How do you save for your trips?

[MrsPiglet]

We are planning a trip for June, and need to start saving for it. You all know how much it costs, so how do you all save for trips?

My first thing I have done is take on another job working about 20 hours a week checker in a local grocery store (plus my 40 normal 40 hour week job) just to save for Disney.

I will get my first paycheck Friday and it is all going into savings for Disney

What do you do to save the extra money for trips?

 

[caitycaity]

any change we get every day we put in a piggy bank. you'd be amazed at how quickly it adds up.

 

[Nutsy]

Oh that's easy. We just came back from 3 weeks in the States & you know how we managed to pay for it all................

DH retired & we used his holiday pay & all other monies he was owed at the time of retirement. A trip like this would normally be so totally out of the question, as was a low wage earner.

 

[snoopy]

10% of our paychecks go into a savings account deemed "vacation club" (5% of each of our paychecks). We usually use it for one long vacation, but sometimes we may take two or three shorter vacations out of it, or sometimes we take one that is less extravagant and use what is left over for Christmas.

We also do the change thing for souveniers, meals out, etc. The most I have ever saved up in change is over $900. We went to Cancun on that money, about 10 years ago.

Also, my new thing is garage sales. Its amazing what people will buy that you think is junk!

 

[Mamu]

We have a certain amount taken out of a pay that goes into a vacation fund. It comes to about $2.50 a hour. It doesn't sound like much but when you combine DH's and my hours. Thats about 56 hours weekly.

The money is put into a 6 month account. At the end of the 6 months you can draw on it, remove it, or roll it over.

 

[believe]

I put about 5% of my take home pay into vacation, this usually pays for 2 weekend trips and 1 week long trip...DH and I are not extravagent so our trip budget is usually small. This year we saved for Disney by each putting $5.00 and any overtime/unexpected money into a jar. This will pay for everything except the souveniors. DH is taking about 5% of his take home pay to save for a cruise we plan to take in 2 1/2 yrs.

 

[CamColt]

We usually put it all on our home equity loan(where all our debt is), then pay it off periodically. DH can get some nice bonuses throughout the year so between those and our tax return every year, we pay the trip and most of our other debt off. I know people dont agree with having more taxes taken out of their pay then they need to, but I look at it as a forced savings plan. If we didnt do that we would never have that much money saved up at the end of the year, even if we invested what we did save.

 

[RHONDALEE]

Like you MrsPiglet, I work a second job. I get up at 5 am to go to the first one. I get home around 5 pm (depending on traffic - it's a 75 mile round trip) Then 3 nites a week I work at Walgreens. I'm there from 6 - 10:30 and then all day on Saturday. People ask me "how do you do it?" and I say "I LOVE MICKEY"

 

[EROS]

We're DVC members. Essentially, by joining you're prepaying for 40 years of vacations, both at WDW and elsewhere.

 

[DaisyDebbie]

DVC as well. The only way I can afford to go to WDW so often

 

[worm761]

i have lots of silly little ways to save. i steal all of the change i can get out of my boyfriend. (he thinks it is funny!LOL)
i am a SAHM but i work one day a week at a laundry mat. all of that money and any tips i get go to my disney fund.
i have a $100 weekly budget for food and such. anything i dont use goes to my disney fund. and i rarely use $100!
i also try to live paycheck to paycheck. dont really have to but i do just the same. anything left over at the end of the week goes to one or more of the savings accounts.