How to make more to save for trip?

[DisneyEater]

We are thinking about doing a big family trip in 18 months or so to WDW. There are going to be 19 of us.

My older siblings are doing well enough that the finances won't be and issue. For us, it won't be easy, but we will get it done. My younger brother however, is on a very tight budget day to day. They are a family of four and they are living month to month with really no extra cash available. I am trying to figure out some creative ways he can earn a couple of extra bucks a month over the next year and a half to help him pay for the trip.

I would suggest a cash back or travel cash credit card, but his credit score is not great after the housing bubble popped. It isn't terrible, but a bit below average, so I am not sure he would qualify.

I told him about swagbucks, he is skeptical of the time vs. $return, but I am sure he will give it a try.

Any other tips for him? I will give him some FF miles for the flight, so I am guessing I am guessing $2k-$3k for the trip? That would mean saving about $115-165 a month between now and then which is no small task.

 

[Southernmiss]

We are thinking about doing a big family trip in 18 months or so to WDW. There are going to be 19 of us.

My older siblings are doing well enough that the finances won't be and issue. For us, it won't be easy, but we will get it done. My younger brother however, is on a very tight budget day to day. They are a family of four and they are living month to month with really no extra cash available. I am trying to figure out some creative ways he can earn a couple of extra bucks a month over the next year and a half to help him pay for the trip.

I would suggest a cash back or travel cash credit card, but his credit score is not great after the housing bubble popped. It isn't terrible, but a bit below average, so I am not sure he would qualify.

I told him about swagbucks, he is skeptical of the time vs. $return, but I am sure he will give it a try.

Any other tips for him? I will give him some FF miles for the flight, so I am guessing I am guessing $2k-$3k for the trip? That would mean saving about $115-165 a month between now and then which is no small task.

We did a huge 19 person family trip--my siblings and our families--in 2009. Would love to do it again.

What about a part-time job for him? Pizza delivery, etc. Dh referees soccer games and that's what we use for fun $$.

I wouldn't want him to go further in the hole, even for a big family trip.

 

[Carina]

Can you return bottles for refunds in your state - maybe y'all could help him by saving your bottles and he and the kids can take them into the depot

What about a garage sale? My kids raised part of our last trip by telling friends and family they were having a garage sale, they asked for any goods that were headed to the thrift store to be brought to out house instead.
Everyone loved to motivation to clean their closets/garages out and get rid of clutter, with the added bonus of helping the kids raise money. They could help without it costing them anything!
1 little garage sale netted $300 and we only asked 3 other friends/family members for their stuff. Next time I think they would start spreading the word sooner

(My kids wanted to do MNSSHP but it wasn't in the budget so they had to earn it themselves)

 

[MAJPLO]

Swap sites like ones on Facebook. It takes a little while to organize stuff and take pictures and check notifications, but it's pretty painless and can generate a little extra. This is especially good for families with kids who are outgrowing clothes and toys quickly. I started doing this about a month ago and I've made about $160 on stuff that was just sitting around collecting dust and taking up space.

 

[Aliceacc]

What does he do for a living? How about his wife?

Would she consider doing daycare?

 

[DisneyEater]

We did a huge 19 person family trip--my siblings and our families--in 2009. Would love to do it again.

What about a part-time job for him? Pizza delivery, etc. Dh referees soccer games and that's what we use for fun $$.

I wouldn't want him to go further in the hole, even for a big family trip.

He is not in the hole right now, and I agree, we want to keep him that way. He does some part time tutoring already to make the bills (he is a teacher) and has a side business, so I am not sure he has a ton of extra time.

Can you return bottles for refunds in your state - maybe y'all could help him by saving your bottles and he and the kids can take them into the depot

What about a garage sale? My kids raised part of our last trip by telling friends and family they were having a garage sale, they asked for any goods that were headed to the thrift store to be brought to out house instead.
Everyone loved to motivation to clean their closets/garages out and get rid of clutter, with the added bonus of helping the kids raise money. They could help without it costing them anything!
1 little garage sale netted $300 and we only asked 3 other friends/family members for their stuff. Next time I think they would start spreading the word sooner

(My kids wanted to do MNSSHP but it wasn't in the budget so they had to earn it themselves)

We can't do the bottle thing in our state, but the garage sale is not a bad idea. His wife's family is big and might help out with that.

Swap sites like ones on Facebook. It takes a little while to organize stuff and take pictures and check notifications, but it's pretty painless and can generate a little extra. This is especially good for families with kids who are outgrowing clothes and toys quickly. I started doing this about a month ago and I've made about $160 on stuff that was just sitting around collecting dust and taking up space.

Hmmm... interesting idea. Can you send me a link to something like that so I can get a better idea of what you are talking about?

 

[Aliceacc]

Tutoring is the way to go!!!

I teach-- and occasionally tutor-- secondary math. At $75 per hour, I'm the least expensive tutor I know.

ETA: If he can pick up ONE tutoring job per week, even at $50 an hour, he will have ballpark $2800 saved... I'm not counting summers, though I have tutored over the summer. That's for ONE hour per week.

Not sure what he teaches, but we also make good money teaching an SAT prep class over the summers. I do one morning for math, my husband does another morning for English.

 

[DisneyEater]

What does he do for a living? How about his wife?

Would she consider doing daycare?

He is a teacher and I think she babysits.

 

[Carina]

We can't do the bottle thing in our state, but the garage sale is not a bad idea. His wife's family is big and might help out with that.

If they got organized quick enough they could do one in August and one in September to get a bit of $ going, then save crap all winter to do more in the spring

Plus the online sales could add some $$ during the winter when its too cold for Garage Sales.

(well depending where you live I guess - I'm Canadian so I forget winter isn't cold for everyone)

 

[abmitch01]

is he married? have his wife do couponing at Wags and CVS on health and beauty items and sell them at a garage sale. I did two and netted $700 at each. Advertise it as a health and beauty sale and you will get a ton of people

 

[MAJPLO]

I would look up the name of your town or county + "swap and sale" on Facebook and see what you find for groups. Most of them are closed groups so telling you the name of the ones in my area won't give you much info unless you are a member of the group.

Basically I post a picture of something I want to sell along with a brief description, how much I want for it and my city (the group I'm in covers two towns that are next to each other. Someone will comment on my post that they are interested, I private message them telling them my approximate location (off of X street in Y town) and ask when they want to come pick it up. The day they are planning to pick it up I give the actual address and leave the item on my porch. They come get it and leave the money under the doormat. It's fabulous. And sort of comical that it is so easy.

Sample post: EUC (excellent used condition) LL Bean purple snow boots girl's size 7 $7 p/u (pick up) Livermore. (picture of said item)

 

[worm761]

I would suggest both of them sign up for Swagbucks. You can have more than one account in a house. You only have to be 13 to do it. You can cash out for Paypal.

Also, if he has a smartphone or tablet doing Perk too. All you do is run the videos on it. You can have up to 5 devices running at a time. Though you can only do 1 account per household. I have a tablet running during the day from the time I leave my bedroom until we go back to bed. I have a cell phone and an iPod running 24 hours with the exception of the hour or so it takes to do Swagbucks. I am averaging $15 a week in Target gift cards. You can then buy Disney gift cards to put towards the trip.

 

[3boymthr]

I would suggest both of them sign up for Swagbucks. You can have more than one account in a house. You only have to be 13 to do it. You can cash out for Paypal.

Also, if he has a smartphone or tablet doing Perk too. All you do is run the videos on it. You can have up to 5 devices running at a time. Though you can only do 1 account per household. I have a tablet running during the day from the time I leave my bedroom until we go back to bed. I have a cell phone and an iPod running 24 hours with the exception of the hour or so it takes to do Swagbucks. I am averaging $15 a week in Target gift cards. You can then buy Disney gift cards to put towards the trip.

What is Perk?

 

[StephMK]

How frugal are they are a regular basis? Couponing and using store rewards to their advantage will help save a little. If they don't keep close tabs already, I'd check with all providers - cable, car & home insurance, phone, internet, etc. and see if they are getting the best deal. We saved about $500 by changing insurance carriers. After a claim that replaced our roof, we saved even more when we updated our insurance since the roof was now new and more fire resistant material.

Have the kids pitch in - save money in a change jar, ask for Disney items for Christmas and birthdays. Can he add a few more tutoring clients or increase his side business? It might be motivating to set up a chart showing each weekly savings goal. That way they can all see how the little amounts add up.

 

[Nztara]

I echo couponing ( if they son't already do it) and a garage sale. We typically make $250-300 when we have a garage sale.

How old are the kids? Can they earn enough to pay for half of their own tickets through raking yards in the fall or pet sitting? Maybe mom could pet sit if the children are too young.

Ask for Disney gift cards for upcoming birthdays/holidays.

Would the family be willing to give up a habit to save - soda, coffee from Sftarbucks, movies, smoking, etc?

My uncle is a teacher and he used to do a newspaper route for extra income.

While yard sales are great for many things, I found that a children's consignment shop where they pay you cash for clothes and toys is a better return on your money for children's items.

 

[danygirl]

I think family members should give cash or Disney cc at Christmas to help them pay for the trip.

Couponing seriously saves big bucks on groceries and you can do it in an extra hour or two a week if you use one of the sites that matches the deals
Kristin at Couponing to Disney does a good job of explaining how to use couponingvto get the money for a trip. Her matchupsvarent what you need tho so try we use coupons for that. I cut my grocery bill in half by building a smallish stockpile and Couponing

Yard sale is good, too

 

[brymolmom]

If the wife babysits...Have her recruit a new child (through friends or advertise on Craigslist,etc) if she has enough space and not too many kids already. An extra kid - even just with before or after school care would be at least $100 per week - That would WELL take care of the expenses for this trip.

Or - since it sounds like he has a few jobs already...I would go the other way and instead look at their budget. Do they have cable? What are they paying for it? Many people could easily knock $75 - $100 a month by getting rid of cable...And they could just get it back once they have enough saved. Cell phone plans? Go to mr. Money Mustache's site and he talks about the CHEAPEST plans out there. Most people can knock $25 - $75 off their plans this way.

Couponing - yes, but also just cutting the grocery budget. For many people it is quite easy to knock $10 - $20 a week from their grocery bills (unless they are already very strict) - Just skipping the convenience foods, sodas, etc. and choosing one or two no-meat dinners per week can easily get you there.

 

[worm761]

What is Perk?

Another rewards site sort of like Swagbucks but the videos on the devices has no limit to how many you can earn.

perk.com

Super easy to do and it adds up fast if you have more than one device to run it. I know I could earn more if I put more effort into it but I have another project I am working in right now.

 

[matdamom]

We save all of our change, from the end of one vacation to a week before the next one. It is rolled and taken to the bank (saving the fee that coinstar will charge). Also, I do My Points and surveys on 5 different sites. I netted a little over $100 just on Pinecone Research. Some survey sites offer points which add up over time and you can cash out for gift cards (walmart/restaurants) or for paypal.

Sell on FB sale/trade sites. We didn't do a garage sale this year, but posted on our local fb groups and sold things that way.

I don't have a tablet or a newer smartphone, so I can't do some of those programs, but have started Checkout 51 for next year. I know several people who do Swagbucks. I also use Ebates whenever I shop online.

It can be done without going in the hole or using credit.

 

[Happyjen27]

Can he pick up lunch duty at work? Teachers get paid extra for that.

His wife can do "parents night out" on Fridays or Saturdays and offer to watch the kids she usually has during the week? I know a babysitter who did that. The kids spend the night at the babysitter's house and they do all kinds of fun things for a flat fee, like $75 per kid.

If she's not willing to do overnights, she could do evening hours on a Friday or Saturday. Some parents don't have regular sitters and have a hard time finding someone they trust. Obviously they already trust her.