How do y'all afford it?

[mlwear]

I've read a lot of replies comparing your income to theirs, but I wonder if cost of living is figured into that logic. I know living in CA is a lot more expensive than where I live, which has very near center of national cost of living expenses. I think that may be part of the issue to consider.

DH is in the National Guard "part-time". He makes a nice amount of extra income, which we use for extras like Disney vacations. We didn't go to DW until 2005 because it is so expensive and it seemed like planning was too much work. But, in 2005 our kids were getting older and so many of our friends had gone and told us how great it is. We decided to abonden our typical beach vacation and go for Disney while our boys were still young (8 and 10). Since it was a once in a lifetime vacation we splurged using the National Guard funds to stay at Poly LVC. (That was not the original plan, but it sort of snowballed ). Wow. It was wonderful and everything we dreamed. As others wrote, we could use that money for upgrading our house, but how do you ever have that time again with your kids? Last year we couldn't resist a second trip and since DH had a lot of extra NG time (luckily his employer also pays him for those days), we again stayed Poly LVC and AKL CL. MIL even stayed two nights as our treat. It was really expensive. I think it was $8K when all was said and done. No charging for us--hard earned money. But, no regrets. As others wrote it is a matter of priorites.

We are planning to take a year off and go again in 2008, but it is killing me.

 

[codimouse]

Just out of total curiousity, and Im probably getting a little too personal, but...

How do you guys afford these vacations? I went online and checked for rates to WDW for 10 days at POP and it was quoted at $1,800 before airfare. This doesnt factor in meals, spending money, etc. DH and I dont make much yearly (about $60,000 a year) and we cant even imagine spending that kind of money on a vacation, unless we come into some major money!

Anyone have any ideas?

DH and I make about the same and we just save. Loose change, etc add up in a jar we keep. Also we love going to WDW that we make that one of our priorities by limiting what we buy during the year, etc. Kids get a great but modest Christmas, we dont eat out a lot. Our rent is a bit high, but so is everywhere else here in our city. So we try and save on utillities, etc.
My hubby is lucky enough to have a job he can bank hours. He can cash out as long as he leaves the same in. If he has 80 hours saved he can cash out 40 thus leaving 40 in. Plus he's allowed 2 paid weeks off. We only use one and save the other for emergencies.
Each year due to we drive (18 hours from home to there) we only spend 5 days. If staying on site I always call and check for discount codes that may be attached to my name. If so we jump on it. If not we stay offsite.
We usually choose an economy hotel and use the hotel coupons from those traveler coupon books.
We eat cheaply and save for one character meal for our stay.
If we get a tax refund we apply about 80% of that towards our trip.
Also minimal souvenirs. My children dont mind as they are just glad to be there!!!
We have one month before we head out again ... it will be 13 months since our last visit. We are watching what we spend, watching our utilities so as not to raise the bills.
At the parks, I pack snacks for my 2 DD's. Saves some money there.
The food portions served at Disney parks are huge and hubby and I just usually share. I cannot eat huge meals when I am hot and humid anyhow. LOL


3 years ago we only saved up $2200 and made it round trip driving, 3 days at the park with 2 character meals, etc and made it. It's not hard if you put your mind to it.

 

[Denmark]

Im in the danish navy.

I drive a old Toyota from 1992.

Id rather have a old car, and then stay at a Deluxe resort.

 

[Tigger22]

Wow - I'm so glad to see others who have little or no credit card debt...I thought I was the only one. Actually all of my family is the same way - not a dime of credit card debt among all of us.

I agree with everyone here, it is a matter of priorities if that is what you really want to do. I am lucky because we are okay with our jobs, but I'm kind of anal when it comes to money. Many times I say to myself "do I really need this?" when I am shopping, and then wait a bit. If I do need it, then I will go back and get it, but most of the time I realize that I really didn't need it or want it. Many people on the boards say they bring food for breakfasts to save money.

There are ways to cut expenses - staying off site or traveling at value season. We also use tax refunds and I do spend the time to find the bargins. It has become somewhat a game to find the best bargins - even though we do travel during one of the peak seasons. If you have things that you don't need at home, you could try to sell things on ebay for some extra cash. If you have the credit card debt, atleast switch to a card that has perks like airline miles, cash back, etc. We have AAA, which also gets us a discount. Since we go each year, we buy tickets (discounted a bit thru mousesavers.com newletters) in advance that are non-expiring. We usually don't use all the days on one trip, so we have days left over for the next trip (and one less expense). If you buy some things in advance when you can, it makes it easier to afford.

Best of luck to you!

 

[DisneyMomx7]

We definitely make Disney vacations a priority. I usually make the reservation about 9 months to a year in advance and pay off the room monthly. We buy APs and I'll have three trips out of these APs (33 days total) so that is a big help. I always book with a AAA rate and then hope for an AP rate so that also helps. I buy Disney dollars every week and they really add up. We also save change for our July trip and usually have about $1000 in change by the time we go. I have put off buying things like a new sofa for the family room and a new kitchen set because the vacations are a bigger priority for us. DH has his own business (CPA) and also works as a CFO for another company. I'm a SAHM and DH works lots of long hours so we feel that vacations are a priority for us as it is one of the few times when we all have time to really spend time together.

We do stay at deluxe resorts for two reasons - family of 5 and we also build time into our vacations to just relax and enjoy the resort.

 

[WDWPinCollector]

1. Cut coupons (saved $175 in 2005, $400 in 2004).
2. Use prepaid calling card for long distance charges at home, avoiding a monthly fee from the phone company.
3. No coffee (never liked it)
4. No cigarettes (2 packs a day can cost between $2k and $6K a year depending on where you live).
5. Warehouse club membership (BJ's, Sams, etc). Not only can you get discounts on food, these clubs also offer travel benefits.
6. Drive an economical car (I get 40 mpg in mine).
7. Shop around on the internet for airline deals. (End of February I'm flying from MCO to PHL for $148 round trip. It initially was going to cost over $300, but I waited, keeping watch on air fares.)
8. Use Priceline to bid on rooms, or shop around for hotel specials. It's not so bad staying off site--many hotels are just minutes from Disney by car.
9. Use credit cards that give points or cash back, and pay these credit bills in full every month, avoiding interest charges. Citicards has "thank you points" which I exchange for gas cards, and Disney's Visa has its own rewards.
10. Outlet shopping, whether online or in brick-and-mortar stores. (Recently bought 2 very nice men's Disney polo shirts for $8.99 each ("outlet" code for $1 reduction in price of $9.99) at Disneyoutlet.com. Had to pay shipping, but still cheap, and they're excellent quality.) They arrived in 2 days.
11. Reduce your cable bill to bare channels--avoid subscription channels like HBO.
12. Prepare more meals at home rather than eating out. It's generally healthier for you, and always cheaper.
13. Plan errands in such a way as to not have to backtrack which wastes fuel.
14. Pack a cooler when traveling (to Disney or elsewhere) and look into buying a block of dry ice (wrap in towel and warn children not to touch). Dry ice keeps food colder for longer, eliminating frequent trips to the ice machine, and evaporates away rather than melts.
15. Consider DSL or a "reduced-speed" cable connection to save on monthly internet fees.

Hope this helps.

 

[MommyPoppins]

Just out of total curiousity, and Im probably getting a little too personal, but...

How do you guys afford these vacations? I went online and checked for rates to WDW for 10 days at POP and it was quoted at $1,800 before airfare. This doesnt factor in meals, spending money, etc. DH and I dont make much yearly (about $60,000 a year) and we cant even imagine spending that kind of money on a vacation, unless we come into some major money!

Anyone have any ideas?

Our family of 6 lives on WAY less than $60,000 a year and we go often. It's just a matter of priority. For us, taking family trips to WDW is priority. We don't have lots of other "stuff". I babysit for extra money and when DH gets side jobs we use that extra money. Other than that every cent we makes goes to just keeping a roof over our heads and food and gas. Plus we own a vehicle that we only have a 125 payment on.

Course, we live in FL and get good discounts.

 

[ms_mckenna]

Well my income from subbing pretty much goes to our WDW trips. I would rather spend it on that, and I work for just extra things. We also only have one car payment and no CC balances.

 

[WETWHISTLE]

I'm booking everything separately. I'm booking the hotel on Travelocity's site (and the airport transportation is included) and I'm buying our park tickets on ticketmomma.com - we have almost $100 worth of credits for USAir so we will save some $$$ on our flights.

We plan on having the trip paid for before we even arrive in Disney World!

 

[Daisimae]

We live on about what you make. But, DH has child support and I have health conditions that make it impossible for me to work a regular job. I do work a part-time job from home.

Some of my trips are without DH, since he really rather would stay at home. We don't have any children living with us. Since real estate prices are so high here, we have choose to live in a small apartment and save until we can move out of this area. That is the biggest way we save.

In addition to that we share a car and watch where we go to save on gas. We do have credit cards but with low balances. I cook four nights a week. One night is inexpensive take-out. Another night is pizza from the freezer. The leftover night we are both on our own. We only go a to sit down restaurant once per month or for a special occasion. We keep a full pantry and freezer. I bargain shop for groceries, and plan menus based on what items are on sale. We also bargain shop for clothes. Usually buy off or almost off season. We don't go to the mall to just look around. We go shopping twice a month and the rest of the time, we stay out of the stores. If we need something, we make a list and pick it up at our regularly scheduled shopping time. For larger items, I shop online and use coupon codes. All electronics are brought the day after Thanksgiving at rock bottom prices.

If we go to the movies twice in a year, it's a miracle. But, we do rent DVD's or buy the movies we like, the first week they are out, when they are least expensive. We also have Directv, so we will watch and record movies on pay-per-view, esp. the $1.99 ones we like. We don't have extras on our TV package or our cell phone plan.

For the trips, we book early and search for discounts, AAA or otherwise. I fly to visit my Sister twice a year and occasionaly go other places. I always fly Southwest to get credits. I get a free ticket at least every 18 months. We don't stay in the expensive hotels. Before Disney had moderate resorts, we stayed off-site. After they had value resorts we stayed there instead. Before Magical Express free transportation, I took the public bus system (Lynx), from the airport to the TTC then to my hotel. For park days we bring our breakfast with us. We also have water, soda and snacks delivered to the hotel. We eat our largest sit-down meal at lunch and do counter service for dinner. We don't shop for expensive souviners. We only bring back small gifts for the kids in our family. When we do shop it's for things that we can use over and over again. I have a souviner cup that has been on every trip with me since 2000. The beach bag and cooler I bought at Castaway Cay last year, will be returning with me this year.

For cruises, we get an inside cabin, bring our own water, soda, beer and wine coolers. Skip the spa and sit in the hot tub in the pool area instead. We limit ourselves to one souviner each and look for free things to do in port, instead of expensive excurisions (sp?). We take our own pictures instead of buy the ones from the ship.

Getting away somewhere is a priority for us every year. We don't mind staying home a bit more often and pinching pennies to be able to do it.

 

[tarazandra]

Just out of total curiousity, and Im probably getting a little too personal, but...

How do you guys afford these vacations? I went online and checked for rates to WDW for 10 days at POP and it was quoted at $1,800 before airfare. This doesnt factor in meals, spending money, etc. DH and I dont make much yearly (about $60,000 a year) and we cant even imagine spending that kind of money on a vacation, unless we come into some major money!

Anyone have any ideas?

As many have said, it's just what you want to be your priority. Unlike many have said though, I have not cut back on anything except the extras: buying sodas every time we went anywhere, spending at Target on things that we dont' really need, eating Taco Bell way too often. So now we don't eat out or pick-up a $5 item just because "it's only $5." Turns out that twenty $5 items equals $100. All those little things add up and when we cut out the reckless spending it became apparent exactly how much we could save.

For the record, we too live in CA and dh makes around 50K and we have 2 kids. We decided we want to travel and want our kids to travel so we're doing what we can to ensure that happens.

 

[ms_mckenna]

I guess I should have added too that this year we are getting a bonus trip in July/August for the kids bdays. I started looking at it and decided to use thier CS they get to chip away at the trip. It will just be me and the kids this trip and since we usually just use that for extras for the kids I thought it was better spent this way. They would live at Disney if given the choice. I am sure we will end up paying some on it as well, but this will cover the majority of the cost.

 

[luvdisney77]

I am a SAHM to four kiddos and my husband makes 42,000 a yr. This is a priority for us. We both agree that spending this time with our kids is important and this time will be gone before we know it. I lost both of my parents at 49 and 52 years of age. I am only 29. You don't know when your time is up and I am sure there are a lot of things they would have done differently.

We don't drive new cars, have new furniture, or wear fancy clothing. The one thing we do want is a WDW vacation every year. We do not do deluxes, and I am obsessive about getting the best deal. We are using our tax return this year.

I guess it is all in what you want. Like some other pp said, vacations don't just happen, you make them happen.

 

[puffkin]

The key is your priorities. We make our WDW trip a priority in our financing. We own DVC so that helps with the room costs and we stagger our trips with AP passes so that we get 3 trips off one pass and then take a year off. I also hunt for discounts and we don't spend a lot on souvenirs and things like that.

We are 26 and 28. We have a mortgage, 2 car payments and a school loan to pay. Both cars were new but one will be paid off in a year and then we will double up on the other one and pay off in another year. Then hopefully no more car payments for at least 3-4 years. That will REALLY help out with the trips and other things we want to do around the house. We keep all our expenses under control, pack lunches, eat at home a lot and conserve energy. We rarely buy clothes and then only on sale. We don't buy the newest electronic devices or things like that. We aren't perfect with our money, but we try our best. But especially now that we have a son, WDW vacations are a HUGE priority in our life.

 

[Disneyanajc]

We are retired going to WDW for our Fourty Anniversary...taking our family...DS, DDIL and Grandson, so far this trip has passed the $15,000.00 mark. Flights, two rooms at two different resorts, meal plans, tickets. We just keep telling our son we are spending his inheritance (no not really) We decided that life is short...have fun while you can, we have saved our whole life...lets spend some of it
JC

 

[bizeemom4]

No credit cards! No big bank loans!

Modest living, living well below our means, and splurging on our one obsession, WDW!

EXACTLY! Our income is around $70k with 4 kids at home to support. We have a ridiculously small mortgage payment because we are still living in our starter home. We have no car payments and very little credit card debt. As soon as my student loan in paid off, we'll be able to swing TWO deluxe trips a year instead of one. I booked our Xmas trip last month and I need to save $700 a month to pay for it but it is our dream trip *13 nights* at the Grand Floridian at Christmas.

We don't have a 4,000 square foot McMansion, all new everything, drive a Hummer lifestyle (thank goodness). We'd rather spend our money on our kids and the memories that we have from taking them to the happiest place on Earth.

 

[Ragetti]

We have a vacation fund. We pay into it just like a regular bill. And we only withdraw from it for vacations or genuine emergencies. This does 2 things:

1) By saving a little at a time, it hurts a lot less.

2) When it comes time for the vacation, there is no "debt guilt." We've already paid for it. All we have to do is enjoy it!

BTW, we also have college savings funds and retirment savings that we do the same way. Treat these as bills we have to pay, rahter than "extra" money.

 

[MHTeacher]

We decided that life is short...have fun while you can, we have saved our whole life...lets spend some of it
JC

Amen sister !


AND to the question of how people afford this???---I believe you afford what you want to afford.

 

[Dicecatt]

I have a crazy busy life, I have 4 kids, my husband and I both work full time, each of the 3 older children are in at least 1 activity each, plus school stuff. I LIVE to plan our Disney vacations. If I wasn't planning one, I would be very unhappy...because it relieves the stress of my day to day life. Our kids are happy, and get a lot of time with us, but we rarely do anything for ourselves.

We make pretty good money combined...and I have a separate money market account at work (brokerage firm), I put a certain amount each pay period in it, and all the little extras. $50 rebate check comes to us...goes in that account. My little brother actually pays me back some of the money I've given him that I had long ago written off as a loss? In that account. I paid for concert tickets for my parents, my dad gave me a check for it to reimburse me, into that account, since the money had already been deducted from our checking.

Then, I watch for discounts. I never have any intention of paying full price when I book a trip, and I won't. We go during a Value season, which just so happens to be during the times I can take off work anyway. Yes, it means the kids miss school...life goes on.

Am I paying over $300 per night for a hotel room? Yes (and actually, for Poly GVC, that is pretty darn good!), however, the minimum I put into the vacation account each month will pay rack rate for the package before it is due. Any discounts are a bonus, and creates our spending money and airfare.

As far as the kids, they each have a Disney jar, and last year saved about $150 each. This year they have more time to save, so I told them if they each save $200, I'll give them $50 more. They are thrilled, and my son is over $100 already, with 7 months to go. It teaches them that they don't get everything they want, they have to work for it.

Unlike some of you, we do have credit cards. We had a couple of rocky employment years when we moved across the country. We don't charge things now, we have leftover debt. However, I am unwilling to work to pay our debt and not enjoy life, and to me, a Disney trip with my family is so rewarding, it refuels me for everyday toiling. Credit cards get paid, just like everything else, but I will still have my Disney.

 

[kelleigh1]

We booked our Nov.-Dec 2007 (7 nights) trip back in October. I sat down and figured out how much I would need to put away each week in order to pay for the trip.

We booked through AAA. After the $200 deposit, we needed to put away approx. $50 each paycheck (I get paid every 2 weeks) between the time we booked and the date the final payment is due. With AAA, we have to pay 45 days prior.

We also banked all of my bonus money. My holiday bonus will cover food and is enough to more than cover the dining plan, so we think we'll do that. I also received a referral bonus at the first of the year and I get reimbursed for my unused sick time. That money is set aside for airfare and car rental.

We also saved all of our spare change from last year and we have right around $100. That will be extra spending money along. And any extra money that we get along the way is also being set aside for spending money. Between us, we have about $400 for spending money right now.

It takes budgeting. Our combined income is only slightly (very slightly) more than yours and we know we couldn't do a spur-of-the-moment trip, but with careful planning, we can afford it.

I did also take on a new part-time job last fall which helps us to not feel the pinch and is actually giving us enough to breathe and still save for the trip. It can be done!