How do you afford it?

[gillenkl]

My family is of the scrimp and save variety. We do not buy something unless we need it. That means no frivilous trips to Target or Kohls to buy more crap we don't need or trying to keep up with the latest and greatest. We only eat out 1-2 times a month and that might be a takeout pizza.

Keep reading these boards - you will find people in all different financial brackets - and you'll learn new ways to save.

 

[ChiCat]

We are DINKS too. This year, we are using part of our tax refund to pay for Disney, but usually when I vacation I pick up overtime at work so we don't have to reduce any of our usual spending for example we do a lot of weekend trips and see a lot of games (MLB, NBA, NHL) and if it were up to DH we would just cut back on that stuff but since I work in a field that I can make as much as I want when I want (healthcare) I just pick up a couple extra days over a couple of months time span so nothing changes. This has always been the way I like to do things, work more rather than cut back on the things I love.

We know we are going to Mexico in December so that's so far away I don't need to pick up any extra time at work however if I decide I want to do something big in the next year I'll have to work for it.

 

[deakam]

I am by no means wealthy--I have been to Disney more than I really care to admit. What we do is--never spend any change--every night everyone in my family of 3 empties their pockets into our Disney teapot....All tax refunds are put in the Disney fund. Then we book far enough ahead to make payments. The trip does not have to be paid in full until 45 days before you arrive and you can book early and then change if a better deal comes along. I always get a dining plan because then your food is paid for before you arrive.

If you have small children we purchase Disney items ahead of time. While the kids are asleep we place a different item on thier bed every night with a note from one of their favorite characters. No need to purchase overpriced Disney merchandise.

I have driven from WI for about $2000 for a 7 night stay and flown from Chicago for about $3000 for 7 nights. That breaks down to about $20.00 a week per person for a year. I don't smoke, I don't drink and I don't eat fast food. We shop sales and buy only what we can't live without because our nearly annual trip to Disney is something we can't live without.

 

[LaDonna]

What has enabled us to go frequently is to stay offsite. Just works for us since it is no vacation to us to have five people crammed into one room. We just travel better this way and like to spread out and relax. We also go for about ten days at a time, so it makes it more enjoyable.

We buy the 10 day non-expiring tickets and get about three trips out of them. We still have about ten water park days on old passes we still have to use.

Our trips have been actually pretty affordable for a Disney vacation. We average about $2500 to $3000 for five people for ten days. This has included air, rental car, lodging and food.

Hope this helps.

just trying to figure this out, you buy 10 day non expire tickets and use them 3 times, but stay for ten days at a time? So when you stay 10 days at a time you only go to 3? parks during that time?

 

[PatriciaH]

Travel is a priority for us. We try to do 1-2 Disney trips a year and 1-2 to other places. We went to CA in February to visit friends. We were going to Hawaii in the fall but decided WDW was cheaper. So we will do a shorter WDW trip in May and a longer one in October/November. We have no children, we drive our cars for a long time (our current car is a 2002,) we make pretty good money, we use coupons, our friends give us air passes, our other friends get us into the parks, my parents live right near WDW so we can stay with them. WDW is a cheap trip for us!

 

[Miz Diz]

Every paycheck, we direct deposited into a savings account that was just for vacation. Quit doing that when we bought into DVC.

We charge everything on our Disney Visa, which we pay off every month. I also use Discover and we sometimes get giftcards for Landrys (Trex, Rainforest cafe). When my dh gets a bonus, we use it toward vacation. The months with 3 paychecks (for those who get paid every 2 weeks), also helps.

 

[disneyofcourse]

I think you just have to look at your situation. Can you move to a smaller place that's less expensive to open up more income flow? Can you sell your car and buy a cheaper car without owing more than you can get for it? Would public transit work for your needs? Do you have money just disappearing and don't know where its going? It's time to track cash. If you are living paycheck to paycheck its time to consider a second job or starting your own side business. You say you are new to the workforce. When I started working almost everything went into paying for my living expenses. Making my hourly wage full time didn't cut it so I had to get a second and then third job. I made sure that I worked hard to get any sort of loans paid. Made sure I had living expenses for a while saved up before i even thought of a vacation. Don't think you need to take a vacation when you first start working. Honestly the first year or two you should concentrate on paying things off. What works for me is writing down goals for the next year or two. Everybody loves Disney but sometimes it needs to go and sit on the back burner for a while.


Right now I am just lucky enough to have a very good paying job. I keep my bills in check and never pay late or pay interest. I hate interest!! My credit card is what everything goes on and I keep that under 1k-1500k a month for us. That earns me Disney dollars and that's like a discount on trips. Every month that is paid off. Whenever I get my check I'll pay myself first-Always! I never stuff only because its on sale and my home isn't full to the brim with furniture. I buy what I need and I always buy good quality so that it lasts. Basically, I don't go out and just buy stuff because its on sale or pretty or it calls my name. I'm buying things because I need them for the most part. We still go out to eat several times a week but its not like before when we ate 3 meals a day outside the home. We realized that was just wasteful. I still buy the clothing I want. I just don't do what my friends do and spend $500 on a shopping trip or $300 a month on partying. I put a limit $$ wise on whatever I'm looking for BEFORE leaving the house. I'm now in my mid 20's and I've always been like this since my first job. I refuse to rely on anyone else so I make sure that I can do what I want or I change something until I get where I want. At one point I was working 3 Jobs to make sure I got what I needed to support my lifestyle and help out my parents. Just take a look at all your seemingly small expenses and see what you can live without.

Things that the home needs are budgeted for ahead of time. If you are living somewhere and know you will need to get things repaired. Just make sure you make a budget for those things before thinking about Disney. Putting an emergency on credit is what gets my friends!! I knew we needed a roof, landscaping and to get the driveway fixed. We needed to get the bathroom redone and the floors redone. All those things were saved for over the course of a year and a half and just got done with the last thing on that list.

I think the biggest thing is live within your means. Don't put stuff on credit just to keep up with people. Don't overbuy! The reason I have disposable income is because I live within my means. Could I have bought a 40k car? Yes, but I just couldn't spend that much when I could get a car I still loved for 12k used. Its been 5 years and I still have that car and it still looks new. My home was a third of what I could have gotten. Sure a 5 bedroom, 3 bathroom home in the prime area would have been nice. But do I really want my mortgage payment to be 3x what it is right now? I decided to live in a moderate home in a good area instead. Just really take a look at your situation and figure out what you need to do.


Sorry this is soooo long but I've been helping out a friend (making her a budget this weekend) who decided it was okay to spend 8k on a card to go on vacation this January. Now she's got the whole thing on credit along with almost $1000 worth of clothing and food on just one card. Then she got back and realized she is having a hard time paying for her apartment, student loans, new computer and car lease along with this card now and its mega interest rate. So I'm kinda in the "Don't vacation if you can't afford it mood."

Whatever you do is don't take a vacation when you honestly have to put it on credit and pay it off over time. Wait until you can change your situation and honestly afford to take one without worries. Sorry if it sounded like a lecture but I just spent a long time trying to teach my BF why you don't go on vacation when you can't afford to pay it off in a reasonable amount of time

 

[HeatherC]

LaDonna...We usually do 3 or 4 parks in a trip. Since we have been so many times we actually prefer it this way. One year we may go to all four parks and the next maybe just two and add on SeaWorld (were free with Amex points) or Kennedy Space Center, etc.. KSC was always free with points too.

We like to also relax at the resorts. The kids love the pools and lazy rivers. We also have gone to Clearwater for the day, outlet shopping, St. Augustine, etc.. I guess our trips are more Florida trips than just Disney. 10 days seems like a long trip, but it goes by so fast!!!!

My basic point was that we have been lucky enough to go A LOT for a pretty affordable price. I probably didn't explain it right though!

My kids and dh don't like a park every day. They get too tired and cranky. Just what works for us.

 

[LaDonna]

LaDonna...We usually do 3 or 4 parks in a trip. QUOTE]

gotcha, I just thought Id missed something lol we are the opposite though we like to spend all day long every day in the parks.......and I'm actually toying with the idea of dong a 10dayer next time, just adding water parks to a 5 day ticket and that would be 5 days in the parks and 5 days of water parks/DIsney quest Plus it would be nice to have 1 or 2 days to just relax at the resort pool or resort hop We've never had time to do either been to busy at the parks

 

[Tamopher]

My husband and I are DINKS, I'm in my late 30's, he's early 40's. I work in a hospital, he with computers/networks. Going to Disney World is one of the true luxuries we reward ourselves with. We are going again in September and that will be our 5th trip in 3 years. But, it is only the two of us going, so I'm sure our cost is less than a lot of peoples.

I wear scrubs to work, so I don't spend a lot on clothes at all. We rarely go out to eat or "out" in general - just a movie here or there. We save a lot and we always pay cash for our trips. Im able to pull double shifts at the hospital and that helps a lot, too.

We have a fun little DIsney Fund box that we are always throwing extra cash into - like if we have tons of dollar bills in our wallets. Or, if I need cash at the ATM, I'll grab an extra $20 to throw in the box. That is our spending money on the trips. By doing this (which is usually for 6-8 monts before trips), we have always brought around $500-700 with us for fun money.

Plus, I'm a planner, so with all of our trips (with the exception of the one we took this Feb) we know pretty far in advance and it's easy to pay on and save for.

It can be done, but discipline is key. I won't go into debt for a vacation, but I will take as many as I possibly can. Work is so stressful, I look forward to them very much.

 

[luvthemouse71]

I'm a nurse. There are ALWAYS overtime shifts available. Our trips are paid in full in cash. No credit.

Yup, this. Plenty of overtime available to me right now. I always have my trips paid off before i go too.

 

[AmberHeartsDisney]

we budget budget budget!

 

[Dallas_Lady]

People on DIS are not your average Disney vacationer. I don't know if it's still true but at a few years ago I read the average family vacationing at WDW will only make one or two trips. They don't care how much they have to run up their credit card bills to pay for it.

I agree 100%

The DIS does not represent the average family or vacationer. This board will make you think everyone is taking annual trips to WDW and staying for two weeks at Deluxe resorts. The average family doesn't go to WDW at all, and for those that do go they go once, maybe twice.

 

[Nayan]

I agree 100%

The DIS does not represent the average family or vacationer. This board will make you think everyone is taking annual trips to WDW and staying for two weeks at Deluxe resorts. The average family doesn't go to WDW at all, and for those that do go they go once, maybe twice.

I 100% agree as well. We live just about an hour away, we have annual passes and we get Florida Resident room rates so when we go we stay for a very cheap price. If we didn't live here and get those kinds of deals we would probably go once. The folks on these boards are not representative of the average Disney visitor. Having said that, if I were planning a trip from elsewhere I'd sock any extra money into savings and it wouldn't be a spur of the moment trip. More like planning for a couple years down the road.

 

[Colleen27]

We're at the lower income end of the DISboards spectrum, but we make travel a high priority. We don't have a mortgage, credit cards, or car payments, we don't shop to be in style (we're jeans & tees types with some classic/timeless dressier pieces), and we don't have the latest and greatest anything. DH is a contractor with a background in general maintanence before he specialized and got his builder's license, so we don't have to hire out household repairs. I'm a SAHM and I treat running the household as my job, finding ways to keep things running as cheaply an efficiently as possible without cutting any corners that matter to us. I cook from scratch, can jam and salsa and spaghetti sauce when the ingredients are in season, grow a large garden that supplies a lot of our produce, freeze veggies when they're fresh, buy in bulk and on sale, etc. And we live in a small town without a lot of temptations, no favorite restaurant, no mall and only a small movie theatre that seldom shows movies we're interested in. We spend basically all of our discretionary income on travel.

 

[grafxgirl]

My husband and I bought into Disney Vacation Club 8 years ago, just before our first child was born, while we were there for his cousin's wedding. We fell in love with the place instantly, and knew it would become a regular thing once we had kids. Since it was before kids, we were able to afford that big chunk of change and paid it off immediately. I'm glad we did because that is how we are able to afford it. We don't have to pay for resorts stays each time we go. We don't do parks every single day of our trips either. We usually do 3 or 4 days in the parks and the rest of our days outside of the parks, so we are able to purchase the 10 day non-expiring park hoppers and use them for 2 or 3 trips per year. We don't fly because we make it a point to visit with family on the way down, so we save a big chunk of change since we have a fuel efficient vehicle. The only thing we do have to pay for each time is our food, which we use the dining plan.

My husband and I both work. We make a good living. We also don't have to have the latest and greatest for everything. We only buy new when something needs replaced, we have the basic cable package, our cell phones are several years old, and we don't rush out to upgrade to the newest electronic gadgets. We drive a car that is 15 years old, and one that is 7 years old. We coupon shop and find the sales. My sister and I have kids the same ages so we swap clothes and only buy new when necessary. We go out to eat on average once a week, and the two kids share a meal while my husband and I share a meal because the food in restaurants is way too much for one person. We have a garden, and can or freeze our veggies. Those are just some of the things we do. They are the same kinds of things our parents did when we were kids. Essentially we are raising our kids in a similar way to how our parents raised us.

 

[grafxgirl]

just trying to figure this out, you buy 10 day non expire tickets and use them 3 times, but stay for ten days at a time? So when you stay 10 days at a time you only go to 3? parks during that time?

My family also does the 10 day non-expiring park hoppers and get about 3 trips out of them per year. Our trips are usually 7 days, but we only spend 3-4 days in the parks and the other days doing things around the various resorts.

 

[Minnie]

I am very fortunate.... my mom said "you'll be x age whether you finish your masters or not" - best advise ever

Add an MBA to experience and in my field it opens doors to positions that would otherwise be closed. Thankfully I happen to love my job most days

Traveling is a priority and I'm a Disney junkie so I choose to spend my disposable income in WDW

 

[stasijane]

I am a single mother with a not not so good income, but luckly I have a great boyfriend that owns his own home and refuses to take any money from me So Other than one or two bills I have my paychecks to use on our trips. We do try to make the trips as cheap as possible though. We stay off site, room cost us about $225 for 6 nights, and we drive. its a 17 hour drive but still alot cheaper than flying...even with gas prices the way they are. Also when we can we use Disneys Y.E.S program for my daughter. She loves the classes and we get tickets cheaper for her. I have a AP for the free parking, and the dream of taking a solo trip soon!

 

[MomRN]

I grew up poor. There was a period not so very long ago that we were dirt poor. Our income for 4 years straight never exceeded $20,000 and was a low of $12,000. I was in nursing school, and my husband was layed off, took side jobs, went back to school. We got pregnant and had a baby during that time. Thank goodness for my grandma's help and WIC, because I'm not sure how we would have survived. Anyway...

I graduated nursing school and make a decent amount of money now and he is about to graduate school and hopefully get a decent job, but, to be honest... I'm still stuck in $20,000 mode. Last year we went to Disney because gosh darnit... we deserved it... mainly with hire on money and "what the heck am I supposed to do with all this money?" funds. Then my son and I went back with a great deal. Now we are going back in October on Disney layaway... paying $100-$200 per check towards vacation.

We pay a little more now than we did then. We lost my grandma who helped us out so much during nursing school, and now pay the bills at the house in full, but I still shop sales, use coupons, don't buy anything that doesn't need replaced (well, except a new vacuum for my birthday) drive a car that's 10 years old, I shop at Good Will and have yard sales. I wake up some mornings amazed that we made it through that period of time and thankful for a job I love and a decent paycheck. If my husband graduates and gets a job all money he makes will go directly into savings/retirement.