How do you do it?

[disneyfreakjackie]

TAX RETURN and DH makes good $ and I work part-time (I also do OK. ) Also moderate resorts are our fav!! Of course we would LOVE to stay at a deluxe resort, but then our trip would be five nights (maybe) instead of ten!! No brainer if you ask me!!! ... and we've vacationed during FREE dining during the past four years which was a HUGE savings for the six of us!! Don't forget that change jar ... paid for all our ground transportation to and from the airport and when we cruise with Disney ... to and from WDW and Port Canaveral. Our tax return wasn't as much as previous years (practically nothing ) so this year it's "only" 10 nights in WDW this year. Yeah, poor us, right!! We LOVE our WDW vacations and MAKE it work!!

 

[gmickeyfan]

We became DVC members a couple of years ago and with the points all we have to worry about is airfare and dining. Basically my Dh and I do not buy each other expensive gifts. We only buy what we need when we need it. We use our tax returns and this year with the extra gov't incentive we can now go back in December. Even though we still go at least once a year or more we always do it right. We never skimp. We especially love our spa treatments. In the end I think it is how you want to spend your money. We prefer to spend it on vacations.

 

[one sweet world]

tax returns pay for the biggest part,gas/lodging. We all go together. My parents have an RV and the last few years I would pay for the campsite, and they paid the gas, it was about even but not recently! so I kick in on the gas.(using ap discount we get a deluxe for a few nights, with our teenager) This year I think it will be cheaper to drive a car,(we wont fly) and get a deluxe hotel. Our mileage is 2600 miles round trip at about 6 or 7 mpg.....
My dd has dvc so they're set(plus discounts,) and she treats the grandparents to a nice dinner as a thank you-but this year the thank you will be gas! we get ap and use them in sept and then aug. We only eat counter service. (except for 1 special dinner)

 

[loco4dis]

The first time we went, my husband had a conference there so the resort (Wilderness Lodge!) and his airfare were covered by his work. Sweet! The second time — which was 7 years later (Feb. 2007) — we paid cash during value season, stayed at a moderate, and bought DDP. It was a wonderful trip, and a welcome respite from the Midwestern winter. And this June, we're going again for the same conference, so again the hotel (Coronado Springs) and DH's airfare is covered. We aren't doing the dining plan, and we're renting a car so we can eat off-property a few times and save some money. Our kids are teens now, so I honestly don't know if we'll ever go again after June. I love Disney, but there are a lot of other places we want to see, too. But who knows, another conference may come along…

 

[Microcell]

I agree with everyone else. I live on the cheap!

I also do the demos at Target (and other stores) one weekend day a week for about 60.00 for five hours work..

Over a year it is 2800 take home that I can put toward Disney assuming I work 48 weeks. I didn't work as much since my DH went back to retail and I lost my babysitter, but I work when I can and put toward the Disney fund.

We would like to stay on the Monorail or something someday, but in order to go every year we need free dining and value resorts!

Kids don't care and their fun is all I am concerned with!

 

[blitzkrieg048]

Three letters D-V-C!

 

[LoveMyDisneyCats]

Three letters D-V-C!

Say it again! That's the key for us too. We pay our DVC costs monthly so it spreads the hotel cost of it out.

We use the Southwest credit card for lots and get points. We usually get one airline ticket for "free." This time we got two! Plus I cashed in my rewards on my other cards and got enough cash to pay for the other two! (Didn't even know it, but my debit/credit card earns points too so even my necessity- groceries, gas, etc.- gets rewarded).

We buy APs (DVC gets discount on that too) and make our yearly big trip within a year's time (i.e. second week of March in 2007 and end of Feb/first week of March in 2008). So just with that we had twenty days of parks. Any other trips we take (we usually go 2-4 times a year) are just bonus days!

DH extra work $$ goes aside for food/spending.

Honestly, we probably shouldn't be going that often- we should really pay some other things off, make bigger mortgage payments, put more away for the kids/retirement, etc. To make it worse, DH doesn't get paid vacation time, so we have to account for that loss when budgeting before vacation. But with our jobs, we need to get out of the area every once in a while! We save when we need to or put on credit cards if necessary for the time. DH's work does a "vacation fund" instead of paid time off, so when we get that each year, we pay for or off our vacations. It's worth every penny that we've spent!

 

[disfan07]

we stay at values or mods with AAA discount....if we cant get the disocunt, we dont go or we change the dates if we can

we never do more than 2 TS each trip...everything else is CS and most of the time we share 2 meals for 3 ppl

we very rarely eat out at home
my dad stopped going to starbucks everyday (and that money alone paid for like half our trip last yr..lol)
we dont go to movies
we very rarely rent movies
we also empty all change adn single sinto a bin eveyr night adn we only touch the singles if we absolutely need it
every week, my mom goes to the bank adn gets money for that week adn whatever we dont use goes straight into th ebucket (or as we call it...the disney fund)

basically for us, we consider disney as one of our "needs" not a want so we put it in the budget as that and we work with that budget and for us disney is more important than movies adn dinner out

we have gotten lucky adn the past 3 yrs we have gone, we have never paid more than $3000 for the trip (that includes food, hotel, airfare and tickets)
i consider us very lucky that we can go to disney at least once a yr adn that we still live a comfortable life without being in debt...how my parents do all that...im not sure

 

[Tinkermommy]

I think it comes down to what do you value most. I believe that life is made up of experiences not stuff (although I do like stuff). So we choose to put our money into vacations. My furniture maybe a bit older, but I have great memories!!!

 

[exwdwcm]

i am sure you will find plenty of great tips on here. My parents raised us 3 girls on small salaries. My dad worked for city and mom was a teacher and then day care worker later on. But they found a way to get us there somehow, i still don't know how! lol......but we had a pop up camper and we took that our first few times and we loved it. fort Wilderness is very nice and worked for us and was inexpensive. We cooked at the campgrounds when we could to save money and we drove from TX, of course gas was cheaper 25 years ago.

Our later trips, we stayed off site and you can get some great deals off site. Of course I LOVE staying on site, but if money is a big concern, then try a disney value resort or off site somewhere. Renting a house is a good choice for a large group as well. Use disney transportation, don't rent a car (even though renting one is our preference). you can get around pretty well with disney transport.

Buy souveneirs in advance- the glosticks at home at target etc. that saves on that- and set up expectations for the kids- one souveneir they can buy etc. Make them earn disney dollars with chores- let relatives know to give them disney dollars for birthdays and holidays.

We also have an annual garage sale at my mom's. There was a garage sale thread years ago on the budget board that i used and it has paid off ever since. we make a TON at our garage sales. use brightly colored signs, all same color- use dark arrows pointing direction and only put the address and words garage sale. don't put hours on it- just put the signs out when ready and take them down when you close. put small things in ziplock bags- like makeup, hair stuff, lotions, candles- people go nuts for stuff in ziplocks for some reason. hang all clothes- make a clothing rack with rope or something- my dad built us a custom one that is huge that we set up. make it easy for people to sort through. we 've made over a thousand at a garage sale easy and saved that for our trip.

I also used to buy disney dollars and save those up throughout the year.

check flights often for best deals. try booking with dreams unlimited or another disney travel agency on the dis- they were able to find me discounts I would not have otherwise found- such as booking me with a 'group' rate for another group that was going- even though we weren't with them.

save any tax refunds or other windfalls for the trip. it can be done if you work it right. IT is EXPENSIVE. but it is so worth it.

 

[pepe of ohio]

If you want something bad enough, you can provide. We always stay deluxe, length of stay usually 10-12 nights, most always have AP's and we're doing our 41 trip this August/September. We always go value season, most always have some kind of a discount and do not eat at alot of TS restaurants. We just enjoy being on Disney property and with the AP's, we find we can take 2 or three trips in the same year, no tickets to buy the second and third trip.

What we do is: I pay for the room and food, wife pays for the travel and tickets. Comes out about even, well more on my plate than hers. Our home has been paid for 18 years ago and we still both work. We do not do much while at home, no movies, trips, dining out only occasionally and at Applebee's at that. To save for a Disney trip is easy when you enjoy it as much as we do, no other place can come close to the experiences we've had there. A few bucks here, a 10 spot there, adds up, if you want it, it can be had.