how to plan a budget??

[Mom2Tig]

The more I read,the more confused I get--it's hopeless!! How do you all plan a budget? Are there any websites that help w/ this--I honestly have no idea how much to plan for everything....can someone get me started? I am really worried about money--I'm the family worrier,can you tell?!
There are 7 of us driving in,4 kids. Staying offsite--that's all I have planned!

 

[christianweecare]

Mom2Tig-
I always start with calculating the cost of lodging for the trip. Next, I calculate the cost of the tickets/passes that we will be purchasing. We also drive so I really don't worry about that. Then, I calculate the amount of cash that I will need. I always calculate about $100-$125 per day. Of course, depending on what you are planning to do and spend will determine this. Others may offer other suggestions about the amount to calculate for spending $$. After I come up with a ball park figure I then divide that by the number of weeks until our trip and set aside that much money towards our trip. We always try to have our trips paid for before we go. I also save change and dollar bills. I have saved up $500 since Jan. 2002 this way. Hope this helps you! Any others have any suggestions?

 

[crazelion]

How to plan a budget: First divide into catorgies:

Lodging: Decide weather not stay offsite or onsite. Is staying a week or just for a few days. Look into hotel disconts websites to see if found a discount on hotels rooms. Then add up how days staying times hotel rates. That's how get hotel budget.

Gas: Decide how much gas your will need on a week basis then take that 3 fulls up there and 3 full fills back. Give take few fulls ups. It depends on what type of car you will have. then fact in if driving to the parks.

Tickets: Decide whether not staying for a fews days or a week. Once do that will be easier to decide what types of tickets to get. For example: parks 3 days you would only need one days tickets. Going for 4 days of look at park hoppers.

Parking: at the parks. The time I checked it it was 6 dollars see if has went up. Do That each day plan to drive to the park.

Food: That's hard part. I don't know how much your family eats but so I would plan good breakfast. i try found a Denny's Shoney's Golden Corral and eat buffet breakfast.

Lunch can something like a pinic lunch at the car.

Diner I would eat a reasonable place like outside that park. Because it's cheaper.

Soveviers and misc: I would budget a certain amount for each to spent each day. Or give each person a certain amount money they could spend the whole trip.

Rental Car: I guess budget for a rental car. I don't know much about that.

If have any more questions that you can email me. I have whole spreadsheet done on my budget. Then I'm computer geek.

Also I'm big fan of onsite. The only reason is I get easy lost soo staying onsite is god send for me. I know people say you can possibly get lost in Orlando then I have not meet me then. i can't read a map.

 

[reddixie]

Hi Ok I bought a passporter which helped me to budget. But I will suggest that You budget for these things.
Hotel
Gas to get there
Gratuities
Car Rental
Parking
Tickets
Food
Grocery if you are staying off site you can buy some and save
Souvenairs

I agree with the earlier poster who said they add this up then divide by the number of weeks until time to go and set that much aside weekly. Also to figure out food cost you can go to www.wdwig.com. She has menus. I am planning to eat breakfast in room, then eat lunch at the nice sit down restaurants since they are cheaper at lunch. Then eat dinner at counter service or eat a snack and eat once we leave the park. Also check out www.mousesavers.com they can help.

 

[jjsmom]

Don't forget to include pre-trip expenses such as:

Car check up/oil change

Pet boarding

new shoes/clothes (we get by on old clothes, but good, newer shoes are a must!!)

Misc. purchases such as food/drinks for trip, ponchos, water misters, blister pads, toiletries, film, batteries, etc.

I apologize if this stuff seems "nickel & dime", but I find that it does add up.

Happy planning!!!

 

[WDW2002]

Like the others have said, start with the things you will know. Hotel, park passes. Then add from there an estimate for gas, food ($50 per person perday is a good guess), suveniors etc. A lot of it depends on what you plan to do while there. A budget is not an exact science but really just a guess. So when you do figure out your budget figure high, it is better to hvae money left over then to not have enough.

 

[Mom2Tig]

thanx for all the ideas,guys!! I know I'm worrying-but w/ money an issue I want to plan everything I can

 

[disneefamily]

Disnee Dad Says............................ If you want to send me a PM, with all the details I would be happy to do a budget for you. I will not suggest how you save for, how you pay for it, I will only say it will cost X. We demand that all trips are paid for before we go, it can be a real drag to pay for your trip for a year or two after you get back.
In it's simplest form, your budget should look like this.
1. I have to get there and back.(Transportation) These numbers are estimates, just to give you an idea how it works. I will Wag this one at 1000 miles. Some type of mini van, that gets 17mpg. A one night stay on the way down, I'll count that as transportation, because it's part of getting you there, and another day on your way back. If you are worried about money, then I will call this a low budget trip, but without details this is another Wag. I'm going for a clean motel, with the kids in sleeping bags, so all 7 are in one room. Gas $200, motel $120.
2.I have to sleep somewhere(Accomodations) In spite of your driving I will guess you still want a full week at WDW. Seven nights at one of those Kid Suites type place, to have room for everyone, will be maybe $700.
3.I have to eat ( Food) This is where you can save the most, but without specifics, I will assume you like our semi-deluxe, lets have some fun dining plan. It will be $1200 for seven days.That is $25 per person per day, and you get some great meals!! I don't see how anyone could plan for $50 per day!!
4. Tickets!!(Admissions) Another Wag. Since 10 yo are adults, I am going with 5 adults and two childs. Five day passes for best results, est.. $1500.
5. We got you there, got you a place to stay, took care of food,and tickets, the last part of your budget is for stuff, how much stuff do you want!!!

 

[soccerchick]

Great ideas are already posted here. I will add my 2 cents

As soon as I knew we were going to WDw, I started watching the sales for things such as film, sunblock, snack, etc. I bought only a few new clothing items for DH and myself, but I did buy DD some, which she needed anyway (she's 2 1/2). When you spread out the purchases over a few months, it doesn't hurt much.

We also started putting money away each payday so that we could charge most items and then pay the bill as soon as we got back. We had our trip paid for before we left, which helps ease the worries.

I also used Excel spreadsheet to do a plan for each day, as well as for gas, lodging, tipping, food, and tickets. I factored in prices for restaurants etc. based on what I saw on wdwig.com. If you e-mail me, I'll be happy to send a copy of my Excel spreadsheet.

The other thing I did was overbudget for the souvenirs and miscellaneous items. Every night when we got back to our room I recorded what we actually did spend vs. what was budgeted. Our week long trip cost us under $1700 (two adults, one child). It also makes end of the week souvenir shopping more fun since I knew we have more to splurge with. The only thing I underbudgeted on was gas. We went in March and when I started my budget, gas prices were around $1.09 so I budgeted $1.15. By our March 2002 trip, the prices had crept up to 1.29.

 

[disneyfan551]

Throw me in with the other dis'ers that use an Excel spreadsheet for budgeting! It is very handy, and we came really close to our budget!

Also, if you make a detailed touring plan - basically, which park to visit each day, you can guestimate where your meals will be. If we were having a nice sit-down dinner, we would just plan for a snack for lunch. I didn't pay any attention to "the budget" when we were there, and we were only $20 over our budgeted food amount! (mostly, due to a change in plans...)

We were there in April & I've already prepared another budget for a Dec. trip with my friend & our babies! (I HAD to do it, to see if I could afford to go 2x in 1 year!) Now, if we can just tell our dh's that we are going...

Good luck with your planning!

 

[disneefamily]

Disnee Dad Says...............................Bump. You need more answers! Maps should be there by Tuesday!

 

[jennymouse]

Hello! Welcome to the DIS, you'll find plenty of help here. Something you might want to do since you are planning pretty far in advance is Rewards Programs....you can check out the DIS's Rewards Programs Board for details. There are lots of good people who are planning trips to help.

I've been doing it for about a year now and have earned $150 in gift certificates for Rainforest Cafe & Planet Hollywood, enough Webcertificates to pay for a new pair of Birkenstocks, all our Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party passes, $40 in Walmart gift certificates (for film), $20 Target gift certificates (for misc.), $50 in Orvis gift certificates (for clothes) and $360 so far in Disney Dollars.

You have to have the patience of Job though, because it seems like it takes forever to earn something sometimes....but I love going to the mailbox and getting those free Disney Dollars and gift certificates! I haven't done as well as I would have liked, but every little bit helps!

 

[Mom2Tig]

thanx for all the ideas!! how do you do a spreadsheet? I've never done one of those? and what exactly is a rewards program(i havn't looked for it yet) I am still reading away lol!

 

[disneefamily]

Disnee Dad Says.......................................If you haven't used spread sheets, I wouldn't learn just for a vacation. I'd stick the tried and true four part plan. A recap 1.I gotta get there and back 2. I gotta stay somewhere. 3 I gotta eat. and 4. I gotta go to the parks.
I think I'll look into that rewards deal too, it's at the top of these boards.

PS. Maps??