Saving Money for Disney

[Mommy Poppins]

I know many of you do different things to save for your Disney trips. Would any of you be willing to share them, whether they are on-line, just stuff at home, etc.

My DH was deployed overseas last October. Our 10 year anniversary is this month. However, DH will not return until spring of 2006. For our reunion/famliy vacation next year, I am planning several days at WDW followed a 7 day Disney cruise with a vow renewal service on board with our 3 kids. The total cost is going to be huge and is making my DH very nervous!!

So, I've already got a pretty good plan in place for how much money I need to put aside each month and the kids have a jar where they are collecting any and all change they find.

Any other ideas? Thanks!!!

&

 

[CajunDixie]

Get any/all military discounts that are available
Open an ING account then send referrals to your DH and each of your children. Not only will this give you a great place to keep the money you're saving but the referrals will give you and each person that opens an account a bonus. To start I suggest you open one for yourself with the Offer ID from TaxCut ( 58978755 ) this is not a referral #, you put that # in the offer ID on the ING page. That starts you with a $50 bonus.
If you have the space try gardening this summer. Freeze or let the kids sell any extras.
Yard/Garage sales
Join a few reward programs if you shop online. Such as My Points, Memolink or Creation Rewards. To learn more about them at the bottom of the page click the link to change boards and go to the Rewards Board.
Read all threads on here that list other ideas.
Such as this link
Recycle
Another recycle
Raising Money Thread
Budget Tip Thread
Eat Out Challenge Thread
Cooking at Home
Menu Ideas
Searching for those threads I went back 10 pages so if you want more start with at least page 11

 

[missmulan]

1. i sell on ebay
2. i make monthly deposits to ING
3. i sold my kids' toys via local newspaper (made over 200 last month)
4. i'd give up certain activities (i.e. movies or rollerskating) once/month
5. i try to eat at home 90% of the time

Good luck in your quest to save! Once you get there, it is truly rewarding. It's also a matter of "priorities" to...when you make it your priority to go on a Disney vacation, you will have the will to save for it.

 

[Forevryoung]

If I work "unexpectedly" like when I picked up a bunch of hours over winter break at my old job, I put 3/4 of that money aside for Disney. I dont put all of it aside because it is nice to have some pocket money for the upcoming semester

 

[TLinden16]

One thing that I do is if I feel like going to get a soda or a snack from the vending machine at work, I ask myself if I really want it. If I decide to grab some water instead, I'll put a dollar in an envelope I keep in my desk at work. You'd be surprised how quickly it can add up if you cut out sodas, or cups of coffee, or snacks that cost a buck or two.

Karen

 

[Pea-n-Me]

DH and I realized we were each spending at least $10/week at Dunkin Donuts. ($80/month//$960/yr). We bought a travel mug coffeemaker at Walmart and began brewing our own coffee before work. Huge savings!

We also began taking a close look at our incidental spending habits. Very easy to blow through cash on little things every day. Now we try to really look at what we're spending and not spend it unless it's something we really need. Amazing how that $$ adds up.

We've also found that having a vacation booked is very motivational.

 

[iNTeNSeBLue98]

I round off my checking account balance. In ink, I round up checks/debits and round down deposits to the nearest whole dollar. To the right of that I keep the actual balance in pencil, in case I need to balance the checkbook I know exactly where I stand. In a month's time I usually have saved between $10-$20 (it could be more if my charge card payments wouldn't all be whole dollars ) I transfer the difference between the true balance and my balance to an ING account when it reaches $10, 15 or 20.

I started writing myself a check for the manufacturer's coupons I use at the grocery store, including those that were doubled. I save on average about $6 each week, not much, but that's and extra $25 a month that I toss in to savings. I write these checks from our joint account and deposit them to my personal account at another bank. But since I goofed by ordering an expensive box of checks for the joint account I will have to either open a new personal account at the same bank (which I'm planning to do) so I can transfer or simply transfer to ING.

When I make a deposit to my personal account, which is now for ebay, rewards, rebates, etc, I transfer 1/2 that amount to ING.

I've been saving change, but mostly while at work. All my change goes in to a bank on my desk. Only about $10 in there right now, but I've had to dip, or do take advantage when I'm short on cash for lunch. Sometimes I toss $1 bills in there if it's not a squeeze on the wallet that week.

 

[Minerva]

Take that change to the bank and let it earn interest for you. We have a trip savings account and I never spend the change in my wallet, I pay with bills for everything. Every two weeks we empty out my wallet and take it to add to the savings account along with what is being put in there from paychecks. Usually the change is around $20. We just got our interest on the account and for the last 3 months it was around $6. That might not sound like much but it's a Mickey bar and a drink and over time it adds up. Interest is free money and it's a great way to teach the kids about the importance of saving and the whole banking system. When we drive by any new construction around here by 8 year old points it out and wonders if our bank loaned them some of our money to build it. LOL

Save your leftovers in the freezer even if you don't like to eat leftovers. I have a baggie that I put all the left over veggies in, another that I put things like bones from roasts and steak. Every couple of months I make soup just from leftovers bags and other than the cost of some bread or corn bread to go with it that meal is pretty much a freebie.

When a movie comes out we think we want to see we decide if it's something we need to see right now or if we can wait a month or so until it gets to the second run theater. Tickets cost half as much there so when we go to a movie there I take the difference between what we spent there and what we would have spent at the first run theater and put it in the savings account. Sometimes we just skip seeing it in the theater at all and buy it when it comes out on DVD. Even at $20 for the video I still come out ahead of the cost of tickets and popcorn at the first run theater.

 

[ziggystardust]

Something that we always did was trade in some of that extra money for disney dollars. That way we couldn't touch it if we wanted to. Afterall that vending machine isn't going to take Mickey Money!

 

[Mommy Poppins]

Thanks everyone! Keep them coming!!

Intenseblue, we are about an hour and a half from you. We are in Cumberland/Dauphin County.

 

[Cplofdisneynutz]

Look at your current Cd & DVD collection, if your like me (and many others) you probably have a ton you don't listen to or watch. Find a local music store that buys back used product. You'd be amazed what you can get from it.

I'm not sure where you live or if there is one near you, but there is an entertainment store called FYE that is a national chain, I know they buy used product. There is a store locator on their website . Also there is a website called secondspin.com That is an internet based used product buyer/seller. I'm planning on doing this for our trip, just trying to decide which ones to get rid of

PM me if you have any questions. Good luck

 

[mrslur]

We do several things. We have a separate savings account just for WDW. Each paycheck I move a certain amount into that account and under NO circumstances can it be used for anything else. We also keep a change jar and every few months deposit that and any birthday, rebate or odd job checks also go in.

 

[Forevryoung]

Cplofdisneynutz, wow I never thought of that. There is a DVD boxed set that I really want but totally not willing to fork over $35 for. When I go home in a few weeks I am going to look through my cd collection (and my parents ) to see what I could sell back to the store. If I dont ask for cash, I will get more back so it's more worth it to get the DVD. Maybe I will find a lot of stuff and can get the DVD and cash! Yay

 

[jenr812]

I love this thread!!

 

[Mommy Poppins]

Me too Jen! Some great ideas here!!!

 

[Renate_do]

Hi,

I´m from Germany, and just made a plane to save money for our next WDW trip (perhaps April/May06 )

I got a Amexdebit card with is balanced in $ so I cant use it here

1. When I take money from the ATM I save 10% in a money-box...when it reaches 75€ I put it on the Amexcard.
2. The € coins have different backsites at each country. I put these *foreing currency* in a special money-box... and when it is full to the Amexcard
3. For each Softdrink bottle you have to pay 25€cent pledge. When I bring them back I put the money in the money-box.
4. 10% of our perquisites are going to the Amexcard
5. 10% of the ebaysales are going to the Amexcard.

You can put up to 2500€ (ca. 3250$) on this card....and I hope that I dont have to use the money in the box before tranferred to the card

Greets Renate

 

[NYDisneyMom]

Get any/all military discounts that are available
Open an ING account then send referrals to your DH and each of your children. Not only will this give you a great place to keep the money you're saving but the referrals will give you and each person that opens an account a bonus. To start I suggest you open one for yourself with the Offer ID from TaxCut ( 58978755 ) this is not a referral #, you put that # in the offer ID on the ING page. That starts you with a $50 bonus.

From what I've read recently..this code no longer works.

 

[jeeper9]

Hi everyone. I'm new to the budget board and would like to know what is ING?

 

[lovemygoofy]

Your dh can have all that extra money earned during the deployment allotted to a savings account so it's like you never see it but you know it's around. Each month put in about 75% or so of the extra money that you didn't earn before he went on the deployment. If you are anything like me I need the a little left out because I spend a ton sending goody boxes to my dh.

I was just sitting here and thinking while I type and I just realized that you may not be active duty or could be guard which of coures could mean a change in income levels. Have you been to the ticket/vacation office on the military installation near you? They seem to be able to book things at a cheaper rate than we can sometimes. I know that some cruise lines offer military discounts through the local ITR offices.

Offer to do some kind of co-op babysitting to save on a sitter. Get together with some other ladies you know and get a schedule where a couple of you watch all the kids and the moms take off then vice versa.

Have a garage sale or a co-op lending place where you and your friends swap out things you may need or can't use anymore but someone else could.

Do you pay a flat rate for goody box shipments? I was under the impression that now the post office will charge you a flat rate per box that weighs up to 20lbs.

I'll keep thinking about things that may help you and if you ever need to vent about just being stressed especially during a deployment, please feel free to PM me anytime. I totally understand. Good luck.

 

[NYDisneyMom]

Hi everyone. I'm new to the budget board and would like to know what is ING?

sent you a PM.