Toystoryduo's Journal....Moving Forward From Here

[lovinaz]

Wow, that is dirt cheap for a vacation for a family of 4! I am trying to budget out our upcoming trip and it is full of unknowns...

 

[Lesli54]

Way to go on your WDW budget! It's great that you made a few changes that everyone can live with and still kept budget down. I am sure that you will have a much better time nowing that you had a great vacation and banked the extra savings.

One thing that I do is MyPoints (don't know if you do that). I manage to get $75 in gift cards for Rainforest Cafe which provides us a nice meal at WDW (family of 6), mainly from "reading" emails. Sounds like you have some great ideas for offsetting more of your expenses. Keep up the great work.

Hope your day is a good one.

 

[toystoryduo]

Wow, that is dirt cheap for a vacation for a family of 4!

Is that a good thing or a bad thing?

With our WDW trip this year, we will be staying at POP for seven nights with free dining. We already have theme park tickets left over from previous vacations, plus the one day ticket we had to buy to get the free dining so we're all set with theme park admissions.

Right now, it's too expensive for us to fly (and because I am afraid to fly! ), so we will be getting a car rental instead. Since we are driving instead of flying, we'll be taking food to Florida and bringing food back with us to eat. We may stop at a Wendys or Sonic here and there which might add another $20-$40 to the trip. As far as souvenirs go, I will be getting a $75 Disney gift card for my birthday for the "What Will You Celebrate" promo. We'll use that to buy souvenirs if we decide to buy any.

One thing I forgot to mention...My girls will have their own Disney Dollars that they earn throughout the year to spend on souvenirs for themselves. Once their Disney Dollars are gone, they are gone.

I am trying to budget out our upcoming trip and it is full of unknowns...

If you don't mind me asking, what kind of unknowns? I may be forgetting to budget for some things. It is very possible that I have overlooked something. Any suggestions?

 

[Amy&Dan]

Hey girl. The thing I love about planning and budgeting for WDW vacations is that you don't have as much unknown. You know your tickets get you into the parks,you know what there is to do, and if you have the DDP (free or not) you know what you will spend on food. I think your budget looks great! I know you'll get that rest saved up!

Congrats on the FPU class and having a discussion that wasn't stressful!

And very big CONGRATS on that four pound loss! I am so proud of you!

 

[lovinaz]

Dirt cheap in a good way!

We are going to Europe and my biggest unknown is transportation costs. We are spending a week in Paris with no car, but will be taking trains and subway. I think I have it all planned out (you can get single tickets or passes that are good for so many days), but I am going to budget some extra for transportation, just in case! Food is also a biggie, I am planning on $150/day. Hopefully we won't spend that much, but they say to guess how much you will need, then double it. Who knows, maybe we will have some $$ left over at the end!

Now that you have everything planned out, the hardest part will be waiting for the vacation to actually start!

 

[Lesli54]

Sounds like you are doing great on your Disney budget! Maybe you can find some coupons for those fast food places along the way.

Your idea to let the kids used their own money for souvenirs they want is a good one. We do the same and it really makes the kids think twice before they buy.

Hope your day is a good one!

 

[toystoryduo]

Thanks ladies. We are very excited about our vacation! I have to get working on my blog soon, but I have to tell you, I'd rather sit here on the boards and plan ADRs or something.

Yesterday was a good day. I got an Elliptical workout in at the gym and burned about 500 calories. I wish I could get to the gym more often, but with our schedule the way it is, we just don't have the time.

We finished homeschooling and lunch about a half hour ago. This afternoon, I need to work on blog posts. This evening, I will work on SR and help my DH with work.

Tomorrow is our next FPU class. Our homework is done and we are ready to go!

Have a great evening ladies! Maybe I'll get back to the DIS later to do some planning.

 

[traceycooper]

wow Tracy - super budgeting!!!
i am absolutely useless at budgeting....great at spending though
congrats on the loss too

 

[Amy&Dan]

Tracy, I hear ya on the disboard thing. I keep coming on to research and plan in the evenings and the next thing I know its after midnight! Great job going to the gym, 500 calories burned is awesome!

Good luck at FPU tonight, that must feel so good to do that!

Educate me about SR. I am all ears (Mickey ears that is)!

Have a great day.

 

[toystoryduo]

Thanks Tracey and Amy.

It's only 2:00 p.m. here and I am exhausted already. Homeschooling is taking much longer since we added Health and History.

The plan for the rest of the afternoon is to take a shower, do some work for my DH, do some SR, and then head to FPU this evening. Afterwords, we'll probably get something to eat, come home and chill out for awhile, and then call it a day.

I haven't weighed myself in a couple of days. I'm kind of afraid to. Food choices haven't been all that bad, but I have been eating way too many carbs. Maybe I'll weigh myself on Saturday.

That's about all from here. Have a wonderful Wednesday!

 

[goldcupmom]

500 Cal at the gym is AWESOME!!! I hear you about Homeschooling...I remember how it was really a full time job when I had more than one kid at home. But it is SO WORTH IT!!!! My philosophy always was that a BAD day homeschooling was better than a good day in public school.....most of the time, anyway!

Have you tried Inbox Dollars? Basically reading emails like mypoints, & I manage to get a couple of checks a year for about $50 each. Once you get your first check, you earn faster. I LOVE basically free money!

have a GREAT rest of the week!

 

[lovinaz]

Hope you learned a lot at your class!

I wish I could stay off the scale like you.

 

[momof2minnies]

Tracy
4 lbs is great- I am a scale junky and need to learn to stay off.I get upset with the small fluctuations and I know I shouldn't.

Great job at the gym.

Linda

 

[toystoryduo]

Thanks ladies.

I'm pretty worn out today. I have not been sleeping well the past couple of days. No specific reason...I've just not been getting a good night's sleep.

Homeschooling has been postponed until later on this afternoon. In the meantime, I'll work on SR and maybe my blog later if I feel up to it.

I hope everyone has a great Thursday!

P.S. FPU was really good last night. I am learning a lot from Dave Ramsey and my DH is too. It's nice that both of us are on the same page.

 

[Lesli54]

Glad to hear that you and your DH are on the same track financially and that the classes are helpful.

Great job at getting in the exercise. I can understand your aversion for the scale with the ok food choices but still too many cal. (not that I would know ) However, you have been adding in a lot of activity as well, so your probably fine.

Sending you some to help you get some better sleep.

 

[lovinaz]

Hope you get your sleep issues fixed! I know how it messes with your day, since I just had a bout of jetlag myself...

Hang in there and have a great weekend!

 

[Amy&Dan]

Hi Tracy,

I hope you got some sleep! Don't worry about the scale, I am betting you haven't been eating that much. If its up, it will go back down! I am so glad the FPU class is working for you and your dh. Money is usually the hardest thing for couples to stay on the same page with! Hope you have a super weekend.

 

[toystoryduo]

Thanks ladies.

I weighed in this morning at 234.6. No big surprise there. My DH took us to a Pizza Hut buffet yesterday and they had my favorite: thin crust cheese pizza. I had way too may pieces, but it was good.

Today, my DH is working and then we will be going to my MIL"s house for a Pre-St.Patrick's Day celebration. My MIL is making corned beef, cabbage, and potatoes for dinner and several people are coming to visit since my DH's aunt and uncle are visiting from Florida.

That's about all from here....Off to DIS and do some Disney planning.

 

[traceycooper]

Hi Tracy - hope your getting more sleep now
Have a great st patricks day with your family

 

[momof2minnies]

My favorite thing to do is Disney planning!

Have a great weekend,

Linda