How do you guys afford....

[missypie]

Ducklite, a lady I know professionally from a VERY LARGE BANK has been trying to get my personal mortgage business...I have a very low mortage balance at a fairly high rate, plus I would like a home equity loan to do some improvements, but this lady has not been able to come up with anything that would make financial sense for us ...I THINK YOU JUST HAVE!

In all fairness to the banker lady, Home Equity loans are faily new in my state and the law changes every two years (we still can't get home equity lines of credit yet, though we probably will soon.)

Gracias!

 

[Cameo]

My husband is in the National Guard and all his extra weekends and annual training pay is put into the vacation account. This account is also used to fix up/finish the house and yard, so we are still limited on Disney trips to about one every two years or so. In the off years, we take less expensive trips because I think it's very important for the kids to see the United States and travel.

We also take advantage of frequent flier mile plane tickets, military discounts at Disney and save change. I work part-time and we have two children.

 

[mad4themouse]

Originally posted by WIcruizer
That's only part of the equation. You spend $3,000 up front, meaning you won't get any return on that money- it's gone. I invested that $3,000 and have averaged about 9% return in the last 3 years. At that rate, I will have over $4,000 after 5 years, minus the interest. So I come out ahead.

I can see the logic in this. But it's not for everyone to try.

Lets assume that we both have $3,000 in savings. I take mine and pay off my WDW vacation in full from the beginning. You take out a $3,000 loan and use it to pay for WDW.

You begin paying back your 5-year loan at a rate of $55.25 per month ($3,000 at 4% interest for 60 months). In the end, you will have spent $3315.00 in order to pay back that loan.

Meanwhile, I invest the same $55.25 per month in a cd or money market at the same return of 9% that you anticipate. In 5 years, I have saved $4253.69. You have an initial investment of $3000 but have not been adding to it because you're repaying the loan. You have $4697.04 at the end of the same 5-year period. The net difference between you and me is $443.35 in your favor. At lower return rates the difference is less dramatic (at 6% the difference is only $117.23).

So, while you still come out ahead with this financial strategy, it is not the dramatic $4000 difference that you make it sound like. And because you have taken out this loan, it appears as an outstanding debt on your credit report should you need to apply for a mortgage or car loan during the 5 years you are repaying it. My credit report, on the otherhand, is free of liens.

 

[Desnik]

WOW I must really be spoiled!!! All who live well below your means are incedible!! I admire your discipline. I could never do it LOL!!!
I am a SAHM and my DH makes a 6 figure income. We have 2 kids. My 5yo DD wears nothing but Gymboree cloths!! We get 2 new cars every 2-3 years!! We go to WDW every year. We eat out about 3-4 times a week. We have cell phones, cable, cable internet access, buy new furniture often(but not really expensive stuff)buy DVD's, CD's, have expensive TV stuff(like BOSE surround sound that's DH's thing)DD gets new toys every week!! DS will too, but he's only 5mo! We do not have any credit card debt. We own our home, but pay a mortgage. Our WDW vacations are paid in cash, we never charge anything. I try to buy clothing on sale, it just never works out for me!! DH and I hardly go clothes shopping for ourselves, it's all for the kids. Sometimes we suprise ourselves with how we are able to "stretch" DH income and still live how we want. We have savings for kids college, big insuranse policies, 4O1K, and most importantly we are HAPPY and both agree on how we like to live and spend money.
I do have to say that while growing up I lived the same way. Mom was a SAHM, and we always got whatever we wanted, but never asked for crazy extravagent things. We just appreciated what we got.
As to the original question. We afford to go to WDW every year because thankfully we are in a position to afford it without worrying.
DH and I both feel life is too short, if we can do it now we will.
Please don't misunderstand me, I know how lucky I am to have the material things I have. I do know that being with the love of my life and our children are really what's important and what life is all about.

I also wanted to add that even though we stay at deluxe resorts at WDW we never pay rack rate. We are known in our families as the "spenders", but we don't think we are frivilous. I will get a AP rate, or code, or like this time rent from a DVC owner. We don't like to just give our money away!!

 

[crazelion]

People call me cheap because I do not buy everything I see. I will only spend money on things I like.

I shop a Wam-mart. Also my policy is Wal-mart sells it that means that it can be put in the layway. I will be putting Christmas presents in the layway September 1 for 3 months.

I shoes nike and reebok at the oulets. One month I bought three pairs of reebok shoes for under 20.00 dollars and nothing was wrong with them.

I will write more own how to save when I get home from work if not to tired.

 

[barbeml]

I didn't want to make the impression that we live frugally--my monthly credit card bills can be outrageous, but my rule is to pay the balance in full every month. I am quite the on-line shopper, too (Amazon and the Disney Catalog must love me).

The key is avoiding debt, IMHO. And, as another poster said, I buy what I really want--I am not a "recreational" shopper (I HATE the mall).

I also believe that life is short, but what if you're lucky and it is long? We live well now, but have disciplined ourselves to save for retirement (automatic deductions every month, plus we bank the two car payments we no longer have to pay).

I should also say that I do not consider our Disney vacations an extravagance--they are a mental health necessity. We both have very stressful jobs and having that trip on the horizon is sometimes the only thing that keeps us sane.

 

[luvmarypoppins]

I agree with a lot of the other poster. We live below our means. Our furniture is 20 years old. our van has 150,000, I never shop in macys etc. A disney Family Vacation is one of our top priorities. We budget this but if we couldnt then it might be every other year but now its every year. With 5 we just got the ftp and it was good for us. I compared all things seperately too. I use cheapest air fair etc. No breakfast, bring lots of snack and gatorade and dont dare ask for lots of souveniers. We have 3 dss so we stay at a deluxe. Oh my dream would be a moderate disney for 5 Must accomodate 6 foot teens lol. Our extended family is all deceased so this is really important for us to spend this time as a family. I only get a garden view room and only one good meal a day usually a buffet. Next time I am cashing in hilton miles for free universal tickets. Look for any deals, discounts etc. We got govt. discount at the swan etc. Always go during value season etc. Yes, you can wear last years bathing suit lol. etc.

 

[onecoolmama]

We are looking to move into our own house. We had started saving for a house and we were well on our way when the FTP came up. We called everyone including my inlaws and my mom and they are all going. We decided to Ebay our way there and did it quite successfully. At this point, we have our airline tickets, our room, and our tickets completely paid off. We have almost all of our spending money and we would have been set to still buy a house on schedule (next may.) Here is where the conflict comes in. My DH decided to go back and finish his degree. When we told everyone, they were soooo happy. They said of course we could stay as long as we need and no problems. School is going to take all of our money from this point on so that instead of saving for a house..we are paying for school.

We have 2 kids and there are huge personality clashes in this house. On the surface we all get along, but I think toes have been deformed from all the stepping we have done on each other. I am excited to go to Disnay and DH can hardly wait..but now I have to come up with a way to get extra money for a house and pay for his school and try to pay down the Student loans we already have.

So we are one of those couples that all of you are talking about. We have retirement and we are young (at least for this area) that by the time we are done DH says we should have about 2 million to retire on. We also do Upromise and have started a college savings for our kids with money that other people gave us for them. No we didn't charge the trip and we certainly didn't take out a loan..but we don't have everything together and yes we are going.

Right now, since my life got put on hold for two years (without ebay and other ways to earn extra money) i have the attitude that when life throws you lemons..make lemonade..or in my case..enjoy the trip and figure out another way!

 

[crisi]

Originally posted by WIcruizer
That's only part of the equation. You spend $3,000 up front, meaning you won't get any return on that money- it's gone. I invested that $3,000 and have averaged about 9% return in the last 3 years. At that rate, I will have over $4,000 after 5 years, minus the interest. So I come out ahead.

A risky strategy - but when it works - well, without risk there is no reward.

Personally, I'm too risk adverse to invest borrowed money. Its just as possible the past several years to lose 9% a year as it is to earn 9%. I have a cousin who declared bankruptcy playing that game (with significan't more than $3000 in borrowed money).

 

[mickeysaver]

We average a trip each of the last 3 years. The first trip was just a long weekend. The last trip was a 6 day trip. This year is a 7 day stay. The trips are all roughly 15 months apart.

I don't see us getting to WDW again until late 2005/early 2006. This is fine with me though. We have a trip to Canada to plan for next year and some weekend trips to the mountains and such inbetween. I love WDW, but we spend more on goodies than we do on food or lodging there, so we have to save quite a bit to do this.

I figure that with all the new stuff that's slated to open in 2005, our plan will work out just fine. Mickey

 

[donnsuz]

I think a lot of parents are in a rush to give their kids a "Disney experience" ... when my kids were very small I realized that if the place we went had a pool and Cartoon Network on cable, my kids would be thrilled. [/B][/QUOTE]

I agree with this everytime I see a family at DW/DL with very small children or babies that obviously would be just as happy with a day at the local park. Disney treks are hard work. Too hard for the very young and you're not doing them any favors by putting them thru it. Older children can handle the walking, heat, and crowds better plus they have better memories...if that's what you're shooting for.

 

[crisi]

And while that is true, it is also true that it may be worthwhile to take your three year old just to see her smile when she sees Tigger. Now, I wouldn't stretch a budget unmercifully to get there. And if my budget was going to only handle one Disney trip (or one every couple of years) the toddler years wouldn't be my choice.

Our first trip with our kids was when they were two and three. They have fantasic memories of the trip and found it much more satisfying and fun than a trip to the park. Add Mom and Dad's enjoyment (the playground gets old fast for mom and dad), and it was worth it - for us. But our budget really didn't need to stretch to accomodate it. And, while it was work, we brought Grandma and Grandpa along to balance the workload.


As for walking, heat and crowds - strollers and vacations in the cool off season can make a trip with toddlers downright pleasant.

 

[christianweecare]

We always go to WDW in value season, as well. When our kids were growing up we visited about every other year in Dec. Now that we are empty nesters, DH & I take a week long trip in Dec. by ourselves and then take a long weekend trip in Jan. with which ever family members can make the trip. We save all year for our trips. The Disney fund is included in our paycheck budget each week. That way it does not seem like such a burden on the pocketbook. We also save our change for Disney and trips to the beach. (I even save dollar bills. I don't spend them.) DH & I work very long hours all year, so our vacation time with each other is very important to us. In 2005 DH & I plan to stay at the Poly where we will have honeymooned 30 years ago!

 

[mcgrawfan]

I guess I am another spoiled one. DH and I have no kids which I know makes a difference. We are not a 6 figure income. We have a lot of things many people may think are not necessary, but we like it. We work hard and want to enjoy the benefits of our hard work. We have no extreme debts just the usual house and cars. We get new cars every 3-4 years. We have name brand and designer clothes and accessories. Maybe it helps because we live in Iowa. Cost of living is less our smaller town. We have 3 retirement accounts between us. For Disney I work a second job on Saturdays and I sell Avon. I save garage sale money and am going to start E-baying. We save change and have the Disney Visa. We really have no credit card debt, just little month to month things. We don't charge anything for our vacations and would never think about taking out a loan. I know everyones priorities are different, that's what makes the world go around. I am happy people can figure out ways to save for Disney and enjoy the experience.

 

[beatnik]

I have been to Disney about 10 times in the past 12-15 years-- how do I do it?

First of all, my cousin is a cast member and is very dear about getting us whatever discount she can get us (rooms at Disney resorts, park passes). She will sometimes also accompany us to the parks in which case we get to go for free-- but we hate to take her up on this offer, as she has young nieces and nephews and a limited number of free admission days. Occasionally, she'll have a free pass for some reason and may give this to us. She also is a DVC member and is always up for a trip to the beach when we are down. But of course, you are not eligible for these advantanges, so I will move on to my other strategies.

Second, we drive if we can to avoid renting a car. We even drove down when we were living in Maine. Even when staying on-property, we find the Disney transport to be slow, so we would rather drive to the parks.

Third, we hate crowds and would never consider going in any season but the lowest of the low. A pleasant side effect of this is lower hotel rates. We don't go to Disney (of our own volition-- family trips are different) unless we can get a room at a nice place for $50/night or less. Last time we stayed 10 nights at the Hotel Royal Plaza in a post-911 special, which was buy one night, get one night free and came out to about $60/nite including taxes. The hotel was not our dream hotel but it was very nice and entirely adequate to our needs. We are going for 10 days in late Sept/early Oct and got some of our night at the $20.03 rate and the rest at $49/night. With taxes, our stay will average out to $45/night. I usually spend quite a bit of internet time ferreting out the cheapest possible hotel rate-- it is kind of a game to me. We do sometimes stay in Disney hotels when traveling with family--then we pay more and have my cousin book the rooms, an we get a nice cast member discount (about 50%). We have also had three trips associated with various conferences, in which someone else paid for the room (but of course we were tied up with the conference all day).

Fourth, we usually eat breakfast in the hotel room. We bring a cooler and toaster and have juice, cereal, coffee, toast or something along those lines. This is partially a money saving device, partially because we can't manage three restaurant meals per day (just can't eat that much), but mostly a time-saving device. We aslo keep a bit of ham and cheese in our cooler, to make sandwiches if we are too tired to go out for dinner.

Fifth, although we appreciate a nice restauarant, we are in such "go-go-go" mode in the parks that we don't want to sit down for a leisurely meal and when we are done touring for the day we are too tired for anything too nice. so we tend to eat at pretty casual places like Chevy's, Jungle Jim's, or Denny's (or in the parks, at counter service or food carts-- we love those turkey legs!). Our tiredness saves us a bit on dining. We also don't like the priority seating thing-- not possible for us to say 90 days in advance how hungry we will be, what time we will be hungry, and even what park we will be at. So we naturally gravitate away from sit-down Disney meals. For this visit, we also learned that the 2003 Orlando Entertainment Book was on sale for $10 (paid $15 with shipping). There seem to be a good number of coupons in the book for restaurants in the Downtown Disney hotels and vicinity, so hopefully this will pay off.

Sixth, we are not big souvineer (sp?) people and don't have kids to convince us to buy a lot of "stuff." So our expenses are pretty much confined to meals, hotel, and tickets.

Seventh, for non-Disney tickets, we are not above suffering a timeshare pitch. Since we try to go to Disney for a long-enough time to have 2-3 relaxing days (water parks, marketplace, minispeed boat rentals, visits to Disney resorts), we'll get up early (not a problem for us), go to the timeshare pitch and be ready to start our day by 9:30 am. We can then zip over to a waterpark or even IOA (which doesn't open until 10AM in low season when we travel) and not have missed anything.

Eighth, since we go relatively often, we don't feel deprived if we miss something and figure we can always see it later. We've wanted to see Circ du soleil (sp?), but never have because of the expense-- oh well, we'll scheme our way there eventually! We've also never been to Disney Quest, but will probaly use the timeshare method to get 4 passes to DQ on this visit and save one pair for a future visit. We like the Disney dinner shows, but don't go to one on every visit. Not a big deal to us, because we'll be back.

Ninth, it is just my husband and I-- no kids, so all of our passes and meals are therefore cheaper.

I wouldn't worry if it seems like everybody else gets to Disney more than you do. It is of course easier for folks who make more money, live somewhere inexpensive, have a lot of time to take off work, have no kids, or have access to cast member discounts. I would never be able to go so frequently if I had to pay full price for everything...

Beatnik

 

[lmhall2000]

1. No cable/satellite (Saves us over $600 a year)
2. Refinanced our mortgage for 4.8% saving us $150 a month!!
3. Take a Disney vacation every 2-3 years- on off years we stay at the beach travelling off season (we homeschool- so we can travel ANYTIME!! )
4. We eat out 4x a month- after church on Sundays- the rest of the month to feed our family of five we budget $500 including eating out.
5. We almost never buy sodas at restaurants or for the home- we figure this saves us atleast $300 a year.
6. We don't have call waiting or long distance on our landline phone- using cell phones for all l.d.- this saves us about $300 a year.
7. We keep our cars atleast 10 years- we have a 2000 Toyota Sienna and a 1984 Toyota Camry!! We LOVE TOYOTA!!
8. We only buy clothing that is atleast 50% off and most the time 75% off- buying our clothes off-season- I've gotten pretty good at guessing the kids sizes the next year.
9. We stick to tight budgets at Christmas and spending under $100 per child and under $50 for us the parents.
10. We only go to Disney if there's a GREAT deal- like FTP or travelling off season.

That's how we do it.
Tara

 

[gemini1029]

My sister and I took our kids to WDW last Jan, my 3rd trip and her 1st. Loved it and decided to go again in 3 years (my average time).
We opened a store in Feb and use my credit cards to buy all the merchandise. We use the Chase I-card, it will buy our passes- the Disney Card, it will buy our food- and the Elite card to help with hotels on the way down and back. We also have a fridge in our store where we sell pop and water, the money from that is going to pay for the fridge, and also to help pay for the hotel at WDW.
When we get to about 6 months before the trip we will start using the BP/Amoco card also, they give 2% back in free gas, that'll cover most of our gas expence.
That leaves just food on the way down and back, and we both do plenty of reward programs to cover that. Last Jan we came back with taco bell and BK gift certificates.
We've decided to go back in 2 years instead of 3. so hopefully in Jan or Feb of 05 we'll go.
I've managed to turn my sister into a Disney freak, like me.
Can't wait! Love the mouse!

 

[AdventurerKat]

How did/will I afford it?

Well, first off I had a sale on eBay. Netted about $400.00.

I save change in a change jar. Last time I turned it in, I had over $100.00.

I do a few reward programs to pick up GCs for Rainforest Cafe or Disney Dollars and I save those (I actually have four RFC gift certificates in my Disney jar now...good thing I like their food).

I don't splurge on fancy hotels, I have never stayed in a deluxe (although will be in the AKL for Xmas week so that will be a switch but only because I got a great AP rate) but I do stay in the moderates when they have decent rates. I have stayed offsite a few times but as offsite as I will go is DTD hotels. I rarely pay more than $100.00 a night for a hotel. Again, my trip to AKL this Xmas is a fluke for me and that rate was $121.00 including tax. I do sometimes rent DVC and that can be cheap too! I have gotten as low as $68.00 a night at OKW for a weeknight.

I have frequent flier miles from my trips to Disney and elsewhere. I have made several trips on those in the past few years.

I buy an annual pass. That means whenever I do go, I don't have to pay for park admissions.

My husband gets paid bi-weekly and I get paid weekly. We have a pact that anything above the normal four week work week, i.e. 20 days for him, 16 for me (I work p/t), half goes in regular savings and half in vacation savings. Like October I will have five paydays and he will have 3 extra days of pay. We save that and split it. And let me add that we are VERY middle income. We are no where near six figures, believe me.

We don't give each other gifts but we both have our vices. Mine is Disney and his is video games. If its his birthday, he gets himself a video game. If its mine, I get myself $50.00 in Disney Dollars. Same kind of thing for Xmas. We also do not give adult family members Xmas and birthday gifts. A card will suffice.

Any work bonuses I get go into my travel funds. This has been the way it has always been for me. I just got one at a new job I have last week. I bought my son and I MNSSHP tickets and I got some Disney Dollars.

When I am AT WDW, I don't eat all my meals in sit downs. I usually have a nice meal once a day and the others are counter service. I also often times have cereal in my room as I am not a big breakfast person.

So people always wonder how I have been able to go to WDW so much and basically, through experience and what I have learned on these boards, I have learned to do it as inexpensively as I can for my tastes and likes.

I am going to WDW for four nights on the 13th. My bill for that, not including food and drink money is as follows (mind you I am splitting hotel costs with a friend):

$220.00 - 1/2 of four nights at OKW
$130.67 - park adm. 1/3 of AP (goes down the more trips I take!)
$225.00 - airfare from Seattle (gotta watch for sales!)
$100.00 - transportation costs (to from WDW, airport and home)

So that is roughly $655.00. I would throw in about $250.00 for food/drinks. I don't think $905.00 is all that much for four nights at WDW and I paid for more than half of it with my eBay sale and change jar.

Now, all that being said, we only do a family trip to WDW about once a year and with four of us now, I know those numbers are going to get up there no matter what we do. But my husband knows I am addicted and allows me this vice. October I am bringing my three year old to go to the Halloween party. We will be there five nights. Then at Xmas I go with a friend and will be there 7 nights while my DH has the kids with his family. I am guessing that will probably be my most expensive WDW trip ever actually.

Anyway, those are my tricks. Won't work for everyone but they have worked for me. The most trips I have taken in a year is five. I know many here have taken more but I don't think that is too bad from Seattle.

 

[Freyja]

I can only agree with those who say it's all about priorities.

I'm a university student and my husband has only been working for a year (after he finished his studies). We have 3 children and we still manage to go on vacation at least once each year. This will be our first to the World and it sure is expensive for us.

Airfare and hotel alone (Best Western Plaza) comes down to 3200$ for 12 nights.

However, we own our house (well the bank still owns most of it), and the montly payments are actually less than if we were renting. We do not have a car (we live in Denmark where public transport is quite good). We don´t have cable TV, we hardly ever go to the pub etc, all our clothes are bought in stores similar to Walmart (apart from mine, since my family owns a shop with womens clothing).

I have a setamount to use each day and everything that´s left at the end of the day is put into our vacation jar. It´s really nice to see how fast you actually can save money this way.

Our kids were told at a young age that it is all about priorities. Sure they could have a new game boy...but then that might mean no vacation. They save their allowance and use it as their own spending money while on holiday.

Furthermore, I also believe it´s about making the decision. Saying: I want to go to Disney next year and I´m willing to do what it takes to get there.

As soon as you´ve started looking into hotels and tickets I find it a lot easier to find the extra money and hold back on buying other stuff.

Hope this helps

Freyja

 

[missypie]

Air fare tip: My BIL is a teacher and his wife is a SAHM. They have 3 kids. Teachers have a mixed blessing - a lot of time off work, but not a large income. Here is their MO: They schedule all their flights for the "busiest" time - i.e. when the airlines are most likely to be over booked. Then they make it VERY CLEAR that they are willing to be bumped. They come back from every trip with at least one set of airline vouchers - last spring break they could have had three sets for the flight to Florida alone, but they settled for 2 so they could finally get to their destination.

This is NOT for everyone. I personally would rather skip a trip than to have to kill lots of hours in an airport with 3 small kids. BUT this works for them. They take several trips a year and always fly free.