How I am saving money for my next trip to WDW

[Alexsandra]

So I just wanted to give an update on my progress. With the classes I'm giving, the monthly savings in restaurants, coffee, groceries, cable fees and change accumulated, I have already saved up to $700 just this month. I still have a ways to go but if I keep going at this rate I should accumulate enough by next Spring!

 

[jillbur]

So I just wanted to give an update on my progress. With the classes I'm giving, the monthly savings in restaurants, coffee, groceries, cable fees and change accumulated, I have already saved up to $700 just this month. I still have a ways to go but if I keep going at this rate I should accumulate enough by next Spring!

Wow! Congrats and keep up that hard work! I, too, am trying to save more in general & only sticking to necessities. It's so hard when family and friends want to go out to eat (all the time, too) & we decline because it's not in the budget at the time. But, we know it'll be worth it in the end. Good luck & keep us posted of all your success. I smell a Disney trip in your future

 

[Alexsandra]

Wow! Congrats and keep up that hard work! I, too, am trying to save more in general & only sticking to necessities. It's so hard when family and friends want to go out to eat (all the time, too) & we decline because it's not in the budget at the time. But, we know it'll be worth it in the end. Good luck & keep us posted of all your success. I smell a Disney trip in your future

Thanks for the encouragement, and right back at you. It is hard to stick to the budget especially for the stuff I was used to (like coffee shop and Saturday breakfast at the restaurant). At least it's summer! Why not ask your friends to do a pic-nic at the park. We did that recently with some friends and each brought something from home. It was really fun and we saved money. Good luck.

 

[hpfan100]

awesomeness...I love reading about others that save to be able to go to Disney.

I did the same thing to be able to do the platinum package this month. I cancelled my home phone and saved almost 40 a month. I also called my car insurance peeps and got my 6 month rate reduced over 400 dollars. I'm also a Netflixer. One way to save with it if money gets really tight or time does...is to suspend your service for a month or two. I do that a couple times of year when I'm too busy to really use it.

good luck with all your savings...report back on any new thoughts you have.

 

[Nettle]

We are selling off the 300 pounds of little girl baby clothes I hoarded in case of another daughter, well.. we are expecting a Boy! Since I am older and wiser now, we will get all HIS clothes at garage sales and consignment..lol.. so all the extra cash that I make on her clothes goes in the Disney jar!!!

 

[wdwmom0f3]

This is great! OP I wish you the very best with your savings goals!

I have also been saving and cutting back some for our upcoming trip. I made a change to our cable bill saving $50.00 a month.

I called ADT and was able to save about $18.00 a month on that bill. I actually read about doing that here last year.

I am saving all of my change, ones and fives too!

I had a yard sale and made $500.00.

I have some items to take to a consignment sale too!

I am still working on not eating out but that's hard with a family on the go. I will work harder on that part this year.

I wish everyone the best of luck!!

 

[gianna2006]

We do the change jar too but to add to it we save the money we get from recycling plastic and glass bottles! The 5 cents for the plastic water bottles (and soda and beer, etc) really adds up fast and the money goes into the Disney jar ! You just have to be careful where you return the bottles because some places only give you credit toward a food purchase at that store (which is great, but defeats my purpose), so you have to find places that will give you cash.

 

[PeanutButterMom]

I just started saving too!

I sat down and wrote down all our bills (OK, I'll geek out: I totally made an excel spreadsheet ) Made a grocery/eating out budget and a "fun money" budget for DH and I. Then I set up an automatic transfer every paycheck into my savings.

I already coupon, but I'm going to try to get "serious" about budgeting too, so that the "just a couple bucks" doesn't add up so fast. I sold off a TON of the kids' clothes (took to consignment, and what consignment didn't want I sold as lots on Craigslist). I also think we're switching from DISH back to cable and dropping our home phone line; shopping around for our auto insurance, etc. I also get a bonus every year in April, so that's going straight into the Disney fund this year.

I'm also Swagbuck-ing, and everytime I get a $5 Amazon gift card, I'm transferring $5 from checking into savings. My goal is 1 gift card per week. Between now and our trip, that's $330, or basically a round-trip plane ticket. I buy a TON on Amazon, so it's a good deal for us.

DH has been slightly skeptical about my budgeting idea, but I'm really gung-ho about it.

 

[Debbie]

So I just wanted to give an update on my progress. With the classes I'm giving, the monthly savings in restaurants, coffee, groceries, cable fees and change accumulated, I have already saved up to $700 just this month. I still have a ways to go but if I keep going at this rate I should accumulate enough by next Spring!

Those loonies and toonies add up fast! Congrats on the savings!

 

[fanoftigger]

Congrats on coming up with ways to save up for your trip. That's great that the classes worked out for you. What a fun way to save $$!

I'm taking my son to WDW next year with my mom, sis, nephew & niece. My son will only be 20 months old, so I don't have to pay for him, but I am going to help out with extras for my niece & nephew.

We're leaving our husbands at home since none of them are Disney fans

DH and I have basically given ourselves an 'allowance' each week to use on whatever we want (i.e. eating out for lunch, stopping for ice cream or a coke, scrapbook supplies, magazines/books, etc). It was my suggestion because I found we were going to the ATM far too often and getting out far too much.

So now, any $$ I have left over at the end of the week goes into my Disney fund. I also started making myself save $5 when I them for change from my allowance. DH laughs at me because I get $5's ALL the time. I should have said $10's, ha ha.

I have my part of the trip paid for and have gas $$ saved. So now I'm saving up for the extras (CRT, photopass+, souvenirs). It's working well for me so far.

 

[dismom9761]

So I just wanted to give an update on my progress. With the classes I'm giving, the monthly savings in restaurants, coffee, groceries, cable fees and change accumulated, I have already saved up to $700 just this month. I still have a ways to go but if I keep going at this rate I should accumulate enough by next Spring!

Awesome!! I am starting to think of ways to get my kids back to Disney. We put them into private school 2 years ago and haven't been able to get back. We have financial aid but it still takes all we can to keep them there. All of the tips on this thread ate wonderful.

 

[7165red]

It sounds great, I put all my change in a jar too, it really adds up.

 

[Nayan]

It's not for a trip to Disney, but we just got rid of our cable and our house phone. We have a tv that has internet, so we can stream live shows and we also have netflix and hulu+. We have a new HD antenna on order that will bring in the local channels in full HD. We just did this a week ago, so not sure how it will work for us. We just got tired of so much money going out for these services.

Oh please tell me you did not order an HD antenna? Please tell me you did your research and know that HD antennas only equal more money out of your pocket and work the same (or in some cases, worse) as a cheap one from Radio Shack?

 

[Alexsandra]

awesomeness...I love reading about others that save to be able to go to Disney.

I did the same thing to be able to do the platinum package this month. I cancelled my home phone and saved almost 40 a month. I also called my car insurance peeps and got my 6 month rate reduced over 400 dollars. I'm also a Netflixer. One way to save with it if money gets really tight or time does...is to suspend your service for a month or two. I do that a couple times of year when I'm too busy to really use it.

good luck with all your savings...report back on any new thoughts you have.

Great tips, I am going to try to see if I can change my car insurance tomorrow and see if I can get a better deal. I can't believe how much money you saved. Congrats on the good work!

 

[Alexsandra]

This is great! OP I wish you the very best with your savings goals!

I have also been saving and cutting back some for our upcoming trip. I made a change to our cable bill saving $50.00 a month.

I called ADT and was able to save about $18.00 a month on that bill. I actually read about doing that here last year.

I am saving all of my change, ones and fives too!

I had a yard sale and made $500.00.

I have some items to take to a consignment sale too!

I am still working on not eating out but that's hard with a family on the go. I will work harder on that part this year.

I wish everyone the best of luck!!

Sound like your on your way to a great start! Good luck

 

[Alexsandra]

I just started saving too!

I sat down and wrote down all our bills (OK, I'll geek out: I totally made an excel spreadsheet ) Made a grocery/eating out budget and a "fun money" budget for DH and I. Then I set up an automatic transfer every paycheck into my savings.

I already coupon, but I'm going to try to get "serious" about budgeting too, so that the "just a couple bucks" doesn't add up so fast. I sold off a TON of the kids' clothes (took to consignment, and what consignment didn't want I sold as lots on Craigslist). I also think we're switching from DISH back to cable and dropping our home phone line; shopping around for our auto insurance, etc. I also get a bonus every year in April, so that's going straight into the Disney fund this year.

I'm also Swagbuck-ing, and everytime I get a $5 Amazon gift card, I'm transferring $5 from checking into savings. My goal is 1 gift card per week. Between now and our trip, that's $330, or basically a round-trip plane ticket. I buy a TON on Amazon, so it's a good deal for us.

DH has been slightly skeptical about my budgeting idea, but I'm really gung-ho about it.

Love your name by the way! (Love peanut butter!) I loved that you made an excel sheet lol. That is actually the best way to do it. I was thinking of having a yard sale and selling some stuff i don't use and some of my kids toys, clothes, etc. I even have a washer and dryer left in my new house by the old owner. They are in good condition so I'll put them on craigs list (or Kijiji: Canadian version.)
My DH also was skeptical when I started but now he has jumped on the bandwagon. He is now transferring a small amount of his pay in the account each week and he is clipping his hair instead of going to the hairdresser. He has given up on his protein bars (which he used to special ordered monthly). He is not a Disney fanatic like me but he is excited that I am so motivated and is trying to encourage me.
I wish you good luck and hope your HD jumps on the bandwagon too.

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

Alexandra, great job on the $700!

We also do the change jar, when I have cash I only pay with paper money. The coins go in the pig.

I do the bottle redemption and those tickets go to the stores as coupons. I then take the money I save on coupons, bottle tickets, and the 5¢ we get for reusable bags and put that into savings.
We also get gas points from the grocery. 1¢ for each dollar you spend. When I fill up and use my gas points I'll bank that difference as well.

With just coupons and bottle tickets we save an average of $1000 a year. I could probably do better but I'm not a die hard couponer.

The kids have also challenged DH and I to a found money contest. I believe it was a DIS'er that puts all of their found money (like on the sidewalk) in a jar. The kids want to see how well they can do in a month. We might also go to the end of the year.

I bank my money if I avoid Starbucks and make my drinks at home. A tube of nespresso with 10 pods is $5.60. One Starbucks carmel macchiato is approx $5.00

 

[bettyann29]

Those are some great tips..

I wanted to chime in here on something that I have come across recently.. I am on Facebook-- if you go to search and put in the county you live in and then after it put Buy sell trade and then do this on nearby towns and the one you live in and join them-- many people in your area are cleaning out their not wanted items and selling them to others in your area.. its just like craigslist but on Facebook..

I have sold quite a few items over the last week actually and its easy and I like better than doing a garage sale.. I was going to do a garage sale, but I am selling my items for more than I know I would get for them in a garage sale.. Of course, you're always taking a risk of no shows, etc, but I havent had any problems ((knock on wood))..

Hope this is able to help someone..

 

[MickeyFan612]

Those are some great tips..

I wanted to chime in here on something that I have come across recently.. I am on Facebook-- if you go to search and put in the county you live in and then after it put Buy sell trade and then do this on nearby towns and the one you live in and join them-- many people in your area are cleaning out their not wanted items and selling them to others in your area.. its just like craigslist but on Facebook..

I have sold quite a few items over the last week actually and its easy and I like better than doing a garage sale.. I was going to do a garage sale, but I am selling my items for more than I know I would get for them in a garage sale.. Of course, you're always taking a risk of no shows, etc, but I havent had any problems ((knock on wood))..

Hope this is able to help someone..

Thanks so much for info! Can't wait to see if there are people in my area selling and check into unloading some unwanted stuff to fund my next Disney trip! This entire thread has been informative! Thanks Everyone

 

[bettyann29]

You are welcome Mickeyfan!! Search like you are searching for a friend and you will find them.. I joined 4 of them and have sold over $300 since Friday last week!! It was stuff I need to clear out anyway.. Again- more than Id get selling at garage sale and alot less work!