How do y'all afford it?

[emerymt]

I feel very fortunate that DH and I are making the money we are, around $175,000 between the two of us. I know there are people who make less than that and people who make much more. It sounds like a lot to me but it doesn't seem like we make that much. I still wouldn't feel like we could afford to stay at a deluxe (family of 5) for 7 to 10 days. We have debt we are trying to pay off and two kids in college. The last time we went to Disney was in 2002, and we stayed on site. Going this September for 5 nights and staying onsite in a moderate resort. If we were debt free and kids out of college I could see going every year or even twice a year, but till then just can't do it. We don't travel anywhere else, either. We just stay home! If we had been smarter with our money and not gotten into debt we'd have a lot more cash right now available for vacations!

Maybe you had fun running up the debt?

Don't look back and be sad about the past. It's an actual scientific fact that money doesn't make people happy, once you get past the $30,000-a-year mark. I spent a good portion of my life making lots of money, saving, being a good "ant" (my DH is the grasshopper)- then I got sick with rheumatoid arthritis and now I just want to spend it all while I can, and while the kids are at home. I know my golden years aren't going to be golden at all. Whoever dies with the most toys doesn't win- it's the one who dies with the most memories

 

[perd]

Maybe you had fun running up the debt?

Don't look back and be sad about the past. It's an actual scientific fact that money doesn't make people happy, once you get past the $30,000-a-year mark. I spent a good portion of my life making lots of money, saving, being a good "ant" (my DH is the grasshopper)- then I got sick with rheumatoid arthritis and now I just want to spend it all while I can, and while the kids are at home. I know my golden years aren't going to be golden at all. Whoever dies with the most toys doesn't win- it's the one who dies with the most memories

Aw, what a nice thought! Thank you. I hope your golden years ARE golden! You just never know what might happen, what medical breakthroughs might come along or what miracle might come your way!

 

[korbbec]

I could never afford it. That is why I charge it. I use my Disney Card for 0% for six months and then make sure I pay it back. Delayed gratification is not in my vocabulary so saving ahead of time is out of the question. On the other hand- paying interest to CC companies makes me mad at myself- I know if I have that hanging over my head I will make better financial decisions until it is paid off interest free.

 

[Trentmom]

We go during Value Season. We put all of our spare change in a large jar and use that for airfare.

We use most of our tax refund for the rest of our trip. Getting the dining plan and having all of your meals prepaid for the most part, helps a lot too.
We don't buy a lot of souvenoirs, just a couple for DS.

Have a Magical Day!!!
Trentmom

 

[Carrie772]

I clean a friend's house weekly for $70 and by the time our trip comes around I have saved more than $3000 for it! The work is worth it!! BTW, I am SAHM of 3 and have one left in PreSchool.

 

[Buttercup Roberts]

We have an envelope budget system so that we save for things in advance, and I guess if there was an emergency, we'd cancel our trips. But knock on wood, we haven't had to do that yet.

That being said, we drive used cars that my husband does most of the work on himself, we're in a small condo instead of owning a larger home, and we haven't got around to buying a bed since we got married - we're on a futon on the floor in our room - because we never have $1500 to spend on a king mattress set because we GAVE IT ALL TO THE MOUSE.

Everyone finds in life what makes them the happiest and spends their money on that. Can't have it all! We have a good friend who cries poor and says he can't afford to go to Disney this year, but I know he bought a new Mercedes SUV and another Rolex last year, when he was saying that!

I think we'd pick leaves to save the money on toilet paper before we'd give up going to Disney.

 

[SaraMc]

That was me, too, before the stores were sold. (Actually I quit a few months prior to the buy-out because we all knew it was coming.) Best thing I did was buy 150 DVC points using my CM discount.

Now we have APs, and the DDE card is almost like my CM discount on food (except I had to pay for the card). Also we just don't buy as many souveniers as we would have at 35% off, but since we go so often we don't "need" as many souvies as other families might. I was really nervous on our first post-Disney-CM vacation, but we used eBay money, didn't buy souveniers, and ate mostly CS meals -- and we still managed to have a great time without blowing our budget.

I too was a Disney Store CM and left before the big sell off, I was a CM for 7 years and had lots of passes that they gave us that never expired which just ran out last trip But its true you do buy more with the 35% off. I still buy stuff when I go but not as much, it has to be super swell.
We go more now than we did when I was a CM. We use codes if we can, use our AAA card, watch for deals. We go in off season and we just put it in our budget. A certain amount of money every paycheck goes to our WDW fund. I try to buy my plane tickets first. If I have those I have to go on Vacation, they are non-refundable That also forces me to save for the rest of my vacation

 

[hmp2z]

We don't have children, so we can afford it

Cheers!
Heather W

 

[Disneytwinz]

This is our first trip to Disney, but I know it won't be our last. There was a time when we thought Disney wouldn't work for us because we need two rooms with 7 of us. We found ways to cut corners and stay happy at the same time. We use tax money, save OT into an interest bearing acct., do odd jobs, suppliment wardrobes with Goodwill and I shop off-season at Old Navy and major brand stores to get the sales items, We don't purchase big ticket items unless we have to. Also, the only cc's we have are bare minimum (EX. Target/Home Depot= $300.00) We pay in cash otherwise. We also live well below our means and no car payments for us! Dh is also able to fix the car and stuff around the house which helps us considerably.

 

[Jalva22]

We will be able to pay cash for our trip, but I still feel somewhat guilty about it. We are funding our retirement and college plans for 2 kids. But when I read about the cash that's going to be needed for those 2 items I think the money we're putting into these trips should be getting plugged into those savings items instead. Again, we're funding them, but it sounds like people need a TON to cover college costs (no prepaid tuition plans in OK). I know you need to balance saving for tomorrow with a little enjoyment today, but we could spend 20% of the cost of our Disney trip and have a nice week in Branson or Colorado each year.

 

[fairestoneofall]

I am a SAHM. I do work a few hours a week at a children's store. Our last trip to WDW was paid for by a bonus DH got at work.

I want to go back and DH said it's gotta be cash. So, I am saving up my small paychecks and any extra money I can squeeze from our budget to go. It will take me a year, but I'm going to do it.

However, we don't stay at deluxe resorts. I'd love to, but I just can't justify it right now. Next year, I'd like to stay at either POR or POFQ, which is more than I'd normally spend. But it will be a bit of a splurge for me since I'm paying for it.

 

[amytheobald]

We save, save, save for it. Anytime anyone like dh's parents or mine asks what we want for birthdays or christmas we say money for our vacation fund...and that's where it goes. DH is still driving his 91 mazda, and we will not buy another car until the car I have is paid off next year. We cut back on eating out, and I put that money into savings, and I pick up extra shifts when I can. We are climbing out of debt ( a few rough years), but think that memories with our kids are important. The last two times we went (we've been every other year) we stayed offsite for free at a family members time share...this will be our first time onsite. It's just a priority to us!

 

[jpeka65844]

I agree that it's all in your priorities! We live in a suburban area where some appearances are important. BUT, we've decided to skip the big fancy SUV and the big fancy house decorated from Pottery Barn so we could buy into DVC comfortably and be guaranteed 50 years of wonderful WDW vacations!

DH and I have always liked to travel and decided early on that it was going to be priority. Now, my father, for instance, sinks 20-25K into an antique automobile but would never dream of spending 5K on a WDW vacation. It's ALL in your perspective!!!


Denice T.
Olathe, KS

 

[Sammie]

Affording Disney whether it's a budget trip or deluxe all the way, is much like affording anything else.

You have people who save until they can afford to go, you have some that charge it and worry about it afterwards and some have expendable cash and it's no big deal to them.

For us we are savers. We have a vacation account and we contribute to it very pay check and our vacations are paid in full before we go.

I have friends that have salaries in excess of $500,000 and they just pay as they go; like they do everything else.

 

[5starmom]

about 45k/year. We are using some savings, our tax refund and are selling a lot of stuff on ebay in order to pay for our trip. I'm also doing a few little money-making things on the side. All of our birthday money from grandparents--kids included--is going towards the trip and we have a big jar that we put spare change into. It's at $42 now! LOL

We could never do this every year, but making family memories is important to me and I told dh that this is one vacation we ARE going to do before our oldest leaves for college!

 

[Atchley]

We use our tax money too. We were never able to take a vacation when I was young. My father was very sick throughout most of my childhood and we just didn't have the money. We make 70K-75K a year. We don't stay at a deluxe, but do splurge on a moderate. I love Disney and I'm going to make my kids Disney lovers too.

 

[Heather Ann]

It's always a battle with my husband, but then he ends up loving the time away and has fun with our girls. It does hit the pocket book hard, but then again, that's why we don't have so many things done around the house!

 

[bytheblood]

Affording Disney whether it's a budget trip or deluxe all the way, is much like affording anything else.

You have people who save until they can afford to go, you have some that charge it and worry about it afterwards and some have expendable cash and it's no big deal to them.

For us we are savers. We have a vacation account and we contribute to it very pay check and our vacations are paid in full before we go.

I have friends that have salaries in excess of $500,000 and they just pay as they go; like they do everything else.

Ditto!

 

[Castillo Mom]

I alternate our vacations - one year I make it a big, go all out trip, the next is something more modest. For example, this year my eldest graduates high school so we're spending 11 nights at the Polynesian followed by our first Disney Cruise. Next year we'll do something more low key like the Grand Canyon or camping. In '09 we have Hawaii planned for my middle son's graduation - this way I can start setting aside the funds for major vacations well in advance. I don't have a car payment, I keep credit card use to a minimum and I shop at Costco faithfully every two weeks. I'm always on the look out for a bargain whenever I need to make a major purchase and I try to never pay full price for anything.

 

[DizneyNutz]

We paid for vacations for four at the WL on a couple of trips (tickets and all) and have never spent 5000 on a trip? I really don't understand where they are saying it costs that much to have a WDW vacation. We did finally buy DVC after our third trip, because we felt that we wanted to spend our vacations here. We buy the 10 day park hopper passes when needed to furnish our trips to the parks, but we usually only stay Sun- Thurs so we aren't using weekend points. Then all we have to worry about is travel and eating. We don't use the Dining Experience, because we don't eat that way. So when it is all said and done we usually only stay five nights and have lodging and tickets already paid for, so it is travel and food. We eat a lot of offsite dining, so it is not as expensive as eating onsite. We get a rental car for 200 or less for our entire trip. So it is affordable every couple of years, we have to buy new tickets, but much cheaper 10 days at a time. 5 nights at a time is acceptable to us knowing we are already planning our next trip as soon as we return.