For people on a budget... how do you still make Disney work?

[superme80]

This sounds extremely crass, but very true. People pass away and leave us enough money to do a trip to Disneyland and add to our savings.

 

[halfpintpeggy]

If you're not adverse to camping, you could fly into Orlando with all of your camping gear in a large suitcase and just small personal bags with your clothes and stuff. This is on my bucket list of things to do at Disney and now that my kids are gone, we are going to make it happen. DH and I purchased a "Camp in a bag" that is basically a large wheeled suitcase with a tent (10x10), sleeping bags, folding chairs, flashlight and small pillows in it. We are waiting for a cheap flight via Spirit at the right time of the year to do it. You can still use Magical Express, camp at FW for cheap and avoid renting a car. FW has washers/dryers so you can pack minimally, nice comfort stations and food is available at the Outpost. We are kind iof wondering how cheaply we can do this, but are definitely looking forward to our experiment.

I LOVE this idea - sounds like such a fun adventure!! I've never heard of a "Camp in a Bag" before...seems very handy!

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

My wife and I are credit card churners. This year we've applied for a bunch of cash back and travel cards earning lots of signup bonsus:

2 AMEX simply cash ($250 each)
2 Disney ($200 and $250)
2 Chase UR cards (transferred to approx $1,100 in southwest pts)
2 Southwest (worth approx $1,700 in southwest)
1 Hilton Card (unsure of actual value)
1 TD Bank card ($210)

Once we earn a signup bonus we move on to the next one. These amounts earned pay for a large % of our travel and we always buy discounted gift cards to pay for the trip.

 

[sunflowerfields]

Things we are doing to help with trip cost are: using our cc with the percent back on travel etc., always pay it in full every month, keep a change jar and add to it every chance I get-both coins and bills. Staying home more and taking advantage of free movie night when we do go out, we dropped our tv package down to the basic one, this is a $15 a month savings. I had a garage sale and made $186.00 toward trip. Instead of giving all our family members $100 each for Christmas, we are giving everyone a Disney gift card to use on the trip. We also turn in aluminum cans for cash. Trying hard to spend less at the grocery store and using any unused money budgeted for groceries for the trip. My husband and I agreed we would eat out way less to save money for the trip too. So far we have failed miserably on this which is a shame because it is the place we can save the most.

 

[momof2gr8kids]

We are a one vehicle family. My husband and I both work close to each other, and close enough to our homes we could walk or bike, so it works for us. Sure it's a pain sometimes, but you get used to it, and not having an extra car payment, insurance & maintenance on a second vehicle helps us to afford our fun stuff, like camping, fishing and travelling!

We also use our credit cards to earn points. What I do is pay off what I charge each day I charge something. That way the $$ is out of my bank account right away and I see what we are spending, and no surprises at end of month or accidentally spending $$ that should have gone to pay off the credit card.

 

[Marionnette]

Thank you guys! Great feedback. You know- I've never thought about some of these little tricks of the trade. I'm going to check out some of those threads. Thank you for those great tips!

We don't do credit cards (I don't judge anyone who does- I just don't trust myself with them personally)- so that won't work for us- but some of the other stuff sounds like it would be helpful!

And totally agree. I could never live without any luxuries 51 weeks out of the year for one week at Disney- definitely not! I love Disney... but I love our cable, eating out 1-2 x per month, etc.

I totally understand not wanting to open CCs for the purpose of getting the rewards. It's not for everyone and you know yourself best when it comes to handling credit.

Definitely look into other "rewards" type programs to earn a little extra toward your trip. I cash in my Perk and Swagbucks rewards for Target and Amazon GCs. The Target GCs can be converted to Disney GCs, while the Amazon GCs can be used to purchase gifts during the year (thus freeing up cash to go into my Disney savings). I redeem MyPoints and Kellogg's Family Rewards for Starbucks GCs (all of the theme parks have a Starbucks location now). Or I redeem at MyPoints for Landry's GCs (Yak & Yeti, Rainforest Cafe and T-Rex). Just don't try to do too many programs because it can be counter-productive (i.e. - you're earning points on several different sites but not earning enough on any single one to be able to cash out).

 

[magik]

I learned a ton about earning little 'extra' money via Swagbucks/PerkTV and saving up gift cards. We don't make an art of it, like some, but just running Swagbucks TV on my husband's phone every night will earn us about $100 in 7.5 months, plus I have earned $90 this month just by lucking into some special offers for stuff I normally buy.

I did give up cable, but that is only because I was getting irritated spending $1200/yr, just so I could have HBO. I was already an Amazon Prime and Netflix customer, so by buying a Roku, adding Hulu Plus and the WWE Network, and getting a digital antenna, we saved $600 in the first year and more than $750 the second. I don't feel like I miss anything (except Andy Cohen on Watch What Happens Live). Once HBO Now is available for Roku without Sling TV, our streaming bill will go up $15/mo, but I call that a bargain.

I gave up cable as well for similar reasons. I was spending almost $1400/yr on TV expenses. Now I spend only $288/yr for Netflix (1 disc-at-a-time plus HD streaming) and Hulu Plus. My internet price did go up because it was no longer bundled with TV, but even taking that into account, I still save over $500/yr. I did put out a chunk of change up front to get set up ($100 for an OTA antenna and $300 for a Tivo Roamio OTA with lifetime subscription), so my first year savings weren't as great, but now it's all savings. And if I'd been willing to get roped into a 2-year contract (I wasn't), or if I was willing to downgrade my internet speed (I considered it, but decided against that), I could have gotten my internet price very close to what the bundle price had been and had savings closer to $1000/yr.

It hasn't even felt like very much of a sacrifice. Kind of makes me wish I'd done it sooner. Most of the shows I follow are on network TV, and I get all of those channels from my antenna, and I can DVR them with my Tivo. There are some shows I like on cable channels, and I just watch them a season-ish behind now on either Netflix or Hulu Plus. Except for my Lifetime shows. I haven't had to give them up because I can watch the newest couple episodes of most of their shows on the Lifetime app on my Roku (which I didn't count in my expenses because I already had it before cutting the cord). So I can't get more than two episodes behind on those shows, but I can still watch Project Runway basically as it airs.

 

[indimom]

Our last trip to Disney was one of our best, and we did it on a super tight budget.
It did involve CC rewards. I had saved my Disney Rewards for several years (3, I think). And that was enough to cover a tent-camping site at Ft. Wilderness and four days worth of tickets.
So, the only real expense was gas for the drive and groceries (which were not much different than our weekly grocery bill).
We ate at the campsite and carried snacks into the parks.
The kids saved their own souvenir money.
We already owned the camping supplies.
So, in my mind anyway, this trip really only cost me a few hundred for gas, my souvenir ornament, and a canoe trip at the Fort.

In full disclosure, we had three days at Universal following the Disney portion of this trip, but I just wanted to point out that Disney trips can be taken on a tight budget.

 

[Sunnywho]

Budgeting is like dieting: either you do it white-knuckles or you do it as a lifestyle change. A lifestyle change is more sustainable if it includes occasional treats.

Cheapest way to go is to stay at a value during free dining.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

I believe in living 365 days a year, not in living like a pauper for 51 weeks so that I can spend one week in Disney. We don't give up cable, eat Ramen noodles or buy thrift store clothing.

I also value my weekends and holidays, so I won't do seasonal work. Working behind the scenes for our business keeps me busy enough as it is.


And we also treat saving for a vacation like a regular budget line item, so that there's always money set aside to pay for travel.

This is us. I don't give up my waxing, pedicures or manicures. We don't eat like crap. I love my cable and my iphone. Actually everyone in the house has an iphone through Verizon.

I have a set amount every pay that goes into a specific account. Then when I get my child support I buy $100 gift card a month. My XH knows I do this and he doesn't care so please no "how dare you spend CS on a vacation." I treat my CS as regular household income. It just so happens when that hits the account that's when I buy the gift card.

We aren't going for two more years so lots of time to save.

 

[Pixiedustaway]

We save cash and pay that way. Dh got a back pay check and used that to buy tickets. But we go every 2 or 3 years so we have time.

 

[smiths02]

We now have a Vacation account through the credit union. So we have a set amount each month going to that. DH is working a lot of overtime over the next two years, so a good percentage of that is going towards fun stuff. We aren't going in debt over our vacations (and we are saving some money for emergency, retirement, paying debt, etc.), but we could be paying more towards retirement, kids' college, my student loans, or our mortgage, but we allocate some to fun things.

 

[DnA2010]

For us, we use flight rewards from a cc mainly for flights (aeroplan) and for our upcoming trip we are cashing in airmiles for the tickets. We also have some money directly come out of our account as a vacation fund.

One of the biggest areas we now save on is eating out- we rarely eat out- it really does save SO much...we also eat healthy and don't buy much as far as processed extras. I also sell stuff (things we don't need, clothes that DD grows out of) on facebook. We have a local 24 hour biding site- generally someone is willing to pay something for our old jump.

 

[JennieSax]

Student loans....... shush..

 

[PracticallyPerfect2015]

Luckily, we don't live too far from WDW. However, I have yet to go to the parks with my hubby. When we do go to WDW, we hit Downtown Disney and get a bit of a Disney fix there for a fraction of the price (this is especially true during peak times). Also, when we are in Orlando, we make ADRs at some restaurants on Disney property, and that allows us to see some holiday decorations that each resort has (if we are going Nov-Dec). Not as good as actually going into the parks, but I'll take what I can get, as our budget allows.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

How do we do it? In short, most years we don't. We've done several cheaper trips to other destinations since our last WDW vacation. Don't feel like we've missed a thing. WDW will always be there when we have the funds (and drive) to return.

 

[LinderInWonderland]

We save cash and pay that way. Dh got a back pay check and used that to buy tickets. But we go every 2 or 3 years so we have time.

You just reminded me. DH gets paid every other week while I get paid twice a month. I budget based on each of us getting two checks a month, but twice a year he will get three checks in a month. I use those 'extra' checks for the vacation account and Christmas shopping.

 

[gopher101]

Lets see. $20 a paycheck, CC rewards, Swagbucks/Mysurvey/InboxDollars/Bing, $50-100 on each bonus (3 times a year), change jar, rebates, extra money.

 

[Minnesota!]

You just reminded me. DH gets paid every other week while I get paid twice a month. I budget based on each of us getting two checks a month, but twice a year he will get three checks in a month. I use those 'extra' checks for the vacation account and Christmas shopping.

This is me, too. I get paid e/o Friday, but we budget off of me getting 2 fixed amount checks a month. So, those checks are "freebies" and I use them to pay for "stuff" outside of the budget. New flooring is what next months is paying for

I get a bonus in February, we get a tax refund, and DH gets a bonus in November. We use 1/2 or so of each towards a vacation account. The other 1/2 goes to any debt (medical bills, student loans, car loan, or mortgage) or general savings.

I forgot to add - I am on a continual project at work that requires a lot of OT. I put 1/2 of those OT checks into vacation accounts, and the other 1/2 is divided between any debt any general savings. Sometimes, the check is only $40, sometimes it's $1000. It all adds up!

 

[Angie789]

A lot of it has already been said - we (mildly) churn credit cards, so airfare for the 4 of us and a rental car are always free with points. I do Swagbucks, Perk and a few other earning sites to get free Disney cards for park tickets and food. We save a small amount out of our paychecks each month for vacations, and we allocate a percentage of DH's bonus each year for that same fund. I do secret shopping and focus groups to earn extra cash for trips, too.

We usually stay off site, and eat some meals off site, too - both of those things are a huge savings, plus we prefer condos and the better food we can get off site. We vacation at least once every year, but Disney is only in the rotation as an every other year option - we did WDW in 2013, a Disney cruise earlier this year, and we are planning on going back to the parks in 2017. On the off years, we take vacations that are just as fun, but cheaper. The balance works for us!