How to track your budget while in the parks?

[pinkprincess30]

Hi all! Well, we are about 7 weeks out from our trip and I am starting to finalize our numbers! I was wondering how you all keep track of your budget while on vacation? The cost of food is my main concern.

I have planned and planned, so do I just let it go and wing it once we get there?How do you track how much you've spent on food each day? Do you just keep a mental tally?

I don't plan to pinch every penny but I know how these things can really add up and if we start to get off track it would be nice to know so we can do a little course correction!

As far as souvenirs go we each have our own $50 Disney GC. Any other methods you employ to keep it in check??? Ideas welcome!

TIA

 

[robndani]

The Disney Dining Plan would obviously be the best way because it's paid for ahead of time. If you are using Magic Bands you could always ask at the front desk of your hotel. You could also keep your receipts and add them up and the end of each day, or just put it into your phone.

Have fun!

 

[nicci10681]

I plan every meal out, quick service and table, as well has budget in snacks we are likely to take. Then DH and I look at what we are likely to order there from online menus. The online menus are a massive help bc it can be a huge sticker shock the first time to go to pay for a burger and hot dog and it's almost $50 lol!! I do must of my stuff digitally, but I like having printed menus and prices to keep on hand so we remember what we are ordering, this also helps with wait times bc we already know what we want when we sit down and saves from eating at a place that my very picky DH can't find something he likes. However most recently we've been going during free dining times, so budgeting for food hasn't been as much work, but still have to do it bc like this past year we ate at two 2credit restaurants so we had to come out of pocket for a couple meals, so we did Sci-fi bc we agreed on cheap items there. Anyway, study the menus!!

 

[happybaker]

For any trip, I write my starting cash amount on the outside of an envelope and then at the end of each day I add up what I spent and see if it balances to what I have left. I toss my receipts at the end of each day and just start over. It's so easy to spend a dollar here, five bucks here that at the end of the week you wonder what you spent all your money on with nothing to show for it. At least if I do it daily, I know where it went - even if it was still spend on junk

 

[Kayabee]

We don't really have a strict budget when we go. I do give the kids GC for their souvenirs but they are free to bring their own money and spend that as they wish.
For food, we don't have a daily limit, we eat what we feel like. Having breakfast in the room every morning except one does help. We also don't always do a table meal so 2 counter service meals in one day helps keep our costs down.
When we got home from our last trip I added all the food reciepts, including snacks and alcohol. The total was less than what we would have spent on the dining plan.
Oh, for everything we use GCs purchased at Target for 5% off. That helps with costs too.

 

[jamnmom]

Obviously, if you are staying on property, the meal plan will take care of all of your food costs. If you are staying off property, and you want to budget your costs, I would suggest eating at quick serve locations that have large portions and share your meals. A few of the best for this include Seasons in Epcot (by Soarin'); Flametree BBQ in Animal Kingdom and Cosmic Rays in Magic Kingdom. Sharing meals will immediately cut your costs in half and there won't be any food going in the trash because you got full before you were done eating. If you can do simple breakfasts with food from WalMart (breakfast bars, yogurt, cereal, etc), then do that before you go to the parks each day. You can get free water at any of the counter service locations in the parks, so don't spend money on drinks while out and about. Budget in a few treats such as Dole Whips, Mickey Ice Cream bars, churros, pretzels, etc so you're not surprised by your total expenses being more than just your meals. Review the menus and be realistic about what your family will/won't eat. It doesn't have to cost a fortune; but if you are realistic about how you budget, you will be pleased with your planning and budgeting skills and won't stress -- more time to ENJOY planning and having FUN while there!!

 

[mom2my3kids]

Room and Tickets aside, we are brining 2500 this is for food and everything else for our stay..We have Sci-Fi lunch, Via Napoli-lunch, BOG-lunch, Ohana-dinner and Rainforest-breakfast...The rest of the meals will be breakfast in room and quick service this is for a family of four, my oldest and her boyfriend have gift cards for their food and gifts...

 

[kymom99]

Carry a small bag or pouch to put receipts in. At the end of each day see how much you spent and determine if you are staying on budget.

 

[Eighty8Keys]

I save every receipt from every meal and snack and then enter them into a spreadsheet when we get home. I've done this now for the past 11 years for every Disneyland and Disney World trip. So I have a very good idea of what our average cost per day is after each trip. I use that amount for projecting the cost of the next trip. We don't worry about staying exactly on budget though as far as meals are concerned. We order what we want and what we feel like. We'll often share a meal not to save money, but because that's all we feel like at that time, or we know we want to order dessert or have a snack later. Our actual average is usually within $5 per person per day from what we project it will be, since we tend to eat the same types of things every trip. This also makes it easy to know that for us at least the dining plan is not a cost effective choice for us. We averaged $36 per person per day for our December 2013 10-day trip, eating a table service meal almost every day. I also track every trip expense. Makes it much easier to estimate the costs of the next trip.

 

[BellsFam]

I save every receipt from every meal and snack and then enter them into a spreadsheet when we get home. I've done this now for the past 11 years for every Disneyland and Disney World trip. So I have a very good idea of what our average cost per day is after each trip. I use that amount for projecting the cost of the next trip. We don't worry about staying exactly on budget though as far as meals are concerned. We order what we want and what we feel like. We'll often share a meal not to save money, but because that's all we feel like at that time, or we know we want to order dessert or have a snack .

This is us... I know pretty much what it's going to cost us per meal and per day for food... With a total number in mind. I keep track right now on a spreadsheet and I'll input actuals when we get home. I won't use the DDP because I don't find it cost effective for us and how we eat...

 

[Eighty8Keys]

This is us... I know pretty much what it's going to cost us per meal and per day for food... With a total number in mind. I keep track right now on a spreadsheet and I'll input actuals when we get home. I won't use the DDP because I don't find it cost effective for us and how we eat...

I love a good spreadsheet.

 

[supersnoop]

The Disney Dining Plan would obviously be the best way because it's paid for ahead of time. If you are using Magic Bands you could always ask at the front desk of your hotel. You could also keep your receipts and add them up and the end of each day, or just put it into your phone.

For the OP's family, which would be four adults and one child on the dining plan, it would be way more expensive than just paying out of pocket.

My suggestion is to price out the dining plan for reference and budget that amount. Then ignore the prices and order whatever you want. 99.98% of the time, you'll spend less than you budgeted.

 

[BellsFam]

OP another option is to do what my mom would do... 4days so 4 envelopes, $200 in each envelope... Once it was gone it was gone!

 

[scrhsa]

I did the menu thing as well. I sat my daughter down with each menu and we picked where we wanted to eat and exactly what we wanted to eat. Then I tallied it up and added just a bit more to it just in case. I was going to get $100 dollar Disney gift cards for each day but I went for 1 $500 card. I kept each receipt--the server would circle how much we had left on it. There was obviously plenty left over so we used that for souvenirs. It worked really well for me especially since it was just the two of us. I will be doing that again when I take my next daughter for her trip

 

[Chelley00]

I do a rough plan of how much we might spend based on AllEars menu and prices. Then I buy gift cards from Target with my red card to save 5%. Enter all of those into Disney Gift Card app so I can track what is left on each card. I take out only what we will use for the day and leave the rest in the safe in our room (when we stay offsite) I always take a little cash for those unexpected snacks. On the last day of the trip we take any of the gift cards that have balances and let the kids buy what they want with them.

 

[kathy884]

I save every receipt from every meal and snack and then enter them into a spreadsheet when we get home. I've done this now for the past 11 years for every Disneyland and Disney World trip. So I have a very good idea of what our average cost per day is after each trip. I use that amount for projecting the cost of the next trip. We don't worry about staying exactly on budget though as far as meals are concerned. We order what we want and what we feel like. We'll often share a meal not to save money, but because that's all we feel like at that time, or we know we want to order dessert or have a snack later. Our actual average is usually within $5 per person per day from what we project it will be, since we tend to eat the same types of things every trip. This also makes it easy to know that for us at least the dining plan is not a cost effective choice for us. We averaged $36 per person per day for our December 2013 10-day trip, eating a table service meal almost every day. I also track every trip expense. Makes it much easier to estimate the costs of the next trip.

This is very similar to what we do. I tend, though, even before I get home if I have a little free time to add up receipts to see how much we're spending. If there are special table service places or really nice higher end dining places we go to offsite, I usually budget for those meals separately, as they are budget busters.

 

[pigletto]

I just add each purchase I make onto a note app on my iPhone. At the end of the night I add it up, move it to a weekly tally note, and start over the next day. Takes me two seconds at the time of purchase and then I can see if we are in line with what we are intending to spend or if we need to scale back a bit.

 

[worm761]

Like most everyone else, I look at menu's beforehand. I like the one's at themouseforless.com. I make a rough budget based on what I think the most expensive thing each of us would order. Then I budget around $20 a day for snacks and water. Then I pad the budget a little bit for just in case. I don't carry cash. I charge back to the room. But every time I make a purchase, whether at Disney or at home, I put it in my Ledgerist. Ledgerist is an app sort of like a check book. This way I always know what I have spent and what I have left at a glance. The night before I check out I ask for a print out of my charges and compare that to my Ledgerist.

 

[Marionnette]

I just add each purchase I make onto a note app on my iPhone. At the end of the night I add it up, move it to a weekly tally note, and start over the next day. Takes me two seconds at the time of purchase and then I can see if we are in line with what we are intending to spend or if we need to scale back a bit.

This is what I do as well. I really don't want to worry about counting my pennies when I'm on vacation. Heaven knows that I do enough of that on a daily basis. When I'm on vacation, I want the freedom to be able to spend without thinking too much about the cost! So my budget is well-padded to cover more than I think I will need. I use an app to keep track of my receipts so that I have an idea of what I'm spending, but I don't limit myself or my family to choosing a predetermined menu item just because we decided on it 3 months ago.

 

[ktrask]

When we went last year I created a google spreadsheet to track. I simply put the formula in so as I added things we bought/spent my bottom line number left would tell me what was left for spending.

Before we went I had budgeted out our overall spending/tip money to bring. I tried to overestimate. I tracked as we bought using my phone. It was super easy and only took a second each time. It made us think about our purchases, and we actually came home with some of our spending money in our pockets

Keeping track as we went along vs end of day removed any money stress from the trip for us.