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[madge]

Wow, that's some list.

I for one could never do most of the things listed. As much as I love going on vacation, I also want to enjoy living day to day.

same here! We do some of those things - but definitely not all.

 

[tinaluis]

things I do so we can afford disney...

This is one is important - get rid of your credit card, or just keep it at home for emergency use. It's way too easy to buy impulsively if you use a credit card.

1. Always always always cook meals at home.

Great suggestions. Thanks for getting the post back on track. I especially agree with the ones I've quoted -- using cash instead of credit is something we always try to do and cooking meals at home is such a $$ saver. The only thing we still order in is pizza because I just can't make it the way our local pizzeria does and it's a treat that we all look forward to.

 

[madge]

Additionally, Xmas presents have been cut to a minimum between DH & I, we'd rather travel together

this is what we do. DH & I don't buy each other gifts, and put that towards the vacation jar.

 

[jennilouwho]

We're the opposite, we use our credit card so we can go to Disney! I'm really good at budgeting and pay off the Disney Visa every month. When we got married we bought a house and had lots of fixing up to do on it, so we got a lot of points with that. I also use the credit card for everything and the points do add up. We went to WDW last year after saving 3 years and we had 800 points. Again, that was due to fixing up the house, we'd never have that much in 3 years again, but we should have enough for 3 tickets to Disneyland end of 2009 and since we can drive there it will be a much less expensive trip due to our points. We'll just need to pay for gas and 4 nights at a hotel. We'll eat budget meals and maybe splurge for a character meal one day. I figure we'll need $600 total out of pocket, so if I put away $25 a month for 24 months we'll have enough.

 

[ObsessedwiththeMouse]

..

 

[abish19]

We just got back from WDW a week ago, and we had a major revelation: our small kids (almost 4 and 1) will grow up so fast, and we want to enjoy the time we can with them. We also realized we'd spent way more than we wanted to! Luckily, it was cash and we had enough to pay for it. On the drive home we discussed ways we can eliminate small but not-so-rewarding things from our lives that could save money for our next trip. Two we decided on were eliminating daily sodas (from the fountain; it's not the same from a bottle or can) and dropping the fast food. That alone could save SO MUCH MONEY.

It's important to find the balance between enjoying your life at home and having enough to enjoy vacations at Disney World. I appreciate all of the previous posters who have left such great information for people like me, who want each trip to be cheaper (as a previous poster mentioned!).

 

[Lovin' Lorne]

We're the opposite, we use our credit card so we can go to Disney! I'm really good at budgeting and pay off the Disney Visa every month.

I don't have a Disney Visa, but we do charge our trips as well. We also pay each card off in full every month as well.

When I was a wee girl, just learning about personal finances from my mom, she told me one very important thing that I have lived by -

Never charge more than you can afford to pay off at the end of the month. And with only two exceptions in 24 years, I've done just that. And the two exceptions were were paid off in two billing cycles. It killed me to pay the interest, but there was no other option at the time.

As for those who only pay "cash", I'm thinking they must be doing the same. I don't know how they can be making car, plane and hotel reservations if they aren't using a credit card. If they are, I'd be interested in how to do it. Then I wouldn't have to use my credit cards for anything.

 

[disneyjunkie]

It's important to find the balance between enjoying your life at home and having enough to enjoy vacations at Disney World.

As for those who only pay "cash", I'm thinking they must be doing the same. I don't know how they can be making car, plane and hotel reservations if they aren't using a credit card. If they are, I'd be interested in how to do it. Then I wouldn't have to use my credit cards for anything.

Maybe they use debit cards.

You can mail checks or money orders to CRO to pay on your reservations.

 

[lyzziesmom]

As for those who only pay "cash", I'm thinking they must be doing the same. I don't know how they can be making car, plane and hotel reservations if they aren't using a credit card. If they are, I'd be interested in how to do it. Then I wouldn't have to use my credit cards for anything.

I didn't have credit cards for many many years - I didn't want the temptation of accidentally overspending. I simply used my debit card to make reservations.

I have used Disney's "financing" to afford vacations - since you only have to put down a $200 deposit on a package or one night's rate for a room only reservation, and have plenty of time to pay the balance with no interest and no penalty for cancellation (by a certain date) it doesn't make sense to charge the whole thing and have to pay interest (unless of course you have a Disney Visa, which I don't). It makes it very easy to put down my deposit - with my debit card - and simply make a small payment every pay period until it's whittled down to nothing.

I find it actually easier to use debit than credit, because I don't have to worry about paying off the card at the end of the month since it's taken out right away. It takes the opportunity for overspending out of the equation -- if I don't have the money, I can't buy it, period. I've also recently signed up for my bank's Keep the Change program, where every time I use my debit card, it rounds up to the next dollar and puts the change in my savings account, and the bank matches a certain percentage. Those pennies add up quickly! It's great because I normally use my debit card for everything anyway, and now the bank is paying me to use it. The only reason I use my credit card is to accumulate airline miles, and I am pretty good about paying it off every month. The small amount that I wasn't able to pay off due to unforseen circumstances (car transmission blew up), I just finished paying with part of my tax refund.

 

[disneysteve]

I got back from a doctor's meeting with my husband and they wanted us to pay 350 dollars a night at the hotel. Instead I found a great condo for us to stay at for 80 dollars a night that was a 5 minutes free shuttle from the meeting/ski slopes.

We do the exact same thing. When I go to medical conferences, we NEVER stay in the hosting hotel with the "special convention rate". We always find an inexpensive room somewhere nearby and I just drive back and forth every day.

 

[ExPirateShopGirl]

things I do so we can afford disney...


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I have to say I don't think these ideas are extreme at all. They are just ways to cut down extra spending so you can have money set aside for the future.

To me, all these things are extreme. Simple rule... spend less than half your income on necessary recurring expenses like housing, food, utlities... and yes, saving for retirement and college (for kids) is a necessary expense. Less than half. No squabbling. How you choose to spend that other half is entirely up to you.

The real money suckers in life are generally related to compound interest.... whether consumer debt in the form of credit cards or car loans. If you can avoid paying someone to use their money to finance your wants, you're in good shape.

I'm a notorious saver, however... that allows me to make the purchases that most people have to finance, including cars and college tuition, with cash saved. Those are always paid out of that first 50%.

Travel is always out of the spending money. We like nice hotels... if we can't get a good airline discount rate, I will priceline a room instead. Good way to travel well inexpensively. When we go to WDW, we generally stay 10 days and do everything. We also go during free dining and get free airfare, so that brings the total way down. While the deluxe resorts are nice, I don't feel they are on par with mainstream luxury chains. We've stayed deluxe once, and Pop most of the other visits. Our last 10 day stay for 2 ran about $2300 for everything, hotel, park hoppers with waterparks, dining plan, rental car, goodies purchased, tickets to see the red sox in tampa, a new camera, dog sitter. You get the idea.

In any case... and inexpensive disney vacation is well within reach.... if you plan for it.

Now... off to plan meals I am NOt making at home...

 

[disneyjunkie]

Now... off to plan meals I am NOt making at home...

Those are my favorite meals.

 

[TCPluto]

You stated Temecula, right?

I took a look at Wikipedia and I know it's not always accurate, but this is what it mentioned:



It sure sounds like you don't exactly live in a low- to middle - income area. That median income is a lot as it is - wow!

For us we don't go to Disney every year. In fact, the last time I went to Florida was to visit my twin sister a few years ago. We go to Hawaii maybe every 3 years. We usually take road trips. We travel budget - and we live a frugal lifestyle.

We just live below our means. I don't knock anyone for their choices - except if they are taking advantage of government assistance and not being truthful.(ugh!) As for carrying debt, hmmm. My dad borrowed money to take us (me, my 3 siblings, my parents, and my grandma) to Disneyland when I was 11 years old and that changed my life!

There was a poster in the past six months who was on 3-4 forms of govt. assistance and was taking her 9th WDW trip for the year in December (with DDP of course). Along with two of her govt. paid nannies for her son, and they all lived in the far nortwest part of the country (had to fly).

She also managed to buy an expensive DVC timeshare last year.

In the last week, another poster related how they declared bankruptcy last summer, were relieved of all their debt. They have three WDW trips planned this year, and just bought that must have DVC timeshare!

I suspect this is the type of abuse you're referring to.....

 

[Lovin' Lorne]

I didn't have credit cards for many many years - I didn't want the temptation of accidentally overspending. I simply used my debit card to make reservations.

The last few times we tried to use a Debit Card for reservations, they told us no, that it would freeze our bank accounts.

Of course that was about 14 years ago, so maybe things have changed since then.

 

[disneynewbee]

We always stay value because I can't justify the extra money for mod or deluxe. My house is not paid off and I am still working on my kids college funds. Yes the vacation $ could be added to pay off the house early or go to the kids college funds but you have to enjoy life while you have it. Financially my mom could not do vacations with us as children and it is definately something I don't want my kids missing out on.

 

[sarahlovesmickey]

things I do so we can afford disney...

This is one is important - get rid of your credit card, or just keep it at home for emergency use. It's way too easy to buy impulsively if you use a credit card.

1. Always always always cook meals at home.

2. Only time to eat out is buying value hamburgers for kiddos at Wendy's (4 for less than $6 and everyone is happy

3. Date night is trip to local Chapters bookstore and split a $2 Starbucks coffee with dh and enjoy the ambience/music for 1-2 hours, grandparents babysit for 2 hours (date night is maybe 1 per month)

4. Dinners out? Maybe 2 times per year when we get gift certificates for Christmas or something like that. One dinner out can cost a family of 4 at least $60 at a normal restaurant with tax and tip included. Just boil some water and make pasta with pasta sauce. About $5 to feed everyone and you don't have to leave your home.


5. But I should add we do eat out at Disney World (not alot, since I bring electric skillet and we buy groceries at Wal-mart for our in room fridge).

6. never ever ever buy coffee out. Always brew at home and take to work or elsewhere.

7. Utilities: always shut lights off in rooms when not in use and lower thermostat during the day when not home and at night when sleeping.

8. Shop on Craigslist for kids items, or on ebay for toys for christmas

9. Kids under 9: buy secondhand toys for Christmas and wrap them really nice, they never know the difference. I bought 25 build a bear pets and 30 matching outfits for $120 delivered on ebay this year. My niece and daughter thought Santa was the best. He also delivered to my daughter a huge box of polly pocket items. She is 9 and didn't care that they were not in new wrapping. My ds 4 got a previously well-loved train set on train table for $65. Train set has marks all over it, but he didn't care.

10. I wouldn't do above 9. for other kids, only your own.

11. Sell kids toys and baby items on craigslist when done with them, or ebay if you prefer.

12. If you can carpool, save money on gas that way.

13. If you rent a car use mousesavers.com for codes or priceline (even better).

14. Use ME if you really want to save the money, and pack snacks from home to help with food costs in the world.

15. Use your local library to get books and movies for home use rather than buying DVDs.

16. Don't go to stores unless it's for grocery shopping.

17. Bring cash when you go grocery shopping because that way you only have a certain amount to spend, and prepare a list every time.

18. Don't take kids to grocery store if you can avoid it, you always end up spending a little extra.

19. Birthday parties: find economical place to host birthday party, invite the little kiddies, make hotdogs/buns and juice, make your own cake, dollar store for loot bags. All the presents that come from the other kids; your child won't even remember that you didn't go out and spend $100 on a birthday gift for them Funny huh? It works. Tell child birthday party was the gift and look at all the new toys you received.

20. Put away toys that child will not play with and keep them for next birthday child is invited to. (figure you save at least $20 per gift next time).

21. Pre-buy gifts for birthdays when you find deals.

22. Don't use dry clean service if you can avoid it. Launder shirts at home and use the old ironing board.

23. Buy clothing/shoes from second hand stores. You'd be amazed at what women donate to these charity organizations (I should also add men's wardrobes as well).

24. Since you all live in the States, you can use Southwest for cheap airfare, we don't really have that option in Toronto unless I want to drive 2 hours to Buffalo (no thanks).

25. Visit disney at value season and there is nothing wrong with the Value resorts. Most people spend most of the day at the parks and hardly any time in the rooms.

26. We stayed at CSR last year for 3 nights, I though the room size was very comparable to the values, but was more expensive. So consider a value if you can get a discount.

27. Wait for free dining announcement and then go. That is worth it I think.

28. Go to local library and borrow Unofficial Guide to Disney World and read it from cover to cover for extra ideas.

29. Stay offsite in condo facility with kitchen to save on food costs from eating out.

30. If you pay daycare costs, sit down and consider how much your take home pay really is. Financially because of tax brackets and all additional costs associated with working (transportation, clothing/hair cuts, gas, lunches, taxes, convenience foods instead of always cooking at home), it may be cheaper and much easier on family life for one parent to be home with kids instead of paying the day care costs and all the costs really involved with working outside of the home.

31. I always tell my kids to make me something for my birthday or Christmas and not to buy me anything. DD usually draws nice picture and makes a poem. DS is too small right now for this. Valentine's just passed. DH knows that I love the fact he doesn't buy me a gift or flowers. He could afford it, but I love that he doesn't

32. Great idea for Christmas gifts for family: buy magazine subscriptions. for $15 CDN each, I bought 1 year Chatelaine magazine for 2 family members. Check for these types of discounts and every time the magazine comes each month, you will be remembered. And I should add, I didn't have to go to a store to do this, it was done online.

33. Haircuts: dh has always cut the kids' hair. Bought professional scissors when dd was little and used them ever since. DH cuts my hair too Of course, he cuts straight across the back and I can do my own bangs. I guess I've just been dissatisfied with the cuts over the last few years (maybe 1 time per year when I thought I would try), so resorted back to dh cutting it. Gray hairs? I have a few and L'Oreal Excellence seems to be the best hair colouring. Cut and colour at any good salon is close to $80. So that money goes into our savings. I should add that I have a good curling iron and my hair always looks nice at work, so I don't bother with the hair cuts at salons anymore. Maybe when I'm rich I'll spend money at hair salons.

34. I drive a 1993 Toyota Corolla, hopefully it will survive another 2 years maybe? Great on gas. DH drives 1996 Ford explorer - that one won't last too long, but next purchase will be hybrid so we can save on gas since prices are not going any lower.

35. Basically, all year consider any extra purchases taking away from money that could be used towards disney.

spending an extra $2 a day for anything (coffee, snack etc) is $720 per year.

spending an extra $5 a day for anything (lunch at work?) is over $1500/year.

The little things add up. Look after the pennies and the dollars will take care of themselves.

I have to say following these concepts above has made me really happy and content and not missing anything, since we do not worry about our finances. We lived on 1 income for 7 years so I had to learn to live on less and now it's part of our nature. This is how we are able to afford Disney and still be happy with day to day life.

a little OT: I don't think I'd want to be a teacher anyhow because being with kids all day is not my cup of tea, and having the summer off would eventually lead me to a long expensive disney trip or to the local stores out of boredom. Work keeps me busy and not spending extra cash.

I have to say I don't think these ideas are extreme at all. They are just ways to cut down extra spending so you can have money set aside for the future.

WOW! I don't think I could personally live this way. Not getting new gifts for Christmas???? We're not that hard up...yet. You can get soooo many good deals on toys, especially after Christmas. I am just about done Christmas shopping for next Christmas. Same thing with clothing: I NEVER buy my kids' second hand clothes or shoes but I get great deals on NAME BRAND CLOTHING from the clearance racks. My kids dress like I've spent tons on their clothing, but I NEVER do.

some of these ideas are great though!

 

[soccerchick]

I don't have a Disney Visa, but we do charge our trips as well. We also pay each card off in full every month as well.

When I was a wee girl, just learning about personal finances from my mom, she told me one very important thing that I have lived by -

Never charge more than you can afford to pay off at the end of the month. And with only two exceptions in 24 years, I've done just that. And the two exceptions were were paid off in two billing cycles. It killed me to pay the interest, but there was no other option at the time.

As for those who only pay "cash", I'm thinking they must be doing the same. I don't know how they can be making car, plane and hotel reservations if they aren't using a credit card. If they are, I'd be interested in how to do it. Then I wouldn't have to use my credit cards for anything.

I do the same thing. CCs are not evil if you can be disciplined to spend within your monthly limits.I can keep my money for a few more days or weeks each month and make money on it both in the bank and on the rewards the CC will pay me. I always pay my CC off each month. So why not make the CC companies pay ME? I know I am not the typical cc customer and that's fine by me. The companies will make their transaction fees from the stores/restaurants (not out of MY pocket) and that's it.

We use Discover and AE almost exclusively and both offer decent rewards. Costco AE should be sending me a nice rebate any day now that I can walk into Costco and say "please cash this" if I want to. We let the Discover cashback ride until we need or want to buy something bigger than normal and use that when the bill comes in.

My very responsible use of CCs has also allowed me to build up that nice fat high credit rating I have.

 

[isyne4u]

Poor Tara....poor, sweet, innocent Tara...

I am an admitted "charger" and charged my entire trip in December to the Poly for 9 nights. I agree with you, life is short and should be enjoyed, but "admitted chargers" really take heat for it on this board. I have learned to try and stay out of discussions like this. No one on this board charges their vacation without paying it off in a month.

I knew I was taking my life in my hands by admitting that!! hehehehe but hey...the truth hurts!!

tara

 

[DizneeMommy]

This will be short and sweet--have only been to the world once last summer. I'm a teacher, DH pastors a small church, so we are "real" people. We booked as early as possible, made payments about every 2 weeks, and had the trip paid off by early May. Next trip will be June 2009---already saving up! Simply said--we save up and have it paid for ahead of time! (even souvie money)

 

[kellijo]

I do the same thing. CCs are not evil if you can be disciplined to spend within your monthly limits.I can keep my money for a few more days or weeks each month and make money on it both in the bank and on the rewards the CC will pay me. I always pay my CC off each month. So why not make the CC companies pay ME? I know I am not the typical cc customer and that's fine by me. The companies will make their transaction fees from the stores/restaurants (not out of MY pocket) and that's it.

We use Discover and AE almost exclusively and both offer decent rewards. Costco AE should be sending me a nice rebate any day now that I can walk into Costco and say "please cash this" if I want to. We let the Discover cashback ride until we need or want to buy something bigger than normal and use that when the bill comes in.

My very responsible use of CCs has also allowed me to build up that nice fat high credit rating I have.

This is exactly what we do. I love my Discover b/c I put everything on it that I can, then pay it in full each and every month. Then the coolest part is that they pay me! We have let it ride for almost 3 years and they owe us $600 right now that will be going towards Disney. I am not sure if they love me as a customer since they get no $$ from interest but I know that I LOVE it!