How soon do you start saving for a trip?

[kyomagi]

we are going to go in late sept in 2014, and we had the money to pay off the hotel (still reserved with a deposit) two plane tix and themepark passes. But due to random happenings we had to use that money for some quick fixes and surprise bills.

So right now all i have the hotel with 1 nights deposit. There is 47 weeks until the trip.

I dont want to use my tax returns, we get a lot back every year but i want to throw that into savings. So what i wanted to do was put a little away every week to build it back up.

I know we only asked for disney trip related stuff for christmas from our families so that will help. we are fairly young (me 31 DW 27)

I was just curious on how you save and how far in advance you start.

 

[bookgirl]

I constantly save as I know that I will eventually have another trip planned. It's easier to save small amounts consistently then to plan a vacation then try to save a large amount in a set or short time.

 

[crisi]

I save, I don't save FOR things, I save. If I want to do something or buy something outside the normal everyday purchases in life, I check my savings and see if its within my comfort level.

 

[wiigirl]

I constantly save as I know that I will eventually have another trip planned. It's easier to save small amounts consistently then to plan a vacation then try to save a large amount in a set or short time.

Same here...

 

[Gr8t Fan]

I set aside $350 a month in a vacation fund. Usually that pays for an annual trip to WDW.

 

[Marionnette]

we are going to go in late sept in 2014, and we had the money to pay off the hotel (still reserved with a deposit) two plane tix and themepark passes. But due to random happenings we had to use that money for some quick fixes and surprise bills. So right now all i have the hotel with 1 nights deposit. There is 47 weeks until the trip. I dont want to use my tax returns, we get a lot back every year but i want to throw that into savings. So what i wanted to do was put a little away every week to build it back up. I know we only asked for disney trip related stuff for christmas from our families so that will help. we are fairly young (me 31 DW 27) I was just curious on how you save and how far in advance you start.

I start saving even before my current trip is over! Basically, I'm always saving for some sort of travel.

I started a thread a while back about "One Year to Save...". You can find it here: http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3154081
Some of us are keeping track of our savings on that thread. Not everyone is saving for Disney but that's okay and not everything "saved" is in the form of cash.

 

[pate59]

Started saving November 2012 for late summer/fall 2014 (first) trip to Disney - celebrating hubby's #50. Both of us have received a raise since we started the saving. That increased amount is immediately put in the travel fund each week.
Disney tickets bought before the last price increase - Done
Renting DVC points @ the Beach Villas - Done (at least the 1/2 deposit !)
Found great deal on the airfare(better than using my FF miles) - Done
Yea - we plan ahead ....

 

[LadyBeBop]

We leave Saturday, arrive Sunday.

We've been saving for this for about a year and a half now.

I've been buying Disney gift cards periodically since last summer. We own at Wyndham, so our lodging was already paid for. We bought four tickets last winter at the old rate. (We still haven't bought the final two tickets yet...there was doubt, up until last week, that my eldest DD and her husband could go...we'll get their tickets at the park).

I just bought the last of the Disney gift cards today.

We'll probably start saving for our next trip as soon as we get back. Tentative date, summer of 2019. DH wants to stay at a monorail resort, so we probably won't use timeshare (unless by some fluke, we can trade into a three bedroom at BLT). There will probably be 8 or 9 of us, so that trip is going to be PRiCEY!!!!

 

[ZehnJahren]

I'm always saving for vacation. Every payday I put money back - I have two savings accounts: one for emergencies and one for "whatever", which usually ends up being vacation (but might be really anything I want). I usually end up throwing about 2/3 of my tax return/bonus in my emergency savings and the rest in my "whatever" fund as well (I don't ever "blow" money). Builds up nicely that way!

This year's trip is already paid in full (I just have to upgrade my tickets to AP once I get to a park). The money for my trip for next year is already sitting, in full, in my "whatever" fund!

 

[meajuly5]

I designate all my flexspend and expense acct reimbursements for vacation.

 

[mrsklamc]

I save, I don't save FOR things, I save. If I want to do something or buy something outside the normal everyday purchases in life, I check my savings and see if its within my comfort level.

Same here, so the trip is not planned unless the cash is there. I will say that if not for DH, it would not be that way. In his opinion money is money and we use it for what we need/want to use it for, there is no such thing as a 'Disney fund.'

 

[Happyjen27]

I also constantly save. We use the money for different things. Once a trip is in the works, we know that that $xxxx.xx is earmarked for travel, and just use the other money in that account.

I manage earmarking by moving that travel $ into the account where we keep our back up "6 month's worth of bills" money in case of a disaster. This account is never touched.

We then use the other savings account as a slush fund for home improvements, smaller getaways, etc.

 

[dpswift]

I would be saving now if you have already had to use your vacation fund, it is likely to happen again. I would check out the one year to save thread. There are many great ideas on there and it shows that many start saving far in advance.

 

[kyomagi]

can you link that thread?

Also i was going to save about $35, that along with bonus's and christmas cash, will pay for the hotel, tickets and flight, with about $450 left over for food. That and we usually pay our bills early in the month, so we can use our paycheck's for spending.

Never the less, if i have to use my tax returns i will, no big deal i guess lol

 

[MissMaryQC]

Start ASAP! We are going in early September 2014, already started putting away $100 a pay check. Plus we have a Disney jar; all our spare change, and maybe a few dollars, get thrown into an old apple cider jug I cleaned out. Last time I filled it I have nearly $300, which was a nice little bump in the budget! Best of luck, and happy planning!!

 

[Marionnette]

can you link that thread?

Also i was going to save about $35, that along with bonus's and christmas cash, will pay for the hotel, tickets and flight, with about $450 left over for food. That and we usually pay our bills early in the month, so we can use our paycheck's for spending.

Never the less, if i have to use my tax returns i will, no big deal i guess lol

http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3154081

 

[Handbag Lady]

We have a vacation fund and put in $480 a month into it. So, we are ALWAYS saving for a vacation.

 

[LJSquishy]

My husband and I are of a similar age (I'm 29, he's 34).

We don't have a separate vacation fund because we can't afford to take a lot of vacations.

100% of our extra money goes into our savings account and if there is something we need or want, we pull from that after we discuss it. We live pretty minimally on a very strict budget so we make sure to put every last penny into savings if possible.

We never even think about planning a vacation unless we already have the money saved. We don't spend future money. Something always seems to come up (car repair, house upkeep, etc) that isn't planned so we don't rely on extra money we may or may not receive (like work bonuses) to pay for anything. We've only taken two vacations in 7 years of marriage (honeymoon in 2006 & Disney World in 2012) and we've never even gone away for a weekend or anything in between those two trips. I sometimes envy those who are able to take yearly vacations, but we aren't able to do that and I am still happy with our life even without fancy trips.

We were planning to take a Disney World trip in Oct/Nov 2014 but we probably won't be doing that now. We just had to have gutters installed on our house and next year we know we have to put up a new wood fence (we will be doing the work ourselves) so it's likely we'll be cancelling our trip which isn't even booked yet because we can't just keep dipping into our savings without replenishing it. We won't have another chance to take a Disney trip for at least 5-6 years if we don't go next year so it's a very difficult decision for us to make. We have until next month to decide, but I'm 95% certain we won't be going.

 

[Disneyaddictz]

We have a $200/month vacation fund and then we put all extra money my husband and I get from business travel and any other unexpected money. Sometime I do eBay to sell stuff so I can turn around and purchase custom Disney outfits. That usually does it for 2 trips year!

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[queenofthehive]

Always saving.... What is not spent on one trip is rolled to the next..