Do You Watch What You Spend At WDW?

[Madi100]

I know that most of us here are planners and want to get the best deal on our airline, tickets, and hotel. But, once you are actually on vacation do you watch what you spend?

I know that growing up my parents did everything they could to pinch a penny on vacation. So, maybe that is why I have no desire to do so. If we see something that we want, we get it, within reason. We don't look at the prices when we eat. We just do what makes us happy. One year I spent $80 on pajamas. I would NEVER do that. Heck, I usually only wear a t-shirt to bed.

How do you spend?

 

[Tiggerlover91]

I'm VERY cautious about what I spend when on vacation whether I'm in Disney or anywhere else. I have a certain budget set up for my vacations so while DH and I are on it, I'm very aware of what we are spending. It's nice coming home with extra money so that way I can save for our next trip no matter where we go.

 

[micksterlee]

We probably spend more than we should while at WDW, but is on food and treats.Seems like our favorite expression is " hey we are at Disney World what the heck".We buy our fair share of souveniers but everyone usually has a set amount saved up to spend and usually we stick to it pretty close.A week at WDW is usually our only vacation for the year and I always feel like the family deserves a few extras since we all save and plan the event.

 

[YourMajesty]

We jI know that most of us here are planners and want to get the best deal on our airline, tickets, and hotel. But, once you are actually on vacation do you watch what you spend?

I know that growing up my parents did everything they could to pinch a penny on vacation. So, maybe that is why I have no desire to do so. If we see something that we want, we get it, within reason. We don't look at the prices when we eat.ust do what makes us happy. One year I spent $80 on pajamas. I would NEVER do that. Heck, I usually only wear a t-shirt to bed.

How do you spend?

Did you enjoy you pajamas??? I've have a pair of mickey pj's that I love. It's fun to just get what you want sometimes without the worry (do I really need these etc)! My DH thought I was crazy buying hats for the MVMCP. Everyone has different budgets but I agree it's good to splurge within reason.

 

[Rozzie]

We go with a budget, if you can call it that. We give ourself a lot of leeway for spending. we pad our budget with an extra 1K, just in case we see something or want to eat something or somewhere on a splurge. We only go once a year because of this, because DH and I will not go to WDW unless we can stay where we wanna stay, eat where we wanna eat, and buy what we wanna buy. We always never spend all the "extra", but is nice to know it is there. Kinda like if you go to a casino, you take only what you can spend...

we really ham it up when we are there. on a whim we got our portrait done in front of the castle, we absolutely love it, and it is nice to be able to do things on a whim and not worry about the cost....

have fun, remember, memories are priceless!

 

[Stiff]

we stay within budget

however, we set a HIGH budget....alot more than we would really need to spend

and that way, we dont have to worry bout money while on vacation

 

[Madi100]

Did you enjoy you pajamas??? I've have a pair of mickey pj's that I love. It's fun to just get what you want sometimes without the worry (do I really need these etc)! My DH thought I was crazy buying hats for the MVMCP. Everyone has different budgets but I agree it's good to splurge within reason.

I did. I don't have them anymore, but I lost weight. I still have the shorts that came with them. They are a bit big, but I like them.

 

[cdntourguide]

I go to WDW with a fixed budget, and set aside the cash (usually in Travelers checks). I allocate money for room, car rental, meals and souvenirs.
I sometimes reallocate money within the budget amount, but never go over the total that I started with. Sometimes I have gotten home with on a few cents in my pocket though. (good thing I carry a credit card with me)

 

[scrump]

Yes, I do watch what I spend. I'm usually not a big souvenir spender (though I am always tempted at WDW) and food is my main cost. My disney trips themselves are a huge splurge, and sometimes it's hard to not buy stuff, but I am just so happy to just be there!!!!!

 

[becka]

We budget a pretty high amount for food/souveniers, etc.. so we can splurge when we go. I don't usually buy stuff for myself so when on our last trip I fell in love with a two-tone Mickey bracelet watch for $80 I got it and didn't feel guilty at all. Of course there was also the trip when I didn't buy one thing for myself and I didn't really think about it until we got to the airport. DH took me to the Disney Store in the mall and told me to buy something for myself! I didn't really find anything too great so I got a few Mickey pins and some Mickey post-its for my desk! I was cheap that trip...

We also budget enough for food that we can order the $30 steak if we want. It is vacation and I budget enough to make sure we don't go broke but we still throw a little caution to the wind.

 

[KimR]

No and we wind up spending A LOT. Like others have mentioned, we spend quite a bit on food, probably close to $400 a day. Add to that souveneirs and we probably spent around $4000 before resort and park tickets. I figure this last trip will set us back over $10,000. But - it's worth it! The memories we make will last us a lifetime and that's more than I can say for a new car, clothes, furnishings, whatever.

 

[Tonyspad]

KimR- I am with you. When we go to WDW we stay a deluxe hotel and never worry about the amount we spend. WDW is something the entire family looks forward to and we shoot for the sky!

 

[tinkwishes]

We live about 5 1/2 hours away from Disney and it is Interstate the whole way. It is an easy drive. Therefore- we make alot of spontaneous trips. We also plan in advance for trips too though. We make careful decisions about where we stay sometimes, but once we are there--we splurge. My husband loves to spoil the kids at WDW. They are very small--3 and 6 months. So, they dont want very expensive things right now. We splurge on meals and snacks also. For some reason, when Iwe are at the mouse house all sense of budgeting goes out the window!!

 

[AlwaysAPrincess]

We always seem to spend more in Disney than any other vacation. (IMAGINE THAT!! )We do bring travelers checks & usually will have the room & plane tickets paid before we go. We spend most of our money on dining & souveniers. We usually have a budget, but a high one.

My family is planning a 2 week trip in 2007. My DH & I have this water cooler jug (now labeled "Our Disney Funds") & fill it every week with any change or dollar bills left in our pockets on Friday. Last time...for our 2004 two week trip.... we saved just over $1000.

 

[fanofdisney]

We plan on taking tons of money- then if we blow it all, oh well! Last time we were tight with the cash, and it wasn't a fun time. I'm working extra hours to make more money to spend there. The food is so pricey, anyhow, so we'll just pay it and not worry about it, and buy what we want in souvenirs!

 

[PratersloveDW]

We always think we are watching what we spend until we get home and realize just how much we ended up taking out of the ATM or putting on the credit card. So, on our last trip, we decided to take all traveler's checks and only take so much out of the safe a day and keep it to that. But something happens when you are at WDW and you don't realize when you give a person your credit card or take more money from the safe!

 

[Stiff]

"We always think we are watching what we spend until we get home and realize just how much we ended up taking out of the ATM or putting on the credit card."

we take our laptop to dump pictures every night....so last year we set up a spreadsheet for each day of the trip

every night I dug out receipts and plugged everything in and it automatically deducted from our budget total

that way we ALWAYS knew where we were in terms of money and toward the end of the trip I could say "scale back on purchases" or "anything you want, its yours"

 

[Disney-Kim]

We are pretty much like you. We save a certain amount before we go, but we budget high. So if we want desserts or steaks, no problem. We enjoy the sit down restaurants and are no longer shocked by the prices.
After so many trips we don't buy as many souveniers any more but when we do see that special item, we get it.

 

[Eeyore2003]

I don't "budget", but I'm allot "pickier" on what I "buy". We eat where ever we want and whatever we want, but I also use my Disney Visa rewards for that. I always try to get the best deal for rooms, although we do stay at deluxe. That usually means renting points from a DVC owner or using AP deals. So I think we "vacation comfortably and enjoyably", but not go all out "vacation crazy".

I've noticed that now that we've been going more often than we used to, you get allot pickier on what you pick up as souvineers. Alot of time we'll just say, we'll think about it and maybe get it next time.

 

[sleepyone]

The kids each have a certain amount to spend on souveniers and once that's gone they (2 older kids) know not to ask for anything. We'll get a souvenier for my parents since they will be watching our house, feeding pets, etc. We plan *read save* on spending alot on food so, we don't have to worry about money for food while we're there.