Ideas and tips on how to save up $ for cruise

[DDreamer]

Hi everyone! I'm really in need of some good ideas that everyone has done to save up money for going on a disney cruise. It's not really in my budget, but my oldest kids are getting older and I've always dreamed of doing a disney cruise. My husband and I have cruised 3 times, not on Disney and all three times without kids. I want the kids first cruise to be on DCL.

So what does everyone else do to save up money for this? Without digging too much into the paycheck! When we do go I want it to be a surprise for the kids. Thanks for all the ideas.

 

[HumphreytheBear]

Check out this thread :

http://messages.cruisecritic.com/2/OpenTopic?a=tpc&s=927093444&f=538097554&m=3813020777

it is from another message board, not exactlly your same question but had some great ideas about how to save the money.

We usually take $40 from every paycheck (saving the money from one night out to dinner doesn't really hurt us) and put that into savings. By the end of the year we have just over $2000 which works for us because we are only 2 (but you can set your own savings plan that way).

 

[DDreamer]

GREAT! THANKS

 

[princessof3boys]

We are using all our spare change. We all are only using bills and then taking whatever change is left at the end of the day and put into a Disney bag. You would be amazed at how much change you can save up. All 3 boys are even in on it were they were usually throwing the coins on a dresser they run to put it in the "sack"

Hope that helps!

 

[Empire Day]

We saved in coin last trip over $500 in a 5 gal watter jug

 

[aaronamy]

I just took my jar of change to the bank today and I had $101.44. I deposited that into my travel account! Every little bit helps. We have a special savings account that is just for travel. I love to watch it grow

 

[SCOTTOHIOCPA]

I have a MBNA credit card that gives you 2% of your spending back as cruise money. You can redeem up to $800 at a time. Go when kids are $399 each and you'll get to take them for free!

 

[Minnie&Mickey]

Originally posted by princessof3boys
We are using all our spare change. We all are only using bills and then taking whatever change is left at the end of the day and put into a Disney bag.

We are also doing this. I have a big painted jug in my kitchen that I throw all of my change in every night. I also put a small ceramic Mickey Mouse bank (that I bought for $4 on clearance at Target) in my laundry room. Any spare change that I find in the pockets of jeans and other clothes goes into the bank. I'm going to roll all of it just before the cruise and it is going to be my souvenier money.

 

[feenie]

We book out way in advance and make payments pretty much monthly. The only big chunk is your deposit.
We are saving change too. DH lives in fear of spending a coin as I might go a little crazy! I like rolling change, but I hate separating it, so I have 4 jars. rolleyes: )
So far we have saved well over 200.00 since September.

We also have money directly taken out of our checks and put into savings...
It is worth the extra effort and money. DCL is so much fun!!

 

[ganurse]

since our last cruise, we have been saving spare change in an old laundry detergent bottle. every now and then i will be a dollar in it...we are cruising in sept and cant wait to see ohow much we have saved in 2 years. we also did this for our honeymoon and had a very very expensive meal because of itt

 

[crisi]

visit the budget board, there is always a thread over there...

but here are a few ideas:

eBay or garage sale stuff you don't want.

Get a weekend job (or watch someone elses kids for money on occation).

Save "found" money - rebate checks, bonuses, overtime, change

Cut unnecessary expenses - color your hair out of a box instead of a salon, skip the lattes, cut back to basic cable (or even broadcast tv!), take all those unnecessary options off your phone.

Tell people that what you want for a gift is money towards your vacation.

 

[CheapMom]

We just started the change jar thing because the Budget Board people swear by it. We are saving as much change as possible PLUS- if anyone says a naughty word, it is 50 cents in the jar- (a naughty word for the kids is like saing OMG instead of Gosh- or thankfully, not as often, the dreaded S word that rhymes with DUCKS)
Also I have to say that there is a great savings plan out there that will give you a $25 bonus just for signing up and then they will auto debit any amount you like at any frequency from your checking acct. I find $30 bucks a week to be painless. It adds up fast and this account pays 2% interest. I don't think that I can mention its name on this board but I will PM you with the info if you are interested, check your PM.

 

[RobinMarie]

This is what we do for ANY Disney vacation:
We don't have as much luck as others with the change jar, but we do save our change, usually totaling about 50 - 100 dollars or so. I like to buy Disney dollars with this money so I won't be tempted to spend it.

Consignment shops

Ebay from time to time. When I ebay, I use the paypal account to pay postage fees, listing fees and THEN purchase needed vacation items such as: tickets, vouchers, credit card purchases etc.

Marriott Reward points paid for a child's 5 day park hoppper recently.

Delta Sky Miles (not as good as it used to be though). I have an American Express Delta Skymiles card.

I have over 100 disney reward dollars for our cruise in April thanks to the Disney credit card.

 

[DDreamer]

Thanks everyone for all your wonderful ideas! I appreciate it and so will my 3 kids when I surprise them with a Disney Cruise! Wish me luck