Plan with Me...A Debt Dumpers DECEMBER 2020 PTR

[kclark9830]

Hiya Pals! I have a confession to make. I have an unfinished PTR somewhere in the tombs here on this board.

We had a Sept trip planned and cancelled, then a July trip, and finally an August trip. Each time, things just really weren't lining up or working out for the trip.

In May we got so frustrated by this constant struggle that we said forget it, and instead planned a last minute trip to Hilton Head Island where we stayed right on the beach in a fabulous condo for 7 days, and we spent a fraction of the price of what we had planned for WDW.

The beach is NOT my favorite place (at all), but we needed to go away, pretty badly, emotionally. This trip fit the bill, and it was lovely. We had a great time.





(sorry, I can't figure out how to flip that!)

BUT, as I know you'll all understand, I am still terribly itchy to get back to WDW. I've been playing around with the idea of a trip in January, but that will also not really work out right with our schedule.

At long last, I've come to a conclusion. If you've made it this far, seriously, you probably deserve a medal . Anyway, hubby and I have been married for 16 years. For the majority of those years we've carried no debt, outside of a mortgage. If we needed or wanted something, including our vacations, we saved for it.

But in 2016 we lost our 10-year-old daughter, and everything went a little (read: a lot) topsy turvy. Debt? Who really cares? If we wanted it we let ourselves have it.

Fast forward three years (as of tomorrow), and we are in a better place emotionally and mentally. We now have a chunk of credit card debt that we are READY to dump. We don't like debt, at all.

We have a plan in place to get rid of it over the next 12 months.

AND FINALLY! THE WDW PART!!!



Once that debt is paid off, we get to go for a nice, long, fantastic trip to Disney World!!! Woo hoo!

I'm looking at 14 months out. Probably early August. (Here's the post where I talk about probable dates and resort) and here's the UPDATED dates

We're unsettled on everything at this point, including dates, resort, and plans. But that's what trip planning threads are for, right?!

Also, I thought this would be a great place to share our debt dumping progress. A place to stay accountable, right? I wont share actual numbers because that feels icky. But maybe percentages? Not sure, but I'll figure it out.

So, what do you say? Anyone interested in following along?

I guess I should make some introductions, eh? Some of you may have followed along my other TR's, but for everyone else, here goes!

I'm Katie, the mom. Hubby is Micheal, and the two kiddos are Ashlyn and Miles, currently aged 9 & 2 (which means for next year's trip they'll be 10 & 3...can you hear the sobs as I cry for the extra money I'll have to spend? ).

We've been to WDW a few times in the past, and we've stayed at ASMu, CBR, and BWV, as well as Give Kids the World for our first trip.

On this trip I'm hoping for POR in a royal room, but I'm open to lots of other choices including Beach Club, the Contemporary, or really even Pop depending on the other choices we make!

And to close out this excessively long post, I thought I'd leave you with a couple more pics. On Hilton Head Island we also dropped by the DVC resort for some pin trading! It was nice, though I don't have any particular awe of it.

 

[missangelalexis]

Joining in! I was following your other PTR- glad to hear you have a new plan in place for a trip!!

 

[kclark9830]

Joining in! I was following your other PTR- glad to hear you have a new plan in place for a trip!!

Welcome! I'm glad you're joining in .

 

[TanzUnited99]

Hi, joining in!

I’m sorry to hear about the struggle you’ve been through but glad you’re all in a better place emotionally and mentally.

Hear hear, to another Disney trip being in the pipelines

 

[kclark9830]

Hi, joining in!

I’m sorry to hear about the struggle you’ve been through but glad you’re all in a better place emotionally and mentally.

Hear hear, to another Disney trip being in the pipelines

Glad to have you along!!!

 

[kclark9830]

DATES AND RESORT CHOICES

So, I've been watching a bazillion resort tour videos on YouTube. Every time, I say THAT'S the one! . But honestly, I do think I've narrowed it down to two choices.

*The first is Port Orleans Riverside.

This resort looks relaxing and quiet, which I think Micheal (hubby) will like about it. He likes relaxing on vacation, and the atmosphere exudes relaxation. Personally, I like the busier places, but it does look lovely and I'm sure I would like it. I also like the idea of the boat to DS as well as the fishing hole because I think Micheal would LOVE that.

But, unless a discount is offered, I'm probably going to do a hard pass on a moderate.

*That leads me to choice number two, Pop Century.

We've never done this one before, so I'd be OK with giving it a shot. It wouldn't really scream quiet relaxation, but saving $500-600 is always nice. And, if we do a cheaper resort we can likely add on something extra that we wouldn't be able to do otherwise. I'd love to do EMM or do the standard dining plan instead of the quick service (we like the dining plan. Last year we did our trip without the DP and we ended up spending way more money).

I know rumors are that discounts will be slim over the next year or two. This bums me out, and I seriously hope it turns out untrue!

I think I've narrowed down our dates, too! We're looking at August 2nd-7th, which is six days. Last year we went for 8 days (which is awesome), but the rest of the family didn't love it as much as I did. I'd rather leave them wanting more than wanting to go home. So six days it is.

I am looking forward to the release of 2020 pricing via the internes this coming week, so I can play around further with pricing options. I know I can call (and I have called once), but I'd rather have the info at my finger tips when I'm just window shopping for the time being.

And just for fun, here's a terrible castle selfie from last year's trip.
​

 

[TanzUnited99]

Ooh I’ve stayed at Pop Century and thoroughly enjoyed my stay there.

Good luck choosing. I changed my mind 3 times for my upcoming trip!

 

[kclark9830]

Ooh I’ve stayed at Pop Century and thoroughly enjoyed my stay there.

Good luck choosing. I changed my mind 3 times for my upcoming trip!

I hear good things about Pop, for sure! It's a tough choice!

 

[kclark9830]

UPDATES!!!

So, it's been a little bit since I've checked in, but I've been busy keeping to our plan! Thinking in terms of debt percentages, we started with 100% of our total debt. We are currently 6 weeks in and down by 20%! Within the next 4 weeks we are on schedule to be down another 10%, for a total of 30% in 3 months.

I had previously figured we would need to do at least 8% a month to make our goal, so this puts us roughly 6% ahead of schedule. Hooray!!!

I've also quadrupled my efforts on sites like Swagbucks, Survey Junkie, and Ibotta. Those combined with credit card points currently has me at $203, all of which I will use toward the trip. I hope to have somewhere around $1200 by the time we take the trip.

Sorry if this bores you all . It makes me very excited, though.

On the trip front, I am still deciding on all of the details. Now that I've got enough in "points" to put the deposit on a MYW package, I've really been trying to make an initial choice. Hopefully I'll be able to pick soon.

Yesterday I had Miles on a carousel. He loved it, and I pretended it was Prince Charming's .

 

[missangelalexis]

That's great that you are making headway with the debt and also earning money through other sites!

 

[TanzUnited99]

Yay on the debt coming down!

Aaw on the carousel and pretending it was Prince Charming’s

 

[kclark9830]

That's great that you are making headway with the debt and also earning money through other sites!

I'm very excited about it!

Yay on the debt coming down!

Aaw on the carousel and pretending it was Prince Charming’s

Thanks! Miles really loved it. It was so adorable!

 

[kclark9830]

UPDATE!!!

Hi guys! I am SO EXCITED because Micheal and I had the chance to have a good, long talk about our Disney plan for next year. We were thinking late July 2020, which would have meant that next year at this time we'd be in Disney...but for some reason I wasn't feeling it. I have been reading reports of the 100°+ heat index, and CM's fainting in the heat, and I was thinking I didn't really want to go in July. We've been in late August, and several dates in September, over the years. But July? I just didn't know.

I said to Micheal, why don't we try a cooler month like the week of Thanksgiving? He perked up. A lot. We threw around a few ideas and landed on...
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DECEMBER 5-11, 2020!!!!

Yes, it means we're waiting even longer to get back to the world, but Micheal (who always enjoys himself, but typically has to be dragged back to WDW each time we go) is not only excited about it, he's also actually planning with me. I warned him it will be a bit busier, but he said he doesn't care. He'll be glad to not feel like he's having a heat stroke.

It opens up a world of possibilities, from Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party to Candlelight Processional. I just keep wanting to squee every time I think of it.

So, it means we have an official countdown: 497 days. Long time, but I couldn't be happier (well, unless we were going THIS December ).

It also gives us a good long time to save for it, because we also agreed we didn't want to do all this work to pay off our debt only to get right back into it.

I haven't decided if I should go ahead and book yet or not. It's so far away. Sigh. We care much less about a pool, going in December, so that's not even on our radar like it might have been before (we'd been leaning toward a mod because of the water slide). So, I guess we need to do some more planning!

 

[missangelalexis]

That's so exciting! You're going to love being there for the Christmas season!!

 

[kclark9830]

That's so exciting! You're going to love being there for the Christmas season!!

Thanks! I think we will really enjoy it. I could tell he was excited about it as soon as I said it. We love Christmas, and I can hardly wait!

 

[afwdwfan]

I'm new to your family's story and I have to say my heart hurts for you, but I'm glad to hear that you're in a better place now. Paying off debt and living within your means is important but you definitely want to have those opportunities to enjoy life and family time.

Commenting on some of your plans, Port Orleans is my favorite moderate and Pop is my favorite value that isn't a Cars suite so I love those choices. POR usually doesn't have discounts, but sometimes POFQ does so that might be worth consideration. But Pop being on the skyliner might just make it even more appealing!

We were in WDW on one of those July weeks of 100+ heat index. I honestly didn't think it was that bad. Just have to hydrate and take advantage of the AC. It was hot but I never felt like it was unbearable. Now a CM working in the sun without some good airflow... yeah I could see fainting being a problem. I do love the early December time for the multiple reasons you mentioned and I know you'll have a great time. Nothing quite like seeing the Christmas decorations everywhere!

 

[kclark9830]

I'm new to your family's story and I have to say my heart hurts for you, but I'm glad to hear that you're in a better place now. Paying off debt and living within your means is important but you definitely want to have those opportunities to enjoy life and family time.

Commenting on some of your plans, Port Orleans is my favorite moderate and Pop is my favorite value that isn't a Cars suite so I love those choices. POR usually doesn't have discounts, but sometimes POFQ does so that might be worth consideration. But Pop being on the skyliner might just make it even more appealing!

We were in WDW on one of those July weeks of 100+ heat index. I honestly didn't think it was that bad. Just have to hydrate and take advantage of the AC. It was hot but I never felt like it was unbearable. Now a CM working in the sun without some good airflow... yeah I could see fainting being a problem. I do love the early December time for the multiple reasons you mentioned and I know you'll have a great time. Nothing quite like seeing the Christmas decorations everywhere!

Thank you!

I really don't mind the heat so much, as I use a cooling towel and drink lots of water, etc. But my husband has a tougher time handling it . He's put up with it in the past, but we're excited to try a different time of year for sure.

I really want to stay at a PO resort! I know we'd enjoy it. I'm thinking I'll be holding off on booking at least until the beginning of 2020. That will give me a chance to see how things are shaping up in terms of discounts for the year.

 

[Cloe Colton]

Joining in! Another great savings app is shopkick. You can get point by just walking into stores like target, walmart, etc, scanning things in the store (might be a fun "scavenger hunt" to do with the kids) and if you shop at places like Marshalls/TJ Maxx you get points for every dollar you spend. And one of the rewards is a $25 giftcard. Just another item you might be able to add!

Also, ebates. If you do any sort of online shoppin, ESPECIALLY, around Christmas time can reap some pretty nice dollars!

 

[kclark9830]

Joining in! Another great savings app is shopkick. You can get point by just walking into stores like target, walmart, etc, scanning things in the store (might be a fun "scavenger hunt" to do with the kids) and if you shop at places like Marshalls/TJ Maxx you get points for every dollar you spend. And one of the rewards is a $25 giftcard. Just another item you might be able to add!

Also, ebates. If you do any sort of online shoppin, ESPECIALLY, around Christmas time can reap some pretty nice dollars!

Thank you for the tips! I didn't even think of these types of things for Christmas shopping. I will definitely be checking them out!

 

[Cloe Colton]

Thank you for the tips! I didn't even think of these types of things for Christmas shopping. I will definitely be checking them out!

No problem! I love all of those money saving apps! You had most of my favorites but definitely wanted to offer up those two as well!