Things I should do Now to save for Dec trip....

[familyfirsttimer]

You are the most resourceful group I have even seen so I am coming to the experts. Want to plan a trip for Dec and since I have a little time, what are the things I should do now to help me save some $$. We live a little over our means to begin with but have decided we really need this for our family this year so I want to make sure to take advantage of everything I can.

Things already on my radar:
1) Target Rx-signed up so I can get extra 5% to buy GCs for final payment(along with my 5% Redcard discount)
2) Do every survey for the groups I am a part of
3) Pick up some mystery shop jobs( had pulled away since a lot of work for little money but every little bit helps, right?)

TIA for your great advice...I don't want to get close and have a duh! moment for something I could have taken advantage of.

 

[Marionnette]

You are the most resourceful group I have even seen so I am coming to the experts. Want to plan a trip for Dec and since I have a little time, what are the things I should do now to help me save some $$. We live a little over our means to begin with but have decided we really need this for our family this year so I want to make sure to take advantage of everything I can.

Things already on my radar:
1) Target Rx-signed up so I can get extra 5% to buy GCs for final payment(along with my 5% Redcard discount)
2) Do every survey for the groups I am a part of
3) Pick up some mystery shop jobs( had pulled away since a lot of work for little money but every little bit helps, right?)

TIA for your great advice...I don't want to get close and have a duh! moment for something I could have taken advantage of.

Decide whether you are going to do a package or a room-only reservation. If you're doing room-only or staying offsite, then buy your tickets before the next price increase. The last 3 annual price increases have occurred in Jun.

Consider making your ticket purchase at Orbitz thru ebates for 10% back. Use a credit card that gives bonus rewards for booking travel to get even more back.

If you are going to do a package, then book it before the ticket prices increase. You can decide later whether to cancel and re-book if a better package discount comes out and it saves you more than having lower-priced tickets will.

 

[tzeitel]

I think it depends on what you do on a regular basis that you would sacrifice to save for the trip. Do you go out to eat a lot? or go to the movies? Starbucks every day? Cutting down on extra "fun" now could men bigger fun at WDW

You could also plan a yard sale in the Spring. Sell on Ebay or Craigslist - I do CL for bigger (as in bulky) items.

Clipping coupons is a good way to save - make menus taking into account what is on sale and what coupons you have. Have you checked out the thread about eating only what you have in the house?

Start a change jar - it adds up fast! If your family has birthdays coming up you could request Disney gift cards for presents.

Check discount gift card sites for cards you could use at WDW - Starbucks, Landry's, etc. We did a breakfast and got some snacks (mostly my Diet Coke addiction) at the new Starbucks locations at MK and Epcot.

 

[disfanforlife]

Decide whether you are going to do a package or a room-only reservation. If you're doing room-only or staying offsite, then buy your tickets before the next price increase. The last 3 annual price increases have occurred in Jun.

Consider making your ticket purchase at Orbitz thru ebates for 10% back. Use a credit card that gives bonus rewards for booking travel to get even more back.

If you are going to do a package, then book it before the ticket prices increase. You can decide later whether to cancel and re-book if a better package discount comes out and it saves you more than having lower-priced tickets will.

Is that a better deal for tickets than UT?

 

[dpswift]

Set up a second savings account with your regular bank. Transfer a set amount each week. That way you are saving for your trip however if you need the money it is there.

It is hard to plan such a big trip living paycheck to paycheck. When you go to purchase anything you need to ask yourself if you need it or can it go towards Disney.

Like others have said if you go to Starbucks or out to eat alot think about Disney before you go.

 

[Aliceacc]

For every occasion this year-- Valentine's Day, Easter, Mother's/Father's Day, birthdays, Halloween, Thanksgiving.... pick up a gift card for the appropriate person. Whether it's $25 or $100, make sure you find a way to do it.

You'l be happy to see that your spending money is covered in December!

 

[Marionnette]

Is that a better deal for tickets than UT?

The Orbitz prices are competitive with the UT prices plus you're getting an additional 10% back from ebates when you shop through them. It's the best deal I've found for the general public.

 

[goofystitchfan]

We (DH and I) sign up for focus groups.. good money and all cash! Also since late September I have been listing things on local facebook yard sale sites. I have made some good money and it is on all things that I would have given away for free. How about getting a Disney Visa if you don't already have one. I charge all I can on there and pay it up at the end of every month, also adds up fast!

 

[Marionnette]

We (DH and I) sign up for focus groups.. good money and all cash! Also since late September I have been listing things on local facebook yard sale sites. I have made some good money and it is on all things that I would have given away for free. How about getting a Disney Visa if you don't already have one. I charge all I can on there and pay it up at the end of every month, also adds up fast!

If the OP is already living above her means, the last thing that she needs is a credit card that she puts everyday expenses on. It could only lead to serious financial problems that aren't worth the 1%-2% back in Disney Rewards Dollars.

 

[taymaesmom]

When we go, especially if we know well in advance then I pick up a Disney gift card every time I grocery shop. Usually just $25 but sometimes $50. By the time the trip rolls around I have all the money we need for food and shopping saved and it wasn't a stress on our budget. I also do a change jar and can save several hundred just in change.

 

[Nayan]

If the OP is already living above her means, the last thing that she needs is a credit card that she puts everyday expenses on. It could only lead to serious financial problems that aren't worth the 1%-2% back in Disney Rewards Dollars.

Agree 100%. I would just cut as much spending as possible. I would really advise the OP to not even think about a trip if they are already living beyond their means, but if thy want to go I would not add any more debt like credit cards. That could be disastrous if something were to happen between now and then.

 

[LadyBeBop]

Agree 100%. I would just cut as much spending as possible.

I'll second that. That's why we never applied for a Disney Visa or SW Airlines credit card.

OP, any chance you can pick up a seasonal job for a few months? No more than maybe 15-20 hours a week? You can't work the Christmas sales jobs. But maybe working a games booth at your local amusement park during the summer? Or selling hot dogs at the baseball stadium. Or possibly summer day care in your home for school-aged children.

 

[MSSANDRA]

It really depends on how you live now, and what you are willing to sacrifice. It is basic to reduce output, while increasing input but it's not always that easy.

Inputick up a part time job. If one of you work 8-5, mon-fri, consider working week-ends in retail, or a skilled odd job like painting or cleaning houses. Pick up an extra shift each pay period at your current job, or look into a stay at home type job such as selling 31. Put all this money directly into a savings account for the trip.
Sale stuff you don't need or want. Use e-bay, or Craigs list, or a local FB type sales site or even co-sigh or yard sale. Kids clothes they have out grown, electronic games, ANYTHING is worth a shot at selling. All money into the account.

Reduce out put: Completely eliminate things that are not necessary: eating out, new clothes purchases except for kids out-grown clothes, new house hold purchases like sheets, towels etc when you can get by with what you have, manicures, dry cleaning (do it yourself), house keeper etc.

Reduce grocery bills: buy store brands, choose a few meatless night meals each week, coupon and eat the sales. Pick a week every so often and don't buy groceries and eat the pantry. Deposit savings into trip fund!

Don't buy adult gifts for birthdays, anniversary, valentines etc.

Look at cable bills (eliminate or reduce), cell phone bills, un- used gym memberships .

now no one is going to do all of these, but you can pick and choose a few that might save you a few dollars.

 

[LadiiAstroid]

You could also plan a yard sale in the Spring. Sell on Ebay or Craigslist - I do CL for bigger (as in bulky) items.

Selling on eBay or CL is a very good way to get some extra income! Paid for my June 2013 trip by selling items on CL. (Actually reselling items on CL that I bought from CL.)

Recently, my boyfriend and I have been selling on eBay to save up for Disney trip. So far we have $400 saved up for Disney. (not all the money we make from eBay made it to the Disney fund.)

 

[Disney Doll]

When we go, especially if we know well in advance then I pick up a Disney gift card every time I grocery shop. Usually just $25 but sometimes $50. By the time the trip rolls around I have all the money we need for food and shopping saved and it wasn't a stress on our budget. I also do a change jar and can save several hundred just in change.

This is what I do too. It makes it easy to save.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

I put $50-100 every pay period into a separate savings account I have at my job credit union. We are going in 2015 so I'm hoping to have around $4000 in there when we go. I have no ATM or debit card to that account.

Most times I go to the grocery store or my Target run I buy a $25 or $50 Disney gift card. That can go towards food and spending money. (we don't do the ddp)

I have the kids save all of their spare change.

I'm going to try and buy our tickets this year for next year...before the price increase.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

Sign up for the SWA CC now and they are giving 50K points which could help big time with the airfare cost.

Clean out closets and set things aside for a garage sale.

 

[Colleen27]

I'm working towards a similar goal - an adults' only trip sometime between Sept and Nov, to be paid for more or less independent of our usual budget because we agree we have to rebuild our cushion and address some other obligations before we can devote any more of the household budget to traveling.

My main focus right now is on income - How can I bring a little more in that we're not counting on/budgeting? We live pretty simply so there's really no painless cuts that could be made on the expenses side of the equation, which makes bringing money in the more practical means of working towards our goal.

I've done mystery shopping off and on in the past and am getting back into it. For January, I've got a little over $100 pending from that plus reimbursements from the shops that required a purchase. I signed up with a second company as well, though that hasn't yielded anything worthwhile so far.

I'm putting more time into my freelancing, but that's slow going because the submission/acceptance/payment cycle is very long with many publications. In the meantime, I'm taking some crappy work through Textbroker in my spare time because I can bang most assignments out in 15-20min and every little bit adds up.

I'm also using Swagbucks, and thanks to some pointers from the threads here I'm not doing too badly at it despite an investment of almost no time or energy. I run the video app on my phone while it is on the charger and run videos on the main site in the background when I'm at my computer, and that's enough to earn daily goal bonuses and average a buck or two a day.

And I'm continuing my two-year, off-and-on decluttering crusade and posting items to Half.com and our local Facebook sales page. Any money from those sales goes straight to the vacation fund.

Speaking of vacation funds, I highly recommend an online bank account for your vacation savings. Mine is with Capital One 360 (formerly ING) but any online bank would work. It is as simple as "out of sight, out of mind" - when that money isn't there when I log into the internet banking portal for our regular household accounts it is very easy to let it build up untouched.

 

[goofystitchfan]

If the OP is already living above her means, the last thing that she needs is a credit card that she puts everyday expenses on. It could only lead to serious financial problems that aren't worth the 1%-2% back in Disney Rewards Dollars.

OH MY... somehow I totally did not see that part! I guess being up for 3 hours at that point of my post and having the DS's home the day prior due to snow storm totally had my brain freezed!

 

[familyfirsttimer]

Thanks to all of you that have offered constructive advice here and not jumping on the judgy bandwagon(that somehow I will have serious financial issues and end up living on the street and dumpster diving for food)


I appreciate the true support and good ideas that I have gotten. As I stated in the beginning, I just didn't want to get close to the date and have an "oh, duh!" moment for those things I always read about