link just worked for me... Maybe they were down for a while or had some kind of technical problems. I know what you mean though, I LOVE giving my opinions :happy1:

EDITED: Ann, I'm going to send you a "fresh" link for that site. I didn't realize that each new person had to use a new/different link! Thanks

 

[Jaklackus]

Originally posted by AnnMorin
Quote:
****************
In the Winter, we keep the Heat set at 75 and in the Summer, we keep the AC at 80. We used to keep our house at a perfect 78 degrees all year but those couple degrees definitely make a difference! Our Utility bills prove it!!!
************************

In the winter here the heat is set at 68 degrees at night and 63 during the day. When it is twenty below outside with the windchill I could not pay the mortgage it the heat was at 75!!

Amen! 68 degrees is very generous in the winter..lol. My stepson complains that he's cold all of the time..but he's also wearing shorts and t-shirts in the house in the middle of winter....I direct him to his jeans and sweatshirts and hand him a blanket....pretty hard to stay warm playing video games all day...lol

 

[aprilgail2]

I sell all my daughters old clothes and toys on EBay, I secret shop and what pays the bulk of it is my income tax...I claim zero all year long on my paycheck and when its time to file my income tax its like having a non interest bearing savings account of 6,000 and my income tax check is what I use each year to vacation each year. I also take surveys online that pay money.

 

[scottygirl]

Originally posted by aprilgail2
I sell all my daughters old clothes and toys on EBay, I secret shop and what pays the bulk of it is my income tax...I claim zero all year long on my paycheck and when its time to file my income tax its like having a non interest bearing savings account of 6,000 and my income tax check is what I use each year to vacation each year. I also take surveys online that pay money.

aprilgail2,

Instead of giving Uncle Sam a interest free loan, why not adjust your withholding and put aside a lump sum of money through direct deposit into an account that bears interest and is not easily accessible. I'm not flaming you, it's just that I am a CPA and I hate to see people using tax refunds as savings. JMHO

 

[CaliforniaDreaming]

Wow, some of you are so wonderful at saving! We're right now in the planning stages of our next cruise, and while we have a lot of time to save for it, we better get started now! I really want 2 verandah cabins (that's what we had last time), but, based off of 2004 rates, it'll still be over $8500 for the four of us. That's around $14 per day for the next 600 days. But, the cruise would be worth it, right?