saving $ pre-trip

[alliecats]

I have seen a lot of threads on how to save AT WDW (offsites, codes, breakfast in rooms; etc) which have been a huge help. I just wondered if anyone also had any great ideas for saving up for the trip beforehand. I know once we get down there and smell the popcorn the Nutrigrain in the bellybag is not going to be as appetizing. I am not by nature a very saving person--I'm too in- the-moment.

I have been pretty good at socking away some cash on short notice, but there has to be some other ways to trim the budget that I am not thinking of!
Please share your super-saving strategies!

 

[SnackyStacky]

Here's my pre-trip saving advice:

1.) Get an interest bearing savings account. Put all of your savings into it, and earn a little extra money towards the vacation.

2.) Save your change. My fiancée has a HUGE problem with this one, and is always trying to dip into! But I bought one of those coin sorters, and everyday, I empty my pockets into it. Every little bit helps!

3.) Round up in your check register. When you make a purchase with your debit card, or with a check, round up to the next nearest dollar. For example, if you bought something for $2.06, enter it into the register as $3. It's like putting $.96 into the change sorter. I just make a note of how much I've accrued, and at the end of the month, transfer it to my savings account.

4.) Make a promise that all "found" money will be put into the savings account. That's any money that's not part of your normal paycheck. Examples: product rebates, money given as gifts

5.) EBAY! Some people report enormous success with selling things on Ebay. I haven't had any luck, but if you can do it, put any EBay money into your savings account.

6.) Put off vacation payments as LONG as you can. Pay your deposit, and put any payments you'd make into the savings account. It'll earn interest that way.

7.) If you can, setup your direct deposit so that a certain amount from each paycheck will be deposited into your savings account. It's a lot easier to save if you don't even have to think about it!

8.) If you live in a state that charges a deposit on carbonated beverages in bottles, glass or cans, put that money into your savings account.

9.) Daily, disposable expenses- dispose of them! Do you buy your cup of coffee everyday? Make it at home, or buy it only 3 days a week instead of 7. Whatever you didn't spend, put into your savings account.

10.) Start charging your kids $5 roundtrip if they want to go somewhere. (obviously, that's a joke....just felt like it needed a list of 10! )

 

[mad4themouse]

As I see it, there are 2 ways to save for a WDW vacation. You either spend less of what you make or you make more.

On the spend less side, I do the following:

• No credit card balances. I pay them off in full, on time every month. I get to keep what would have been spent on paying interest. It doesn't go into the Disney account but every $ that I don't pay in interest stays in my pocket to be spent how I want.
• I use my bank's online payment option for my bills and save myself a few dollars every month in postage.
• Coupons, coupons and more coupons! I clip like crazy and save at least 20% off my grocery bill every week. I also purchase coupons on eBay. For $1 you can get 20 or so coupons for items that you really use often (like cereal, diapers, cleaning products).
• I don't have call-waiting, call-forwarding or caller ID. They aren't a necessity, IMHO.
• My pre-paid cellphone costs me $10 every 45 days. I roll over the remaining minutes because I never use them all.
• We have basic cable. I have yet to see anything in the HBO, Cinemax or Showtime listings that would make it worth the extra money every month.
• I keep my heat at 65 in the winter and air conditioning at 72 in the summer.
• I save my change. All of it. And I don't use CoinStar to count it because they take a percentage. My bank has a coin counter that is free.
• I don't buy trendy clothes. Well-made classics bought at clearance are a better investment.

On the earn more end of things:

• I use a rewards credit card to pay for just about everything. If it can be charged, it goes on the card. I get 1% back in the form of Webcertificates. My DH is self-employed and he uses a business rewards card to get hotel, restaurant and car rental certificates.
• I do rewards programs and make almost $100 per month.
• I teach French to grade schoolers before the start of their regular school day. Tutoring can be good money if you have a college degree and can work with children.
• I eBay away the things I no longer need. I also list items for others for a flat fee. I sell my used books on Half.com
• I have $50 taken from my checking account and placed into an interest-bearing savings account every other week. INGDirect had an offer that they would add $25 to a new account. I get 2.9% interest and it's a little harder to get at than if it stayed in my checking account.
• I changed my long distance provider to the one that my frequent flier program is hooked up with. They had a hefty 10,000 mile bonus for signing up and 5 miles per $ spent.

It takes a lot of discipline to save money. A few $$ here and there doesn't seem like much but they do add up! My change jar alone had over $800 in it in January. Good luck saving. You'll get a lot of great ideas from everyone here.

 

[mrsboz]

Dear mad4themouse:

How does that work on half.com. I continuously give away paperback books after I read them. I would love to sell them. Do you get a lot of money this way. Is shipping a lot? Do you sell to half.com or to people that bid on them? I have never done anything like this or ebay. But, I would love the extra money. Thanking you in advance for your time.

 

[mad4themouse]

Originally posted by mrsboz
Dear mad4themouse:

How does that work on half.com. I continuously give away paperback books after I read them. I would love to sell them. Do you get a lot of money this way. Is shipping a lot? Do you sell to half.com or to people that bid on them? I have never done anything like this or ebay. But, I would love the extra money. Thanking you in advance for your time.

If you have an eBay account, you can start selling on Half.com right away. Here are the basics:

• You set the selling price and simply enter your inventory based on the ISBN number of the book. There is no fee for listing your books, videos, DVDs or CDs.
• Half.com charges the buyer for shipping based on media mail rates plus confirmation.
• You receive an email stating that you've made a sale. You must confirm the sale within 48 hours. The email will have a printable packing slip with the buyers name and address on it.
• You prepare the package and ship it to the buyer.
• Half.com takes percentage of your price as their fee and once a month, they send you the money that you made that month. I have mine set up to be deposited directly to my checking account.
• Your books remain available for purchase on Half.com for as long as you leave them there or until someone buys them.
• If you go on vacation or are otherwise unavailable for a given amount of time, there is a "vacation" function that temporarily removes your inventory from sale. You do not need to re-enter all your books when your return from your vacation...just toggle your vacation button back to home.

I'm not making a fortune selling on Half.com but I'm getting rid of a lot of books that would otherwise be gathering dust on my bookshelves. And $10 every month adds up to $120 in a year!

 

[carone0318]

I agree with one earlier poster. My dh just set up a savings acct with the credit union through his work specifically for our "vacation acct." Every pay check, he has money sent directly to the acct; therefore, we don't feel the pain of doing it ourselves. If I had to manually move the money every time he got paid, I wouldn't do it. Our current system is great, we also do not have a debit card on that acct, we do have an ATM though. The money is accessible, but we have to do a little work to get to it!!!!

 

[HappyLawyer]

I second the change saving we have 800.00 ins quarters, nickels, dimes and pennies and we have until dec to go

 

[dpayne1969]

we too save our change all of it,if an item cost 1.05 i give them 2.00 and empty out our pockets and purses daily.We usually end up with around 50-75.00 in 1 months time.At the beginning of Feb.i went to my local middle school and put in for sub.teacher and my gosh i have put in 77 hours in 1 months time.Otherwise i am a stay at home mom who btw babysits 2 kids after school plus i sell full time on ebay!I also go to the local flea markets in the spring and summer and me and my kids sell out there as well.
I am making a lot of sacrifices but this is our first family vacation and we are sooooooo excited.The best part is that almost our whole trip is already paid for in advance.I have our hotel booked and 1 nite paid.I have our UO/IOA tickets for me,ds,dd and we are ordering my dh annual pass tomorrow via internet of course.
We are driving in since dh said he wants to stop and enjoy the scenery when he feels the urge.LOL.So we will have gas to pay but it is going to be great.Btw i went to our local mall the other day and Sears and JC Penney had a 75% off sale.OMG i got my kids vacation clothes for 2.77 and 1.77 for Jnco items.Ds was thrilled and so was I!!

 

[crisi]

There are functional two ways to get money:

Save it:

Cut unnecessary expenses:
1) Use the library instead of a bookstore
2) Cut your cable expenses (do you watch HBO and showtime?)
3) Cut your phone bill (do you really need call waiting)
4) Cut your dining out expenses - don't order liquor out, eat out less often, order water to drink, don't have a daily latte.
5) Color your hair out of a box at home instead of a salon....

etc. etc. Basically, look at every penny you spend and ask yourself if you'd rather spend it where you are spending it, or spend it at Disneyworld (or whatever else you are spending)

A subset of saving it is hiding it:

1) Get a change jar.
2) Open a savings account just for vacation. Don't touch it for anything but vacation or a dire emergency (like car repair or medical bills - a dire emergency is not "those cute boots went on sale")
3) Save "found" money - rebate checks, gift money, tax returns, bonus checks
4) round up in your checkbook

etc. etc....If you are the type that if the money is there, you'll spend it, hiding it can be a great way to save it. One of the things I've learned is I don't carry cash. If I have four dollars on me, it gets spent on Snickers bars from the vending machine, coffee, the McD's drive through on the way home, etc. If I don't have the four dollars on me, I discover I don't need the Snickers bar, cup of coffee or quick burger.

The second way is to earn more money.

1) Get a part time job
2) Ask for a raise
3) Sell things on eBay or have a garage sale
4) Offer to mow your neighbors lawn when you do your own for whatever is reasonable. Tutor kids, babysit.
5) Work overtime if its available.

 

[pumpkinboy]

One more piece of advice, and this is a BIG Moneysaver: Don't buy New Cars! Drive your cars into the ground, and when they stop working, buy a reliable used one. Holding on to our excellent 93 Mazda for the long term I expect is saving us enough to pay for a good chunk of our DVC membership, and that will last 38 more years (50 if you buy SSR); try to find a new car like that!

Oh yeah, and all the stuff the ever-wise Crisi recommends. I especially like

Save "found" money - rebate checks, gift money, tax returns, bonus checks

 

[Enforcerman]

Originally posted by carone0318
I agree with one earlier poster. My dh just set up a savings acct with the credit union through his work specifically for our "vacation acct." Every pay check, he has money sent directly to the acct; therefore, we don't feel the pain of doing it ourselves. If I had to manually move the money every time he got paid, I wouldn't do it. Our current system is great, we also do not have a debit card on that acct, we do have an ATM though. The money is accessible, but we have to do a little work to get to it!!!!

This is exactly what we do. 100 bucks a paycheck. Thats 2600 a year and it more than pays for our trip.

 

[Shack]

mad4themouse,

What are rewards programs?

Thanks

 

[dpayne1969]

i also went to Sam's bought a haircutter thing and do my sons hair cuts instead of paying the barber shop 10.00 for a 5 minute job!I sometimes think i am a cheap skate but oh well i am going to Orlando in Nov.so who cares!LOL
I also have my mom do may perms out of the box LOL and yes i highlight my own hair do my own nails and blah blah blah!!
Every penny counts in this house!BTW my xmas shopping is done!
I went to the 75% off sales after xmas and brought my list with me and got all i needed for 75% off and it feels good to be done.

 

[alliecats]

Thank you all for such great advice. Some of these things have never occurred to me and I really appreciate getting to pick your brains. I hope you all have wonderful trips!!!

 

[HaleyB]

I save this way-

I go to the grocery store alone with a list and I stick to it. I plan our meals a week at a time based on Sunday sale flyers. Doing this I save from$10 to $35 a week (from what I used to spend and what is in my budget). Every cent gets hidden away. I really save more than that because I used to go way over budget all the time.

Kids birthday gifts- I let Grandparents and Aunts buy the gifts, we 'give' the party and I keep the cost down. I spend less and have less 'stuff' as a bonus. My kids already own every toy ever made so they are not missing out on anything (plus all they ever want to do is ride bikes).

And as others have posted, I save all 'found' money.

 

[mad4themouse]

Originally posted by Shack
mad4themouse,

What are rewards programs?

Thanks

Rewards programs (RPs) offer their members incentives for their participation. "Participation" might be in the form of:

• reading emails and clicking on the links contained within them
• clicking on banner ads which are located in the pages of the program itself (daily or weekly)
• performing searches thru some banner ads, answering trivia & surveys (daily or weekly)
• and mostly for doing sign ups and shopping thru their shopping portals.

Members are awarded points for each activity with the better point-earning opportunities for shopping and signups. The points can be then be exchanged for rewards when the member reaches a level where she can cashout. Rewards can be items like CD players and crystal vases or they can be gift certificates (GCs) to restaurants, hotels and retail stores.

Here's a link to the DIS Rewards Board . There are a lot of great people on that board who can help you get started. They know which programs are good and which ones to avoid.

 

[pjlla]

One more idea.... go to your local library and check out the three "Tightwad Gazette" books by Amy Dacyczyn. Read all three cover to cover, at least once, maybe more. Find at least three ideas that you can live with and use them!! I am certainly not the best $$ saver, but I know that I never pay more than .33/lb for pasta (sometimes get it for .25/lb), I frequently buy chicken leg quarters for .29/lb, and when I see a great sale on something like laundry detergent, I will usually buy a year's supply all at once!! Some of the ideas on the books might see a little "out there" but she acknowledges that not all off the ideas will fit into everyone's lifestyle. Anyhow, once you start saving within your everyday budget, you'll be able to budget more into the saving account for things like trips to WDW!!.......................P