The Save Money for Disney Thread (Tips Included)

[AuroraBeauty]

I'm sure I am going to have to buy a lawn mower

Before you buy, check on Craigslist or in the local paper. You'd be surprised how cheap you can get one. Some people upgrade, others just don't need them. People sell their homes and move cross country and some moving companies won't take a gas mower. You could find a pretty good deal AND save the difference. If you were going to budget $200 but get it for $50, then put the $150 in the savings. BONUS!!!

Great thread!

 

[RichieTruxillo]

Awesome, hopefully I can find a bagger. Though, I may have to get a service to do the yard work, as I'll be working 80 hours a week the next couple years

I'll check out craigslist though

mkaccountant: PM sent btw

 

[PixieDust09]

i'm confused on how to use sunshinerewards.com. can anyone tell me what to do?

 

[worm761]

richie can you send me the link for the search thing at yahoo? please? and how long do you have to keep the search up? do you have to click a link to get paid? how many searches can you do a day? is there a FAQ section we can check out? thanks!!

 

[nunzia]

More questions...You need to have a blog set up to sign up with payperpost and socialspeak, but how does one do that without paying out? If that is possible. I notice AOL has some sort of blog area..is that a 'real' blog? I'm confused and new to this..can you tell???
Any help appreciated.

 

[aka-mad4themouse]

i'm confused on how to use sunshinerewards.com. can anyone tell me what to do?

Check the Rewards Programs Forum here on the DIS. Or ask your question on SR's user forum. The owners and members can be very helpful.

 

[Hedy]

More questions...You need to have a blog set up to sign up with payperpost and socialspeak, but how does one do that without paying out? If that is possible. I notice AOL has some sort of blog area..is that a 'real' blog? I'm confused and new to this..can you tell???
Any help appreciated.

You can get one at blogspot.com. Your blog needs to be at least 30 days old for PPP, and 90 days old for Social spark. Keep in mind that some PPP opportunities exclude certain domains (blogspot is a common one, as they're owned by Google). Also, ensure that PPP is not excluded in your domain-I know Wordpress.com doesn't permit it.

 

[RichieTruxillo]

Regarding setting up a blog:
I will be making a blog post on how to do this on one of my websites soon with your own .com.

With the advent of Wordpress, this is very easy to do. Heck my hosting provider even lets you do a one click install of Wordpress. Maybe once I get some houses closed, I'll offer to help setup a blog for some of you who are interested. There are free ones and then for super fast ones that get indexed well, it's 9.95 for a .com name and then 9.99/month for reliable hosting. It's highly recommended for those who do payperpost and such services to have their own .com.

Regards,
Richie

 

[bbangel]

i'm confused on how to use sunshinerewards.com. can anyone tell me what to do?

Check out the rewards board here and once you sign up for the program make sure you join their forum. Lots of useful advice on both sites.

 

[RichieTruxillo]

All Private Messages have been replied to now. First post updated with Free antivirus link. Will work on Payperpost stuff later on. For now I must deal with my student loan lenders to get a deferment letter for my home mortgage that is closing on the 16th!

 

[Gisele]

I was wondering do you need an underground electric fence for your dog? and how is your dog doing? no more sofa cushion chewing, I hope.
With your upcoming work schedule, try to rest whenever and however you can, so you don't nod off, standing up, seriously, for once upon a time ago, I was working 70-80 hours a week, and I literally found myself nodding off, while standing up doing my work, it only happend that one time,and was but a quick nod, but still, that was a little embarrassing, even though only one person may have noticed, but still, I know whats what!



$200.00

 

[RichieTruxillo]

Still havent bought the electric fence for the dog yet because I need to make sure the closing goes without incident. Setting up utilities as we speak *yea!*

As for working 80 hours a week, I did it as a student some weeks and it was taxing. But you do get to sleep some, just with a little black beeping thing called a pager. My biggest fear is sleeping through pages

 

[minnie1928]

Richie,
In case the home you are buying has hard water (we just moved about 2-3 weeks ago to a house with hard water), don't bother buying something like CLR to clean the hard water stains ($8+ for a smaller bottle). I used straight vinegar and it worked better than the CLR! And CONSIDERABLY cheaper!

Also, if you are willing to drive to northern NJ, you can have my mower. My yard is so small now that I can probably get one of those old fashioner rotary mowers (no gas...all people power!). Not to mention that the mower and various gas containers take up too much room in my garage.

 

[RichieTruxillo]

Richie,
In case the home you are buying has hard water (we just moved about 2-3 weeks ago to a house with hard water), don't bother buying something like CLR to clean the hard water stains ($8+ for a smaller bottle). I used straight vinegar and it worked better than the CLR! And CONSIDERABLY cheaper!

Also, if you are willing to drive to northern NJ, you can have my mower. My yard is so small now that I can probably get one of those old fashioner rotary mowers (no gas...all people power!). Not to mention that the mower and various gas containers take up too much room in my garage.

I really appreciate the offer, but there is no way I'd be able to get up there and snag it with gas prices the way they are and my pre-employment schedule I have laid out before July 1st. Very nice of you though.

Water was tested and turned out to be fine. Radon inspection came back acceptable also.

Answered 4 more PMs, happy surfing!

 

[mkaccountant]

Just a warning about water testing - mine was fine too, but that was just b/c there was no bacteria. Here is a little FYI about water in the Roanoke Valley:
If you are moving anywhere between Bennet Springs and Ironto, you will have hard water and either iron or sulfur. Other than that most of the H2O around here is pretty good if you have a well, which I am guessing is the case since you have had it tested.

 

[RichieTruxillo]

As far as I am aware, I have city water through the town of Vinton. My home inspection went well. I'll be sure to check about iron and sulfur in water supply though. Vinegar is duly noted

In other news, we're just having problems with the smallest of my student loan providers giving verification of loan deferment/forbearance to the underwriters. Everything swings in the balance of that. For all you mom's looking for financing student loans, I'd beware of Nextstudent. Not because Nextstudent is a bad company (they are quite nice and helpful usually) but because they outsource their loan services to American Education Systems (AES) which represents the bottom rung of customer service.

Ok back on topic. More PMs answered.

 

[bettyann29]

For anyone who doesn't want to get a Disney Visa, or can't qualify, try checking into rewards program through your bank's check card. We pay a $20 a year member fee for Chase Bank Rewards, and we've already earned $200 in gift cards to pay for gas and meals on the way to Disney. They do have free rewards programs which are a point per dollar, but we upped to the 4 pts per dollar program. We earned back our $20 free in the first 2 months.

I also bank with Chase and dont remember being given an option of more than one rewards program.. The one I have is free.. basically every $ spent I get 1 point.. but I only get points for charges that I dont have to use a pin# to pay or get money.. so I pay my mortgage online or by phone, I pay the car, the truck, the utilities, credit cards.. also when I go grocery shopping I do it as credit, same thing as gas.. so I get a point for virtually everything I spend.. I rarely send a check for a bill and I rarely go to the atm.. so almost every dollar spent I get a point.. I even get points for paying on my disney trip!!! I transfer my money to Ing when I want to pay towards my disney trip.. I call and make my payment so that goes towards points also.. I love it!!

I also have a Chase credit card where I have the rewards points also.. so anything I use that particular card for I get points and can redeem them for giftcards..

 

[mkaccountant]

just a follow up on the loans - I have a student loan through SunTrust, which offered $300 off each individual loan upon graduation. I thought this was great. However, SunTrust also uses AES for customer service. When I tried to get my redution for graduating, they acted like I was speaking a foreign language. Finally after 4 months of fighting them, I got my reduction.

One positive note - you can link your AES loan to Upromise and earn money to pay on your loan. I like using e-rewards (get paid to take surveys) through them. You can link through Upromise to shop and get a percentage back and you can link your CVS card, Ukrops card, and Kroger card to get rewards for buying certain brands of consumable commodities.

BTW - good on the Vinton water. Having filtration systems installed can be a pain

 

[inkedupmomma]

Richie, great thread!! I am *trying* to save up for for a hopeful wedding in wonderful disney world followed by a honeymoon tthere and on the disney cruise line, so i need to save every penny!! So far I have been saving any and all change.. yes i am that girl picking up pennies, i'm working extra hours and have a piggy bank where i putthe cash, but i think the ing thing sounds smarter (right??) i've been trying stay as green as can be , so no driving if i dont have to, and try to make all trips in one shot.. oh big on car pooling too!

anyone please pm me if you have any other great ideas for online polls and things of that nature that you can get paid for. i nanny and while im here he sleeps quite a bit.. i suppose i couold get paid to be online rather then just obsess on the dis

again, thanks richie!

 

[Dr. J.]

Good Luck! At the hospital I worked at, you needed to complete 4 years to vest the hospital's 401K contribution and my program was 3 years. Maybe not a money saving tip, but a retirement saving tip to check out with HR before you start your indentured servitude. My dreaming about my Disney vacation got me through some sleepless nights in the PICU.