How Do You Make the Saving "Fun"?

[shellynn24]

I have decided to save as much "spare" cash as I can to put towards retirement/emergency savings and for a trip to Disney (I am a single Mom with three kids so the kids stay and play free is a fantastic deal for me ). I have told the kids that we need to try and save as much as we can but for kids that are used to eating out and going to the movies and what not the saving prospect seems kinda grim, even if it is for Disney. My question is...How do you make the saving "fun" or at least not as grim and boring?

 

[jls886]

What we did when we were younger was make it a team effort. We would get a big jar and set it on the counter so we could see the money add up in the jar. Everytime we didn't go out to eat when we normally would have, or we went out to eat but ordered water instead of normally ordering a soda, etc, we would put the amount of money that we would have spent into the jar. Same thing if we used a coupon, but would have normally paid full price. It made everyone feel like they were contributing and kind of made the build up to the trip more exciting. It also made us all look at what we were spending and decide if that soda was more important than a trip to Disney...in essence making us a little more budget minded in a fun way.

 

[jls886]

Also, once you know the cost of your trip, and that you're definitely going, try to watch for Disney gift cards on ebay. I don't know if you're a big ebayer or not, or if you have much time during the day to check periodically, but it could save you quite a bit.

We just went to Disneyland and I bought $1,343 worth of gift cards on ebay and paid a total of $866.39 for them. If you watch ebay and only buy the ones that are listed as buy it now for less than face value, and then use Mr. Rebates to save an extra 3% on your ebay purchases, you can end up saving yourself quite a bit. I'd be happy to give you more info if you have any questions. It's not something that everyone would want to do, but it works out very well for us.

 

[Gr8t Fan]

We try to break down the cost savings into things they want at Disney. If they want to go to the movies, we tell them that we can rent a movie from Redbox and save the $$ we would have spent on the movie and the savings would buy 6 Dole Whip Floats at MK. That usually does the trick.

Two of our girls are very thrifty, but one of ours has such a hard time keeping any $ in her wallet. We're not sure about the baby yet, because he's still too young to have a savings style.

We also have a set amount for entertainment each month and out of that comes going out to eat, going to the movies, renting videos, etc. Once it's gone it's gone. We let each of our three daughters decide what to do with the monthly entertainment budget twice a year, so they feel they have a say in what we do. The first month my oldest was in charge (when she was 7), she spent almost all of it on one venture out, so we had to remind her for the rest of the month that she'd already spent it when we went to the movies and for pizza and ice cream. The next time she was in charge, she stretched it out over 3 weekends. We think it taught her a valuable lesson.

Our middle daughter spent the entire montly budget in one outing with no regrets. She planned what we would do, we had a great time, and she had to be reminded a few times afterward that we'd spent the entire amount, but she was happy. She has continued to spend this way. It used to bother me, but she has a different spending style than I do, so I have to get used to it. I do constantly try to point out spending/saving/budgeting opportunities and hope she's at least taking note of them.

Our youngest daughter is very thrifty. We went to the mall because the girls had some Christmas $$ to spend and she gave herself a budget of $5 (out of $105) and she came back with $5 in her pocket because she didn't find anything that she thought was worth parting with her $5.

 

[Leajess99]

First off, make a Disney Bank. You can get a water jug at Walmart for about $6.00 (huge one) and let the kids design that. Then challenge them to see how much money they can get in the back before the big trip. When we did this first we bought a coke bottle bank from Cracker Barrell for a lot more but the kids were up to the challenge. We ended up with $800 from January to September when we cashed it out. That was enough money to pay for our week at POR. I give the kids the option now of a movie night at home or spending the big money for the movie theater and they prefer having one at home. We still go out to eat on occassion but for the most part they would rather just sit at home and eat. It keeps them from being in the cold right now and we can sit and hang out together without the noise and sometimes the rudeness of others.

The last time we went out we were going for a fareweel to some friends and they chose a local Italiam restaurant. Well the kids were sitting in one booth and this lady with 2 kids came and sat in the booth behind them. The woman never made her youngest sit down and the child kept eating her food standing up right behind my daughters. Needless to say my girls ended up with food in their hair which did not make any of us happy since we had just done their hair the day before and they can't have their hair washed daily due to their hair type.

The kids also did not get full so still had to come home and eat. They have decided that eating at home is more fun and filling.

 

[Leajess99]

We try to break down the cost savings into things they want at Disney. If they want to go to the movies, we tell them that we can rent a movie from Redbox and save the $$ we would have spent on the movie and the savings would buy 6 Dole Whip Floats at MK. That usually does the trick.

Two of our girls are very thrifty, but one of ours has such a hard time keeping any $ in her wallet. We're not sure about the baby yet, because he's still too young to have a savings style.

We also have a set amount for entertainment each month and out of that comes going out to eat, going to the movies, renting videos, etc. Once it's gone it's gone. We let each of our three daughters decide what to do with the monthly entertainment budget twice a year, so they feel they have a say in what we do. The first month my oldest was in charge (when she was 7), she spent almost all of it on one venture out, so we had to remind her for the rest of the month that she'd already spent it when we went to the movies and for pizza and ice cream. The next time she was in charge, she stretched it out over 3 weekends. We think it taught her a valuable lesson.

Our middle daughter spent the entire montly budget in one outing with no regrets. She planned what we would do, we had a great time, and she had to be reminded a few times afterward that we'd spent the entire amount, but she was happy. She has continued to spend this way. It used to bother me, but she has a different spending style than I do, so I have to get used to it. I do constantly try to point out spending/saving/budgeting opportunities and hope she's at least taking note of them.

Our youngest daughter is very thrifty. We went to the mall because the girls had some Christmas $$ to spend and she gave herself a budget of $5 (out of $105) and she came back with $5 in her pocket because she didn't finad anything that she thought was worth parting with her $5.

This so sounds like my youngest. She tried to talk her friends into saving their money and starting a bank account but they were not having it. She loves to know that she has lots of money if she needs it.

My middle one likes to spend money but she is getting better. it is my oldest that I am most worried about. He keeps spending money like it is no big deal. It doesn't help either when his some of the adult friends he has helps him spend it before he even makes it.

 

[Leajess99]

I just thought of one more thing. Not sure if you have been to Disney yet or not but this one came from Innovations - http://piggybank.disney.go.com/media/ap/piggybank/index.html. My kids loved this adventure.

 

[Pigeon]

I don't try to make it fun. It isn't fun. It just is what it is. Lots of things that need to be done in life aren't especially fun, and I don't try to pretend otherwise. I don't especially find saving fun, although I am a saver. I take satisfaction out of having money in the bank, but I wouldn't term saving enjoyable in and of itself.

What I do try to teach my kids is about delayed gratification, bugeting and prioritizing. They understand that in order to get something you really want, sometimes you have to put it off and be willing to forego other things. They understand that they can get more from a clothing purchase if they shop the sales and clearance racks.

 

[shellynn24]

Also, once you know the cost of your trip, and that you're definitely going, try to watch for Disney gift cards on ebay. I don't know if you're a big ebayer or not, or if you have much time during the day to check periodically, but it could save you quite a bit.

We just went to Disneyland and I bought $1,343 worth of gift cards on ebay and paid a total of $866.39 for them. If you watch ebay and only buy the ones that are listed as buy it now for less than face value, and then use Mr. Rebates to save an extra 3% on your ebay purchases, you can end up saving yourself quite a bit. I'd be happy to give you more info if you have any questions. It's not something that everyone would want to do, but it works out very well for us.

Really?!? You can do this? I definitely want to know more.

We try to break down the cost savings into things they want at Disney. If they want to go to the movies, we tell them that we can rent a movie from Redbox and save the $$ we would have spent on the movie and the savings would buy 6 Dole Whip Floats at MK. That usually does the trick.

This is a good idea. I would like them to know what they could get for their money if they just waited till the "big payoff".


Everyone has such good ideas, I love the big bank idea. They already have a little bank that they will put change in and they say "we are $.25 closer to Disney Wolrd" but they have a harder time with understanding how the the bigger purchases affect the overall Disney budget.

 

[mom to minnie&mickey]

I would order the WDW planning DVD and let the kids watch it. They will then have a very good idea as to what they are saving for and it will make it seem real to them. The next time they ask for something (movie, restaurant, chips, toy etc.) remind them of the DVD and ask what they would prefer to have, treat or vacation. Then, take the money that you would have spent out of your wallet and put it into some sort of piggy bank so that they can see it. The more they see the savings grow the more they will want to put in it as they are now aiming for a purpose.

 

[torinsmom]

Someone gave my son a bank that keeps track of how much money is in it. There is a readout on top. It's nice for both of us to see how much we've saved.

 

[Katy Belle]

We are going to California this summer. We have a very detailed family monthly budget, that all of my kids know about One thing I'm doing is letting them decide on one "special" activity. It will be the "indoor sky-diving" at Universal. It will be about $200. If we are under budget for dining out and entertainment categories on our budget, it will go into the sky diving fund. I hope this will motivate them, we just started. If it doesn't, then we will still go on vacation, just not do that activity.

 

[HS3kids]

I second (or 3rd or 4th) a Disney Jar. All ours is, is a tall glass vase. The kids decorated it with Disney stickers and started searching for spare change all over the house (the top of the dryer is always a treasure trove-lol) and any spare change from pockets or wherever goes in there. We started this in late September (right before our October trip, because we already knew we wanted to go back again-lol) and its full to the top now. We do need to roll all the change and bring it to the bank and deposit it, and then we will fill the Disney Jar again (I also have some money direct deposited into savings every week, but thats not fun for the kids-or me- ha) The jar is a visual reminder for the kids, and a challenge to fill up, so it works for us. Every little bit helps!

 

[CajunDixie]

Some things we did with our kids when they were little:

We only spend change during vacations. If our total is $1.01 I'm still paying with $2. They would empty my wallet at the end of the week and sort the different coins into different banks.

I had them help me make grocery lists and cut coupons. The amount saved with coupons went into a bank (We had/have Coke Bottle, Donald Duck, 2 different Lion Kings, Fred Flintstone, and a few Coke Cans). Couponing can be time consuming but it can be a family project.

Instead of going to XYZ we stayed home and had a movie night or game night. Saved money went into the banks.

Saved money in ING accounts since then it took 3 days to transfer money to our Credit Union. Both boys had and still have their own accounts.

For birthdays they would ask for Disney Money as their gifts.

Back then we had Works on our computers and printed up a cool vacation budget plan. One page had what we needed for passes, room, gasoline, hotel on way down & back, meals, snacks and souvies. The other page showed when we met each goal. We used a Disney font and various colors to make it look cool. I printed mousekeeping envelopes for each day we would be there too. We used the menus & trip reports on the DIS to get the exact amount needed for each in park meal.

In the summer we would handwash the cars to save $$ at the carwash too.

When they'd get bored with it all we would do something like have Mickey pancakes for breakfast to get them motivated again. Kids need the long term goal broken down into short term goals to help keep them interested.

 

[bjscheel]

Did you want a way for the kids to see your progress? How about one of those thermometer drawings that fund raising projects use- as you save more, fill it in with red marker. They might really get into closing the gap.

 

[DaniB]

We just went to Disneyland and I bought $1,343 worth of gift cards on ebay and paid a total of $866.39 for them. If you watch ebay and only buy the ones that are listed as buy it now for less than face value, and then use Mr. Rebates to save an extra 3% on your ebay purchases, you can end up saving yourself quite a bit. I'd be happy to give you more info if you have any questions. It's not something that everyone would want to do, but it works out very well for us.

I would love to know more about this as well.

And darn it all! I just made a purchase from eBay today, and totally forgot about Rebates! I only signed up to it a week ago or so. Thanks for the reminder!

 

[jls886]

There is no big secret to the ebay thing, it is ALL about timing. Very rarely does anyone list Disney gift cards on ebay for less than they're worth. Usually Disney GCs are bid up to over face value (don't ask me why!). So, I check ebay daily...obsessively...to grab the GCs that are put on with a buy it now option of less than face value. I also go through Mr. Rebates to get an additional 3% cashback. I then use the gift cards to pay for our trip, and if I end up with enough I use them to pay for our food/souveniers while we're there too - unless we have free dining of course. I've done this for 3 trips now and it does take some diligent ebay searching but I can do that relatively easily at work...and it has saved us hundreds of dollars.

 

[sarahrip]

As soon as we desided to take a trip to WDW I knew I wanted to do a charater meal for our kids and told them all about them and got them excited about it and told them we all needed to help save for the Chef Mickey meal so we got a jug and decorated it Disney style and we all put any and all extra change we have or find into it and its getting pretty full and I can't wait to see how much is in it and I'm sure its enough to pay for our meal at Chef Mickey, its a fun way to include everyone and its one less thing we have to pay out of pocket for.

 

[MrsPete]

I don't try to make it fun. It isn't fun. It just is what it is. Lots of things that need to be done in life aren't especially fun, and I don't try to pretend otherwise. I don't especially find saving fun, although I am a saver. I take satisfaction out of having money in the bank, but I wouldn't term saving enjoyable in and of itself.

What I do try to teach my kids is about delayed gratification, bugeting and prioritizing. They understand that in order to get something you really want, sometimes you have to put it off and be willing to forego other things. They understand that they can get more from a clothing purchase if they shop the sales and clearance racks.

Ditto. Spending is always going to be more fun than saving. No matter how much you like seeing the numbers add up in your retirement account, it's not the same immediate gratification as buying something. Trying to make it "fun" sends a strange message to the kids.

The best thing you can do with saving is to make it easy and automatic. For example, have X amount directly withdrawn from your paycheck and deposited into a short-term savings account, which you can use for vacations.

 

[DaniB]

Usually Disney GCs are bid up to over face value (don't ask me why!).

I noticed that last night. For kicks I checked out mastercard/visa gift cards - and they all end up higher than the $ value on the card.

I just do not understand... Does anyone know? Do people really purchase these gift cards for more money (on e-bay) then what you could just purchase it for in the store??