How has DVC changed the way you live your life in the OUTER WORLD? LOL

[WelcomeHome]

I smile a lot more now!

 

[solgent]

This probably sounds crazy, but my dad is a huge tightwad and brought me up that way, so that I have what I call a "poverty mentality." Despite having a decent income, good savings, no debt beyond mortgage, I went around thinking we couldn't afford things and we should spend as close to zero as possible. I'm still thrifty and proud of it, but since buying into DVC (and paying it off within 1 year), I'm starting to grasp that spending money sometimes can be a good thing! So for example I'm more likely to take the kids for hot chocolate after we visit the library. I'm sure that doesn't sound like a big splurge but it is a new step for me!

 

[SamSam]

I'm in the process of buying in to DVC right now, and I just had this same conversation with my wife - how are we going to afford this? One thing is to start bringing in lunch to work. I work in Midtown Manhattan, and I spend $8-10+/day in lunch. I figure that by just bringing in lunch, I will save at least $150 per month. Also, cut back on the Starbucks at $2 a pop. 1 less coffee a day will save $40/month. Instead of buying a bottle of water for $1.29 in the city, I'll buy a case of 35 bottles for $7 at BJs or Costco (so I can save up to pay $2.50 at Disney!). There are so many little things that we can cut down on that will save us big bucks in the long run.

Exactly! It's really not that hard to do and the payoff of more trips to our DVC home makes it worth it. Congrats on becoming an owner.

 

[aprince&princess]

It's changed our lives for the fact that whenever we make a purchase, someone in the family always says "How many disney points would that buy?"

 

[MEM]

Like others have posted, I am more careful to view non-essential "real-world" purchases in Disney terms. For example, rather than pay $100 to have my hair cut and colored, DH did it for me - and did a great job BTW. We view that $100 as one of our monthly dues payment(s).

 

[Mr. Disney 652]

We spend more time thinking and planning our next getaway to WDW. It's great and keeps us going during the 20 degree days of late! We just added and think we're going to try a cruise next year, so that is something to really look forward to.

The "outsiders" think we're crazy, but in the end it brings us closer as a family and gives us fun times at a great warmer place each year!

 

[edk35]

Like others have posted, I am more careful to view non-essential "real-world" purchases in Disney terms. For example, rather than pay $100 to have my hair cut and colored, DH did it for me - and did a great job BTW. We view that $100 as one of our monthly dues payment(s).

That is great. I COULDN'T DO THAT. I just made my 100 appt. today for later this week. I shutter to think what would happen to me if DH was involved. My 100+ for hair appts. will never be cut out. LOL

 

[ont/ohana]

Like most of us posting here, we cut down on eating out, and I don't have as many trips to Walmartsad: ) But hey, As my DH says " our LR walls need painting but I would much rather be riding Dumbo with my kids". This was all the inspriation for us to buy DVC. Some of our friends can't figure out where we get the money to go twice a year, I just say we save. With an annual pass and bringing some breakie items with us and flying Southwest we can go to SSR or another of our homes for cheaper than reanting a summer cottage an hour away. Our kids never fight when we are in Disney. My honey and I fall into love agian each time we are there. At home things are so busy that somtimes we just don't make time to be together. We hold hands more while at our "home" and our kids don't make faces at us because they are too busy playing!! Those are just some of our thoughts!!

 

[KatiebugsMom]

To make our DVC purchase happen, we cancelled our family gym membership that we were not using at all and diverted the monthly fee to pay on something we would most definitely use......trips to Disney.

I now walk the mall (free) to get in shape for WDW trips and I would much rather work out by doing laps in my resort pool or power walking after rope drop at MGM to be the first on TOT!!!!

But the best of all is having on your balcony watching the sunrise and the early morning joggers run up and down the Boardwalk.

 

[disneymom8589]

I smile a lot more now!

I like this one! DH and I "talk Disney" pretty much every day and are looking forward to our 1st trip to SSR this summer!!

 

[bpmorley]

I like this one! DH and I "talk Disney" pretty much every day and are looking forward to our 1st trip to SSR this summer!!

Wait til you start going 2/3/4 times a year. You'll be talking disney to everyone.

 

[disneymom8589]

Wait til you start going 2/3/4 times a year. You'll be talking disney to everyone.

I can only imagine!! We've already got a December stay booked, too!

 

[ScottOKW2K]

Wait til you start going 2/3/4 times a year. You'll be talking disney to everyone.

Why would I want to cut back on the number of trips we do to disney ?? On our last AP we did eight trips to the "World." Only going 2 to 4 times on a AP might be considered a hardship in this family

To answer the OP's question I find that Disney and DVC have had several influences in my life in the "real world." I can deal with the stress better because I have the memories of trips past or the anticipation of trips to come. I find that my outlook is more positive, and that this is a direct effect of our Disney experiences. Our stays in our other "home" have taught me that part of how you live your life is how you choose to view what you experience. Do you let a bad experience ruin your day, or do you accept that what happened was one bad moment among many good ones ? I have chosen the latter view both for Disney and my life.

Our ownership of DVC has two specific aspects that are important to me and my family. My mom often lamented that my dad would rather be working than on vacation. With the "enforced vacation" aspect of owning dvc or any timeshare you are more likely to use your vacation time for family vacations. In addition, my wife had been a stay at home mom since our dvc contract was paid off. We would not have been able to take the number and quality of vacations that we have if we had not owned our membership. We are committed on-siters and dvc is a perfect fit for us. Both of these effects have had a very positive effect on the quality of our family life.

 

[DisneyMama27]

We have friends/family that think owning a timeshare must mean we are rich and have boat loads of moola. I tell you that is not the case. We live comfortably but we are by no means rolling in major bucks. We live modestly I guess you could say. However....becoming members (and this came into play when we were deciding to become members) made me realize just how much money we blow on dumb things.... how much we overspend in certain areas of our lives, how wasteful we are with all sorts of stuff. It made me realize that I would much rather cut back on certain things, being more mindful of spending and not just basically tossing money out of the window....... in order to make this DVC purchase happen.

I tried to post yesterday right after you started this - DH and I have had this EXACT conversation!! More than changing our lifestyle, it's changed our outlook! I think a little more about those little "splurges" (no more Happy Meal toys - "wouldn't you rather have one great Disney toy?" - for ex. I'm terrible about buying too much junk for my kids)

In spite of people's perceptions, they do come to us for advice on Disney. And I was so excited the 1st time someone asked me, "So when's your next trip to Disney?" (instead of "You're going again?")

 

[bpmorley]

I can only imagine!! We've already got a December stay booked, too!

Us too. We've already agreed that we're going to do the first week in Dec every year. That still leaves us with app 100 pts leftover.

 

[wilma-bride]

I gave up smoking as soon as we bought into DVC - the money I'm saving by not smoking is paying our finance payments

 

[mwmuntz]

I gave up smoking as soon as we bought into DVC - the money I'm saving by not smoking is paying our finance payments

Awesome! That is proabably the best way to save $$$ yet. Not only are you saving money, but this will also allow you to get more years out of your contract.

Congratulations!!!