So Im Planning a trip in February.......and today I got something special to save for

[mareeld86]

Today when I got home from work I found a present from my Fiance. . . . . . .

Its a Mickey shaped money box he made for me at work he is a welder...

I was so excited by it I had to share it with the rest of you Disney fans.

A moneybox is the best way I save for a Holiday and a mickey one is even more motivation to save as I am coming over in Feb!!

So what are the best ways you save for your upcoming trips to Disneyland??

 

[aussiegirls]

Oh my gosh, that is gorgeous

That is such a special thing for your fiance to do, you have got yourself a good catch there

There is no way you couldn't save with that little guy to put money in - I want one

xxx

 

[VallCopen]

Very cool money box! Happy savings and enjoy your trip...

 

[Disney Dreams]

That is VERY cool! Well done, DFi!

 

[mareeld86]

I know he is very clever!!!!

 

[nunzia]

Cool! He should sell those on Etsy...

 

[Kayla's Mom]

That is so cute, I love it!!

 

[wvnative]

That's great! What a sweet guy.

Saving, let's see. I have a clay jar that says "money to burn " on the front. I put any change I have in there. I'd save a lot more if I could bring myself to put my ones in there too but I just can't do it. Still trying to break my debit card habit and go back to cash, so baby steps are required. lol

We are taking a different route with saving this time around. I'll be buying a gift card once a month be it Disney, fuel or restaurant. When my coin jar gets full, I cash it in and use that money towards the vacation. I put all disney dollars and gift cards in the back pack I take to the park. Out of sight, out of mind ya know? Normally we use my tax return to go. I'm sure we'll use a portion of it this time too but shouldn't be relying on the whole thing to take the trip.

 

[blue donkey]

What a thoughtful gift. Have fun saving!

 

[bumbershoot]

Cool! He should sell those on Etsy...

I agree. If Disney won't give him a hard time, that is.

Still trying to break my debit card habit and go back to cash, so baby steps are required. lol

We are taking a different route with saving this time around. I'll be buying a gift card once a month be it Disney, fuel or restaurant. When my coin jar gets full, I cash it in and use that money towards the vacation. I put all disney dollars and gift cards in the back pack I take to the park. Out of sight, out of mind ya know? Normally we use my tax return to go. I'm sure we'll use a portion of it this time too but shouldn't be relying on the whole thing to take the trip.

I found that just saving coins is MUCH better than any rewards from a debit card (if your card has rewards). When wamu existed, I'd earn 10, maybe 16, bucks a year from debit card use. Using cash for many purchases, we've put OVER $40 in our coin jar. Since May. Even our CC, which has a rewards program, doesn't do that well, because we had to PAY ($25) to be a part of it. IF we put another 500 points on it (doubtful as we don't want ot use credit anymore) we'll have earned enough for a $50 giftcard, to certain places, when they are running a special on giftcards, IF they don't raise it again. $25 "profit", except they charged interest, and we still earned more saving coins.

Hope that helps.

About the giftcard idea, it's a really good one! The only thing is...IF you can do it witout spending it, it might be better to toss that $ into a savings account to earn a little interest on it. I hear that ING has some great accounts, very easy to connect to your brick and mortar bank account, that you could pull over to save each month, then right before your trip pull back. I buy giftcards at the parks, after saving the money in the savings account.

However, we don't have a close-by disney store, so trips up there take more gas money than savings, unless we have something definite planned or are already up there.

Another thought...if people find themselves buying souvenirs ahead of time from disneyshopping.com, or if you find yourself needing things from amazon, coinstar will NOT charge a percentage, if you get a disneystore E-certificate (can't buy giftcards with them, per a recent report on budget board) or an Amazon GC instead of taking the cash.

 

[wvnative]

I found that just saving coins is MUCH better than any rewards from a debit card (if your card has rewards). When wamu existed, I'd earn 10, maybe 16, bucks a year from debit card use. Using cash for many purchases, we've put OVER $40 in our coin jar. Since May. Even our CC, which has a rewards program, doesn't do that well, because we had to PAY ($25) to be a part of it. IF we put another 500 points on it (doubtful as we don't want ot use credit anymore) we'll have earned enough for a $50 giftcard, to certain places, when they are running a special on giftcards, IF they don't raise it again. $25 "profit", except they charged interest, and we still earned more saving coins.

About the giftcard idea, it's a really good one! The only thing is...IF you can do it witout spending it, it might be better to toss that $ into a savings account to earn a little interest on it. I hear that ING has some great accounts, very easy to connect to your brick and mortar bank account, that you could pull over to save each month, then right before your trip pull back. I buy giftcards at the parks, after saving the money in the savings account.

However, we don't have a close-by disney store, so trips up there take more gas money than savings, unless we have something definite planned or are already up there.

Very true. Mine doesn't give points and my main reason for using it is convenience which is why I am trying to break the habit. lol Plus, I can't save change if I don't use cash. The change seems to add up fastest for us too.

We are trying the gc route this time to see how it works. I'm kind of bad about seeing something I want and pullling the money from savings so I'm hoping that this way I don't spend any of the money set aside for DL.

As for Disney stores, we're lucky I guess. I've got one almost within walking distance of my office and another just a hop skip and a jump from the college.

 

[mareeld86]

I always find that saving change is the best way for me and the fact that I live in australia and we have 2 and 1 dollar coins that go into my Mickey bank too...

It makes it add up really fast.

 

[DizMe]

OMG!!! That is the coolest savings bank EVER !!! Tell your fiance to heed the advice given above and make some to sell on Etsy or eBay or wherever...then I can buy one

My best tactics for saving so far have been to stash bits and pieces of cash in a wallet in the bottom of my drawer (in your case, in your Mickey bank). I add coupons such as the ones from Mimi's and DTD and Getawaytoday that I think I might use. If we're staying on Harbor (Hojo's), I always sign someone up for Mimi's Eclub so we get the free breakfast. Just make sure you do this within a couple of weeks of your trip. I TRY TRY TRY to remember to use my AP for any discounts for which I'm eligible but I sometimes forget and it makes me so mad when I remember too late!!!! I have a Deluxe so mostly my discount is 10% off of food, but I always ask when I make a purchase anywhere and sometimes I get other discounts . If doing a character meal, I usually find that I save quite a bit by pre-purchasing vouchers, but you do have to check that one out first.

My favorite tactic is to use mypoints.com. Most online purchases I make (florist, airline tickets, books, etc) I do through mypoints so I can earn points to be converted to gift cards. Though there isn't anything specifically for Disney, you can get Rainforest gift cards and there are some hotel ones (right now I think Marriott and Hilton). It's amazing how quickly the points add up, even without making purchases because you get points just for visiting sites and taking surveys. There is another program called sunshinerewards but it just doesn't work for me. They offer Disney gift cards though, which is really cool. Just be careful not to use your regular email with them--set up a separate email account just for that site--because you'll be inundated with spam. Anyway, I don't spend very much at all and I still managed to earn enough points for $350 worth of RFC cards in a year. I didn't cash all my points in for RFC cards, that's just how much I could have gotten. It is so cool to know you can take your whole family to dinner, get as much as you want and it's all covered on a gift card. There was also a coupon for a free volcano dessert at RFC so I treated the whole gang to dinner and dessert

I tried to have a yard sale, and while I did make $200, it was so not worth it .

My last trick is sneaky and I can't in good conscience recommend it but it works well for me . I have a Disney gift card and I periodically add $25-50 to it over the phone using my dh's cc

 

[pixiewings71]

OMG how cute is that!!!! Tell your DFi I'd like one please. That's adorable!!!
As for saving....well we tend to use a credit card and then pay it off within a couple of months so we don't save too much, we do try to do the change thing but DD9 likes to do pressed coins so most of that change is taken, nickels and dimes take a while to add up but we do save those.....we need to get a bigger coin jar tho, ours is just too small, it barely holds anything. lol

 

[Kayla's Mom]

Anyway, I don't spend very much at all and I still managed to earn enough points for $350 worth of RFC cards in a year.

My last trick is sneaky and I can't in good conscience recommend it but it works well for me . I have a Disney gift card and I periodically add $25-50 to it over the phone using my dh's cc

Wow! I am excited if I earn enough points in a year to get a $25 gift card to Rainforest!!

I love your last trick!

 

[pixiewings71]

Wow! I am excited if I earn enough points in a year to get a $25 gift card to Rainforest!!

I love your last trick!

Really??? I earn so many RFC gift cards, go check your profile, make sure it's all filled out. I get a lot of point offers and most times I just click for the 5 points and don't buy anything. We have an RFC gift card for almost every trip we take, and we go a lot.

 

[Kayla's Mom]

Really??? I earn so many RFC gift cards, go check your profile, make sure it's all filled out. I get a lot of point offers and most times I just click for the 5 points and don't buy anything. We have an RFC gift card for almost every trip we take, and we go a lot.

I will, thanks! I don't get any emails from them at all now that I think about it. Only getting points when I buy off an affiliated site. Man, I have been missing out!

 

[ACDSNY]

I love your bank! We usually just toss our change in a jar, your bank would be so much cooler.

DF is a keeper. Very talented.

 

[Brancaneve]

Any BF, Fiance or Hubbie that supports your Disney addiction is a keeper!

 

[cannp123165]

Wow - that is such a nice moneybox to save for Disney!