Saving for Disney

[mommyof3princess27]

How do you save? If you dont mind me asking, how muh a week do you save?
Just trying to figur out how to 'budget' for this trip!

 

[DawnM]

How much is your trip going to cost you?

How long do you have to save?

There is no way to answer without more details.

Dawn

 

[kydisneyfans]

Build up points on credit cards buying everything we use-then redeeming the points. We get nearly $1,000 a year without paying a dime in interest.

Build up rewards points on our Speedy Rewards card at Speedway, we have another $100 gift card to redeem for our initial fillup and our return fill once home.

Use the 2 "extra" pays a year toward vacations. There are 26 pays with a typical 2 week pay period.

Our trip is paid in full.

 

[DawnM]

1000 points per year? Are these 1% points?

Dawn

Build up points on credit cards buying everything we use-then redeeming the points. We get nearly $1,000 a year without paying a dime in interest.

Build up rewards points on our Speedy Rewards card at Speedway, we have another $100 gift card to redeem for our initial fillup and our return fill once home.

Use the 2 "extra" pays a year toward vacations. There are 26 pays with a typical 2 week pay period.

Our trip is paid in full.

 

[JCMHutch]

I do three things every year:

• I put aside a set amount aside from each check. I have direct deposit so the "Disney" money goes right into its own account
• DH & put everything we can on our Disney Visa and then pay it off every month. This has given us almost $300 so far for our next trip
• I always ask for Disney gift cards for my birthday and Christmas (that's all I ask for).

 

[mommyof3princess27]

We hav til next november-a nice looong time lol but is 1 year 3 months and 3 weeks......and we are going for 8 days 7 nights@POR

 

[akayek31]

Well I have two ways to save. In 2009 I used my tax return to pay and then saved up the rest that I was going to use for spending money and food. It was the buy 4 get 3 that year. I got the $75 gift card for my birthday. I signed up for coupons from a lot of restaurants since it was my birthday and got free dinners at Tony Romas to name one. I also had a huge coke bottle bank and saved change. I am doing this also for our September trip. I also went to the Disney store and got a re-loadable gift card and have put money on that for tips, souvenirs, and other room charges.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

Me and Hubby each have $30 a payday direct deposited to a savings acct that we only use for vacations. We also save our pocket change in a jar. We use our Disney visa to make purchases and use the rewards points for our trip. We fly on a Tue or Wed when flights are cheaper.

When we get our tax return back we put $500 to $700 into the vacation acct also.

We also bought a DVC timeshare and everytime we book a vacation I also go and price the same vacation as if we were paying cash and we would have spent $19,000 if we would have had to pay cash for our vacation. The cost of DVC was just $12,000.

 

[tolemommy]

I do a couple of things to help saving for my next Disney vacation.

~ I total up the entire cost of the trip from airfare to snacks in the park. Once I have my trip total I divide it by the number of months I have until we leave. For instance if I need to save $2000 and I have 15 months left. 2000/15 = $133.00 a month.

~ This gives me a target $ amount I need to save every month. I budget this amount into our monthly family budget and cut back in other areas so I can save this amount. This means eating out less, packing my work lunches, shopping sales, thinking twice/three times before I make purchases, Redbox DVD rentals vs going to the movies, and it is worth it to me.

~ My Disney/Vacation savings account is separate from my other savings account, their isn't a debit card attached to this acct, makes it harder for me to access if I have to physically go to the bank...

~Coin change jar as well.

Currently working on 2013 DC trip total that I need to start saving for...

 

[mirage0306]

1. We use our Disney Visa for just about everything and will transfer the dream rewards dollars to a gift card before we go.

2. I have a set amount of money that is transferred to savings biweekly

3. We also have a coin jar where we put all our change.

4. I ask myself before I buy anything, "What do I want more, this item or a vacation to Disney?" It does help me spend less discretionary income.

 

[amberdburke]

If you click on my PTR link below, I have a big section on earning free gift cards that I apply to my Disney trips.

Basically, each week I deposit any extra $ into a savings account. I don't have a debit card, so I never take any $ out.

We don't take any other trips during the year. Even local one or two night trips have been taken away. We skipped going to a local theme park this year so we could go to Disney. Basically, I view everything in light of our trip, and then decided if I "need" to buy it or do it after that.

Believe me, if we can save for a trip, anyone can....my DH is the only one working, and he is a car salesman, so we are never guaranteed anything. We have been so blessed to be able to pay our bills, our insurance, etc. and still have extra for our vacation.

 

[famsen]

The two things I have been doing this past year:

I do freelance work working wine tastings on the weekends and take the money from those checks which are $80 for each job and go right out and purchase Disney Gift Cards.

I also signed up with Sunshine Rewards which has been by far the fastest and easiest way to build up my Disney funds. I've been able to earn nearly $500 in Disney Gift Cards since the beginning of April with them.
I spend a short time each day taking online surveys and earn bonus money for shopping and using coupons through the Sunshine Rewards website.

My extra efforts this year have earned me a total of $900 in Disney Gift cards so far for our family trip in September. I am so looking forward to giving my family a great time with some splurging!

 

[StitchandPooh'sMom]

To save for Disney, we:

1. Have a vacation budget - money is taken out of DH's check into a separate account.

2. Use the Disney Visa for everything we can, and pay it off each month.

3. Save all our change, rebate checks, etc. in a Disney popcorn bucket.

4. I am a member of Sunshine Rewards and earn Disney gift cards by taking surveys and doing my shopping online when I can. I earn about $600 per year at Sunshine Rewards, and I cash out for Disney gift cards.

 

[budafam]

We have 2 credit cards that we switch between. One right now is offering 5% cash back on gas for 3 months so we're using that strictly for gas. Our other one is Disney. We pay them off every month so they make no money off of us but we make some off of them I also have an envelope on the counter and whenever we sell anything on Craigslist or have any extra food/gas money leftover from the week - it goes in there. We also have a change jar. We rely on our tax returns for vacation but this way, we should have some to go towards it next year to help out a bit (we're also hoping to purchase central air for our home next summer so that will be a big expense). DH has a separate savings account that has just been sitting there and not getting used so I put all of our Disney funds in there to keep them separated and that way we're not tempted to touch it.

 

[mollymar]

For those of you who do Sunshine Rewards how do you get so much money so fast? I have been using them since May and only have about $18.00. I just seem to never qualify for the surveys. I've had good luck with Opinion Outpost though.

 

[saradela]

I save $200 houndred dollars every fifteen days or $400 a month

 

[StitchandPooh'sMom]

For those of you who do Sunshine Rewards how do you get so much money so fast? I have been using them since May and only have about $18.00. I just seem to never qualify for the surveys. I've had good luck with Opinion Outpost though.

Qualifying for surveys depends on demographics and persistence. I know some members get 8-9 surveys every day, which adds about $5 per day to their account. I strive for three per day, which earns me about $2. It usually takes multiple tries for me, but I can almost always get the Greenfield, Surveyhead and SSI survey each day, and if I have time, I try the others. Weekends and Monday mornings are more challenging since the survey companies don't usually add any new surveys during that time.

Some of the survey companies occasionally route to an Opinion Outpost survey, so you might need to click out of those since you are a member there. If that happens, you can go right back in to see if they have another survey. You can keep trying until you get one.

If you are not a member of the Sunshine Rewards forum, you should check it out. There are a lot of tips there to maximize earnings. I didn't earn very much my first few months - it takes a little while to figure it all out, but the forum is very helpful.

 

[mom_of_3_mousketeers]

I do a couple of things to help saving for my next Disney vacation.

~ I total up the entire cost of the trip from airfare to snacks in the park. Once I have my trip total I divide it by the number of months I have until we leave. For instance if I need to save $2000 and I have 15 months left. 2000/15 = $133.00 a month.

~ This gives me a target $ amount I need to save every month. I budget this amount into our monthly family budget and cut back in other areas so I can save this amount. This means eating out less, packing my work lunches, shopping sales, thinking twice/three times before I make purchases, Redbox DVD rentals vs going to the movies, and it is worth it to me.

~ My Disney/Vacation savings account is separate from my other savings account, their isn't a debit card attached to this acct, makes it harder for me to access if I have to physically go to the bank...

~Coin change jar as well.

Currently working on 2013 DC trip total that I need to start saving for...

I am doing the same as this poster. We have a set mount we pay into our separate savings account every 2 weeks. I have a budget for everything so if I go lower than budget, it goes into the savings account. When we have 3 pay periods in a month, the extra goes into the savings.

We save change and dollar bills that we keep in a change jar. Also, when I need to purchase something online, our bank has a Perks Point Mall....we get 5pts for every $1 purchased. I have been collecting and will "cash out" the points for Visa or MasterCard gift cards 2 months before our vacation because they need to be used up within 6 months. Right now I can get 3 gc's. I am hoping for at least 1 for each of us before our trip. Not bad perks!

 

[MacFam4]

We started using our Disney Visa for everything that we would normally use our debit card for and pay it off every month. I have enough money in rewards points to pay for food and souvenirs for my Nov trip with my DS. Some years we use our income tax refund and pay for most of the trip. Some years I plan a year in advance and treat the vacation like a bill, putting aside a certain amount of money each month. This year, since it is just DS and myself, I wanted to save the money myself (I don't work), so I have my disney dollars, plus any birthday/Christmas money that I received. I have been selling items on bookoo.com and saving that money. I am about to go sell some of my old gold to add to the fund (I got this idea off of the budget board...no reason to keep that old stuff that I never wear when it can go to a disney trip)! I have almost everything I need already, and I still have 3 months to go

 

[monorailsilver]

My trip isn't until 2013 so I still have 2 years & about 3 weeks to save (going in August).

My goal is around $6000, give or take which will include air, resort, park tickets & food.

So far I have the air covered with FF miles assuming Delta doesn't go out of business!!!

If my dh can manage a few more work trips which is why he had FF miles, then I can get at least one night free at any hotel/anywhere via his Holiday Inn points. So that would take care of at least one night of the 8-10 I want to stay.

I do Quick Rewards and have $150 so far which may not be much but it is still something. I have been earning more this year then the past few years because I am trying to do some survey's. I maybe get 2 or 3 a week (I try & if I don't qualify I don't keep trying). But I do all the daily clicks & emails.

I do Sunshine rewards but not so much anymore since I have been focusing on QR. I just do the daily scratch off & if a paid email comes I do that but those are rare. Once I get to $25 I will cash out & be done there. But I still have about $15-$20 more to go.

I do Inbox Dollars.

I do My Survey but those I have been using to cash out for Amazon for Christmas.

I do Swagbucks also for Amazon GC's.

I did notice that I can buy Disney GC's on Amazon but they cost more & I am not quite sure if I want to do that but since it would all be 'free' money I might end up doing that in the next year or so.

My dh has a new hobby, he is cashing in metal for $$$. He just started it this past June so he has been putting in all his $$$ in the Disney fund but I need to take it out for our trip in a few weeks but after that it is all Disney fund money.

Oh & I have the Disney Visa.

So my goals are:

Airfare-FF miles-done

Park Hopper tickets-dh's metal fund. We are a family of 5 so I will need roughly $1500 which is possible.

Room-Disney Visa, QR (etsc) & any change my kids find laying around goes in there. So far with current rates & no discounts (AAA, pin, etc..) I have one night taken care of.