One Year to Save!!

[Therinian]

My husband and I are doing the 52-Week Challenge, too. For the first two months, we are doubling the amounts we put in our jar, but after that, we split it, because I don't bring in as much as he does.

I also opened up a Disney Vacation Account (through Disney), and have deposited a small amount in there, and will have $22 taken out of my checking account each month until the goal is reached (which is 3 years from now).

We also have a new rule: Save every $5 bill we get. My husband has a habit of just using his bank card, but I've encouraged him to keep a bit of cash in his pocket. When he gets change, if there are any $5 bills, put them aside. I will deposit them into another vacation account, at a local bank. I do the same with the $5s I get, and it adds up quickly.

We have a change jar, but recently used what was in it to cover bills.

52-Week Challenge:$6
Disney Vacation Account: $59
Bank Vacation Account: $55

Total (so far): $120

 

[TrudyNH]

Stayhomemom77......what is your budget for the entire vacation? For me to fly from eastern Canada to Orlando, it's $1200 per person. Gross! A 10 day vacation staying off site would cost me $9000 for myself and two teenagers. We never stay on site because the boys need space to move around and their own beds. I like having a kitchen to make a hearty breakfast as well.

I was lucky and found a great price to fly from Maine (3 hour drive) for $500 per person. My budget for the condo, Disney tickets, food, flights, etc is $6000 which is great for 10 days. I think I have enough Air Miles for Universal Studios tickets, Seaworld and a rental car. Yippee!

Still wondering how people manage to save enough money to stay in the Deluxe villas.........perhaps because they don't lay crazy airfare it's easier?

 

[stayhomemom77]

TrudyNH:

Well, I am in southwestern Ontario and we are serious road trippers, so we generally drive. It's about a 20 hour drive from our place. If we were to fly, we would do so from Syracuse (or possibly even Detroit) because flying from Toronto is big bucks. Flying would cost us a lot more though because we'd have to rent a car to see Universal/IoA and the beach, so we try to avoid that if possible. Driving in the winter can be pretty dicey though, and we DID fly for the first week of January 2011, so...

Anyway, I didn't set a budget for the vacation yet because I haven't really priced it out, but I'm guessing it would be at least $6000 if we drive and more if we fly. That's looking at staying onsite in a value hotel. We'd save a bundle by staying offsite all or even part of that time, I'm guessing but I haven't looked into that.

I know we can't save that much from these little bits, but we can put a good $400-$500 a month towards the trip once the cruise is paid for, so I was hoping to get about half the trip saved by using found money.

 

[TrudyNH]

You go girl! I'm grateful my husband has a BMO Mastercard for business and if he spends a lot, we can get 500-1000 Airmiles per month. This time of year construction trade is slow so we aren't spending though. For a brief moment, I thought of driving but realized it's just me, a 14 and a 15 year old. I'm pretty much forced to fly. Too bad we aren't like Europe and have amazing fast trains!

I do like how you are saving even the little amounts and I plan to do the same. Tonight I did my budget and planned for $800 a month groceries. I'm sure I can cut that down to $500-600 if I'm thrifty and do not have to entertain. I've been trying to reduce the heat bill but with this ridiculous cold snap, it's hard to do. Even my wood stove doesn't seem to be pumping out the heat like previous years.

Have fun saving!

 

[stayhomemom77]

Had a weensie bit of activity on my survey websites and so a small increase to report.

survey site: Rejected for three surveys-made $0.15
quickrewards: Filled out one small survey and was credited for listening to the radio online-made $0.88

Came in $2 under budget on a planned expense at Lowe's so I added that to the savings account.


So, I added $2.91 to the fund. Not getting rich here but every little bit helps!

Totals:

$39.80 in rewards dollars for a survey site (which I will cashout to paypal)
$37.78 in quickrewards (which I will use to buy Disney gift cards)
$13.60 in the change jar
$20.00 in the account

...for a total of $111.18!

 

[Deffenm]

Added some more change and a few dollars to the savings jar. The dollars came from not spending all my grocery money.

I also completed a few more surveys so earned another $1 or so towards a disney gift card.

It is slowly adding up. I can't wait to see how much I have at the end of the month.

 

[stayhomemom77]

More activity to report today, again small but I love to watch the totals increase!!

survey site: Made $0.45 for one survey.
quickrewards: Filled out one small survey and was credited for listening to the radio online-made $0.62

Received a medical expense refund. Most of the money was allocated to the expenses involved with renewing the kids' passports but I managed to toss $10 into the Disney fund.

So, I added $11.07 to the fund. Still not getting rich, but I'm celebrating just the same!

Totals:

$40.25 in rewards dollars for a survey site (which I will cashout to paypal)
$38.40 in quickrewards (which I will use to buy Disney gift cards)
$13.60 in the change jar
$30.00 in the account

...for a total of $122.25!

 

[mommagoof]

More activity to report today, again small but I love to watch the totals increase!!

survey site: Made $0.45 for one survey.
quickrewards: Filled out one small survey and was credited for listening to the radio online-made $0.62

Received a medical expense refund. Most of the money was allocated to the expenses involved with renewing the kids' passports but I managed to toss $10 into the Disney fund.

So, I added $11.07 to the fund. Still not getting rich, but I'm celebrating just the same!

Totals:

$40.25 in rewards dollars for a survey site (which I will cashout to paypal)
$38.40 in quickrewards (which I will use to buy Disney gift cards)
$13.60 in the change jar
$30.00 in the account

...for a total of $122.25!

Have you tried the Daily clicks on quickrewards? You can do them every hour, they reset on the hour. There are 25 .01 clicks right now.

I try to make at least $1.00 a day from the clicks there.

 

[stayhomemom77]

Alright! I have my Christmas trip all planned out. Should it work out, I would need approx. $5000 Canadian. So if I can save a ton between now and the summer, I can try to convince DH that we should spend Christmas in Disney! Whoot!

 

[Marionnette]

Alright! I have my Christmas trip all planned out. Should it work out, I would need approx. $5000 Canadian. So if I can save a ton between now and the summer, I can try to convince DH that we should spend Christmas in Disney! Whoot!

Break it down into weekly amounts. Smaller numbers always look better than a huge one! If you have 50 weeks to save up $5000, then you need $100 per week. If you have fewer weeks before your trip, you will need to save even more each week.

 

[stayhomemom77]

More activity to report today, again small but I love to watch the totals increase!!

survey site: Made $0.45 for one survey.
quickrewards: Filled out one small survey and was credited for listening to the radio online-made $0.47

So, I added $0.92 to the fund. Still not getting rich, but I'm celebrating just the same!

Totals:

$40.70 in rewards dollars for a survey site (which I will cashout to paypal)
$38.87 in quickrewards (which I will use to buy Disney gift cards)
$13.60 in the change jar
$30.00 in the account

...for a total of $123.17!

 

[lillygator]

I think you are doing great....it all adds up eventually.

I am doing the 52 week saving challenge but x 5, since there are 5 of us. I looked at our monthly income and realized we are just wasting money each month so I need something to challenge me.

 

[Deffenm]

I found some more change while cleaning the house over the weekend. My DH knows if he leaves change lying around or in his pant pockets and I do laundry I will put it in the change jar for disney. So I think I found almost $2.00 in change. I haven't had any luck with survey's recently but I am going to keep trying. So far my grocery, gas, and eating out budgets are under this month so if I can keep this up til end of month whatever is left will go in the disney fund.

 

[stayhomemom77]

Grocery shopped today so I got to add a bit of a larger amount to the totals this time. I have been very lucky in that a lot of what we have needed recently has been on sale, allowing me to toss the extra bits into the Disney fund. Someone up there loves me!

quickrewards: Credited for listening to the radio online-made $0.18

Had $15 left over after getting groceries for the week!

So, I added $15.18 to the fund today.

Totals:

$40.70 in rewards dollars for a survey site (which I will cashout to paypal)
$39.05 in quickrewards (which I will use to buy Disney gift cards)
$13.60 in the change jar
$45.00 in the account

...for a total of $138.35!

 

[stayhomemom77]

I can't believe I forgot to add in an important source in my totals!?!? I mentioned that I would be doing it in a reply to Marionette's remarks and then forgot all about it!

I earn points on my credit card when I shop. Those points can be used on groceries and then the cash I would have used for them can be tossed into my Disney savings.

Also, I had to take money out of the ATM last night. I needed $50 but had to take out $60 (3 $20 bills). So I now have an envelope at home with $10 in cash that belongs to my Disney fund. (That's not new though...it's just no longer in the bank.)

Since I last updated, I...

earned $0.05 from my survey site... (I get a nickel for each survey I don't qualify for...I get rejected a lot )

earned $0.97 from quickrewards...

threw $1.80 in the change jar...

and added the above mentioned credit card rewards totals to the kitty.

So the new totals now are:

$40.75 in rewards dollars for a survey site (which I will cashout to paypal)
$40.02 in quickrewards (which I will use to buy Disney gift cards)
$35.00 in credit card rewards
$10.00 in cash envelope
$15.40 in the change jar
$35.00 in the account

...for a GRAND TOTAL of $176.17!!

 

[mum of two pirates]

So I just got our Annual report from our union on what the money was spent on last year. So I opted to stop giving them an extra $10 a month for the political fund. So $10*$10 is $100 into my pot. I also decided to ask for a reduced amount of dues. They sent me a letter saying the pay system can't do that so they will promptly send me my extra $30 each month in a check. Also *10 that's another $300 into my Disney fund by the time I leave.

 

[stayhomemom77]

 

[worm761]

Thank you for sharing and updating. I don't know when we will get to go on vacation again and it is killing me! But, having read your post a few days ago I sorted out a plan and ran it by DH and he said yes! So at least I have a goal. And with you posting all your little bits and seeing them add up has motivated me to work a bit harder at mine.

Can I ask what survey site you do? You can PM me if you don't want to share publicly. I do Opinion Outpost but I get nothing for being rejected. And I get rejected a lot too!

 

[stayhomemom77]

worm761:

I do ipsos isay and then quickrewards. Depending on the duration of the survey, isay pays either 45 points (each points equals a penny) or 90 points. Any survey you try and are eliminated from pays 5 points. The surveys don't appear daily but there are usually one or two posted per week at a minimum. There are a few different ways to spend your points but I prefer the paypal payout. It takes 7-10 days to receive it once you've requested the payout but I have cashed in a few times over the years with nary a problem. I haven't yet cashed in on quickrewards so I can't comment on that one.

This trip I'm planning is very much in my mind at the moment, but I like to have a goal to work towards and posting daily keeps me focused, on track and motivated. I am actually quite surprised at the amount I have accumulated in such a short time and from sources I didn't always think were possible.

Good luck with your plan!!

 

[mum of two pirates]

$ 250 in my Minnie Mouse bank
$ 300 union money to come
$ 100 union money to come
$1200 vacation pay to come



So right now I have some vacation saved up and by the time I cash it out it will be worth $1200. I have been saving it for a year now. So I look at it as the union is paying me to go on vacation to Disney yaaa. I know this money isn't here yet but I cant wait just thinking of how I'm paying for it and really its not coming outta my paycheck per say.