Okay how are you saving for your trip!

[SlightlyGoofy]

Hello! I knew you all were lurking somewhere. People who do not have unlimited means and must sacrifice for the better (DW) things in life. LOL

Right this minute I am saving big bucks toward our next trip by wallpapering and painting the bathroom myself. Will be laying the carpet a bit later and it is a leftover piece from a room I finished recently so it is sort of free!!

My bil gets on me cause I will not order drinks in a restaurant but I am not about to pay $2 for a weak glass of iced tea when I have a gallon at home. $2 times 2 (for hubby and I) times eating out 3 times a week (on average) means over $250 a year in savings. Every little bit helps.

I think we tend to appreciate things that do not come easily. I sort of enjoy the thrill of saving up for things. (sick puppy, I know) Have never felt deprived at DW because we do have the money to eat or do any old thing we really want because we actully do have the money to do so IF we wanted. It is interesting that when you CAN afford something it often is not nearly as desirable as it was back in the old days when you could not. JMO

Might pass up on the iced teas but am willing to spend the bucks for a Broadway play or La Nouba though. (grin)

Slightly Goofy

 

[MUFFYCAT]

We have a Disney Visa. In year we had $475.00 for our trip. So far this we have $250. for our next trip in August.
We always buy things with dollars and receive chage. All the change goes into the" Disney Jar". Last year we saved $900.00
I always add some ten dollars bills from time to time.

 

[summersfam4]

Change jar (of course a wonderful suggestion I got from Diser's )
Ebay 50% of all profit goes to ING
Treated as a monthly bill, cha-ching $$ go directly to ING
Yard sell, no offense I hate doing this one, but anything for a great vacation.
Vegan meals during the week. This cuts down on expensive chicken, fish, turkey which we eat on weekends, and is very healthy too!
A veggie garden DD#1 (6) and I will be growing again for homeschool, cuts down on fresh veggie costs, fun, and organic too!

That's about it for the way we save, but it helps, I also no longer buy toys for the girls unless it's a special day, I almost never buy for me so limiting stuff for the girls lessens the impulse purchases, this way getting something for birthdays, holidays, and vacation is much more special to my girls.

Kelly who's poor DH knows she's controling when it comes to $$ so he has to beg to buy something, but it saves money lol, after all we've lived paycheck to paycheck and I'm never going back it's just not the life for me.

 

[PB'sMOM]

When I write a check or use my debit card I round up to the nearest dollar and subtract that amount. It is amazing how fast it adds up and after a while you really don't miss the change.

 

[lemondog]

I have been mystery shopping for 2 months now. I have earned approx. $100/month each month, all of which goes into the vacation fund. By the time our vacation rolls around in early 2006, I hope to have quite a bit saved. We are also putting all of our tax refund (not much) in there, as well as any bonuses DH gets at work.

Angela

 

[chrismiss56]

Lemondog

Sent you a PM!!
Have a magical Disney Day!!

 

[speedyf]

I've been saving since July 2004 using these methods:

1. I play in a weekly $25 poker game. Whatever money I bring home goes to our Disney fund. So, even if I lose $10 and bring home $15....that goes to Disney. I'm a little ahead...meaning...my average per week contribution is above $25....for now.

2. I started in August doing Surveys and other reward sites thanks to the nice folks in the rewards forum. Here is a sample of what I've received:

a) Since I'm an IT guy, I've had the opportunity to do 2 focus groups paying $150 a piece from SAGE Research ($300 total) in the last 6 months.

b) I've joined about 8 different survey groups that offer surveys from $1 to $25 at various times.

3. I do a few rewards programs....here are a few of my results:

a) E-Rewards - Allows you to trade 50 e-Reward dollars for 3,000 HHonor points every 3 months. You earn e-Reward dollars by doing short surveys and clicking on links from e-mails that they send.

b) I joined American Airlines AAdvantage club even though I don't usually fly to WDW. They have a dining program. You register any debit or credit card and receive 10% on your dining ticket at participating restaurants. So, you get 100 miles for every $10 you spend Once your AAdvantage account gets to 5,000 miles, you can trade it for 10,000 HHonor points (Hilton, Hampton Inn).

c) Reward TV - You answer simple trivia questions about TV shows from the night before. Takes about 15 minutes per day. I usually earn enough for a $10 reward each month. I use it for gas cards to pay for our fuel for our upcoming trip.

d) Memolink - They offer points for completing various offers. One offer was for 12,000 points if you deposit $50 into an online casino account and wager that $50. Well, at 15,300 points....you get a $100 gift card to Wal-Mart, Target, etc. I figured I'd come out ahead even if I lose the $50 deposit. I ended up wagering the $50 and won another $50....cashing out $100. I received my points on Memolink and I just went over the mark and ordered my $100 Wal-Mart gift card. I can either sell it on eBay (which I probably won't) or just move $100 from my food budget to my savings and use the gift card for the food instead.

4. Change fund....like everyone else....I try to use only dollars to purchase things and save all the change.

5. I let my 5 year old help in the yard and with other chores and reward him with $1 here and there for him to save for Disney. So far, he has $120 saved. He wants to buy us a character breakfast with Donald.

Using these methods, I've been able to save money and I already have enough HHonor points for our half-way hotel stay both going and coming back and I have half the money saved for gas using the gas cards from Reward TV and My Points.

My budget is $2500 for our next trip for the 3 of us and I have $2200 saved already.....

Last year was our first year back to WDW in 10 years....we are hooked!

speedyf

 

[Rebeccapaige!]

Hi, I do the change jar thing!! and every now and then throw a dollar bill or two in. we have around $80 from the past 6 weeks! I average around $30 a month in change, we added the dollar bills this month so that's why its up higher! this months change is for my girls to have indiv. spending money on top of what I have for us anyhow, but thought it'd be nice for them to have some of their own to say mom I really want this even if I don't want them too. I have a part time job where about half the money has gone for disney! I've ebayed too!! I like the savings idea that's a good one!
Becky, Paige and Hailey
"we can't believe our trip is almost here!"

 

[Minerva]

We opened a savings account just to save for trips. I work part time and get paid the 15th and the 30th. I take out $100 and the rest goes right into the savings account. Like many of you mentioned I also don't spend any coins but we do go through and pull out the pre 1982 pennies and put them along with 2 quarters for each one into mini M&Ms tubes so when we go the kids will have their pennies for the pressed penny machines. The rest of my change goes into the savings so it will earn interest. As long as we've got the work, and right now is one of our busy times, I can pretty much set my own hours. I only work while my kids are in school but instead of waiting until 9 to go in I drop the kids off at school and go straight to work getting me an extra 15 to 20 minutes a day. Instead of going out to lunch I usually just take a can of soup and some peanut butter crackers and eat there. It saves money since I'm not buying my lunch and I usually only take 15 minutes that way instead of a half an hour so there's another 15 minutes a day. When the weather is nice the kids walk home and if I leave work at the time school gets out I still beat them home and that gives me another 15 minutes since I didn't leave early to pick them up. Those 15 minutes here and there really add up over a 2 week pay period! When there is a movie out that we want to see we decide if it's worth paying the price at the first run theater. If it isn't we wait until it comes to the second run theater then we put the difference in ticket prices, usually 5 to 6 dollars into the savings account. We're making our own autograph books out of small photo albums and decorating them with Disney stickers I pick up at the dollar store. I got the photo albums at the dollar store also.