Ideas please..

[Zoesmama03]

We are trying to save for a trip to Florida/WDW in the last week of October. We barely making bills as it is now. My dh works full time and his pay covers most of our basic bills. I run a daycare at home but its been VERY slow in building so until I get some more clients(i.e. children to watch) we are shutting off our DSL Internet, which will put $50 a month towards our vacation. I have decided to give up Internet until we get back all the more money to go towards that. Will suck because I'll only be able to go online once a week. But anything for Disney right?


I know this has been done alot but here goes anyway. Any ideas where else to cut back besides eating out which we rarely get to do already with out little pay???


We will also be turning in our change that piles up.

 

[jenndisney]

Just a few ideas....

walk when you can. turn down(or up) the thermostat. drink lots of water. don't water the grass unless it is dying. lower the temp on your hot water heater. open the windows in the summer at night, and try to keep the AC off as much as possible. Coupons are a must. don't eat out. Have a major garage sale.(helps to get money and declutter your home) Tell family what you are saving for and for any birthdays, holidays, anniversaries, ask for disney dollars.

The other thing I do when I am shopping is to look at that impulse item and remind myself that it pays for part of one night at Disney. That usually makes me put it back. I never realized how much I spent on little "must haves" until I started to watch it.

There are so many wonderful people on this board who can give you some great ideas.

 

[kandeebunny]

Cut back your meat based meals at home, for example if you have a meat based meal every night, cut back and have a vegetarian option one night. Stock up on items you use regularly when on sale ie canned veggies, frozen veggies. Plan your meals from the sale flyer at the supermarket. Cut down on your cable tv, if you have any special packages above basic. If you both have cell phones see if there is a better, cheaper plan per month for you. If you have to drink juice buy the frozen container and mix them yourself they are much cheaper than the premade juices. Considder signing up for mypoints and doing the click and survey offers, by doing those you can earn a g/c to rainforest cafe which can help defray the cost of the meal while there. Perhaps a part time or weekend job might be nice to bring in a little extra money. If possible b uy things like toilet paper and paper towels in bulk. Clip coupons and check out online coupon sites and print those as well. Garage sales are a great idea! You can also (if you can) throw $1 bills in the change jar, it adds up quickly. I use my Disney Visa for my every day purchases like gas, meds, food and then pay it off in full every month which helps me earn disney rewards dollars to put towards my hotel or food. My other suggestion is even if you don't want to use the credit card for purchases, apply for it when they are offering the $50 rewards just for making one purchase (a tank of gas for instance) then pay it off then request the rewards, use the rewards to buy disney dollars and cancel the card, free $50 for buying a tank of gas.

 

[tink2dw]

Instead of the pricey DSL do a google search for Free ISP's. Pick a cheapy one so you can stay connected to the DIS!!! The Accelerated Dial-Up programs are almost as fas as Dsl.

Here is one for $6.95!!
http://www.flxtek.net/

Here is a 2005 list.
http://us.2005deals.com/directory.php?cat=computing&sub=isp

 

[Zoesmama03]

Just a few ideas....

walk when you can. turn down(or up) the thermostat. drink lots of water. don't water the grass unless it is dying. lower the temp on your hot water heater. open the windows in the summer at night, and try to keep the AC off as much as possible. Coupons are a must. don't eat out. Have a major garage sale.(helps to get money and declutter your home) Tell family what you are saving for and for any birthdays, holidays, anniversaries, ask for disney dollars.

The other thing I do when I am shopping is to look at that impulse item and remind myself that it pays for part of one night at Disney. That usually makes me put it back. I never realized how much I spent on little "must haves" until I started to watch it.

There are so many wonderful people on this board who can give you some great ideas.

HEHE Can't turn off A/C in summer in Arizona we'd DIE. It is 90's low through out summer usually. But I see a few in there we could do. We don't have house so water is not our problem all in the apartment rent.

 

[Zoesmama03]

Cut back your meat based meals at home, for example if you have a meat based meal every night, cut back and have a vegetarian option one night. Stock up on items you use regularly when on sale ie canned veggies, frozen veggies. Plan your meals from the sale flyer at the supermarket. Cut down on your cable tv, if you have any special packages above basic. If you both have cell phones see if there is a better, cheaper plan per month for you. If you have to drink juice buy the frozen container and mix them yourself they are much cheaper than the premade juices. Considder signing up for mypoints and doing the click and survey offers, by doing those you can earn a g/c to rainforest cafe which can help defray the cost of the meal while there. Perhaps a part time or weekend job might be nice to bring in a little extra money. If possible b uy things like toilet paper and paper towels in bulk. Clip coupons and check out online coupon sites and print those as well. Garage sales are a great idea! You can also (if you can) throw $1 bills in the change jar, it adds up quickly. I use my Disney Visa for my every day purchases like gas, meds, food and then pay it off in full every month which helps me earn disney rewards dollars to put towards my hotel or food. My other suggestion is even if you don't want to use the credit card for purchases, apply for it when they are offering the $50 rewards just for making one purchase (a tank of gas for instance) then pay it off then request the rewards, use the rewards to buy disney dollars and cancel the card, free $50 for buying a tank of gas.

We have no cable tv so that saves us a load there I know how much that can be. We chose Internet as our luxury but we have now decided to give it up for awhile to save for trip. We have poor credit so credit card offer will not work. But like the other I see some options there. I'm writing them down so I can apply them over the next month and see what I can get. I LOVE the vegetarian idea since I'm t rying to get to vegetarian anyway. That is first place we agree to cut back on the groceries. We already don't buy sodas and rarely snack foods(chips, cookies and whatnot) so groceries I don't see much to cut back on but I think there has to be cheaper meals out there. I made shrimp top Ramen with a can of tuna added into it and it came out good. Today we had a pork one with green beans and shredded cheese. Not a nutritious as I'd like and way loaded on sodium but it was cheap(we had to really cut back this week to make bills so we had to really scrimp on groceries. We bought a reduced pack of turkey dogs for .99 cents and 5 cans of tuna for $3 that was it in meat department. I bought a bag of beans the slow cook kind more work but believe me we have been on rice and beans diet before.

Anyway you 3 have been huge help. I'll note these wonderful ideas. I have tried selling on ebay but my debit card will not work for some reason. I'll call customer service and see what they say maybe they can change my card in their system so I can do sells again. My dh has a TON of baseball cards he's been wanting to sell anyway.

tink,
Thanks I'll check those links for free or even the $6.95 dial up. I mention to dh that we could go to dial up for awhile. People pc has the $9.95 but it never seemed to work when we had it before. I'll be able to get by on once a week of Interenet access from my mom's on the weekends. We visit typically every weekend.


A big one will be dh's "lunch" spending. I think I'll start packing him a lunch he may not like it but he will understand. I think maybe once or twice out each month will be fine but he has to watch how much he is spending daily. I guess we can set him a weekly cash allowence for that stuff that is the same as groceries would cost. But i think we will do best to pack the majority of his lunches or have him come home for lunch since he works right at a mile from home.

 

[mrsboz]

I don't know how far you are from the library but you can access the internet from there.

Also, try to pay yourself first. Even if it is only $5.00 at least that is $5.00 you have an no one can take away from you. It adds up surprinsingly quick. Also, while you are walking look for that loose change. It is amazing how people just throw change away. I walk frequently and find money, sometimes only a couple of pennies, sometimes upwards of $1.00. It is fun. The kids and I break up into groups and see who can find the most money. It goes into our vacation fund and is fun to see which team finds the most.

 

[The Edgington's]

I also have an in home daycare. How are you advertising for clients? I did newpapers with little success. I had more luck with flyers at grocery stores and gas stations. In my area we also have a child care referral program for licensed providers. I get referrals from them all of the time. It was slow at first but now I have all my spaces full and have been getting calls at least twice a week. Good luck!!

 

[Trixiezzz]

oops, double post.

 

[Trixiezzz]

...Thanks I'll check those links for free or even the $6.95 dial up. I mention to dh that we could go to dial up for awhile. People pc has the $9.95 ...

Here's an idea:


1) Join Quick Rewards and sign up for a free trial of Netscape's Internet Service . They will PAY YOU $6.00 to try it for a month. Their ad says: " It's the net you need from a name you know. Unlimited dial-up access and email for just $9.95/month. 1 month free trial! " Just be sure to cancel on day 29 and you won't owe a thing.

~then~

2) Sign up for AOL's free trial (for 30 or 45 days, I think). Then, when you call to cancel they always give you another 1 or 2 months to "try it". Then when you call to cancel later, they do it AGAIN!! These people will hardly LET you quit! (You can get the AOL CD-ROMs at the post office, if you don't already have one.)

I tried AOL out and *wanted* to quit, and kept getting talked into staying on for a while. It was really HARD to finally get cancelled. So, you could just keep letting them "talk you into" staying on a free trial for month after month!

Together, these 2 ought to get you 3 - 6 months of free internet!!

-------
By the way, here's how to do Quick Rewards free trial:

1) Join Quick Rewards ( www.quickrewards.net ) PM me if you want more info.
2) Click on "Signup Portal with over $500 of signups"
3) Find the Netscape offer
4) Sign up
5) Forward a copy of your confirmation email to Quick Rewards.
You'll be credited your "reward" money usually in 1- 5 days!!

Hope this helps!

 

[4fordisney]

Since you are set up for daycare, would you be able to do some evening care? We are going to FL in May, but when we get back I am going to start "date night" babysitting. Most people are willing to pay more for a sitter so they can go out and have fun. I'll be babysitting Fri., Sat., and Sun. evenings. I haven't set my price yet, but I'll work on that soon.

 

[Christy]

I stayed home for 3 years and had a childcare business in my home (claimed it, etc.). It's one of those things-when it rains it pours-soon enough you'll start getting so many referrals you'll be turning people away.

Some quick advice (that I had to learn for myself )-it's your house-you call the shots. When I first started, I basically let the parents of the first child I took care of tell me how much they were going to pay-and I had them claim it-and I made all of his meals-and...
By the end of the three years, I had upped my weekly price and was strict with my hours (some people really take advantage). Set the rules-some people even put things in writing-let parents know that you expect to be paid on a certain day each week (or whenever). I'm now working part time, and I take very good care of our babysitter-I bring extra snack and drinks without anyone asking, always pay her on time, give her gifts for all sorts of things, etc.!! There's nothing as precious as your children and I feel that the person taking care of them when you can't should know he/she is appreciated!

Okay-so sorry for the rant... Another thing you could do is sign up for a Disney Visa and get the $50. Disney Reward Dollars after your first purchase-put it right toward your room. There's a link to it on another thread... When we went, my mom signed up for one and gave us her Disney Rewards as well.

 

[Zoesmama03]

Thanks!!

So far my advertising has been 2 free ads for local news sites and flyers. In Feb. i got on the states referral list(you don't have to be licenesed here for up to 4 kids) I am unlicensed. I had to pay $52 to get on that list as I had to have fingerprinting done and it cost $52 in this state. I have only received a couple calls from this. I receive more calls from the free ads. LOL That is how I got the current child that is enrolled.

I do have contracts so that rate is set and due Monday prepaid for the week. I've been good about that. I have a great parent now but there has been some unforseen changes and now I'm watching this girl for 12 hours a day for the same price. I know its temporary for now so no big deal.

Trixiezzz,
Yep I know all about AOL I hate calling to cancel. They bug you to NO end about their "benefits" but everytime I have EVER installed their stuff my computer starts having problems. I have determined that AOL program is the devil.

 

[jeast]

When my DH and I were truly down and out, we considered selling plasma. My understanding is you can do it twice a month at about $60 a pop. It has the great added benefit of helping other people. If both you and hubby do this, it is $240 a month. I understand there is some paperwork and screening that must be done so it takes a few weeks to get it started.

Just an idea.

 

[Southern4sure]

Call to area schools close to you and see if you can put a flyer in the breakroom. I had a homebased daycare for about 2 years before my youngest was born. I catered to teachers. I loved the off days..spring break..summers..it worked great. I was licensed for 6 but kept it at 4. I gave it up when I became pregnant. The teachers liked not having to pay to keep their space like at other daycares so I came highly recommended and I always had great kids/parents. I didnt require $ for the week of spring break or for during the summer.

Something to think about.

Southern4sure

 

[welovedis]

I am also trying to come with ways for you to increase your daycare enrollment to bring in more money. I mean that would be the best way, it seems, to increase you savings/cash flow, since you are already providing care 12 hours a day. Forgive me if these have already been mentioned:

--Post flyers anywhere and everywhere you can/are allowed. Make sure the flyer is eye catching-big letters, but clear and concise with basic information about you, no name/address though. Ask friends, neighbors, relatives if they would post one at their job/health club/gym/school, where you think there might be kids.

--If you belong to a church ask if you can put a blurb in their bulletin that you are looking for work. If you don't belong to a church as other you know if this is allowed where they belong.

--Don't know if this is available where you live---but here we can contact the local school district (we contact the transportation department and all the individuals schools) who keeps a list of all the daycare providers in the district. When a parent asks, they get the list and I've gotten many calls throughout the years from these lists. If they don't offer this district-wide perhaps you could call the closest school and see if they offer this service, if not, ask if they would think about starting one up!

--Local preschools might allow you to post a flyer/poster about your daycare, especially if they don't have one on their premises or nearby.

--It sounds like you are already registered with the Arizone CCR&R agency, if not, do that. If you have a social worker or person that works with you for your fingerprinting/background check, give them a call and see if they can point you in another direction for referrals.

--Talk to everyone you know-friends, neighbors, relatives, parents of the child already in care and let them know you need more children to care for, sometimes just a single conversation can lead to a great referral.

--Make up a simple. but thorough business card to give to those people you are talking to regarding your business. It can really make a difference and costs very little. Often Staples/Office Max will have business card pages free after rebate and you can print them at home. Or if you do MyPoints-Vistaprint cards are pretty cheap for your first order.

--Locally we can take free classes through the American Red Cross for CPR, First Aid, etc....up to 2 per year. Consider doing this (if you haven't already) as it can make your business seem more business-like.

Anyway, I wish you the best of luck & hope that you business picks up really soon!