Saving up for Disney

[misscrossbee]

We're saving up for our next trip in 2010 and looking for ways to cut back, save money, etc. Every little helps, as a major supermarket likes to say!

Assuming I'm not the only non-independently wealthy person here, what do you do to save money for your trip?

I know the DIS has its own budget board, but I find that to be quite US-centric with its tips and hints.

 

[Disneynutinlondon]

Shop around for our weekly food shop, at the moment we're going to Asda, stop buying clothes that are really not needed, stop the weekly takeaway, get the kids to switch of the lights when they leave the room and we've turned down the heating to 22 degs.

Thats what we're doing

 

[scottish mum]

I have a direct debit that comes out of my bank every month into another bank account that is only used for holidays. I treat it like a bill that needs to be paid. Also our child allowance goes into our holiday fund as I then feel the kids are benefitting from that money.
We also don't eat out overly often and neither of us smoke or hardly ever drink so our holidays are our treat. Also I try not to buy clothes just for the sake of it. DD does not need anymore her drawers hardly closeJust don't go shopping then there is no temptation. Also do online grocery shopping, you don't spend so much then

 

[madmumof2]

I never had many 'luxuries' anyway, but since booking this holiday I've not had a take-away (oh how I crave one!), not bought any clothes, buy Tesco's own most of the time or go to Aldi, I don't have lights on until I start squinting lol, and I've stopped buying my weekly Disney DVD! :S

 

[Lizzybear]

Believe it or not we've saved money switching from Asda to Sainsburys for our supermarket shop..! Not sure if it's just the type of food (vegetarian) we buy but we find we now waste less because Sainsburys fruit and veg seem to last longer and taste nicer than Asda's and since our local Sainsburys is much smaller there is less temptation in general (no fresh pizza counter and only one aisle of junk *lol*) Their basics range is really good too, especially for tins. Also, we only visit the supermarket every 2 weeks and sometimes stretch it to 3. In between times we just pick up bits from our local Co-op like milk and bread. Ooh and I always make sure that i'm not hungry before a supermarket shop, that's a surefire way to end up buying junk!! I've tried Aldi and Lidl and found their food OK but for my supermarket shop I like to get it out of the way in one shop which I can't do there (no frozen vegetarian food)
What else.. Packed lunches for work for both of us, eBaying anything that's not nailed down, only drink alcohol occassionally, making more of my own clothes (i'm a real clothing addict but since that's the easiest thing for me to cut down on i'm trying not to buy anything new at all unless I really need it, luckily I already have a lot of fabric and like sewing), using the library rather than buying books, going on walks rather than costly 'days out' or shopping or just staying in, Blockbuster membership instead of visiting the cinema (obviously won't work for everyone but we're probably the sort of customers they hate!!) Also not sure it's done as much now but we had quite a few free cinema trips using seefilmfirst codes posted on hotukdeals, my bf does a later shift now so we stopped checking as most of the showings are around 6pm weeknights), emptying my purse and putting anything under £1 into my money box at the end of each day, not using the tumble dryer for everything (no choice in the matter here as we don't own one, I just keep a dehumidifier on near the drying clothes) and cooking from scratch. We do like takeaways and meals out sometimes but try to see those as occassional treats rather than an every week or more thing. I would like to do more meal planning, it's one of those things I tend to fall by the wayside with.

 

[emily1982]

I use Quidco, as im buying stuff online anyway so may aswell get cashback from it. Save all the loose change. Sell things on ebay.

 

[Natasha&Matt]

Hey good luck with the saving it will all be worth it in the end.

I have stopped using Taxis,started shopping at morrisons,sell things on ebay,stopped takeaways (its amazing how many takeaways get bought), i have stopped smoking (saves money and health),got a payg phone instead of contract.

Also i look daily on the moneysavingexpert website which i find very helpful.

 

[Amy_B]

LOOSE CHANGE

I have a jar for pennies & 2 pences,
and a big piggy bank for anything silver.

Every time i buy something i put the change in the jar, or piggy bank,
also, if i have a loose pound, i will ask someone in the shop to change it into twenty pences, just so I'm not tempted to spend it on rubbish, and then that will go in my piggy bank!

Or if i have 5+ pound coins i take it into my bank and put it straight into my savers account!

I only started with the jar and piggy bank on my birthday, 6th December
and last Tuesday i went to the Coinstar in my local Asda and then put it into the bank

I had £13.34 in pennies and 2 pences
£27.85 in silver,
and i had £335 in the savings account
(£10 was what i had to put in to open the account)
(£250 was a chunk of my January wages)

So its £41.19 in pennies and 2 pences
and £75 of £1 and £2 coins
in less than 6 weeks =]

Good luck with the savings

 

[brer rabbit 28]

I use the money expert website too. Got loads of money off coupons and BOGOF deals through him. Also transfering your credit card balance to a 0% can help save a few pennies on interest.My DB laughs at how savvy I've become with money and shopping around.

I also save my holiday money in an internet saving account with Nationwide. I can't draw it out of a cash machine so it helps me resist the temptation to spend it in a weak moment.

 

[Natasha&Matt]

LOOSE CHANGE

I have a jar for pennies & 2 pences,
and a big piggy bank for anything silver.

Every time i buy something i put the change in the jar, or piggy bank,
also, if i have a loose pound, i will ask someone in the shop to change it into twenty pences, just so I'm not tempted to spend it on rubbish, and then that will go in my piggy bank!

Or if i have 5+ pound coins i take it into my bank and put it straight into my savers account!

I only started with the jar and piggy bank on my birthday, 6th December
and last Tuesday i went to the Coinstar in my local Asda and then put it into the bank

I had £13.34 in pennies and 2 pences
£27.85 in silver,
and i had £335 in the savings account
(£10 was what i had to put in to open the account)
(£250 was a chunk of my January wages)

So its £41.19 in pennies and 2 pences
and £75 of £1 and £2 coins
in less than 6 weeks =]

Good luck with the savings

Liking your plan!

 

[misscrossbee]

I also don't have a lot of 'luxuries' to give up, but one thing I did do was ring Sky to discuss cancelling the movie package, knowing they often offer you a (temporary) deal to keep it. They offered me the package for £3 per month for the next three months (instead of £18 I think it is) with the offer to cancel it at the end if I still wanted to.

I also gave up buying a 'high end' cleanser and moisturiser (my weakness) and instead am now buying cheaper products off the shelf at Boots, which work just as well.

Quidco is also great - I've gotten £120 back from them in the last twelve months.

I'm going to try to start buying more 'own brand' products from the supermarket and have another go at selling a bunch of stuff on Ebay.

 

[Beep]

I use Quidco a lot and have a few hundred £ back.

I switched our home insurance and saved over £100.

I am losing weight and for every lb I lose I put £1 in the jar. For every lb I put on I put £2 in the jar!!

I also put £2 and £1 coins when I get them and so far have over £350.

We cancelled the window-cleaning man.

I shop at our local Chinese wholesalers as they are so cheap. We love Thai food and I can cook a meal for the two us for under £2.50, so no more take-aways.

We have a Saturday night in with a film, usually borrowed from friends, our £2.50 meal and snuggle under the quilt.

I cancelled insurance on products that wouldn't cost much more than the policy to replace, or on things we could do without.

I don't buy Ossie shampoo or conditioner anymore and buy whatever is cheapest. Just as good.

I buy a lot of supermarkets own brand stuff, and shop at Aldi and Lidl.

I only put the dryer on for half the time and hang the washing up overnight to dry.

I mix half and half washing liquid and water and it has made no difference to how clean the clothes are, same with fabric conditioner.

I also mix half and half washing up liquid as we always used too much.

There are more but I cant think of them at the mo.

 

[Pooh's-Honey-Pot]

I do my food shop online each week. Even taking account the delivery cost (which is free on certain days) I still save loads each week by not browsing and buying everything on offer when I'm in the store. I do a menu each week and order the exact food I need - saves money and calories!!!! Its saves us £10 - 15 each week, which is a fair amount over the year.

We also sell everything thats not (as Anthea Turner would have said) "useful, beautiful, or seriously sentimental" on ebay or at work and pay that money straight into our holiday account. Every time I think of possibly keeping something, I visualise Florida against it. NO contest!!

Cancel the gym and just get a couple of weights and workout DVD's, or take up running.

We also have a DD that a set amount goes into each month on payday.

Get a pay as you talk mobile and really limit yourself with your top-ups.

Like others have said, I get mostly supermarket. own brands and cheaper toiletries.

It will all add up and you will have a great trip!!

 

[pixiepower04]

We physically can't cut down/back on anything because we don't really shop.

I rarely buy myself anything, DH has never bought clothes in the 15 years we've been together as I do it for him so he just doesn't spend.

I usually buy the kids their clothes in the January and summer sales but for the next size/age up and then keep them in the attic until I do the yearly mass clearout.

Car boot sales.

Ebay (for buying anything we need).

Save £2 coins. We started this in November 2006 and by the time our holiday came around in September 2008 we had over £600, which paid for our taxi to the Airport (£120), our hotel for the night (£120), kids spending money and stuff at the airport plus some left over for the airport on the way back home.

I started saving the £2 coins again from December and have nearly £100 in it already.

 

[higgy66]

I've stopped going into the supermarkets.

I now buy from the farm shop or when in town I go to the butchers and greengrocers.

I shop on line once a month for bulky stuff such as toilet rolls, washing powder etc and frozen foods such as fish fingers, peas etc. I usually get a discount code from hotdeals uk for £5 off which more than covers delivery.

I try to buy little and often just what we need and we have hardly any waste and spend almost 1/2 what we were spending.

The biggest thing for us has been drawing a set amount of cash out each week and sticking to that - when it's gone it's gone. It really makes you think about what your spending as I don't think you notice when you hand over a piece of plastic. Also when you have some left at the end of the week you feel such a sense of acheivement.

 

[pixiepower04]

We have 1 credit card which we use for emergencies like the washing machine breaking down or booking the holiday on but it gets paid off whenever the bill comes in.

I use cash as much as possible and rarely use my debit card.

 

[wilma-bride]

We are doing lots to save up. We have a separate bank account which we have a standing order into at the beginning of every month - we don't touch the money in there at all and, if I have any money left in my own bank account at the end of the month, I transfer it to the Holiday account.

I have a Pot of Dreams Holiday fund that Natalie bought me for my Birthday last year. Every time I take money out of the cashpoint, I draw out an extra tenner and that goes in the holiday pot.

I also save 20p and £2 coins and, as soon as I have enough to change, I pay them into the bank and draw out the cash, which goes into the holiday pot.

The kids contributed some of their Christmas money to the holiday fund as well (bless them ).

 

[orangetiggs]

i have a sealed pot (a roses tin sealed with sellotape) that i put all my spare change in at the end of the day and i will break it open the week before we go on holiday to change it up for spending money

 

[Jets fan]

Luckily for me I've never had to save for anything in my life but life/finances are getting tougher now, so I am starting to save and cut back on spending money without much thought. As I live on my own it is quite easy to budget and actually stick to it. My two aims of saving are DVC annual dues and actually holidaying so it's worth it. The things I've started to do are:

Used to get taxis too and from Slough train station - I now walk - 25 mins each way so it's good excercise

Used to get a bus from Paddington station to work - now walk - 15 mins walking quickly

I have halfed my food shopping bill by actually looking at the price of things and comparing them

After watching Ice Hockey on a Saturday evening, we always used to go out to dinner, we now get takeaways or cook

I save 1p/2p/5p/10p/20p in a jar

Take lunch to work every day as M&S was costing £5 a day for lunch

Not putting on the heating for long periods of time, just an hour in the morning and 4 hours at night

Did not purchase a season ticket into London this year as I only go into London 3 days a week and worked out that I do not save any money by buying a season ticket

That's all I can think of for now

Tina

 

[jjpenguin]

We've been fairly frugal in our spending for ages now, having to live on one salary But I notice DH is becoming more and more careful when we go shopping , buying the cheaper brands, cutting back on extra munchies and puddings.

Haven't been out to dinner for ages, as it's ridiculously expensive over here.

I had a small change jar but gave up on that: went to the bank to put it in the account and I had to sort it myself and then pay for it to go into the account!!!!!

I spent a tenner yesterday on mags, and that was the first time in ages so it really felt like a treat! I find if I don't go into town, I don't spend money.

I used to have a bank account dedicated as my MickeyFund and put in €50 each month and if I had a bit left over it went in there, it didn't seem that much but it does add up and pays for quite a few meals over there.

But my best saving tip is having my Key Card from my past holiday in my purse, so everytime I open it up to pay for something I look at it and think: I could get this or save it for Mickey! (A piccie works fine too).

At the moment I'm also doing some odd jobs that pay in cash, so I'm only allowing myself to spend that, not going to the cashpoint or using my card in shops. So all my salary stays in the bank!