How do you save for Disney? How do you save up for the extras?

[Vickie46]

I am going to try ebay and also maybe have a Garage Sale! Any other ideas?

 

[emma212010]

Everytime I get change back from a cashier, I put the coins in my Disney fund! Right now I have over $60 just in change!!

We are also doing a garage sale in May for extra money for our trip in June!

 

[mom2t]

We budget our expenses. When I go under the amount, the extra money goes in an envelope. We did not go out and eat any in Jan. and Feb. nor any movies. We did a lot of cleaning out for a yard sale and hauled clothes to a consignment shop. Our eyes were on a trip. My son had presents from Christmas to play with. We have saved 740 in the last 3 months. This will help us on a 2nd vacation to the beach. Our yd. sale will come in May. It is easy to give up things when you set a goal.

 

[aimeeinohio]

We save the change, and I also save the extra $ out of my budget. For example, I budget $200 a week for food/household expenses...If I don't spend that amount, what's left goes on the trip.

 

[torinsmom]

I always put away my tax refund. I know people say I am just lending the gov't my money interest free, but it is easier for me to get it all in one lump sum. I also get a local teaching supplement twice a year and half the June one is for Disney. I also have a change jar and it has almost $80 in it right now. That is usually my souvenir money.

About 6 months ago, I discovered that my town has a Facebook yard sale page. You post pictures of what you're selling and people comment if they want it. I have made quite a bit of money on there, selling my unneeded things and also buying things cheap at yard sales and selling them for a small profit.

 

[Blessedwithboys]

Tax refund!! plus a few bonuses DH has gotten

We are doing the 52 week savings plan model for spending money for the trip except we shortened it to the number of weeks we had when we booked. It IMO an awsome way to save and honestly I barley even notice the money is gone!!!! We will have 408.00 just from that savings jar for extra.

I also bought gift cards when our grocery store had .20 off per gallon of fuel for every 50.00 in Disney gift cards we bought 700.00 worth and ended up filling our tank for 8.00

Selling at big kids consinment sale or shop is also a great way to make money on your kids outgrown toys and clothing!!

 

[MinnieFan4ever]

We opened up a Disney savings account. Always deposit something out of each check, even if it is just $5.00. I keep a jar for coins and "extra" money I save. Then at the end of the month it goes into the savings account. Cut back on eating out. We would eat out 1 night a week and the money that would have gone for that meal, I put in the savings account. So instead of eating out 4 - 5 times a month only go out 2 -3 times.

 

[taylor3297]

Like others, I keep all change. Also, at the end of the day I keep all one dollar bills and sometimes the five dollar bills. It adds up fast.

 

[lovewdwdvc]

I really like the idea of saving change and $1s. I am going to try it this month. I will not let DH know though and want to surprise him with the results.

 

[G719]

I just made $460 at a local spring consignment sale. I sold clothes, baby equipment, toys, books, and a bike. They have it just twice a year and it is a great way to clean out, make some money, and get "new" clothes. Here is a site where you can look for sales near you:

http://consignmentmommies.com/

 

[goofyredraider]

Save all change, save all $1 bills, resale of outgrown kids' clothes, ebates, earning bonus target gcs and buying disney cards, Craigslist unwanted items, etc-

 

[DizMe]

My bank has a Keep the Change program, so I signed up. Every time I use my debit card, the dollar amount is rounded up to the next dollar and the "change" is put into my savings account. It really adds up!

I also save change at home. I found that putting spare dollar bills in the jar helped a lot.

I have a vacation wallet in a secret drawer. Anything extra that's higher than a $1 bill goes in there. If you try and set aside a $10 or 20 every so often, it also adds up quickly. For some reason, I never break into it, either.

I got the SW credit card with the 50,000 pt promo so our family flies free on our Dec. vacation.

I belong to MyPoints and usually have enough for a hotel room or Rainforest gift cards etc.

I join restaurant groups like Landry's and Simply Patina. Since they give you discounts, birthday rewards and coupons, it can be really nice!

Target red card for the 5% discount on Disney gift cards.

Some Marriott hotels have a Disney package that gives you a $100 Disney gc for every night you stay. It's often not worth it, since the cost of the room is a lot higher, but when you use Marriott points and/or Marriott gcs, it can be great! I did this at Disneyland in January and got a nice room for 2 nights free with a bonus of $200 in Disney gcs. I also got tickets for the shuttle that they bought back from me at face value since I didn't need them...I got something like $20-30 back in cash.

Not so successful:

My yard sale was a bust. It was a ton of work and I didn't make enough for me to ever do it again.

ebay: some things sold and others didn't. The money went into PayPal and it was a pain to transfer it to my bank so I never even bothered. I did use it for other things, though.

 

[bearloch]

along with everything else I have found that I do better if my cash is out of sight!! so I have a safe deposit box and I take and put cash in it eveytime I have more than 25 bucks saved up its kind of a pain but a nice feeling when I open my baggie of cash evey week or so!

I also shop at target the most and I tale any money savedfrom coupons, etc and put it on a target gift card then everything I have 25 dollars or 50 cash the gc in for a Disney card!! it too is a pain but its a great feeling to not have to pay out of pocket for anything!!

lastly I go to beauty schools for hair cuts for family, and when we eat out we get water and share a dinner when ever possible or use coupons never pay full price!

also I never buy anything unless its marked down/ sale unless its a emergency!!

 

[rewardsinlife]

1. Make sure we don't eat out more than twice a month.
2. Coins! $240 worth in about a 2 month span. What works well for us is to use a coin star, then put the money on a giftcard for like groceries, and transfer money to the savings fund. You can also take the cash straight from the coin star but you will not get the full amount. A percentage is taken off. Not the case for the giftcard.
3.recycling center for cans and bottles. Cash goes straight into the savings fund!
4. Having a set amount taken out of your income every month works too if you can afford it.
5. I use coupons too for the groceries and do however much money I 'saved' that day by using coupons, store sales, and membership cards. I put that dollar amount into the savings. So if I saved $12.50 on that grocery trip, that amount will come out of my bank and go into the savings. It also gives me incentive to keep going on coupons and save more...because more money will go toward the fund!

Part time side job if you have the time ...

I think the biggest money saver for me was making a little bank/savings/nest egg for the cause. I see it everyday and if I have something it will go in the savings. I also decorated it to give me even more incentive to keep putting money into it..and not taking it out.

 

[CupcakeKelly]

I've been saving for Disney by tutoring middle/high school student in math in my free time. It's fun because I help kids out, and I get to be a big nerd and get paid to do math problems.

We also put aside any random money, like I won the super bowl squares at work, so that went right into the Disney fund.

 

[mom2my3kids]

Tax check for some of it, my husband owns and runs a haunted house..So we put a chunk back for disney..I am also a server so I put ten dollars a day into my disney jar....

 

[crisi]

We put money away every month into short term and long term savings - short term savings is ample to take a vacation once or twice a year, buy a new car every few years, recarpet the house, as well as supplement the occasional expensive month where we need to dip into savings to pay off the credit cards, etc. Right now I'm hording cash for a possible relocation that would involve me not working for a year or more. Long term savings goes into the stock market, where we can use it if we want, but its really supposed to be for growth with an eye toward supplemental college funding or retirement.

 

[racechick]

I sell things on ebay and makes cakes/ cupcakes and made enough money to go 2 times last year! I also rack up as many points as possible by using my disney visa and we use it as shopping money while there. This year we may only go once but we are splurging for my son and surprising home with a cars family suite he thinks we are staying in a little mermaid room for his baby sister!

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Dh works OT and we scrimp for a while. It's amazing how much you can refrain from frivolous spending when you have a goal in mind.

 

[DisNerd12]

We are hoping to save for a trip this year!

We already save our change (but quarters always go for laundry :/)

We are planning a multi-family garage sale with my in-laws

I coupon for groceries (I'm not extreme, but we do save a little bit)

And we are trying to only live off of my husband's income so that the supplemental money we receive from my substitute teaching positions can go toward savings!