Personal Finance Question

[Nebraska_Disney]

A few of the things we do:

1) We have a line item in our budget for vacation
2) CC points. Getting the cash back on our credit cards (paid off in full every month) gets us to about $1,000 a year
3) Paychecks: My wife gets 26 paychecks a year, we budget for 24. The other 2 are used to pay for trips and/or expenses during the year that come up.
4) Garage Sales: All this money goes to trips
5) Rebates: All go to Vacation Funds
6) Consulting work: All my consulting work goes to trips
7) Living below our means: We come close to living off a just one income. My spouses income goes towards savings/retirement/college fund etc. In a given year, we save about $0.35 of every $1.00 we earn with most of that going to retirement savings

We have been to WDW 10+ times (as well as other trips) and each trip we have ever taken was paid for in full before leaving the house. Debt is bad, plain an simple.

 

[firefly_ris]

I sell things on eBay. I am paid for those items via my PayPal account, which I try not to spend out of and make that solely a vacation fund. It does not typically end up covering a whole vacation (Disney or otherwise) but a few thousand bucks that is not coming out of our month-to-month living expenses. My husband is also very good at working on earning credit card rewards which go to airfare.

 

[ellie05]

We put whatever amount of money os left over that month into the fun account sometimes is $100 some months is $1000 it really depends on what is going on and go from there. If we want to do something and we already spend all our fun money we figure out how we can make it work in that months budget (that hasn't happened yet) It works out for us we always try to maximize that money like buying Disney GC at a discount, etc. We usually end up with a few hundred dollars in savings which means more trips !

Most times we don't even end up touching the fun money because most of the expenses have been cover already. For example this month I bought the last bit of Disney GC we need for the next trip. I will pay everything off the first but if we still have money left over we don't touch the fun money. It avoids having to past money back and forth unnecessarily.

We used to have savings accounts for everything and that just became a pain. We combined our savings with our vet bill savings with our fun account. We know x amount is savings/vet so we don't touch that money and know he left over is fun money. We also know that we try not to touch our savings at all we will use the fun money first for whatever it is before touching our savings.

 

[fifthdimensiondweller]

We write it into our budget every month and transfer it to a separate savings account in our Credit Union so that it is "out of sight, out of mind". We usually make it a rule that we have to have at least 60% of our Disney trips saved for already before we book, and then we use the 0% APR of the Disney Visa to pay off the other 40% over 6 months.

It definitely helps me stick to my budget when I know that the money is going directly to my Disney fund!

 

[Marionnette]

All these various threads about the middle class have me curious about how everyone saves for your WDW/vacation fund? Do you make it part of your budget or fit it as you are able? We don't have a hardline in our budget for vacation, but we try to set aside as much as possible each month for extras (both fun and the unforeseen). Although we have been able to set aside a decent amount each month, after reviewing our February budget, I'm considering adding a specific vacation fund. Maybe seeing that would motivate me to stick to the other areas of our budget a little better

I think that having a separate account just for vacation savings can be a good motivator for a lot of people. We have separate savings accounts for specific long-term savings on CapitalOne360. It makes saving pretty painless when you don't have to think about it. I have regular withdrawals made from my checking account, which is at our local bank. Since CapitalOne doesn't have any branches nearby and savings accounts don't have debit cards, I can't get at the money for impulse buys.

However, since Disney is my passion and not my husband's, we don't use vacation funds to pay for Disney. I cover my Disney trips with travel hacks that PPs have mentioned. Since we have a business, we put all of the overhead charges that we can on a Chase Ink card for the UR points. We also have personal Chase Sapphire Visas that also earn UR points and those can be combined with the business UR points. I can pay for anything with those UR points because one of their redemption options is statement credits. I also do what I can to earn Disney GCs by doing rewards programs. In fact, I have $250 in Target GCs that I've collected from a few sources and I should get over to a Target store to purchase some Disney GCs.

But that amazing Mediterranean cruise we took last summer? It was completely paid for - before we even left the house - by drawing down on our vacation savings account. Being able to vacation and not have the nagging feeling about how it's going to be paid for is so relaxing!

 

[DrummerBoy523]

I never have used a budget. It always has prompted me to spend that amount of money, instead of just buying what I need, which is almost always less than the budget.
I have 3 months to pay off our WDW vacation, and while I may have to dip into savings, the reality is, the trip is costing about what 3 months house payment was. My house has been paid off for 17 years, so I know the money is in my budget if I don't spent it somewhere else.

I don't quite understand your thinking. If you use a budget, you don't have to spend money on things you don't need. If you do your budget correctly, then the amount for "what you need" will be in the budget item. If you know you are going to need new shoes - and a typical pair of shoes costs you $75, you put in $75 in your budget for that. In my experience, the budget gives us the FREEDOM to spend. We tweak it every month and it lets us know just exactly where every penny we make is spent. We have a misc line item that fluctuates each month that we only use if we have to go over on somethings. Anything not spent in misc gets added to our emergency fund and if we have any categories that we have come in under budget on at the end of the month, we just throw that money in our emergency fund as well.

 

[tvguy]

I don't quite understand your thinking. If you use a budget, you don't have to spend money on things you don't need. If you do your budget correctly, then the amount for "what you need" will be in the budget item. If you know you are going to need new shoes - and a typical pair of shoes costs you $75, you put in $75 in your budget for that. In my experience, the budget gives us the FREEDOM to spend. We tweak it every month and it lets us know just exactly where every penny we make is spent. We have a misc line item that fluctuates each month that we only use if we have to go over on somethings. Anything not spent in misc gets added to our emergency fund and if we have any categories that we have come in under budget on at the end of the month, we just throw that money in our emergency fund as well.

Never has worked with my wife. Thankfully she would never spend $75 on shoes, even if it was in the budget.

 

[MamaBelleRN]

Can't you have a joint savings account and then individual accounts for fun money?

We could do this. If my DH opens his own savings account or I open an individual account with the same bank, then we would be able to avoid the external transfer fees. I just wish I could set up multiple savings accounts under our joint account for the sake of simplicity. But as they say, first world problems.

 

[DrummerBoy523]

We could do this. If my DH opens his own savings account or I open an individual account with the same bank, then we would be able to avoid the external transfer fees. I just wish I could set up multiple savings accounts under our joint account for the sake of simplicity. But as they say, first world problems.

You need to go to the trouble and switch banks. We have about 7 or 8 accounts at our local bank, all joint, with no transfer fees. All have free debit cards as well. I switched from a rather large bank to a smaller local bank about 5 or 6 years ago and we've never been happier. Yes, it was a PITB, but soooooo worth it.

 

[MamaBelleRN]

You need to go to the trouble and switch banks. We have about 7 or 8 accounts at our local bank, all joint, with no transfer fees. All have free debit cards as well. I switched from a rather large bank to a smaller local bank about 5 or 6 years ago and we've never been happier. Yes, it was a PITB, but soooooo worth it.

I should just bite the bullet and do it! It seems over the years they have added ways to nickel and dime you. They are a small local bank that markets itself as customer oriented, but their fees and limitations do not reflect this. Maybe this will be something I tackle while on maternity leave

 

[JFox]

I refuse to put our vacations on a credit card. I will work extra hours at work. For our November 2016 trip I worked 177 hours of overtime to pay for everything.

 

[dreiwhit]

What we have done over the years is to setup another savings account, seperate from our normal savings account. I have an automatic allotment from my check deposited in that account every pay day. That account is used for vacation and Christmas, and we supplement it with some money from our tax return.

As far as going to Disney, you have to get creative. We put everything on credit cards and then pay off the bill in full each month. We do that just to get reward dollars and points we can use for vacations. On our last Disney trip, we cashed in our reward dollars and even got a Disney credit card just to get the $250 in reward gift cards. We also do things like staying off property, bringing in our food and buying discount tickets.

 

[georgina]

I have never used a budget either. DH and I are both savers and we have always lived below our means. When we had 3 small children we did not go on vacations other than to visit grandparents or camping locally. Disney was not a trip we made until we could well afford it. Perhaps this is because it was never part of our family tradition? I never went as a kid, we didn't have the money. DH is planning to retire this year (we have paid our last college tuition payment) and I just keep an eye on how much money we have at the end of each year. I expect spending to go up some with more travel at least for the first 10 years of retirement. Everyone is different, but if I had to really scrimp and save to go to WDW, we wouldn't go. (But we don't eat out much, don't spend much on clothes or entertainment, live in a modest house, keep our cars 10 years, etc because that's who we are. I have never dyed my hair, had a manicure, or worn makeup because that is not important to me.)

 

[IndianaRRT]

We usually budget our vacations, WDW or otherwise. Only once have we "borrowed", and that was when DH secretly planned our last trip to Disney World for my 40th birthday. I manage the finances, so he borrowed a vacation fund through financial services offered at his employer at only 3% interest to keep the trip a surprise. It wasn't a bad deal, and the payments were painless.

For our upcoming trip in May/June, we opened a Disney Vacation Account. We established a goal and scheduled automatic payments from our checking to build towards that goal. Then we established what I call "gleaning methods", joining EBates, Swagbucks, Ibotta, and Checkout 51. Whenever we built up $25-50 on one or more of these, we would cash them out and buy Disney GC to load into our DVA to build our balance. We had a 2 year window, and we made our goal in 16 months

 

[DawnM]

Usually my husband's bonus check will cover it. He doesn't get huge bonus checks but it has been enough to cover off-site condos, YES Homeschool passes, and such.

BUT, the HS passes got more an more expensive and more than doubled. And now we no longer homeschool.

So our $1,500 Disney trip is now like $3,000+ and that is to drive down and eat most of our own food! It is about $2000 just for tickets. It used to be about $750 for the 5 of us.

Last year we opted for Universal. It was much cheaper. And the boys loved it. I honestly thought nothing would be fun except Disney, but I really like Universal.

We are now looking at moving back to CA and will live less than an hour from DL (without traffic) and will be able to go without having to rent a place, take extra time off work, etc....I am so excited.

 

[MamaBelleRN]

I refuse to put our vacations on a credit card. I will work extra hours at work. For our November 2016 trip I worked 177 hours of overtime to pay for everything.

We don't use credit cards at all, so while there are great ways to earn extras/points using CC, it's something we opt out of. It comes down to creative budgeting for us. I'm still holding out hope we can squeeze in a trip at the end of 2017, but with 12 weeks unpaid maternity leave starting next month, we'd have to have a year of zero unexpected expenses. We won't dip into savings for a trip, so 2018 is our current plan

 

[hsmamato2]

Line item in budget book,which gets written in weekly..... I try to put aside a certain amount weekly/monthly,and then when we travel (anywhere,not just disney) I take the funds and put into my bank acct to pay the cc bills to cover the vacation. Easy,painless,and we also are the pay before you play people.... at most there's a cc bill to pay up after a trip from using the cc on the trip....of course, years ago Dh gave me a % I need to stay under of our total income yearly,so that makes it easy to calculate and stay below that..... (I'm the travelbug,he just goes along)

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Yes, we are the same in that nothing is booked until the entire trip is covered and our savings is maintained. My bank only allows for one savings account, so thus far our savings and fun money is all grouped into one. My bank also charges for external transfers which I find frustrating. I have been with this local bank for many years and it would be such a hassle to change to one of the local credit unions, but I have been considering it just to avoid those annoying fees!

We drive to WDW as we are a family of soon to be seven and it's much more economical for us. My kiddos are accustomed to long road trips as we go to Maine from IN every summer. WDW is about 100 miles farther than our Maine trip, so negligible when driving that far

Sorry, I'm not answering your initial question and I haven't read all of the replies yet but I just had to throw this out there. I love my online savings account with Capital One 360, formerly ING. Their interest rates are higher than our local bank, still not huge but better than almost 0, which is what our local bank offers.

With 1 log in at Cap One 360, I can have up to something like 30 savings accounts. I don't have that many but probably 10 or so. If I had to put it all into one pot now I'd never be so organized. There are no minimum balances and no monthly fees unless I were overdrawn (we have a secondary checking account with them too.) There is a federal limit of 6 electronic withdraws for each savings account but that would apply to any bank so that's something to be mindful about.
I keep an account for pretty much any expense that is not a recurring monthly bill: car insurance, Christmas, quarterly/annual sewer, vacation, emergency fund, etc. I recently requested that our mortgage company let us handle our own property taxes and HO insurance instead of paying them a monthly escrow payment. So one of those savings accounts is for our escrow amount.

I can also set a goal for each account and in one glance at log in I can see how close we are to reaching that goal. It will calculate what is needed to reach your goal. You just input whether it's based on a calendar deadline, such as Christmas, how much you would have to save weekly, monthly etc. to reach your goal or if your goal is based on a $ amount, let's say $1000 at $100 per week, it will tell you the date that you will reach your goal.

Then it's easy to set recurring transfers (weekly, biweekly, monthly, etc.) or schedule 1-time future transfers, all free. So as long as your local bank doesn't charge for ACH transfers/electronic debits being pulled from your account, you will have no more fees.
If you've ever paid bills online not through your bank's online bill pay you would know if they charge a fee.

Good luck and hope this helps.

 

[eeyoresmom]

We have a set amount transferred to a specific account earmarked only for vacation every month. We use an online saving account which allows for multiple savings accounts. We also do this for property taxes, insurance payments, medical savings, home repairs, and a few other line items. This keeps our finances super organized and when I need to pay for something from one of those categories and transfer it out.

I do exactly this with capitalone360. I think I have 9 subaccounts, 4 of them travel related ( General travel, Disney tickets, vacation food, and Winter vacation) I have automatic deposits made to each account twice a month to coincide with paychecks.

 

[MamaBelleRN]

Sorry, I'm not answering your initial question and I haven't read all of the replies yet but I just had to throw this out there. I love my online savings account with Capital One 360, formerly ING. Their interest rates are higher than our local bank, still not huge but better than almost 0, which is what our local bank offers.

With 1 log in at Cap One 360, I can have up to something like 30 savings accounts. I don't have that many but probably 10 or so. If I had to put it all into one pot now I'd never be so organized. There are no minimum balances and no monthly fees unless I were overdrawn (we have a secondary checking account with them too.) There is a federal limit of 6 electronic withdraws for each savings account but that would apply to any bank so that's something to be mindful about.
I keep an account for pretty much any expense that is not a recurring monthly bill: car insurance, Christmas, quarterly/annual sewer, vacation, emergency fund, etc. I recently requested that our mortgage company let us handle our own property taxes and HO insurance instead of paying them a monthly escrow payment. So one of those savings accounts is for our escrow amount.

I can also set a goal for each account and in one glance at log in I can see how close we are to reaching that goal. It will calculate what is needed to reach your goal. You just input whether it's based on a calendar deadline, such as Christmas, how much you would have to save weekly, monthly etc. to reach your goal or if your goal is based on a $ amount, let's say $1000 at $100 per week, it will tell you the date that you will reach your goal.

Then it's easy to set recurring transfers (weekly, biweekly, monthly, etc.) or schedule 1-time future transfers, all free. So as long as your local bank doesn't charge for ACH transfers/electronic debits being pulled from your account, you will have no more fees.
If you've ever paid bills online not through your bank's online bill pay you would know if they charge a fee.

Good luck and hope this helps.

This sounds great! I definitely need to look into this more!