There have to be some Dave Ramsey fans on here!

[TnTWalter]

Regarding packing food etc. for parks: We have packed healthy snacks and frozen water bottles for parks but not meals. Great for when you're sitting and waiting for parade or something.

At the condo we cook breakfast daily and maybe 1 or 2 dinners but beyond that we eat out. We also have snack foods, drinks for kids and booze. I like my wine and hubster has beer.

We celebrated debt freedom with our first big family vacation and our first trip to DisneyWorld in 2006.

Parking is only $14 per day. Not a huge budget buster. And truly it's faster than the bus system.

This will be our 4th time going to WDW. We stayed offsite for first time on our 3rd trip and now I don't want to go back onsite. 3 kids. Love having my own room.

Trish

 

[cwilc]

We just got back from our "debt free to Disney" trip. WOW!! We sure learned a lot! We had a budget of $4K, and with some planning, we came in under that by almost $1K (just over $3K total). That is all inclusive- travel (we drove 1000 miles from IL), food (in the parks and snacks I bought before we left), hotel (offsite), park tickets (3 adult/1 child), souvenirs, and what I would call "misc expenses".

We did not do hopper tickets, but we had 5 full days in the 4 major parks. Our hotel had a free breakfast buffet as well as a full kitchen in our room (I never cooked once!). We did 2 character meals (with tip=$120 each) and ate 5 other meals in the parks. I had a bag with snacks, and both of my girls carried water with them. Dh and I are caffeine hounds, so we coughed up $2.50 every time we needed a "fix".

Other ways to save $$:
- We bought our tshirts at Walmart (about 10 min. from our hotel)
- We ate outside the parks as often as possible (lots of chain restraunts near the hotel)
- We booked the hotel several months in advance and paid half of what the "current rate" was.

Splurges:
- Character meals
- My car from Ridemakerz (well worth it!)
- We didn't take lunches into the parks

It really does feel good to not bring home bills from Disney. We don't have to pay for the trip when it's over.

 

[disba]

Love the Dave Ramsey program. I'm not debt free yet but working on it. I don't stress out over money any more. I recommend it all the time.

 

[TNKBELL]

You may wish to check out this trip report...there's a lot of good info,
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1618376

Howdy, Dawn!! Can you still get Skyauction for 149??? The last time I looked you had to pay $195 hotel fee in addition to the auction price and $20 fee...am I missing something??? Good to see you again!!