Keeping track of money spent

[MOMMY2ANTHONY&SOFIA]

I have a budget for our trip, separated by categories (OOP meals, tips, souvenirs, etc...). I'm sure I'm not the only one that does this!! Lol. I used to take cash separated into envelopes. But, this time we are going to link our credit card to our magicbands (first trip with magicbands). How do you keep track of spending? Is there an app that can be used for the iPhone? Thanks in advance!

Jenn

 

[Malibustyle23]

Not sure if this would be helpful but the front desk can print out a sheet whenever you like of what you have spent thus far.

 

[Monykalyn]

The magic band spending is an easy way to keep track-can get daily printouts if you want! Breaks it down by who did the charging too.

Yeah-for our last trip in June I had a spreadsheet breaking down pros/cons/costs of various resorts; overall budget in categories (hotel, food, special dining, tickets etc) and then went back as things were paid for and put in actual numbers. I even had a separate spreadsheet for food each day with a rough idea of what we would eat (including our ADRs) and then put in actual numbers when I came home. Possibly a bit overboard -but I was pretty darn close to what our budget projected. In fact food was much less than I thought (I kinda hoped it would be as I tried to overestimate) but souvenirs was quite a bit over (DH was to blame - not me!). DH looked at our CC bill when we got home and declared we had spent much less than he thought we would . He tends to overbudget as well as he doesn't want to feel like he has to compromise on vacation. Works well as leftover vacation funds just give a head start towards next trip!

 

[JenB1104]

I just took a small notebook with me to track purchases. I pre-purchased our meals with Disney gift cards so I did not really keep track of that. I had used the allears website to estimate meal prices etc. before hand. I also kept receipts for everything as we went along. I also used the printout from the front desk. I would go down every couple of days to pay down room charges with gift cards and would get an itemized list of what we'd spent. Everything from the day before was on there the next morning.

 

[Loralei]

I use the Goodbudget App on my iphone. It allows you to create "envelopes". You give each envelope a starting amount & then add transactions. If you have more than one person spending, you can create an account & then login on multiple phones. It syncs between devices.

 

[kathy884]

lol -- offsite visitors so and no magic bands // old school // I write everything down and track it in my notebook or spreadsheet (I usually travel with a laptop). My bean counter personality enjoys totaling things up a few evenings over the course of the vacation to see where we are too. Everyone in my family gives me their receipts too, so I do this for the entire family. I love to see everything we spend. It helps me do a great job budgeting future vacations and let's me know how close I came. Note: I budget what my best guess is what we will actually spend. We're in a position where it is no big deal if we would be over budget by 10 or 20% (we have some cushion and even our normal weekly spending at home that we don't spend on vacation serves as that), so I don't pad budgets. I specifically budget my best guess as to what we will actually need/spend on the trip.

 

[scrapquitler]

I have a budget for our trip, separated by categories (OOP meals, tips, souvenirs, etc...). I'm sure I'm not the only one that does this!! Lol. I used to take cash separated into envelopes. But, this time we are going to link our credit card to our magicbands (first trip with magicbands). How do you keep track of spending? Is there an app that can be used for the iPhone? Thanks in advance!

Jenn

Each time you make a purchase with the magic band, the register prints a receipt, and the CM will ask you if you want the receipt. Keeping those is a simple way to keep track.

 

[BellsFam]

I broke down our spending to categories, table service I used MB or card, souvenir money was cash in an envelope, QS meals and snacks were daily envelopes...

So I had a Sunday envelope with a designated amount to spend on snacks, QS, I knew when we went over and when there was extra $$ it was moved to the next day envelope...

 

[OrangeBirdGirl]

I don't track that much in detail when vacation time actually hits. Prior to vacation time, I am planning out the trip. I estimate what we will spend in food, souvenirs and attractions (as this is for all trips not just Disney). So before we actually depart I anticipate food will be $x, etc. But when I actually go on vacation I don't worry about it. For Disney I don't bring cash and I just hope my final bill (as I charge everything to my room) is less than the budgeted amount for souvenirs and food. In reality I don't care how much money I spend on food vs souvenirs once I get to Disney. I'm only worried about it before I go so I could budget accordingly and know what the trip cost will be. I usually overbudget so I am not stuck with a surprise at the end. But it has happened at times when I've spent more and that's just what it is. Since I've been doing this long enough if I were to go over budget it is only by a little bit (not thousands) so I don't really worry about it.

 

[zendisney]

For our upcoming trip we are giving our nine year old DD a Disney Gift card with a set amount that she can use for whatever she wants to purchase. She also receives Disney gift cards from relatives for Christmas and Birthdays. She will have a nice little nest egg to purchase her Disney "LOOT".
In the past we have gone overboard buying her things at the parks so this will help us control that.
The gift cards are for her... not towards meals, snacks, or drinks, we still cover that for her.
I am also planning on ordering ice water at counter service instead of buying bottles of water all day.
That's how I plan to set a budget and save $$$.

 

[kristenrice]

I just use Google Sheets and have the app on my phone. I start with the value of my gift cards and every time I spend something, I input it into the spreadsheet. That way, it automatically tallies what I've spent and how much I have left. I create the spreadsheet on my computer (so I can see it!) and it syncs to my phone. I will also have the front desk print out the charges every few days so that if I can use my gift card(s) to pay it down.

 

[Ladyhawke]

I use the Goodbudget App on my iphone. It allows you to create "envelopes". You give each envelope a starting amount & then add transactions. If you have more than one person spending, you can create an account & then login on multiple phones. It syncs between devices.

This looks really good.

 

[Ladyhawke]

I just use Google Sheets and have the app on my phone. I start with the value of my gift cards and every time I spend something, I input it into the spreadsheet. That way, it automatically tallies what I've spent and how much I have left. I create the spreadsheet on my computer (so I can see it!) and it syncs to my phone. I will also have the front desk print out the charges every few days so that if I can use my gift card(s) to pay it down.

I've used Google Docs but have never heard of Google Sheets. Thanks, I'll look into this.

 

[MoltenTesseract]

I'm just going to keep checking my bank account so I know what I've got left... Cause WDW is the first 10days, then its NYC for 5 and LA for 5 days, including 3 at DLR...