How Do You Pay For Your DISNEY VACATION?

[55dznypal]

saving change and rewards programs

Im always on the look out for banks that offer bonuses for opening new accounts

Uusual you just need $50-100 to open-leave open for usually 6 months

and get $50-150 in bonus added to the account
I made $500 last year alone in bonuses!!!!

at the end of the time I close the account and put the money back

in my main vacation account

this really adds up fast!!!

I did have to make a sheet so I know where my $ is!!!!!!

 

[darthspud]

saving change and rewards programs

Im always on the look out for banks that offer bonuses for opening new accounts

Uusual you just need $50-100 to open-leave open for usually 6 months

and get $50-150 in bonus added to the account
I made $500 last year alone in bonuses!!!!

at the end of the time I close the account and put the money back

in my main vacation account

this really adds up fast!!!

I did have to make a sheet so I know where my $ is!!!!!!

Doesnt that look bad against you on a credit report or what not for opening and closing so many accounts?

 

[55dznypal]

it hasnt hurt the credit score since Ive been doing this

and its been about 3 years now

 

[rumrunnergirl]

.

 

[unsinkable]

I don't count on the income tax return as I have issues with the gov't holding my money 'interest free' for a year. It's so small I wind up using that as a deposit for DD10's summer camp.

This is so true.

Also, some states are in money trouble so they are taking much longer to refund overpayments.

 

[cm8]

we save money from our pay checks and what ever else we find laying around the house

 

[55dznypal]

Equatable bank here in WI you dont need direct deposit

also TCF bank, Anchor Bank

I even to the direct deposit as long as its not alot of money

One bank here wnated $100 direct deposit that was too much for me

Usually I have $5 but the last one I only did $3!!!

 

[elaine and the boys]

We always drive from Massachusetts, which saves a ton of $$$ over flying. It takes two days, but I always get free hotel nights en route with cc points. (We put everything we can on our cc and then pay it off each month.)

We stay at the Swan/Dolphin and usually get the teacher rate, plus a couple nights free (using our Starwood cc points).

We eat breakfast in the room (because we drive, we can haul a cooler, water bottles, snacks, etc....saves alot of $$$.)

We save $$$ every week, and sometimes are able to use some tax return $$$.

I don't like to book packages...and staying at the Swan/Dolphin prevents that anyway. I like the security of knowing that the only $$$ I pay prior to my trip is a one-night hotel deposit. That way, IF some unexpected major expense arises at home before the trip, all I have to do is call the hotel and get my one-night deposit back. (I DO like to purchase my park tickets a few weeks in advance from UndercoverTourist, but I figure if I have to cancel my trip, my tickets are good forever until I use them for the first time!)

All Disney expenses, like hotel, park tix, and meals are charged to my cc so I can continue to accumulate points for future trips. But as soon as the bill arrives, I pay it off with the $$$ I have saved for the trip.

 

[musclemouse]

Refund here, as well. Which is only paying for the reservations and tickets. Also airfare.

I have gathered the family and we each have a jar. Whatever change we find around the jar will go in that finders jar. All spare change from DH and myself will go into our own jars. This money is for our own souvies.

Yard sale money, craiglist money, and Ebay money, bottle returns will go towards the dining, tips and snacks, etc.. since we are not going with any plans. As it will not benefit us.

I have also set up a huge chore chart decorated in Disney flavor (adorable) hoping that it will continue to motivate them until trip time.

 

[luvmarypoppins]

Well for our May trip to the Poly we cashed in dh frequent flier miles and that cut the trip by at least $1600 and we are getting the $750 gift card, so that will pay for the food.

We fly southwest, so no baggage fees. We choose not to take the magical express but we budget for that, about the only splurge. We make a drink stop for dh on the way.

Our cc is linked to the airline miles and I sign dh up for everything that gives miles, rent a car, hotels, etc. Tomm. dh is coming back from an around the world trip, hello disney miles!!

This time if they still have it I wil book a bounceback for dec. The money we save on the room will go towards dining.

We have stayed at the Dolphin before with the govt. discount. I always would pack lots of snacks for the ds etc.

 

[canadian_hugh]

Our whole family including our daughters who are 12 and 15 have been delivering flyers for a whole year in order to fund our trip to Walt Disney World.I am so proud of my girls for working towards this goal - there was lots of times they didn't want to go out to deliver - but reminded themselves that they would get to go to DisneyWorld. We are heading down in July - only 75 days to go and we are so excited as it is our first time down in Walt Disney World.

Lana and Hugh

 

[LoraJ]

In the past I would use my refund. We are not going to WDW this year but are going to Vegas instead. I just started a savings account at smartypig.com. 2.15% APY (starting next month). They have you state your goal, how much you want to save and by what date. It shows you how much you have to contribute a month to reach that goal. Then every month it transfers that amount from your checking into that savings. Once the Vegas trip is done I think I will set up a goal for WDW for next year.

 

[tjs198]

it hasnt hurt the credit score since Ive been doing this

and its been about 3 years now

Paid for an entire trip, $3000, one year using 0% credit card offers. Had over $50,000 in high yield savings accounts earning interest.

http://www.mymoneyblog.com/how-to-make-money-from-0-apr-balance-transfers

 

[3girlsfun]

We are paying off this trip just like it is a bill that I must pay on monthly. I am also putting back $200 a month. If it gets close to the 45 days and we can't pay it off because of some emergency, then we will just push it back until Thanksgiving, or whatever. We live in North Georgia, and are hoping to fly, just because we are lazy. If it doesn't happen, then we can always save the money and drive.

Every penny of my DH's commission checks are going to vacation! Starting in September, his regular checks will go to paying off our debt by June of next year, and the commission straight to vacation funds.

We have a cruise booked for June of 2011, which we paid the deposit from our tax refund this year, and we will pay it off next year with the refund. As long as we can pay our bills, and buy things we or the girls need, any and all money that is "extra" goes to vacation fund!

 

[carj]

Here is what we do to "find" money or make a little extra for our trip. My goal is to pay for the trip with money that is not in our regular budget.

1. Save all reimbursements. I get reimbursed for mileage twice a year. I also get reimbursed for a few other little things throughout the year. Since the money has already been spent, we don't miss the reimbursement and it goes to the vacation fund.
2. Save and "exchange" gift cards. Every year at Christmas, we get several GC from family members. I will use those to make purchases that I normally would make and then divert the money to the vacation fund. (One example is that we got $200 in Wal-Mart GC. I spent that on groceries and then took the grocery money and transferred to vacation account.)
3. Save coins-We don't spend any coins, only bills. All the coins go in a jar and then we take them to the bank and cash them in for bills.
4. Garage sale and coin recycling. I usually end up giving a lot of the garage sale items away but I make $150-200 each year. I usually do the cans on the same day and add that to my total. It isn't much, maybe $10.
5. Rewards programs such as Disney Visa and cash back programs for doing surveys. I have about $60 from those.
6. I also score essays from home during testing season, (spring) I have been really busy this year and hope to pay for our 5 nights at FW Cabins with just scoring money.
7. Going to the store less often. If I shop every other week and just send my husband in for milk and produce, we spend about $50 less over 2 weeks. If I am there, I think of something that we "need" and spend more. We could eat out less often and save more, but we don't!
8. Selling old gold jewelry. I have to get around to doing this one. I have to gold sitting in a baggie and the paperwork filled out.
9. I try not go buy stuff for the trip. I will get a few little items for the road, we are driving this year but I don't do the whole Tinkerbelle gift thing. My kids are interested in buying something from the stores and I know that I will end up buying stuff there. If I buy the Tinkerbelle trinkets too, it just ends up costing me more money!
10. We don't do the "extra" experiences. If my daughter cared one bit about getting her hair done, we might do BBB. She doesn't care so I am not mentioning it. I made the mistake of having my son go on the pirate cruise 2 years age. He may be the only child in the history of WDW that did not enjoy it. The crazy thing is that he LOVED everything else. I decided to enjoy the "free experiences" and skip that other stuff unless the kids ask. Being at WDW is special enough if you don't go very often.


We don't usually get a tax refund. This year we owed.

 

[roscoepc1]

Tax refund every 3rd or 4th year (other years it pays for pesky things like a new roof, new furnace etc, lol).

Change jar...everything smaller than a quarter goes in from dh, and loose change smaller than a loonie from my pocket goes in. When it's close to full (decorated 1 gallon), I roll it all, take it to the bank and have it exchanged into American bills, and tuck them away. Found money from the laundry goes in too. I was astounded by how much I saved with only 6 months' saving last year, this time I'm starting 3 yrs ahead!

My girls save their fall fair winnings, so they have their own "no comment from mom and dad" money to spend...we do require them to simply write down what they like and where it was until the last day, and they make final decisions and buy then.....

 

[gillenkl]

I do mypoints and swagbucks.
I sell all my homeschool books on ebay - was just able to purchase $25 disney gc - not much but every little bit helps.
I use our disney chase for everything.
Save, save, save - we don't ever go to the movies and eat out only 1x per week. We also don't buy anything that isn't a necessity - so no random trip to Target or the mall.

 

[crisi]

Live beneath our means and use our savings account.

 

[bwolfe]

Cash only here! We do not use credit cards at all. We work off of a budget each month. Every dollar has a name and a specific use. We have a "vacation" account the we send money to each month.

 

[brunette8706]

-We always make the 200 deposit when booking the package. We find it's cheaper for us to get a package with room/dining plan/tickets when we go.
-We always get the standard dining package with 1 TS, 1 QS, 1 S per person
-We ship down a box with breakfast items/snacks/drinks to eat via UPS and eat breakfast in the room-We usually do the QS for lunches and save the TS for dinners
-To figure out how long we're gonna have to pay for the vacation, we take the total, divide by 2. I pay for myself, my parents for themselves. We take each total and divide by how many months until vacation and take that amount out of the paycheck each month and pay disney each month. It usually takes us up until the 45 day marker to get it paid off, but it's a relief knowing everything is paid for when we arrive on vacation.
-As for airfare, I also budget that into the total vacation price. I budget high for airfare and search Airtran's website daily to find a good deal. I also include baggage fees in the price, to avoid any nasty surprises.
-Souvenir money is also included in the total price, again to avoid someone not having souvie money. Whatever isn't spent, is that person's to use as they want when we get home.

HI! HOw much does it cost to ship down food? That sounds like a good idea!