How do you save to go to Disney

[Laurafoster]

Being able to afford to go to Disney has never been an issue before both me and my hubbie to be lived with our parents and only have small cars etc so we always had the money to spend on holidays.

We ahve now just brought our first house together, we move in next week once the kitchens finished, and then our wedding is in less than 6 weeks so the majority of our savings have now disappeared. I still have plenty in my savings "incase" something goes wronf - my rainy day fund lol.

I really dont like the thought of no more disney holidays just because i ahve a mortgage to pay, so i was wondering how people save up for their trips to WDW? i know all the little things add up so id love to know!

 

[FormrCastMbr]

Someone told me once to pay for everything with bills and then put all the change aside...I try to save only silver...no pennies. This is what we do...I have not yet dumped out the water bottle but it is over 1/2 full...it will be about $800 or more I'm guessing.

Of course it will not pay for the whole trip but it is a good way to save some extra cash...maybe $ for souveniers.

Otherwise we are not good savers!

Congratulations on your new home and also your upcoming wedding!

 

[pokemon_master]

Work Hard during the year???

I'd go with the saving your money thing. I mean, whatever you don't spend elsewhere means you can afford another trip. It may mean no shopping trips for a while, but you can do that at Disney!

 

[angel659]

Hi

Basically sacrificing social events, dh and I new clothes (unless on a sale), we dont drink and I smoke little, but not enough to break the bank. Also we cut down on our food shopping i.e less sweets etc and we pre-plan each months budget. On the last couple of months we lead a very tight budget i.e bills, food, fuel etc are paid. I also plan to do a couple of extra flexi shifts at the hospital to make more money.

We normally put some change away this normally goes to my daughter for spending money. Last year Casey had around £60 to take with her. This time we will be having four pots one for each child and for dh and I. If we ever feel the need to order a take away we will put this into the pot.

It is hard but its worth it.

 

[natalielongstaff]

we dont !! we just book it and then divide the cost up monthly and put that aside we do both work full-time and dh is doing loads of overtime

 

[Graeme]

I do loads of overtime in the run-up, spend nothing on anything other than essentials for about a month before and put £50 a month away in a separate account for holidays.
I also eat nothing and go mad on DW's eliptical trainer to lose a few pounds to make room for a week long binge of Orlando goodies!

 

[lizbro]

just don`t leave the house unless totally necessary !!
thats been my motto and as all my kids are now at school (my baby has just gone full time)i am leading a very sad existance and have a spotless house BUT i do have £600 saved already towards jan 08 trip -just paid off the dlp trip for march 07 , i have found that i tend to waste a lot of money on bits that i really don`t need , i`ve also had a big clear out and selling it all on ebay to then hopefully buy xmas presents ,also as a money saving tip for xmas we have decided to use the most expensive items on the kids lists for grandma ,uncles,ect to buy for them!!!well...we always end up having to think of things for them to buy as we`ve already filled their lists

 

[jen_uk]

I book it for about 10 - 12 months ahead and then pay off little bits as time goes by, if I waited till nearer the holiday I would never manage to save for it so I find it easier to pay it in off here and there.

 

[Cyrano]

also as a money saving tip for xmas we have decided to use the most expensive items on the kids lists for grandma ,uncles,ect to buy for them!!!well...we always end up having to think of things for them to buy as we`ve already filled their lists

I like your style

 

[CustardTart]

We book our WDW holidays well in advance (12 months+) and budget/save accordingly. I think the feeling of knowing you're going and have a definite plan makes the saving so much easier...

 

[susan1]

we dont !! we just book it and then divide the cost up monthly and put that aside we do both work full-time and dh is doing loads of overtime

hi
exactly how we do it, just 2 more months then i have got the spending money, having paid the flight,car and hotel already! january - disney here we come

 

[Chilly]

I found that the best way to save is not to have the money to hand so I have a direct debit into a savings account that goes out every month on pay day and I keep as little money as possible in my purse, and of course pennies in the jar always adds up to more than you think (I put 1ps, 2ps & 5ps in).

Plus DBF and I always ask for money for Christmas off our parents which we put towards our holiday and we don't give each other a Christmas present either and put that money towards a holiday. We still have lots of presents to open from Aunties etc and it means we don't have to think up loads of things we want and we don't get a lot of rubbish.

 

[stitch&ariel]

Well we have a holiday account and so have £50 a week automatically put into that account! It is also a 'book' account so it makes it difficult to get the money when I just want to spend!!!!!!! That way it stays safe saving for our holiday!

 

[gilld]

Luckily DH makes a very decent income, but we still have a direct debit and save each month - for holidays and also for retirement. Next week will be our last mortgage payment, we're paying it off a year early, so that will be an extra £1100 a month into savings.

 

[Lizzybear]

This is something i've been thinking a lot about lately as I think saving for our holiday will be a lot harder on Steve than me I live in a flat my dad owns and pay hardly anything for rent and bills (bare minimum really) and also work full-time and get a student loan. I do still have some debt to pay off but that should all be gone by either the end of this year or Jan/Feb next and from that point on I can just hardcore SAVE for the holiday Steve doesn't get any support at all from his parents and though he gets paid more than me he has more outgoings. Hopefully he should be moving in with me soon though so that will cut his rent and bills drastically
Otherwise neither of us live an expensive lifestyle.. We don't have a lot of expensive nights out or buy a lot of expensive clothes, as far as grocery shopping we buy mostly own brands and no ready meals/only the occassional treat in terms of junk food and we shop in discount places like Aldi and Home & Bargain a lot, we rarely drink, don't smoke, my car is very economical and I get VAT free petrol and I don't have many people to buy Christmas presents for (the ones I do I usually make at least part of it or buy stuff over the year)
I also save my 50 pences and under in a jar, sometimes I have to dip in for parking or tunnel tolls but it's increasing nicely
At the end of the day we really want this holiday and it's more important to us than loads of disposable luxuries like food and clothes. We may not be able to go on an expensive one every year but now that we're both working fulltime I feel as if i'll need some sort of break every year even if it's a cheap last minute one somewhere. We're not considering buying a house at this point as my flat is nice, maybe when we have kids but that won't be for a few years yet.

 

[Netty]

I save £2 coins, and i these really do mount up! also we have a large whisky bottle that we put all our change in and this is towards dd spends.
Its surprising when you sit down and write down every thing you spend on things in a week, how much of it is un neccessary spending!
have a look here for more tips to help you.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/

 

[mark&sue]

I never go to the hairdressers! It seems to have just stopped growing anyway!

I put £700 a month away into a holiday account for 10 months (the other two months I use this for Christmas money)

We bought Disney Vacation Club in 2004 so only need to pay for flights.

We try to organise our trips so we get 2 within a 12 months period so we can get better value with annual passes (we get $100 discount with DVC) and then not go for a year and do the same after a year.

However both Mark and I work full time with just one DD. I am much older at 42 and bought my first home in 1985 when house prices in London were affordable so dread to think how would manage if just starting out now.

Good luck


Susan

 

[mushumadness]

We are in the same boat as you laura this year having just moved into our first home.

Personally we have savings books for everything with the name of what its for on the frount, and in the back a page stating how much we need and how near we are to it, at present I have about ten books lol. But it does work I can assure you.

 

[Lizzybear]

Another one to add: eBay! I'll be making a good chunk of my holiday money on eBay I reckon. I guess i'm lucky that i've been a total shopaholic and packrat before now so I have a lot of stuff to sell but most people could make more than they might think

 

[mrs-mac]

DH has a 2nd income as a Retained Firefighter so that money goes into a special account to use for holidays and annual dues for DVC. He works very hard for us to have our holidays, the kids and l are very lucky