revamping budget, food etc

[Misty89]

HI
Since finding out about the FW cabins and changing our plan to stay there, for obvisous reason like save money on food by having a kitchen to make our food, along with getting a " deluxe" feel without being in a hotel, we are reworking our budget.
we are traveling january 2005 ( no date set in stone yet)
so my previous budget for food was about 600$, we are only going to do 1 chartacter breakfast ( CRT) unles something would catch my eye and we decided to do it.
and i am thinking that the only meal we will eat at the parks would be lunch and mickey bars, and then dinner at the cabin ....the parks close at like 6pm in january right?
so i need some help putting together a good estimate of what lunchs would cost us at the parks?( i was guessing about 40 $/ or 10$ pps???) so 40$ X 4 days would be $160.00 + 2.50 X 12= 30$ for mickey bars. Is 10 $ pps realistic for lunch? we would not be eating at fancy places, i already know lunch at MK would be at caseys.
so then about the grocerys....we dont plan on eating fancy or boring ( if we had hot dogs for lunch, we would not have again for dinner, but say like grilled chicken breasts, or something in a slowcooker...

what would be a good budget set up for that? our meat is pretty cheap here in WI ( i am told) and i am almost thinking about bring dry goods like cereal and snacks along with my slow cooker...( only a thought right now)
so can anyone share with me the menus they plan out while staying in a cabin and how much you spent on grocries? any thoughts on what not to do?
the only comparison i have to what i imagine the FW cabins to be is what we get in the wisconsin dells,( also a cabin with full kitchen) in which we go 2 or 3 days, and eat at the 2 places we enjoy ( rocky ricocco pizza, and a an all u can eat buffet) and then buy grocries for making our own meals.
i had put together #'s of what i spend on grocries at home and it would come to about $100 for a week....we wont be at WDW for a week, shooting for 5 days, 4 parks and 1 free day.

I realize i sound like a total planning freak, but the only way we can do this trip is if we save up enough cash...( no credit cards) and we can afford to save the x amount of cash along with living life noramlly for the next year ( meaning not skimping on our day to day life to save for this trip) so i need to have a very good idea if we can save enough $.


thank you

Tina

 

[campingcorgi]

I think your figures sound about right. $10 pp for lunch is plenty for counter-service. Remember, too, that you won't be spending grocery money at home while you are at Disney so that money is usually a wash. We find the groceries in Orlando to be comparable to home and the tax is SOOOOOO much cheaper!

Check the menus at allearsnet.com to see what you plan on eating and budget accordingly.

Have fun planning!

 

[jtjarvis]

Staying in a cabin will save you tons of money (and time) on breakfast too. You can eat cereal bars etc in a regular room, but you can TOAST a Pop-Tart or bagel in the cabin toaster! —and have your cream cheese, juice etc in the fridge. A simple pleasure but a greatly appreciated cabin bonus when we were on the run!

 

[jtjarvis]

Tina,
We may also be saving money the same way you are, for our upcoming trip... I have a special vacation account where "found" money goes (refund checks, bonuses, etc etc). We've also been rolling change which my little boys ages 4 and 6 think is cool. (My 6-yr-old actually has been opting to take his snack to school instead of buying it, to save the 15 cents for the change jar! )

Also, when I would normally buy something (a meal out, Starbucks, nickel-and-dime stuff and the like) and choose to save it instead, I make a note on a running list I have. This is legitimate savings in my book-- and then when it builds up a little I move it over to the vacation account. It's built up fast this way! (Of course, telling myself I will not buy those diamond earrings and moving $300 to vacation, is not legitimate LOL...

Tell me if you have other saving methods! Mary on mousesavers has a whole lot of other ideas too...

 

[Lstew]

let me tell you what we did,, and it worked out fabulous.

First, we were traveling in a MH with 3 adults, 4 children, in Febuary for 7 days at the parks.

We shopped at home loading the fridge and cooler with essentials,, lots of breakfast foods, and quick and easy microwavables for quick lunches, snacks and light dinners. Spending only 400.00 which included paper products and essentials

We did not eat out when we traveled, other then a breakfast on the road on the way home. 60.00

We ate good breakfasts, at the campground, and took a few,,, small muchies along with us.
We came back for a late lunch around 2:00 and returned to the park around 4;00.

Most of the parks were open till 7-9. Generally we were tired out by 7:00 and would return for a quick dinner or something I had cooked ahead in the crock pot . Use your crock pot!! No one wants to cook on vacation..

We only had pretzels, fries and some water at the park. maybe 40.00 a day for the whole group(7). We refilled water bottles at the water fountains.

We made the mistake of eating at the Living Seas one evening, when it was raining out, and we needed food and shelter at the same time.(BIG mistake of 100.00 for 4) If you would like a sit down dinner,, chose wisely.

My guess is we spent total of 1000.00 on food for the whole trip ,, that comes out to less then 150.00 each.

Just a few of my tips.

 

[Misty89]

thank you

 

[We3LuvWDW]

What we do to help save money and TIME is .......

On a couple of Saturdays before our trip we cook BIG meals — eat ½ then seal and freeze the other ½ — when we pack our cooler we pack up the frozen dinners. When at WDW we just pull out our dinner let thaw in fridge then hit the micro when it is time to eat. Less mess, less stress, more time for fun.

Take a night off — let someone else BBQ on the grill while you take a rest. If the kids are old enough let them make the side dishes. Call it "MOM'S NIGHT".

If you want to save money on lunch in the parks (not every day) do a BIG breakfast and take filling snacks into the parks with you (granola bar, nuts, cheese & crackers, peanut butter sandwich for kids-packed in hard sided sandwich trays, etc) then you would only have to pay for drinks and ice cream bars.

Big money saver is to check out Trails End for dinner or breakfast (you are eating out at WDW but not paying the prices of some of the other places).

Hope this helps some, have a GREAT time.