Saving for trips...any good ideas

[Barbmouse63]

After years of reading the cruise board and planning and dreaming...we're going on a 4 day DCL aboard the Wonder this summer!! Our dks got this for Christmas! Now I am looking for any good ideas on saving extra $ for vacations. I know you guys are the experts....please share your ideas!! TIA!!

 

[EthansMom]

Start a jar to save your change.

If you buy lunch at work, start taking a sack lunch and put the difference in savings.

Trim back on going out to eat.

If you have cable, trim back to a smaller cable package. (We have basic basic cable for $15 a month, that's a savings of $25/month over the family cable package.)

Get rid of call waiting and/or voicemail on your home phone line, if you have them.

When you get "found" money like overtime pay or rebates, put it away in savings immediately.

Check out this thread for some good ideas: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=991751

Enjoy your cruise! We're taking the kids on a Norwegian Cruise Lines cruise in April -- their first!

 

[Shelby5514]

We've done test drives for extra spending money. There haven't been many lately but it's usually $50 to $75 a test drive. Go to the auto mfgs websites and request brochures for the newest models. You'll get alot of car brochures but you'll also be on their list to get the test drive offers. Sometime's it's a Target or Lowe's gift cert but free money is my favorite kind!

 

[znjmom]

Big fan of the change jar here!!

 

[HunnyPots]

Every week when I buy groceries, I write my check for $20 over the amount. That cash automatically goes into my vacation stash. We never miss the twenty and it is adding up very nicely. I will use it to pay for my hotel for our June trip.

 

[cepmom]

we use the change jar method

DH and I also have a Citibank cc that offers 5% cash back, up to $300 per year for gas, groceries and pharmacy purchases and 1% on everything else. We each have a card in our own name, so we can get $600 total in each calendar year.
I take that $$ and put it into our vacation savings account.

We also have a Disney Visa card that gives us 1% back on purchases

Found $$ in the laundry goes into the change jar as well as bottle and can refund $$

Any refund/rebates I do get put in to the vacation account

 

[WaltD4Me]

First of all, I stopped eating out at work, I bring lunch every day now and that is saving me a TON. I never realized how much I spent eating out or ordering out at work every day!

2nd, my change jar is filling up FAST! I figure there is almost $300 in there, maybe more. No matter what my total is I only pay with paper moeny and the rest is for the change jar. If the total is $4.35, I give the cashier $5, the rest goes in the change jar, even if the total is $10.03, I give the cashier $11 and the rest is for the change jar. I also throw in any dollar bills that I find in my pockets or in maybe a side pocket of my purse, ect..a couple of "found" pocket $5's have made it in to the change jar too. The only thing I don't put in the jar is pennies. I keep a bunch of pennies in my wallet so if the total is $2.52, I give them $3.02 so I get two quarters for the jar. Of course the jar isn't going to pay for my trip, but it's going to be nice for food and spending money!

Another thing I do is leave my ATM card at home. That thing can just be too tempting sometimes!

 

[Barbmouse63]

Great ideas...thanks!! I knew you all would have some creative ideas for "finding" $$.

 

[OceanAnnie]

We've done test drives for extra spending money. There haven't been many lately but it's usually $50 to $75 a test drive. Go to the auto mfgs websites and request brochures for the newest models. You'll get alot of car brochures but you'll also be on their list to get the test drive offers. Sometime's it's a Target or Lowe's gift cert but free money is my favorite kind!

I've never heard of that! Thanks for passing this on!

 

[disneymom3]

I have a new savings method. It is not for Disney it is just to get our savings rate higher. I noticed that when I thought about DHs paychecks, I thought of them in round numbers. Like let's say his check is for $564. I think of that as being $500. So, I decided to have $64 each pay period (or whatever your over the nearest $100 is) put automatically into savings. Then we don't see it and it fairly painlessly brings our savings up. We are looking at $144 a month extra going into savings and I honestly don't think we will miss it.

 

[DreamDelta]

I do the change jar thingy and I also put $20 in an envelope marked Disney Savings EVERY SATURDAY! I never, ever touch that money until our trip! I usually have about $600 0r $700 saved. : ​

 

[iwannbindisnee]

ANother idea that works like the change jar-if you have a Bank of America account, you can enroll in their plan "Keep the change". You have a debit card & every time you use it at a retail or dining place, they round up the amount & deposit the difference from the real amount of the charge to your designated savings account. So, anytime I use the card at the gas station, I fill it up to $30.01 (i.e.) and they transfer the remaining .99 to my savings! Also, this just started around Christmas I believe, & Bank of America is matching what you put into savings using this method for the first 3 months! Super, huh? So, just an FYI if you have Bank of America checking/savings account. Debbie

 

[mrsbornkuntry]

I've been doing this to pay down my credit card, but it would work for saving, too. I budget a set amt. ($350 in my case) out of each paycheck for groceries. Then after I buy groceries, whatever is left over out of that $350 goes to my savings and I never miss it because it's already been budgeted for groceries. Sometimes I do spend $350, but usually not. This also encourages me to spend less at the grocery store so I have more left over.

 

[Haley'smom]

We also love the change jar!

Another fun "game" to play is--- don't spend your $5's. Every time you run across a $5 bill you must put it into savings (envelope/piggy bank, etc.) I will admit that I am sometimes tempted to cheat (especially if I recieve 3 $5's as change from a $20), but you would be surprised at how quickly it adds up.

Good luck with your trip planning.

 

[NY Disney fan]

I use my Disney credit card. I know many people don't like the measly earnings but I was able to save $97 Disney bucks on my card in 7 months for free! I used my card for huge purchases (40" flat screen TV, Trips to florida, assorted technology ) that friends and family needed to make. I asked them if I could use my card so I could get the points. I'd say $70 out of the $97 were free!

 

[mantaz]

We do the change jar. I have them set up to make it easier for counting. Pennies and quarters are in 2 separate jars and dimes and nickels share a jar. Any surveys I do that pay money goes in the disney fund. The same goes for rebates. If I have a garage sale the profits go to the disney fund. I have decided to join in a consignment sale this Feb in hopes of getting rid of some baby toys and clothes. This will add to our trip too.


Good luck to everyone on their savings!!

Angela

 

[kfeuer]

We've done test drives for extra spending money. There haven't been many lately but it's usually $50 to $75 a test drive. Go to the auto mfgs websites and request brochures for the newest models. You'll get alot of car brochures but you'll also be on their list to get the test drive offers. Sometime's it's a Target or Lowe's gift cert but free money is my favorite kind!

We do the test drive thing, too. It's been kind of slow lately, but I've got $90 in prepaid Visa/MC that I'm going to transfer into Disney Dollars, plus I got a $35 gift certificate to Chili's. Here's a forum dedicated to test drive offers:

http://www.thefunplace.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?forumid=25

Another suggestion--sign up with all the market research groups in your area. They generally pay $75-125 for a couple hours of your time. Sign your DH up as well. We've earned $365 in the last 6 months or so. There's also quite a few online survey companies, although they don't pay as well.

As others have mentioned, max out your credit card rewards. We're using a combination of the Citibank and Chase cards that give 5% back on groceries, gas and drug store purchases (one rewards in gift cards, the other in cash). We charge everything possible (including our gas/electric bill, satellite, DSL, cell phone) and we're earning $50 every 2 months. I also use the Disney Visa some. Look for bonuses for opening these accounts in the Sunday coupon sections. They usually give out $50, but I got lucky and got $100 for opening both accounts. I wanted them both because they max out at $300/yr and I want to max out the cash back one this year (will put all my spending on that card when we get back from Disney). Of course, this only works if you don't have any credit card debt and can trust yourself to pay your bill in full each month.

Find a good deals board and start finding ways to cut spending on everyday stuff. For example, if you have a Walgreen's near you they have items every month that are free after rebate. It's very easy to do (it's all combined on one form, and you don't have to send UPC's) and you can use coupons yet get back the full rebate price. CVS has some amazing deals at times. You wouldn't believe how much health and beauty stuff I've accumulated for free or better then free. There's also lots of ways to cut your grocery bill.

Have fun saving!

 

[kinntj]

We're doing a garage sale this summer and that will all go towards our WDW vacation.
I also do the change jar and we just downgraded our cable from digital to basic. So that is from $50 down to $10 so every month we put away $40 dollars into our vacation bank (shoe box covered in pretty paper). We don't watch much t.v. anyway, so it's not a big deal. We joined Netflix instead and cancelled our cell phone service that we had. We're going on a pay as you go plan now, since I never use it. That was $35 a month and now it's next to nothing.

HTH!

 

[nowellsl]

I do the change jar thingy and I also put $20 in an envelope marked Disney Savings EVERY SATURDAY! I never, ever touch that money until our trip! I usually have about $600 0r $700 saved. : ​

I use the change jar, rewards card etc. only every Friday instead of putting $20.00 into a envelope I transfer it into my ING direct account - take advantage of the 3.8% interest!!

 

[maux]

I also do the change jar thing, but since it's just me it doesn't add up as fast as I'd like it to! Another thing I read on these boards that I've been doing is when you go to the grocery store and use one of their store cards or coupons, I always put away the amount I saved. It really isn't saved unless you pull it out, it's just not spent. That, along with the change jar money, make for extra cash for my trips!


maux