Looking For Some (Saving $$) Advice

[mouselike-harrier]

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/m...ands/index.htm

Thanks. We need to cut our food budget big time. I found out that I am spending way more than budgeted. This article is very interesting and is worth a try for some basic items.

 

[hsmamato2]

google sites like living on less the frugal momma etc..... lots of of good ideas on those...I enjoy reading one about a family of six living on 28,000 per year....
1st you should look to spend WAY less on your next trip, you don't need 5500.00 to have fun for 4 people.....that 150.00 per week might not be feasible for you.....but it makes sense, know what you need by a certain date,and plan for it.
plan to drive to Disney.... stay onsite ONLY with free dining (it can be a good value with 4 teen boys,staying value,like the cheapest value)
Otherwise maybe pick an offsite bargain near Downtown disney with free breakfast
plan your trip for whenever you get a discount, even if you take the kids out of school for a few days.
... ...Oh, and you can stop overspending on groceries for 'name brands'.... Until you actually eat the store brand food, how would you know which actually tastes better?
In our house we eat almost exclusively 'store' brand,as we shop Aldis every week...And EVERY. SINGLE.PERSON. that visits/eats here loves the food...and is shocked that I proudly shop ALDI to save money. Try it, you may like it!
YOu can save money weekly by not using paper goods except t.p. and not buying things that aren't on your carefully prepared shopping list....

 

[Jerseymomof2]

ThankYou ALL for the responses and feedback. Im going to start checking for coupons, look into the online surveys as well, maybe try out eBay.
I was curious on how everyone else does it and you all gave me some great advice!

I do all these things and once you get going you will find it easy.

I coupon I get off 50-75% of every shopping order. I have a good stockpile to get me through unexpected expenses (car repairs and such)

I do online surveys and just do them in my spare time and I get $10-$20 a month from that. Not alot but it's something.

and I ebay anything that we no longer need that is in good condition.

Good Luck!

 

[Magic2000]

One thing that I do that definitely saves money is to plan my meals out for the week. When I'm really looking to save some money, I try to cook things that I can stretch into more than one meal.

I'll make a pot of red beans - one night we'll have beans & rice, salad, and cornbread. Then a few nights later, we'll have beans & rice and maybe some corn. For a pot of chili - one night we'll have hot dogs and chili and another night, I'll bake potatoes and put chili/cheese on top. Spaghetti is another easy meal to stretch. I try to bring my lunch to work every day, even if its just a peanut butter sandwich.

When I'm saving for our vacation, my food budget is an easy place for me to save. Let's say your food budget is $100 per week, and if you can buy groceries for $50, that's $50 that goes to the vacation fund. Definitely look around in your pantry and see what you can use to clean it out!

At Disney, try the value resorts. Although our favorite is the Yacht Club, we've stayed at Pop Century and had great trips!! Definitely bring breakfast items. And snacks/soft drinks from home.

Have a great trip!!!!

 

[blessedby3]

Im not a single mom, but I do try and be frugal and spend wisely. I definitely buy store brand on lots of items. Chips for the kids, cheese, sour cream, crackers, juice, milk, cookies, etc. The one thing I am brand loyal with is cereal. The off brands just dont taste good.
I also check our local Goodwill for clothes when the kids are in need of something. I also love our Once Upon a Child store (consignment type). I rarely pay full/sale price for clothes and shoes for the kids.
Saving your change and or $1 bills in a jar adds up fast!
Sell the kids old toys and clothes on ebay or Facebook
I would also look at staying offsite. We are booked at Bonnet Creek for June for 2 weeks. We stayed there in Oct 2012 and got a week for $837 in a 2BR condo. Sleeps 8. You can save big that way Eat breakfast in the room, take in sandwiches to the park for lunch and eat off property for dinner.

 

[tvguy]

Yup, I was thinking same thing. Cable is a waste of $$ there is plenty on for nearly free with Netflix n internet. Also if you have a home phone .... Cut that too. Use ohma or there is another company using internet for phone at 8$ a month.

I was looking at the cable and phones too, however, from a different perspective.
Are there extra cost channels (HBO,sports) that you can live without and cut your bill.,
I'd look VERY hard at the cell phone bill too, do you need data and unlimited minutes? My landline is cheap, it's my cell phone plan that's expensive.

DD has really opened my eyes about cell phones. She is going to school in England for a year and had to get a phone there, and they are sooooooooooooo much cheaper there. Got a bit of American bashing while shopping, a lot of "the British would never pay extra for data".........and " anything more than 15 pounds ($25 U.S) a month and people won't get a phone here"

 

[momofboyz3]

OP here! I'm on my commute to work & am shocked at all the replies my post received. I like to comment on each specific, but there are so many I want you ALL to know that I'm going to print this all out in the next few days & rethink how I do things. You all are the BEST, as I figured I would get some negative feedback. You all have been so helpful. My grocery bill is $220 a week & cellphone is $200 per month. No landline. I know I can shed some of that grocery bill by applying some of your tips. And can't wait to look into ebay & those online surveys. Will also start a spare change jar. I do get a nice refund and that's half of the vacation. I also have a bit of savings. So hopefully w/a bit more discipline we will be looking at another WDW trip.
THANKYOU ALL AGAIN!

 

[Gumbo4x4]

Get a dedicated Disney savings account. We have a START account through US Bank that automatically takes $25 from our checking account every month. Every time we come across some spare cash, it goes right into that account. Budget $40 for eating out, but decide not to go? Put that $40 in the account. 5 hours of overtime this week? Right into the account. Etc, etc.

 

[jenineh]

We were able to save most of our money for our trip selling stuff on eBay. I made about 3000.00 doing that. I also scrapped some gold and had a yard sale. Also added a little of my husbands overtime money. I couldn't believe it took us only 3 months to save for the whole trip. We still need to save spending money but have till May to save. Look around your house. You would be amazed what people would buy off of EBay.

 

[skyp4WDW]

I'm a single mom of 4 (1 girl and 3 boys). The kids are mostly grown now but we have gone to Disneyworld every year for the last 15...some years on an extremely modest budget. Those years we discovered Ft Wilderness, and now we all agree that we had more fun there than any of the other resorts/ hotels. I knew nothing about camping, but we learned how to do it and had fun collecting items for camping all through the year. (ex. Mickey shaped string lights, etc.) Additionally you can bring alot of your food with you which saves majorly at WDW. If you're interested, visit the camping forum. Everyone there will gladly walk you through the "how to's".

 

[mckelvey72]

You have been given great ideas.......but just wanted to chime in here that if you have a Target near you, you can get gift cards for 5% off. So that 5K trip...if you pay for it with gift cards it could be reduced by 250.00! So can you buy one gift card a week at a price of 48.50? If you can do that, then figure out how long it will take to (week wise) to save up the money for the trip. Then save all your change in a jar for spending money and I agree completely with asking for Disney gift cards for holidays and birthdays. If each kid got one this year for 50.00...you have 150 in spending money already.

Can you go another time other than August? I think there are other time periods that are cheaper. Staying offsite is a good idea....condos as suggested but also look at Nickalodean Suites. They have a nice water park area that you could spend a day using.

 

[MEM]

Dear OP,
I'm in the Boston area too. I personally could not handle driving to Orlando from Boston, even stopping over half way for the night. We fly out of TF Green in Providence/Warwick - lots of direct flights on Southwest plus parking is cheap.

We are a one income family - I work outside the home and DH is a SAHD. I work in Downtown Boston and the temptation to eat lunch out is always there with so many excellent restaurants to choose from. Still, I pack my lunch (and breakfast) every day and remind myself why I am doing so.

Do you have a Market Basket supermarket anywhere near you? We think their store brand products are just as good as the name brands. Can't say the same for Shaw's brands though. Also, find the reduced bakery section in your store - can't remember the last time we paid full price for bread.

Learn to love your crockpot - a pork shoulder or whole chicken can cook all day and will go a long way to filling up three boys.

A lot of folks like the change jar approach but I find it too easy to "borrow" from it. Can you have money taken out of your paycheck and sent to a vacation club type account or a distant credit union?

I agree with the idea of a Disney value resort - your transportation is free including Magical Express. If you can swing Art of Animation, you and the boys will not be disappointed! We stayed there for two nights even though we are DVC members - just had to try it out.

 

[sweetlovin']

I'm looking for some tricks & tips from fellow moms. I would love to go back to WDW maybe next summer, but need to save some serious cash 1st. We went May 2013 & it cost $5500 (used a portion of savings & tax refund)
~ I'm a single mom of 3 boys 13, 13, 10. I have NO credit cards and NO debt. I work Full-time but live week to week. Receive NO child support & No govt. aid. My bills: rent, electric, cable, cell phones & groceries. We also order out or go out twice per month.
~ I don't want to rely on a tax refund check. Would love to get ahead a bit. Does anyone have any tips for saving $ maybe something I haven't thought of, that worked for you???

It truly doesn't have to cost $5500. I am a mom and I lived on a very very limited budget for many years with 3 kids. Check out tickets and classes at the YES program. The tickets are discounted and your kids get to take a class in Disney. I think it is $220 for 5 day park hopper with the class, but maybe I am miss quoting. Even at $250 per ticket it would be $1k total for all of your tickets. (Although I know I didn't include water parks)

 

[sweetlovin']

I am not sure if you have 13yo girls or boys, but my 11yo daughter and my 13yo son eat. So, I also rent DVC points from either timeshare store or people here. You do have to trust strangers, but i can add the dining plan for my older kids. I am going in Jan with my 9yo and I rented points, but the dining plan for us isn't worth it; when I have my two older kids, it's a necessity!

 

[snarlingcoyote]

Something no one has mentioned yet, that I lot of us do - get a rewards charge card, either one that pays cash or the Chase card. When we go, I can generally cover all of our expenses at WDW (not including our APs and lodging), including meals on property, with our reward points. 2% back at grocery stores, including ALL purchases a Super Walmart and Super Target; 2% back on gas; and 2% back on restaurants adds up really fast for us.

I pay my Chase off on a weekly basis; some do it monthly - just be sure to always pay it off, so you don't incur any finance charges.

 

[momofboyz3]

Hello All~~~ I'm on my commute home reading through all your helpful, hints and tips would love to respond to each but there r so many & would feel bad if I missed one. I so appreciate everyone's time & can't wait to print all of these out and really rework my spending style.
I love the eBay ideas I love the idea of having my job take $ out of my account weekly. Will try to use store brands (shop at Stop& Shop). Will look into coupons. Working in Boston it's hard to bypass Dunkin Donuts, but i shall focus! We stayed at POR w/DDP and I'm thinking I would rather just wait a bit longer than stay off property.
**** ThankYou all again and hope this thread helped others as well *****

 

[sweetlovin']

LOL! I just looked at your name. DUH!! you have 3 boys, I am sure they eat.

 

[ShayBells]

Hello All~~~ I'm on my commute home reading through all your helpful, hints and tips would love to respond to each but there r so many & would feel bad if I missed one. I so appreciate everyone's time & can't wait to print all of these out and really rework my spending style. I love the eBay ideas I love the idea of having my job take $ out of my account weekly. Will try to use store brands (shop at Stop& Shop). Will look into coupons. Working in Boston it's hard to bypass Dunkin Donuts, but i shall focus! We stayed at POR w/DDP and I'm thinking I would rather just wait a bit longer than stay off property. **** ThankYou all again and hope this thread helped others as well *****

Look into the value resorts. I love them and they are cheaper. And don't do the DDP unless it's free. It's easily to share meals at Disney and save money. A lot of the meals are huge and can easily be shared between two or three people if you know where to find them. Then breakfast in room. If you do enough research and cut corners you can stay pretty cheap on property.

Good luck!!

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[kajs22]

OP here! I'm on my commute to work & am shocked at all the replies my post received. I like to comment on each specific, but there are so many I want you ALL to know that I'm going to print this all out in the next few days & rethink how I do things. You all are the BEST, as I figured I would get some negative feedback. You all have been so helpful. My grocery bill is $220 a week & cellphone is $200 per month. No landline. I know I can shed some of that grocery bill by applying some of your tips. And can't wait to look into ebay & those online surveys. Will also start a spare change jar. I do get a nice refund and that's half of the vacation. I also have a bit of savings. So hopefully w/a bit more discipline we will be looking at another WDW trip.
THANKYOU ALL AGAIN!

Forgot to mention - the cell phones!!!! We had a plan with Verizon that was approximately $200 per month as well and I switched us to Page Plus and now our total monthly bill is $54! Almost $150 per month right there

 

[momofboyz3]

LOL! I just looked at your name. DUH!! you have 3 boys, I am sure they eat.

YES! They eat and eat and eat! My twins are about 5'10 (ones a basketball player) my ds10 plays football we go through a gallon of milk in one weekend!!! Lol