This has probably been asked in the past, but how does everyone save for their vacation? We're looking to go next April or May. I have a small amount started in the bank ($300) and have started to sell some stuff on ebay. What other ways are really good to saving for this? TIA!
We only use cash for our everyday spending. At the end of the day, it goes in a jar and we use that for tips and souvenir money. To pay for the vacation itself, we figure out the total cost, then add 10% for incidentals you aren't thinking of. We use our tax refund for part of the vacation so we subtract that off the total cost. Then we divide the remaining balance by the number of paychecks left before we leave and save that money in a savings account. It is usually a relatively small amount since we plan our vacations about a year in advance.
How is the selling on Ebay going? Have you ever done that before? I am thinking about doing that as well, or going to a thrift store. I usually take out X amount of dollars every 2 weeks to go food shopping. I clip coupons, try to get the cheaper items and whatever I have saved, I put in a Disney jar. Some weeks it might only be a few bucks, others maybe $20. I also decided to set aside $20 a week and put it in the jar. We are planning for Aug2010. So 20*52 (we started saving when we came back in May) is $1040. Any extra cash basically goes in the Disney jar. If I have any spare change it also goes in that jar. It's a SLOW process haha. So far I have almost $500 saved so I am pretty excited about that. Last year we paid our vacation in cash, we charged out plane tickets though and then paid them off. In 2010 we may be driving, so we'll see.
I have a certain dollar amount out of each paycheck that goes into a special vacation savings account. I also save change in a big jar. As the trip gets closer I start putting a $5 bill in every week. Also, anything I come in on under budget for the month gets transferred in. For example if I budgeted $700 for groceries but spent $600, that $100 goes into vacation savings. If I budgeted $200 for clothing and didn't spend anything that $200 goes in, etc.
We direct deposit X amount per month into budgeted savings. It is on our budget for the month as an expense. Think of it like a credit card payment or car payment if you will but goes to the bank of US!! Also, if we spend less than we've budgeted for the month on our variable expenses [groceries, household, healty & beauty, etc.], that extra gets added to the budgeted savings. Our budgeted savings gets divided between saving for vehicle replacement, house repairs/cosmetic, vacation, and any other item we want to add. When we take money out of it for one of the above, we start over in that category.
10% of my and husband's pay goes directly (direct deposit) to vacation savings. Then we do half of tax refund and half of work bonus/profit sharing. This gives us plenty for vacations
Ebay is going well. I have done it in the past. I have put a lot of scrabook and stamping items on there because I no longer have time to do it. Those seem to be going well. I have 2-3 days left on the 9 items, and i'm up to $83 so far.
To help get extra money we use the change jar and cash it in right before we leave. We also cash in our points on MyPoints or I cash in money from the sites I do surveys on which usually gives me a couple hundred bucks of extra money for dining or souvenirs or things like that.
I have a home venture that I'm doing... if you'd like to hear more just send me a message! It's pretty sweet!
I just started about a month ago & see by my siggy I have a long way to go so I can save lots & need to save lots. So far I have started taking out $20 each week to put in my crayon/change holder & when I get about $500 I will throw it in the bank in it's own account. I throw in all lose change & loose bills I find in my purse. I just found a $10 plus some singles & it went into the crayon. I sold a few things on Craigslist so I put that money in there too. I hope to sell a bit more. I do the rewards accounts & hope to get at least $500 between the 5 I do, really I hope for close to $100 but I will be happy with a free $500. I need to save a good $6000 minimum.
Here is how I save... Taken from my blog My goal is to save enough money by bargain shopping to take my family to Disney again. We went for 10 days (8 days in the parks) in May 2009 and had the time of our lives. We want to go again, but we want to do it without setting aside any money out of the budget. We don't want to feel the pinch of a Disney vacation. I decided to challenge myself to see if I can save approximately $2200 in 51 weeks for our vacation. This blog chronicles my efforts as well as teaches you how I am doing it. You can chose to save your money for Disney, other vacations, other pleasures or anything in the world. The resources are out there. You just have got to know how to apply them to your life. Here are the main ways I am saving the money: * Rebates * Surveys * Saving My Coins * Selling Items Around The House * Money Left From The Grocery Budget * Found Money Since I started saving for Disney, I have saved approximately $239. (As this amount increases, I add it to the right side of my blog.) I have lots of pending money (rebates coming in the mail, survey money that hasn't reached it cash out minimum yet, Paypal that I haven't cashed out, etc) that I will be adding to the funds in the next few weeks as it starts to arrive. I opened up a separate savings account at the bank just for the Disney fund. The banker was so excited to learn about my efforts. My kids can't wait to return to Disney. They are helping me save too. My husband gets paid every other Thursday. I allow us $150 every week. This money is for groceries, out to eat, entertainment, every item that we might need, every outing we might go on, etc. etc. comes out of this money. I get cash from the bank and I only break dollar bills. All coins go towards our trip. Every Thursday, before we go to the bank to get the weeks allowance out and deposit whatever Disney funds we have accumulated over the week. Whenever I add to the Disney fund, I post about it on the blog and I tell you where the money came from so you can take advantage of it as well. So keep an eye out for those posts! You can find my past post here! I have so much to teach everyone and I am thrilled to answer any and every question you have so don't be afraid to email me or comment on my blog.
