Saving, reward points, frequent flyers... the hard part..

[admel00]

I have been doing some number crunching and for a family of 5 it certainly adds up to have this trip of a lifetime (or at least the first one.. !! We are a family who does not have a huge amount of disposable income but know it's possible to make this trip happen. Especially, as I am a nurse so I work extra casually when need a cash boost. So I guess this is a bit of a spin off from Ms Shuttergirls, "how on earth do you afford it" thread. There was talk of saving up in mortgages etc, and then comes the rewards points and frequent flyers. I have a frequent flyers card that ears points when I shop at Woolies with their everyday rewards card. I don't have a large CC (might need one though.. ) but would be willing to get one if it's worth it to get points to pay for one flight?? I think this is all sounding a bit confusing, but I guess I'm asking do you put a certain amount away each week/fn then withdraw from this when booking things.. as from reading I can see that you seem to pay for things as you plan and go. Do you use the cc card and then just pay this off each month. Do you use the CC card for everything then pay it off each month to get maximum rewards points for travel... Anyway if anyone is willing to share, the how to of getting to the goal then I would be extremely grateful, but if this is to much of an imposition on people then feel free to ignore me!!!

 

[battymum]

I think you will find most of us are in the same boat, financially, we are all looking for ways to get the most bang for our holiday dollars!

One of the first things you will need to pay for in full is the Airline tickets, so unless you have enough points already - you will not have enough time to earn them.(but you will earn heaps for next time) Everything else you can just put deposits down and Disney is pretty good about refunding in full until about 45days out. (not sure exactly)

I started planning our trip about this time last year, as a family of five we got a pretty generous tax return, so I squirrelled this away and started adding $100 per week to it. This, coupled with this years tax return should cover our trip.
We also had some NRMA (IAG) shares that we sold, - remember when they floated the company and everyone got shares - well we had been sitting on ours for the last 10years and I decided that they werent going to make us millionaires - so sold them for about 4k.

I had budgeted our trip when the $ was around 85c so seeing it climb, only made our holiday cheaper, when it was around 95c I changed the money I had over to a Travel card - (who knew - it woud rise to $1.10 , but it could easily have fallen back)

The travel card has been great for paying things online (it works just like Visa debit, but is in US currency, so no conversion fees)

I have prepaid as much as I can, we have free Disney dining - so we shouldnt need too much spending money, our annual leave pay should cover this (we wont have the usual expenses that our money disappears on - groceries, petrol etc) - although I am told shopping is cheap - so will use the credit card a bit if necessary (up to $1k - really dont want to do this)

Meanwhile we have had a pretty frugal year, although we have had two children with orthodontic treatment and catholic school and we just had to replace our oven - there has been plenty of things we could have spent that money on, you just have to make it a priority!

 

[kylieh]

On the points, you need to make some assumptions on who you will fly etc. Getting points on Woolworths for example is a bonus if you shop there, though if you can shop cheaper elsewhere it may not be worth it. Likewise with other items.

It's around 100,000 points for a return flight to LA (I think) on Qantas, or 100,000 points will buy around $1,000 non-classic airfares like points+pay.

For ease in working out the figures... a $230 shop will get you 200 of points which is roughly $2 of airfare! Not much. You will get more points if you pay on a points Amex which a lot give 1.5 points per $ spent. So in this case you'll get

200 WW points
345 Amex points (1.5 * 230)
545 points total.

A little better, but a bit to go.

DH and I see points as a top up, we normally fly Qantas and have for the past two trips. So with family transfers on our points, a trip for 3 to LA gets you about 15000 points each, combine them and your almost 1/2 way. Top up with credit card spending.

Don't forget though with Amex you get points everywhere you can spend it, though be aware of the service charge that someplaces charge. We put DD's school fees on ours, thats another few thousands points per year + health insurance, electricity, etc etc.

With the credit card, if you don't pay it off in full each month you've almost negated any value you get.

How we pay for it....

Our holiday is an expense for us. Say I guess the holiday will cost $20k I'll put $400 per week into a mortgage off-set account. That way we get the interest benefit. I also normally get a bonus once a year which helps.

ETA: If I starded now in a four months I'd be ready to pay for flights on special as soon as they appeared. Keep saving then a few months later I enough for other things, pay deposits etc. So pay as I go, but start saving in advance of when we need to start paying.

 

[5ofus]

We are going to use points, but our trip is not until 2015 and we already have enough for three return flights to LA (we're aiming for Dallas). We only have Woolies close to us so that's where we shop. We use our AMEX (only getting 1 point/ $1, but we don't pay interest) or Woolies Mastercard for EVERYTHING. So every time we shop at Woolies we get 2 points per $1 and everywhere else we get at least 1 point/$1.

We are also a family of five so this is pretty much the only way we can afford the holiday we want. Not having to find an extra $5000-$8000 for airfares (you still have to pay taxes and surcharges when you use your points which costs a few hundred dollars) is really going to help us out

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

A client of mine gave me a lightbulb moment about saving for holidays. She said she has a separate account that she calls her holiday account. And she pays that account first. It's kind of like paying "yourself" first I guess.

So I took that and did the same, but put it into my mortgage offset account instead of a separate bank account so that it was saving me money on my mortgage at the same time. I worked out approx. how much I could afford to but in there each week, set up an automatic direct debit to come out of our account for the day my husband gets paid. So straight away I am saving for the holiday before I do anything else.

We very rarely eat out or get takeaway but perhaps if your family has a regular takeaway night, change it to fortnightly and get the kids to put the saved money into a money box so that they don't feel like they are missing out, but working towards a common goal.

Perhaps if the kids get pocket money, ask them to donate a dollar or two a week to the holiday fund.

If you generally get a coffee at the shops, put the money into the jar instead.

Cook cheaper meals an extra night or two a week.

Instead of taking the kids to the pictures , perhaps hire a Disney movie instead and make "american" food for dinner.

Write up a list of items that can be purchased while in the US for much cheaper, that are necessary purchases eg. kids school sneakers and shoes, jeans for a year or two, hoodies, t-shirts etc. All very very cheap in the US and good brands.

Make sure when you are budgeting, factor in your grocery money for the whole time you are away and add that into your spending money. Same goes for petrol.

If you are planning on going to WDW, I would try my hardest to go when free dining is offered, it saved us thousands, seriously thousands.

When you are actually away on the holiday, purchase breakfast items that you can eat in your room. This truly will save you hundreds of dollars across the whole trip.

The meals in the US are large and it would be easy for kids to share with adults etc.

Many places in the US give you free drink refills so perhaps be a little sneaky and only buy 2 or 3 drinks for a fam of 4 and share.

Ask family to give you and the children money for Christmas and birthdays, instead of gifts. Do the same with yourself and your husband, all money into the holiday savings.

Since you are able to pick up extra shifts nursing, try to pick some weekend shifts up so you get weekend rates, perhaps a few night shifts so you earn more. Even one extra shift a fortnight or a month where all of the money goes into your savings, wow that adds up quick.

Spend lots of time on the Dis Budget Board and read other peoples wonderful and unique ideas on how they save. Do you have lots of things stored in the garage that you could sell at a garage sale? It all adds up.

One that the kids enjoyed and shocked me at how quickly it added up, my husband and I would drop all of our spare change into a money box most afternoons and we couldn't believe how quickly that money added up.

I realise all of these things are fairly obvious but I truly believe that including the children in the saving makes them feel more invested in trying to save, they won't ask for things as often because they know all saving is for the holiday. Buy having Disney movie nights and watching classics that you already own, eating food that is themed, doing some fun cheap craft stuff with the kids that you find here on the DIS, keeping enthusiasm high - it really is worth it.

Why not start a thread on here just for your own savings plan, a bit like a diary and check in weekly with how you are going, or even fortnightly. Just to let us encourage you and applaud you along.

Good luck, it will be so wonderful once you are there.

 

[battymum]

Yes I have a holiday account - I find I can be more disciplined if I see it growing. My DH gets paid in cash, yes cold hard, (he works for small business, and he does pay tax) so it means literally going to the bank and depositing money into that account. The rest dissappears on groceries and living expenses. - why do we have to eat?

We already pay extra into our mortage and 20years later we still have it So now I like to keep savings seperate - After the Japanese earthquake, the currency dived a little and I panicked and borrowed from my mortgage offset, I havent been as disciplined as I should be in paying it back.

My DD got herself a parttime job, and as much as I tried, she wasnt willing to pay for herself, but she does have about $1000 in savings for her own spending.
I know there are laws against getting a six year old a job - but my boys (13) have been selling stuff that they have outgrown on ebay - sold a PSP + 10 games + accessories for $137 yesterday - breaks my heart as I paid 230 for the PSP alone - 18mnths ago - but it was better than collecting dust and not being used.

Have you looked at the accommodation in WDW - aside from the airfares, WDW is a very affordable holiday - wth your family the only option in staying on-site is Port Orleans, they will fit five in a room with a trundle bed, If your cousin comes along, you will have no choice but to get two rooms in a value resort,these run at about $85 per night in value season. However they only sleep 4, so one of the kids may have to bunk with the cousin. $85 per night is cheap accommodation for 4 people in my book- often in September Disney has offered "free dining" so for $85 four people can stay and have 2 meals per day and a snack.

However I would only stay on site in two rooms if we were getting free dining, there are plenty of townhouse style homes available for cheap holiday rental, that your family will be comfortable in. This is a whole seperate issue, and can polarise opinion - having to get the two rooms pushes it over the edge IMO.

Park Tix for a week run at about $300 per person. Depending on what options you take.

New York, however is a different story - accomodation there is not cheap no matter how you look at it - beware of apartment style rentals, they are illegal, thats why we are only there for four nights.

Sorry for the book.

 

[WAMUMOF4]

You guys have already posted some wonderful ideas.

Last year when we got home i was determined that if we could save that amount of money in such a short time we could just keep doing it with no trip booked it just did not happen.
But miraculously the second we booked a trip again our whole family was back on board working towards our goal
I know the problem was that we stopped paying ourselves first and that is what we did to get our holiday paid for. Each week we pay x amount of $ of our trip it is a fixed expense the same as rent or electricity some weeks we pay more but always the set amount. Each pay we would book and pay for a hotel or tickets etc until we got it all paid for and where on to spending money. We always overestimate our family tax benefit so we get a nice lump sum you only miss it for the first few weeks. I just figure if you don't have it you cant spend it

Re flights i did not have FF for everyone last year which was a mistake because with what we would of all got and already had we would of had one airfare nearly free this year.
I have the Woolworths card as well and have got about 7000 points in 2 years so i think it would take forever for us to build up enough points that way.

We are really lucky that the Travel agent allows us to book pay a deposit and pay off our flights it costs us an extra $50 a person but we don't have a credit card only Visa debit and i am much happier to book this way i find the deal call them tell them the flight numbers they book it and i pay it off we both win (only the flights do we do this way)
When we book our hotels we usually choose to pay a little more for a hotel that includes breakfast so we don't have to worry about that * by 6 the $10 extra a night usually pays for itself.

I totally agree with Ms. Shuttergirl about a savings plan i joined the no buy thread and even though i thought we had our spending downpat it is really good to be able to go back and see where i spent and have the support of others when you are not doing so well.

A menu plan was an amazing thing that helped us stay on track last year and only buying what we needed i am still surprised at how much it saves us to have our meals preplanned and how much we waste when we just go shopping and buy whatever we like. DS 14 and 15 have been picking oranges for spending money they also weeded watermelons earlier on in the year and they have about $600 each.

I think the biggest thing is priority by no means am i judging anyone but for us once we decided we had talked about it long enough and it was time to act before the kids left home and we booked with the faith that we were going to be able to go it all fell into place and when other people say i couldn't give up going out for coffee or i couldn't give up the movies or takeaway food we just remember the wonderful holiday we had and are having again and that those sacrifices we have all made during the year are worth the reward and the memories we are making to last our children a lifetime. To see the kids faces light up and say we have been there is 100 times more rewarding than the few movies or coffee out we didn't do.

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

Lots of amazing tips and stories coming in.

The other thing I wanted to say was I think for the kids it is also a good life lesson. Learning to go without a few minor things to get such a big reward and goal achieved.

Working hard and saving hard = playing hard.

Definitely great life skills.

 

[admel00]

Thank you all so much for sharing with me your saving stories and ideas!!!! It puts it all into perspective the "how" of all this. It's such an overwhelming thing!! I can definitely see that it is possible for us, but it seemed like such an overwhelming task when you see the numbers. Thank you so much for all putting into a basic perspective. We are expecting a reasonable tax return this year, due to some negative gearing and I didn't claim FTB so they owe me a reasonable amount in that. As for next year though, with me doing extra, that may not be a bonus we will get, but it won't matter as I'll still be closer to the goal. I really like the idea of getting the kids on board. Even for them to drop in any change they find in a "Disney Dish" or something. They always seem to be finding money here and there!!!

Depending on whether my DH's cousin come will def depend on where we stay. One question though....

If you are planning on going to WDW, I would try my hardest to go when free dining is offered, it saved us thousands, seriously thousands.

When you are actually away on the holiday, purchase breakfast items that you can eat in your room. This truly will save you hundreds of dollars across the whole trip.

How do you know when these free dining plans are available or is it all just a bit of a gamble. I think our most likely scenario for going next year will be late Nov/early Dec for a few weeks. It is also a possibility that my DD will be dancing at HK Disney next November so her and I may just go to this and then meet the boys in LA. Looks like there will be lots of Disney dinners at this house!! hahahahhaa...

Thank you again for your words of wisdom and a little bit of encouragement, I can't wait to trip plan and get input with you guys!! I am not the best planner so will be probably going over these trip reports with a fine tooth plan in the hope of planning a wonderful holiday for our family!!!

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

Here is a link for when the discount dates were back to 2008. This should help you a little with when to go:-

http://www.mousesavers.com/historicalwdwdiscounts.html

 

[australiankaren]

hey
some great tips........

I agree re free dining, and even if you have to pay $10pp to upgrade dining plan its worth it to have a table service meal every day.This saved us $800 last trip.

I put all coins in mickey piggy bank, then bank it when it gets full...so far it has paid for the wdw hopper tickets- $700

I also pay off my cruise every month,i get my airfare 9 months out when its cheap, and stop buying coffee/ lunch most days which saves a fortune.

Join all the airline freq. flyer programs in the USA, as you can transfer between them and join emiles for delta miles, our delta miles paid for 3 nights accom at lax Hilton & Marriott this trip- saving around $500.

Priceline is awesome for car hire...join hertz/ budget programs for specials and email alerts.

Best of all, my DH questions whether he wants the latest gadget/tool/thingy or a trip away ..so has curbed his spending 90%.

this site is also a great resource for hints tips and other stuff....saving me thousands over the years....