How do y'all afford it?

[deejohn]

How do I do it every 18-24 months with 6 people…PLANNING!!! I can tell you that it cost me $5,500 for 2006 and $5,200 for 2005. Here some of the things I do to cut costs:
1. I usually book 8-11 months out and start saving
2. Go during Value Season – crowds are low too
3. Fly discount airlines – they will still get you there (they also have web specials $59 one way!!!)
4. Use limo service, no rental car – they also stop at grocery store to pick up breakfast items and snacks
5. Buy the refillable mug
6. Purchase only enough park tickets for the time I am staying – 4 day park ticket will have 3 extras (water parks, Disney Quest) = 7 days of fun (going Value season also doesn’t merit Park Hopper, since most of the parks all close at 7pm)
7. Purchase Disney Dollars for the food and the kids – when your out of money, your done buying stuff!!!
8. Bring snacks to the park – you are allowed to bring in snacks – this stays off the “hungers” until your big lunch/dinner at the park
9. Use every discount available – AAA, flight times, air miles, coupons at grocery store, discount gift cards on-line
These are only a few of the tips I use. I can tell you that when I went to a travel agent in 2004, they quoted me $8,500 for the 2005 trip!!! I thought I could do better and I did!!

Good luck, hope you find the time/money to go. If you have an specific questions, let me know.

John

 

[allysmom1218]

I'm a SAHM and my DH works alot of overtime. Sure we would like to get a new house (we live in a mobile home that I purchased after a nasty divorce) but if we bought a new home, we wouldn't be able to have the extra money for vacations and to do anything fun. My DH works about 25 to 30 hours of overtime each weeks which doesn't allow our DD alot of time with her daddy so we take vacations. My DH also works the night shift which makes his hours even harder for our family (5pm to 6:30 am).

My DH files single and 0 for deductions on his payroll check which also allows us to get back a pretty good refund. This year we got back almost $6000.00. It's a way to save money without even missing it.

I also try to go to WDW when I can find a price code or when they are running a special promo like Free Dining. After I book a trip, I start putting back a certain amount of money out of each check into our savings account. You can do anything like saving money if you try hard enough. Perfect example is when I got pregnant with our DD in 2003 my DH was only making around $2200 a month, anyways we had NO INSURANCE. Before I ever went to the hospital to deliver her, all my bills for my prenatal visits, ultrasounds and etc. were totally paid for. Oh, I was a HIGH RISK pregancy because of my age (39) and I also had diabetes. My point is.......if you want something bad enough, you can save the money for it no matter how hard it is, you just have to want it bad enough!!!!!

Oh, we have never had to use our tax return to go to WDW, but we always have it as a back up plan!!!

 

[perd]

, coupons at grocery store
John

Coupons can save you a TON. It takes a little more time to shop, but it's worth it. What is do is basically the same as the Grocery Game at www.grocerygame.com - but I don't use their list or their stores, I do it on my own; always have. What it boils down to:

1. Find a store in your area that doubles coupons.
2. Clip coupons and pretty soon you will realize that the store sales go along with the coupons in the paper. You'll clip coupons this Sunday, and in a week or two or three, you will see those items on sale in your store.
3. Now here's the important thing: Buy ONLY what is on sale that you also have a coupon for. Say ketchup is on sale for 99 cents. And you have a 20 cent off coupon. Well, with the couple doubled you get 40 cents off so you pay 59 cents for a bottle of ketchup. The 50 cent coupons are the best.
4. Obviously, in the beginning you are going to have to buy some stuff that is not on sale/don't have a coupon for if you want to eat. Just buy what you need for now as cheaply as you can.
5. The stuff there are never coupons for - meat, produce, etc. - you just buy what is on sale. Like if chicken breasts are on sale this week I will buy a lot and freeze it. Next week maybe hamburger is on sale, the week after that steak. Whatever is a good deal, that's what you buy. Obviously you need some sort of system of labeling or rotating stuff so you don't have 2-year-old chicken in your freezer.
6. Once you have a stockpile of stuff you have bought CHEAP - you can start planning meals from what is in your stockpile, instead of thinking of menus and then going out to buy things for your menus, stuff that may not necessarily be on sale.
7. By using this method, you never pay full price for ANYTHING. You will be amazed at how much you can save. It's actually cheaper to buy brand name stuff with a double coupon than to buy generic.
8. You can't be brand loyal. Two things I won't compromise on: Bounty paper towels and Northern toilet paper. Other than that I buy what I have a coupon for. Right now I am using a bottle of Dove dishsoap that I paid 29 cents for after coupon. I prefer Dawn, but hey - for 29 cents a bottle I can live with Dove.

I do the above at my regular grocery store. I have been shopping there many years so I know what is in every aisle and I arrange my coupons in order of the aisles and go through looking for what is sale. That's another thing - there are lots of unadvertised sales every week, so you can't just go by the ads you get in the paper; there will be other things on sale that you have a coupon for that are not advertised.

In addition to doing the above at my regular grocery store, I have been buying some things at Costco that I find to be a good deal there. For instance, their ribeyes are $6-something a pound and my store (which has darned good ribeyes) has them for $12.99 and even on sale they are never as low as Costco's. So I buy that there. And other things that I can buy in bulk like olives and green beans and corn and Lever 2000 and things like that, if I find a good price then I will buy it at Costco. I've also bought the huge bottle of Kirkland antibacterial dish shop that looks exactly like Dawn and I just keep refilling my Dawn bottle. I like the Kirkland brand dishwasher soap too; it's less than $6 for two big boxes of it.

But I save a LOT every time I shop by buying on sale and with coupons.

 

[ksoehrlein]

The OP might want to check out the Budget Board for some great suggestions as well. That time I eBayed our way to WDW for my first post-CM trip? Well, it was an idea straight out of that board.

Also on-line savings accounts, like ING, have helped me save up between trips. I never would have tried them if not for the helpful tips -- and verification that they were not scams -- from the Budget Board gang.

Another thing I learned over there was all about rewards programs. We've even got another board here devoted just to them!

 

[deejohn]

Here's an example of coupon savings: Cinderella III is $25, with coupon is $19, and if you buy it by Thurs you get $3 bottle of baby shampoo for free...that's $8 towards lunch...mug..tip for the baggage guy...you get the idea

 

[lucincia]

I play blackjack and poker as a hobby at local casinos. All winnings go toward the Disney trip. Our upcoming trip to GF this fall has been paid for

 

[Worfiedoodles]

We have a special savings account set up just for vacations and we contribute to it every month after paying bills, 401K, college funds, etc., but before we go out and buy something new for the house or new clothes or something like that. When we want to take a trip we see how much is in that account and pretty much clean it out except for $300-500 or so - just to give us a head-start for the next trip.

That is exactly what we do! I wouldn't feel comfortable spending my vacation money if I hadn't saved for retirement and college first. We also contribute to a general savings fund as well.

We don't go unless we have enough in the account, or can predict we will. Like another previous poster, we have a monthly spreadsheet with all our bills and expenses, and we budget over the month. We can see trends and know in advance how long it will take us to save for a particular vacation.

We also do not get a tax refund. If anything, we pay something. I would rather have the money in my savings account all year, collecting interest than make a loan to the federal government. ( ducks because she knows the flames are coming)

We are lucky that we have a good income between the two of us, so we feel comfortable spending the money for a Disney vacation. As children we only went camping, and were both unhappy doing it. We now make vacationing a priority. When ds hits high school and his tuition doubles (at a minimum), we will probably have to rethink how often we take trips, or where we go. Right now we are saving just over 25% of our income for retirement, so while I doubt that's enough, I think we are making a good faith effort -- and I can justify my Disney & cruising addiction!

 

[MHTeacher]

I play blackjack and poker as a hobby at local casinos. All winnings go toward the Disney trip. Our upcoming trip to GF this fall has been paid for

 

[Korwynne]

We haven't had a vacation in 15 years that hasn't been to go see family or going somewhere with family, with the exception of 2 nights in Ashville for our 5th anniversary (almost 7 years ago) and one night in Tennessee with the kids 2 years ago. We simply aren't willing to wrack up debt over a vacation, and our saving priorities haven't included a big vacation.

This year, we're moving from Georgia to Washington State, so driving to Florida won't be an option any longer. Plus, my husband and I lost 4 grandparents last year and we've come into some inheritance money.. we figured that something happy needed to come out of the sadness.

I'm so excited to be going.. and if the kids love it, I'll start a fund to get us to Disneyland sometime after we move.

 

[bellarella]

We also do not get a tax refund. If anything, we pay something. I would rather have the money in my savings account all year, collecting interest than make a loan to the federal government. ( ducks because she knows the flames are coming)

No flames here!!! We claim a ton of allowances on our taxes so that we cut it as close as we can on our taxes. No point in giving away interest.

For an hour (or less) worth of work you can still "not miss" the extra money Uncle Sam takes out *and* earn interest on it.

1. Go to this IRS site to find out how many allowances you should take. http://www.irs.gov/individuals/article/0,,id=96196,00.html
2. Adjust your W-4
3. Open a high yield savings account.
4. Have the increase in your paycheck be either direct deposited into this account each check or have the account pull it out of your checking account each check.
5. In January already have your full refund waiting, plus interest

 

[ransom]

We pay for ours by being very, very frugal in the rest of our lives. We have a very modest home on the far suburban outskirts of Chicago. My car is 8 years old, and it's nothing fancy - it cost only $15,000 new. We don't have cell phones, and don't pay for any premium cable channels. We eat at restaurants only rarely, and even then it's usually at the local diner where we can get a good meal for less than $10 per person. We both bring our lunches to work. And so on.

 

[CinderellaIam]

One of the things we did to help pay for our trips was open an ING account (less chance of transferring a few $$ for an impulse buy) and deposit all of our "savings" into it each week. For example whatever was saved with coupons, if one of us brings in a bag lunch istead of buying, etc., we write it all down and at the end of the week it gets transferred into our ING account to earn interest.

Then we do our own "keep the change" savings. We always keep the coin change we have, never use it to pay, even if the total is say $5.04. At the end of the day the change all goes into a large vase. When the vase is full we take it to the bank and cash it in, and then, you guessed it, it goes into the ING account.

All Tax refunds, rebates, gifts also go into the account.

It doesn't pay for the whole trip, but a big chunk of it gets covered.

 

[ameraumi]

I have a set amount each week that I put in my ING account for vacation. I add this into my budget just like all other items. Plus, the ING account earns more in interest then a regular savings at my bank, which is a little extra money for me. I just earned a tad over $4 for last month!

I also save all of my change. Even the pennies go into a change bank and when it is full we will cash it in. Last year we did it right before we left and that gave us spending money. I am sure it will need to be cashed in before our trip in 2008, so we will just add that money to the ING account.

The key thing is, if you really want to go, you budget for it.

 

[lucincia]

One of the things we did to help pay for our trips was open an ING account (less chance of transferring a few $$ for an impulse buy) and deposit all of our "savings" into it each week. For example whatever was saved with coupons, if one of us brings in a bag lunch istead of buying, etc., we write it all down and at the end of the week it gets transferred into our ING account to earn interest.

Then we do our own "keep the change" savings. We always keep the coin change we have, never use it to pay, even if the total is say $5.04. At the end of the day the change all goes into a large vase. When the vase is full we take it to the bank and cash it in, and then, you guessed it, it goes into the ING account.

All Tax refunds, rebates, gifts also go into the account.

It doesn't pay for the whole trip, but a big chunk of it gets covered.

EmigrantDirect.com has better yield than ING. Slightly better, but heck, if you're trying to save for Disney, any half percentage point counts!

 

[bonnielynn]

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?

I always book it a year in advance and then put it in my budget like a bill, and pay on it all year...

 

[disneylove4ever]

I just return last week (boo hoo it's over) and it was easier for me this trip. My DD (age 13) split a stay with my best friend and her daughter (also 13). We left the husbands as home. I will tell you that we planned for our trip for an entire year. My daughter and I would put ALL our money we received for our birthday in "the Disney pot". The same for Christmas. We asked for Disney bucks. Whenever we were at the mall or somewhere and we started to buy something we didn't really need, we would remind each other "put it in the Disney pot" and we did. Our trip for 8 nights at the Wilderness Lodge with the Dining plan plus 8 day park hopper tickets was $2200. You will be amazed how when we kept sticking money back, it all added up. It is so worth every penny to go!

 

[hsmamato2]

Well, you all inspired me... I just set up a new ING acct special for travel,and will add regularly to it, just like I do with my escrow and emergency fund- I was doing it all in one, but frankly I'd like to see it seperate so i don't feel guilt when I pay for trip things..... we're careful with what we spend anyway,but this way I can see it add up....

 

[ObsessedwiththeMouse]

<<But you are the only one on this thread that has admitted to having HALF of your annual salary tied up in debt.>>

So what? So I have debt...big deal. It's just money and you can't take it with you. What would you remember more in a few years, that you paid on a credit card or took your family on a vacation.


<<I really dont care what you do with your life or your money, but i will say that that is a really scary figure to think about if (fate forbid) something happened to decrease your annual earnings. I think thats all Anne was trying to say.>>


There is absolutely nothing that could decrease our annual earnings. Period. My husband's job is secure and if something should happen to him, he has life insurance. If something should ever happen to my husband, I will be extremely grateful that we took a vacation together as a family one last time instead of paying on a credit card.


The topic of the thread is how do you all afford it, not "why does member obsessedwiththemouse have such high debt". My response was to show how even if you have debt, sometimes other things are just more important. Even if you have debt, you can still afford a nice vacation. That's all. It's too bad Miss Anne took it upon herself to be so rude and say such a hurtful thing. Let me tell you, if I thought that someone on a message board had "out of control" debt, I sure wouldn't respond to them with a snotty comment.

What goes around comes around, Miss Anne. Thanks for being so compassionate.

 

[rhiannonwales]

Wow.
Honestly you have every right to disagree with what any of us say.
And no one is sayng that you should never go on vacation just to pay off debt - youre right in that sometimes you just have to say @#$# it life is more important.
You know what, i'm not even going to finsih this.At least we said what we said without resorting to hyper defensive snarkyness.
Have a nice life!
BTW if youre planning on life insurance to catch you if the unthinkable should happen, i hope that yoe know that you need at least 3x one years salary to comfortably do so after legal fees, final expenses, and one years living incase employment is hard to come by.

 

[ObsessedwiththeMouse]

<<BTW if youre planning on life insurance to catch you if the unthinkable should happen, i hope that yoe know that you need at least 3x one years salary to comfortably do so after legal fees, final expenses, and one years living incase employment is hard to come by.>>

Then I guess it's a good thing we have 6 times my husband's annual salary for his insured amount.

I totally agree with you. Sometimes, there are just more important things in life. Life is too short to never enjoy your family.