Originally posted by pjlla
One last thought.... everyday between now and the trip, as you are in the grocery store, Walmart, Mcdonald's etc.... ask youself....how badly do I need this? Can you live on mac/cheese, tuna casserole, and rice and beans for the next few weeks until the trip?? Save a few $$ on the grocery bill at home to take along to WDW. Any purchases you made lately that you don't really need? Take them back for a refund!! Anything you can sell quickly through the want ads? Work a few extra hours before the trip for overtime $? I suppose this is all obvious stuff, but just trying to help!!.....
This is SO true. This is exactly what we are doing. Selling stuff on Ebay, living off sort of cheap food, limiting our "fun" money (ie. movies, expensive dinners, extracurricular activities, clothing). DSO has his old guitar he wants to sell, so he's doing that. We spent all of last week cleaning and organizing our basement and closets in our house and found at least 3 boxes of stuff to sell.
We moved recently and in the process I lost a bag conatining almost ALL of my winter clothes
Rather than get an expensive new winter wardrobe, I picked up a few cheap , but nice sweaters at Wal Mart & Target and few pairs of dress pants for work.
Also, I have been limiting my spending on Christmas presents, looking for good deals, and started Christmas shopping over 2 months ago, knowing December would be a tight month. DSO & I are not giving each other Christmas presents, but instead will decorate our house a little more to get the holiday feeling, and on Christmas Eve, we plan to go to the
Disney Store and purchase our PH passes.
This turned out to be good because our dog needed surgery and the car broke down all in the span of two weeks.
Normally I make huge credit card payments , or pay off the entire balance before the next statement. But from now until the trip, I plan to just pay the minimums on store credit cards (2 months of making $20 payments as opposed to $100 payments won't kill my credit).
We have even gone so far as to limit long drives to save money on gas (&wear and tear on our old, clunky car).
It's really little things that add up. Before you check out at the store, grocery or otherwise, ask if you really need this. If you don't need it , put it back. You will always be able to find another one.
We have also decided that when we are in WDW we probably will not buy many, if any souviniers. DSO really isn't into collectibles at all & where I do like to collect things, I haven't got much space for any more stuff that requires being kept on a shelf or in a curio. I agree with the posters who said that letting the children pick out one thing at the end of the trip is a great idea.
I went a few years ago with DCousin and her DD (4) and DC let DD pick one thing on the last day and that was it. Her DD was thrilled because DC treated going to get the one souvinier like a very special event, and it was still "new" (A Jasmine Doll) when it was time to get on the plane and kept her occupied & happy the entire flight home.
Best of luck, and remember, don't stress too mucha bout it. It's a vacation
Sheri
