Saving (hiding) money away for trip

[margot31]

So I am looking to go back to Disney in Oct of 2017...plenty of time. Right now my plan is my husband and 2 kids and his mom. She has never been and she is/has missed out on some major life events. We are military and live across the country from her and its hard for her to travel on a whim. So I thought a fun thing to do is plan a big birthday trip next year for Myself and our kids (we are all oct babies)

My husband wants to stay at the contemporary at some point which is a little out of our budget. While I can only hope that disney will release the military deal again it will still be a little hard to say lets spend this much money.

So I thought I would start now by stashing away little money here and there. So we have a separate cash envelope that we have been working on but I can't touch that one.

I don't work so I can't stash my own money away so how do you stash money away for your trips? And I can't let my husband know since if I can make this happen it would be a big surprise.

 

[jevs]

Direct deposit into a high interest account without a card works for me.

 

[cruisingtwins]

Get a little cash back everytime you go grocery shopping. Do surveys and stuff for disney gift cards.

 

[Marionnette]

So I am looking to go back to Disney in Oct of 2017...plenty of time. Right now my plan is my husband and 2 kids and his mom. She has never been and she is/has missed out on some major life events. We are military and live across the country from her and its hard for her to travel on a whim. So I thought a fun thing to do is plan a big birthday trip next year for Myself and our kids (we are all oct babies)

My husband wants to stay at the contemporary at some point which is a little out of our budget. While I can only hope that disney will release the military deal again it will still be a little hard to say lets spend this much money.

So I thought I would start now by stashing away little money here and there. So we have a separate cash envelope that we have been working on but I can't touch that one.

I don't work so I can't stash my own money away so how do you stash money away for your trips? And I can't let my husband know since if I can make this happen it would be a big surprise.

I do rewards programs like Swagbucks and Perk to earn Target GCs and then use them to purchase Disney GCs.

If you're the grocery shopper in the family, look into programs like ibotta, Chekout51 and SavingStar to get cashback on your purchases.

When you shop online, go thru a cashback shopping portal like ebates for a rebate.

Deposit all rebates, found money or cash that you can scrounge up into an online savings account that is difficult to raid. Cash in an envelope is not only easier to access, it is also risky to have it laying around the house (think fire or theft).

 

[margot31]

Direct deposit into a high interest account without a card works for me.

My husband will see that and I can't let him see anything like this cause it would be a surprise that we are staying at contemporary. I have to make him think we will be paying for it all at once when we are "ready" to make the finial choice on our resort.

 

[margot31]

Get a little cash back everytime you go grocery shopping. Do surveys and stuff for disney gift cards.

I do that already with our cash fund (our emergency cash fund) So I could just give some to that one and some to my little stash.

How do you go about doing the survey thing?

 

[VillainFavs]

Sign up for things like Ibotta, Saving Star, Checkout 51, Swagbucks, MyPoints, etc. But don't cash anything out ahead of time! Let all those amounts add up until you need them. Like a bunch of mini savings accounts.

Use a credit card that gives cash back. Use it for EVERYTHING during the month--just make sure you have the money aside to pay off at the end of the month. DON'T carry a balance. Again, let the points add up over time.

Sell little things you have around the house on Ebay or Facebook groups.

Keep a change jar -- you'll be amazed how quickly it adds up! Again, don't cash it in--less tempting to spend it that way.

Get a Target Redcard, even a debit card. Then you can order Disney giftcards when the time comes and save 5% right there!

 

[Marionnette]

Sign up for things like Ibotta, Saving Star, Checkout 51, Swagbucks, MyPoints, etc. But don't cash anything out ahead of time! Let all those amounts add up until you need them. Like a bunch of mini savings accounts.

If there's one thing that I've learned from doing rewards programs, it's that you don't allow the points to just accrue. Points programs are notorious for raising the number of points needed to cash in or they go belly up without notice. It's better to cash out and save the actual GC or cash somewhere safe.

 

[Marionnette]

My husband will see that and I can't let him see anything like this cause it would be a surprise that we are staying at contemporary. I have to make him think we will be paying for it all at once when we are "ready" to make the finial choice on our resort.

Won't your husband also see an extra cash envelope or pile of GCs sitting around?

I don't encourage being deceptive with your spouse, but a small online savings account is easy to set up and you can name him as the secondary person on the account in case something happens to you. Just tell him that it's your own slush fund that you're putting your rewards money into so that you can pay for little extras like dinner in the castle or souvenirs for the kids.. He doesn't need to know the real reason why you've set it up, just that the account exists and that you're not skimming from the household money to fund it.

 

[margot31]

Won't your husband also see an extra cash envelope or pile of GCs sitting around?

I don't encourage being deceptive with your spouse, but a small online savings account is easy to set up and you can name him as the secondary person on the account in case something happens to you. Just tell him that it's your own slush fund that you're putting your rewards money into so that you can pay for little extras like dinner in the castle or souvenirs for the kids.. He doesn't need to know the real reason why you've set it up, just that the account exists and that you're not skimming from the household money to fund it.

It won't go in our firebox...it will go somewhere only I know where it is. I don't get to surprise my husband with anything because its hard when he looks at the bank accounts. We pay for disney from my private account anyway...which he doesn't have access to...so I can put things into that account but I can't have anything major coming out of the main banking account. If its 20 here and there that is different cause we have a cash emergency fund anyway...it wouldn't phase him. But I have to be able to fund that cash account along with mine too.

 

[tzolkin]

My husband will see that and I can't let him see anything like this cause it would be a surprise that we are staying at contemporary. I have to make him think we will be paying for it all at once when we are "ready" to make the finial choice on our resort.

Just to clarify since I'm a little confused by this and your original post...

So your husband will know about the Disney trip, but expecting it to be $X (the cost of a moderate or value resort). You plan to save extra money in secret so you can say "Surprise, we have enough to stay at the Contemporary" Is that right?

Use a credit card that gives cash back. Use it for EVERYTHING during the month--just make sure you have the money aside to pay off at the end of the month. DON'T carry a balance. Again, let the points add up over time.

Sell little things you have around the house on Ebay or Facebook groups.

Keep a change jar -- you'll be amazed how quickly it adds up! Again, don't cash it in--less tempting to spend it that way.

Get a Target Redcard, even a debit card. Then you can order Disney giftcards when the time comes and save 5% right there!

We use a cc to earn rewards on nearly everything. I just applied $600 to my balance yesterday. I think that might be the easiest way to "save" in secret.

 

[margot31]

Just to clarify since I'm a little confused by this and your original post...

So your husband will know about the Disney trip, but expecting it to be $X (the cost of a moderate or value resort). You plan to save extra money in secret so you can say "Surprise, we have enough to stay at the Contemporary" Is that right?




We use a cc to earn rewards on nearly everything. I just applied $600 to my balance yesterday. I think that might be the easiest way to "save" in secret.

He knows I am already planning another Disney trip. Now I am looking at WL or a moderate. Since I do all the planning he won't see the MDE in the first place. He leaves all of Disney up to me. All he cares about is the cost and when we need to move money to my private account. (yes I have a private account from years ago that my mother has access too for things like paying me back or i am paying her for something since sometimes we are far away and having this account is the best way to move money around)

While I have my own CC to use I have to be careful there too since the main bank account is what pays off my CC. I have rewards on that card which I forgot about till it was mentioned that I will cash out when ready.

 

[lovemygoofy]

This is slow add up but I keep a budget for food and utilities. Basically it's the same amount every month even if the utility bill goes down (my own internal budget billing). Anyways, at the end of the every pay period whatever is leftover in the account is transferred to another savings account. Additionally if I come in under budget at the grocery store or save so much using coupons, I throw that money into the fun money account. If we have leftover money from the eating out budget, then I will throw that money also in the fun account.

So if you coupon at the commissary and save $15, put that money into your special account. If you budget $150 for electric but the bill is only $125 put the extra $25 in the savings account. At the first of the year, military will get some kind of raise(usually small one), discuss with your husband if that raise can go into your special account to help fund the disney trip. You don't have to specify any further.

 

[monorailsilver]

I do the rewards sites and cash out for Disney gift cards (or Target ones and buy Disney GC with the Target GC), the Disney visa rewards and we will throw in change which we don't have often in our change container.

We aren't going until August 2018 and I have 3/4 of our food budget if not all of it by now-my goal is around $1500 for our family of 5. We don't do dining, my kids will eat Mac and Cheese cups on our pool days because they get ice cream/dole whips too. We ship down breakfast foods so that alone saves us $40+/day. We ship down water as well and drink that in the parks and don't buy soda unless its a pool day with our mugs.

 

[Marionnette]

It won't go in our firebox...it will go somewhere only I know where it is. I don't get to surprise my husband with anything because its hard when he looks at the bank accounts. We pay for disney from my private account anyway...which he doesn't have access to...so I can put things into that account but I can't have anything major coming out of the main banking account. If its 20 here and there that is different cause we have a cash emergency fund anyway...it wouldn't phase him. But I have to be able to fund that cash account along with mine too.

So does he get to "see" what you have in your private bank account or is that a balance that only you and your mother can view the amount that you have in there? If it's for your eyes only, then that's where you stash your rewards money. Many rewards programs do digital rewards or they do cashback through PayPal or check. Finding a place to stash the earnings is the easy part. Earning or finding the money is the more difficult part of the equation.

 

[margot31]

So does he get to "see" what you have in your private bank account or is that a balance that only you and your mother can view the amount that you have in there? If it's for your eyes only, then that's where you stash your rewards money. Many rewards programs do digital rewards or they do cashback through PayPal or check. Finding a place to stash the earnings is the easy part. Earning or finding the money is the more difficult part of the equation.

That is where I can stash some of the money but its getting the money. Yes I plan on taking a little out when shopping at the grocery store and all but was looking into other things too. I am very new at the whole rewards things and all. To me they look like scams really so any help in that direction is great to help.

 

[cruisingtwins]

I do that already with our cash fund (our emergency cash fund) So I could just give some to that one and some to my little stash.

How do you go about doing the survey thing?

This one is great www.earnhoney.com because it's passive whenever you are not using your computer you can play videos I leave mine on overnight and whenever I'm out and make about 1$ a day You can do surveys there too but I haven't because I hate surveys. There is a huge thread here on swagbucks which lots of people use for rewards.

 

[Marionnette]

That is where I can stash some of the money but its getting the money. Yes I plan on taking a little out when shopping at the grocery store and all but was looking into other things too. I am very new at the whole rewards things and all. To me they look like scams really so any help in that direction is great to help.

Read the Perk and Swagbucks (SB) threads here on the Budget Board. Plenty of helpful people on those threads who can assist you with getting started. Yes, they sound like scams, but I made over $4K in cash and GCs last year doing just Perk and SB (mostly from Perk).

@cruisingtwins you might want to remove that referral link. The mods don't allow referrals.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

That is where I can stash some of the money but its getting the money. Yes I plan on taking a little out when shopping at the grocery store and all but was looking into other things too. I am very new at the whole rewards things and all. To me they look like scams really so any help in that direction is great to help.

If you have time, I would focus on Swagbucks. Basically, each Swagbuck that you earn is worth $0.01. You can cash out through Paypal and then transfer those earning into your personal account. Your husband would never see this money. I earn about $75 per month on Swagbucks by watching videos, taking surveys and other activities. Many people earn a lot more each month. It really depends on how much time you put in. It isn't hard, but it is a time investment. I usually run videos in the background while I am at work and take surveys while I watch TV in the evening, etc.

There are other programs that you can use too like Mypoints, Perk and Bing, but I think Swagbucks is easiest to start with and you could add more as you go along.

 

[cruisingtwins]

Read the Perk and Swagbucks (SB) threads here on the Budget Board. Plenty of helpful people on those thread who can assist you with getting started. Yes, they sound like scams, but I made over $4K in cash and GCs last year doing just Perk and SB (mostly from Perk).

@cruisingtwins you might want to remove that referral link. The mods don't allow referrals.

Thanks