Well...As many of you know about me I am an annual visitor to the DL resort for the month of October and have usually had no problems paying for my trip due to working my butt off, but this year I was pretty much told I was getting an almost $20,000 pay cut
So I am a little scared that vacation isn't going to happen!!
I booked the HoJo already for the 50% off deal but of course have yet to pay for it since I have no money to do so. But I don't want to cancel because I am still set on the fact that I can make this happen since it's 8 months away and I am also set on the total of about $4100 TOTAL for my trip, including food, spending, travel costs and hotel costs. I still have my AP so that saves me a nice chunk.
What are some good ways you're finding that help you save money for you trip?? Right now I am pulling out every ounce of money that I have left over after bills and placing it in a jar hidden in my house. If it's not on my card I won't spend it!! I have also cut out all extra expenses such as eating out. So far in the past 2 weeks I have almost $100 in the jar. But obviously that will take my forever to save at that rate. Any other tips??
I'd say you need to pat yourself on the back! $100 in 2 weeks is a good amount of money given such a HUGE cut in pay. Now, do some math....you said your trip is in 8 months...so that would be 32 weeks. You're saving $50 a week so by the time of your trip you'll have $1600 saved. No, not your entire budget, but you already know you're going to have to cut those costs. And to be honest, $4k for
Disneyland sounds like either a lot of people or some very luxurious items on that list!
Your profile says you're in Oregon.....are you flying or driving? Airline rates are pretty high lately, so depending on how many of you are going, it is actually sometimes cheaper to drive! If you have two drivers then you could easily do it without stopping if you're able to sleep while someone else drives. If you're the only driver, you'll probably want to plan on a stop along the way. Campgrounds are cheap or see about hitting a really cheap hotel along the way. Use Mapquest or Googlemaps to calculate your mileage, divide it in half and then see where that lands you....you can of course always drive a little more to get to a cheaper town. If you don't want to drive, then start watching airfares now on a daily basis, and keep a chart, so you can see the price trends...we drive to DL, but for WDW we have to fly so I start charting a couple months ahead.....and then know when the price typically drops the most so when I'm ready I know when it's probably at it's lowest. Also be sure to check Southwest because they have the most generous change policy....no fees to change and if it's a lower rate the extra amount goes into your account for later use (unless you buy a refundable ticket which is always too high to make it worth it for me, lol).
The HOJO 50% off rate is excellent from what I've read, so probably not going to easily save much there. Also, it sounds like you made your reservation before Feb 1, so be sure NOT to cancel it until you're absolutely sure you're not going. Their new cancellation policy (for reservations made after Feb 1) are VERY unfavorable....you now lose a night's stay at minimum! Of course, keep checking other places that are acceptable to you to see if you can get a better deal....when budgets are strained even $10 a night is a lot of money, lol.
Food is of course a big expense....can you be happy at Disneyland without eating at the more expensive places? Then you can save a lot of money by staying away from the buffetts and table services in the parks. The sit downs in DTD are only a little better, so see about exploring some of the less expensive alternatives....counter services and eating off site. Go to restaurant.com and sign up for the emails....they often have 80% and 90% off sales, meaning that you can get a $25 gift certificate for $2 or $3 (and the higher $50 gc for $4 or $5 if you have a large enough party). Be sure to read the details closely because they do have minimums you have to spend, but it's a way to save some money. House of Blues in DTD participates, Fire & Ice at Gardenwalk as well. There are some others in the area, but I can't recall them off the top of my head, lol. If you've driven down you'll have a car to be able to journey a little further as well, so check all of Orange County.
You already have your AP so thankfully you don't have that expense. That probably leaves souveniors....which are probably easiest to me to drop when the budget demands. Hopefully you won't feel slighted if you don't bring something home! If you have kids that won't really understand not getting a new Tshirt or something, then watch the sales at disneyshopping.com. Especially around holidays (so watch for President's Day sales soon) they tend to have shirts for under $5 and sometimes PJs for around that price too. If your kids are old enough to understand, then just explain that THIS trip is only going to happen if we all band together and save. My kids totally understand this concept and are much more interested in GOING to DL even if it means no new trinkets or clothes.
Ways to save at home before your trip:
If you tend to eat out a lot....don't. Even the busiest of schedules can fit in making meals at home if you try.....most people who say they can't aren't really trying, imho. Crockpots can have dinner already done when you get home and takes maybe 10 minutes to set up in the morning....isn't saving money worth setting the alarm 10 minutes earlier? I have a friend who isn't a morning person so she sets up everything the night before in her removable crock and puts it in the fridge. On nights that you have a few minutes, check out online places or library books for meals that take 30 minutes or less to prepare. Or spend a few hours on the weekend making up meals to freeze and use during the week (often called Once a Month Cooking). I simply make two dishes when I cook and freeze one for use in a couple weeks. Doing this each time I cook something that will freeze takes only a few extra minutes of work putting together, but saves loads of time on busy evenings.
Do you buy a lunch at work? Bring your lunch and save at least 50-75% of your lunch costs. If you're in an office all day and have access to a microwave, you could bring leftovers. If you don't have heating access, there are still a lot of things you can bring that aren't boring PB&J sandwiches! Again, a few minutes of your time either before bed or first thing in the morning and you save a LOT of money.
Are you a Starbucks or other expensive coffee type person? Learn to make good coffee at home and buy a thermos to bring some along for mid morning. If regular coffee doesn't do it for you, invest in a machine to make your fav at home....the cost of the machine will quickly be absorbed by the savings each day you don't stop off somewhere else (and hey, the time you save not stopping off can be used to fill the crockpot or take one of your frozen meals out of the freezer!).
How about cutting out (or at least back) on Cable TV or Netflix or DISH? We get movies on DVD for FREE from the library. Our library lists the upcoming DVDs that they have ordered and we can place a hold before it's even released.....so we often get newly released movies within a week of their store release. If you regularly go to the movies, consider waiting until the DVD comes out and getting it free at the library. You just saved the cost of the movie, gas to get there, and the high cost of popcorn and snacks. Get an air popper and make popcorn at home. Get some of the flavor powders if you love those (shop around as I've found some stores really jack up the price of those, while others are about half the cost...
Walmart is $1.79 but Safeway here is $3+!!). Another great thing about watching movies at home...being able to stop and go back for the great scenese....potty breaks without missing anything, lol....and for us old folks, having the words on the screen! If you usually go to the movies with friends to unwind and socialize, just invite them over....they'll love saving too, you can socialize a lot more during the movie without pissing off folks near you, lol....and your snack quality can improve if everyone brings a little something...or make it a potluck dinner too (friends can bring take out of course, you'll whip up something or maybe be the one to provide sodas!).
Clothing is another place to save when funds shrink.....yeah, having the latest and greatest is wonderful, but unless your job demands high fashion, you may be totally amazed at how fashionable you can still be on a budget by shopping consignment stores. I'm not talking Goodwill (though I understand that some lucky ducks have quality Goodwill in their town, I don't, lol). Look in the phone book or online for CONSIGNMENT shops. Hit all of them so you know which ones have the type of clothes you want....in our town they seem to each have their own personality, probably based on the buyer, of course. Once you know where your style is typically sold, you can check back whenever you need something and see what's in! Or, if you have a closet FULL already, consider not buying anything until your current wardrobe truly needs something. Spend an afternoon going through what you have and see if you can't make some of it feel "new" simply by matching it with something else instead of what you always match it with, or accessorizing differently, etc. We tend to get in a rut about wearing "that skirt" with "this blouse" and forget that there are other skirts that would look good with the blouse too!
Ok, this has gotten really too long, but hopefully you get the idea. I learned how to save money when we went through some health issues and thus had no income for almost a year. Thought we'd lose the house for sure when it started, but cutting back drastically on outgoing funds made our measly "couple of months" savings last the whole time! It's amazing what you can live without when you have to!
If you carry a water bottle, rather than paying $2.75 every time you get thirsty, the saving add up quick too! Stay out of emporium and all the other shops on Main St. That way you'll never see that overpriced mickey sweater that you absolutely have to buy! 
I think I'm just stressing more so over the paycut than the actual trip. I always stress about the trip until the day of lol
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Well that really helped make our trip less stressfull about money! So that may be an idea. If you have stuff that you no longer want you may want to look into selling some of it. Gold prices are really high right now. Just an idea.
