Saving for Disney

[WildGrits]

I have questions about paying actually.

We are terrible at saving for ANYTHING. We are going to WDW in August. To pay for it I have saved my income tax checks and a few other credits that have come to me this year. In order not to spend this money, we have kept from cashing these checks. After all these credits, we still come up $1200 short. I would like to pay weekly straight to Disney instead of trying to keep it in a jar.

So, has anyone made multiple payments to Disney? Did you do it online or call it in?

It would make me so much more comfortable to know that I cannot dip into money allocated for our vacation for "emergencies".

 

[Cruise]

I have questions about paying actually.

We are terrible at saving for ANYTHING. We are going to WDW in August. To pay for it I have saved my income tax checks and a few other credits that have come to me this year. In order not to spend this money, we have kept from cashing these checks. After all these credits, we still come up $1200 short. I would like to pay weekly straight to Disney instead of trying to keep it in a jar.

So, has anyone made multiple payments to Disney? Did you do it online or call it in?

It would make me so much more comfortable to know that I cannot dip into money allocated for our vacation for "emergencies".

Not about the payments to Disney.... but you might want to look at those checks carefully. Some checks will say something like "Void if not cashed within 30 days of date of issue" or some other amount of time.

While the money is legally yours, they can put that on the check and the bank can choose to honor it. In which case, you'd have to go through the trouble of having another check issued to you.

 

[ML_LovesDisney]

I have questions about paying actually.

We are terrible at saving for ANYTHING. We are going to WDW in August. To pay for it I have saved my income tax checks and a few other credits that have come to me this year. In order not to spend this money, we have kept from cashing these checks. After all these credits, we still come up $1200 short. I would like to pay weekly straight to Disney instead of trying to keep it in a jar.

So, has anyone made multiple payments to Disney? Did you do it online or call it in?

It would make me so much more comfortable to know that I cannot dip into money allocated for our vacation for "emergencies".

Yes I did exactly that! I made payments whenever I had extra money for 5 mths. I also bought gift cards to use for spending $ so almost everything was prepaid.

 

[a1tinkfans]

Review those checks for VOID dates...saving them is NOT a good idea!!
What about just having a seperate acocunt/svgs or cking that is JUST for vacation?
OR get DIsney gift cards that you can use to pay with?
Good Luck, I am dropping off our change jar today...I love seeing how much we dumped in there

 

[marmalade]

I have made payments online for all of our trips thru the disney website. It allows you to make either a partial payment of pay in full. I have never called in a payment but I am pretty sure Disney has no problem taking your money via the phone either.

Just remember the balance has to be paid in full by 45 days of your arrival. Have a great trip, we will be there in August too. Can't wait!

 

[The Princess]

Here's how I do it.....Buy disney gift cards with my disney credit card at the grocery store that also gives fuel perks...we pay our credit card off in full each month so I get points on "both ends of the stick" works out pretty good for us.

 

[QVCshopper]

Cash your checks! That's just silly. You have the self-restraint not to spend the money--you really do! Just believe in yourself.

As for the extra money, set aside how much you need to put away each week and have it automatically move into the same account as the checks.

Tell yourself that if you touch that money (unless God forbid you need it for something awful like injury/illness) then you don't go to Disney.

We all are adults and have the power to take control of our finances. You can do this!!!!!

 

[ceecee]

If you want something bad enough you will be able to save the $. Not cashing checks is silly....a lot of them have time limits as to how long they are good.

 

[cassandrap83]

We're not really good at "saving" either. We like instant gratification. haha

So, for Disney, we booked the trip initially and paid the $200 deposit. From there, we make up our budget for the month (as usual) guesstimating what my husband's paycheck will be (he's in car sales & commissioned). When his paycheck comes & it's actually for quite a bit more, we take the money that we weren't "expecting" and throw that onto our Disney trip.

Yes, you can make multiple payments. But remember, it does need to be paid IN FULL 45 days in advance. Our mid-September trip has a date near the end of July, so if you're going in August you better find that $1200....fast!

 

[set1208]

As far as I can remember, you can even "overpay" Disney and they'll leave it on your account for when you get there. I'm not positive but it's worth a call to find out!

We made payments too and it was great because I'm not a good saver either. It's the only way we can really afford to go. By making the deposit it feels like a commitment and it makes it wasier to get the payments made. We go to NC every summer to a rental house and we make payments on that too. I love it!

 

[Pixieflip]

It would make me so much more comfortable to know that I cannot dip into money allocated for our vacation for "emergencies".

Actually, just to make you feel better, I am in touch with that fear. My DH is terrible about dipping into the jar. Makes me crazy! But in the heat of the moment of some other crisis, he panics and boom! Jar is raided. His argument is always compelling, emergencies usually are. Over the years we've talked about it a lot and he's much better.

We still do the jar and he knows about it. And this last time he left it alone completely! We are making progress!!

He's also the financial panicky one in general. So much so that he can't even plan and dream like we all do here on Dis. He gets excited about our trips about 3 weeks before we go, and then he's really, really excited and we do have fabulous times.

Cash your checks and make a payment to Disney. You are on the right track! And then go and have fun!

 

[lisam427]

you said you were going in august? are you going during free dining? free dining saved us a total of $1344.00 on our upcoming trip in sept. what about room discounts? i know this isnt really giving you ideas on how to pay off your trip but discounts really do help.

another thing is just to look at where u r spending your money. r u eating out a couple of times a week? make meals at home and the money you save put away towards your disney trip. there is a crockpot and easy meals thread in this forum for ideas.

some people have a habit of buying groceries even though their pantry and fridge r stuffed. a lot of people (like myself) have a habit of doing this. if this is you, try taking a week and plan meals out of what have on hand, and just go to the store for things like produce, milk and bread. the money you save from this, put aside towards your trip or use it to pay on your trip right away if you think you are going to spend it. there is a thread here that is for ideas and help. its titled the spring pantry challenge.

also here is a website that i really like. it is written by someone who i think is said to be a fellow diser.

http://eatathomecooks.com/

 

[bartleby1]

I like to buy disney gift cards throughout the year so we can't use the money for anything else. We even use them to pay for all of our souvies, tips, etc while we are there so that we don't come home with a credit card bill.

Also, I'm fine with saving, it is the hubby who is our spender in the family. So, I keep a secret savings jar and hide it really really really well so that it doesn't "disappear". DH has a habit of grabbing a twenty here, a ten there, another twenty here...of course he ALWAYS promises that he will repay it when he gets to the bank or ATM but it never happens. I find it much easier to just hide it from him!

 

[KayBella]

We are using part of our income tax return for our vacation in August too. I'd be worried about not cashing them in case there was a time limit. We automatically put it in a savings account and then took it out when we were about to make our payment. We're planing on not having a credit card to charge stuff to our room, we would rather have it prepaid (gift card or cash if we needed) so we don't get out of control while we're on vacation and get stuck with a credit card balance for the next 6 months once we get home. Since booking our trip, I'm become this savings warrior or something! (Not sure what has gotten into me..as a year ago this time..I didn't have any self control of saving!) Its weird, I know our trip is already paid for, but here I am still saving all my change in a jar (which by the way adds up fairly quickly!), had a garage sale and keep taking cans back. I've even started stashing away 5 and 10 dollar bills with a big note on the envelope that says WE'RE GOING TO DISNEY! DO NOT USE UNTIL AUGUST 17, 2010!!!!! I know its all small things, but man I'm suprised at how quick is adds up! There's my 2 cents worth..trying not to preach! Best of Luck!!!

 

[WildGrits]

Thank you to all who were able to answer my questions.

PixieFlip and bartleby1-It sounds like we are married to the same people.

As for my checks and credits. We have yet to receive out income tax check, so I am not to worried about it expiring. The credits we are receiving will come in the form of checks. They too can't expire yet as we have not reveived them yet either.

My family lives debt free so I have no credit card. Overpaying sounds nice too.

We are going for two weeks. The first week we are using the free dining at the CBR and the second week we are using the 40% discount for a pool view bunkbeds at AKL.

 

[Gigi22]

Not sure what guidelines banks have for cashing checks where the OP lives. In my area the standard for most checks is 3 months, after which the check is considered "stale" and can't be cashed. Do not keep uncashed checks! If it is a personal check, it just annoys the person who issued it.

 

[My2BabiesLexis&Dill]

To answer your question OP, yes I make partial payments on our vacation. Every 2 weeks I make a payment. I just made a payment last night online. You can call in but you have to do the million question survey to get a live person. LOL. We are down to 700.00 and we will be paid off. Woohoo!!