Vacation Fund?

[Marionnette]

OMH I thought our tax refund was going to be $600 but DH just told me it is $1600!!! woohoo!!!

Will you be using that extra $1K to add to your Disney fund? That's a really big chunk of the money you need to make between now and August! Do you think that you can make up the rest with a few extra shifts at work?

 

[camikey]

Contact the local flower shops. With Easter and Mother's Day coming up they are always lo9oking to hire delivery people.

 

[DisneyCher]

Do you and your husband already bring lunch to work? I found that by bringing breakfast and lunch I saved about $25 - 30 per week, after accounting for the extra grocery costs I had from lunch ingredients.

You can always donate plasma.

 

[SaraJayne]

I must be the only person that makes sure I have the money saved before I book a vacation.

 

[DLW8]

In a similar fashion to PP on here, we save all our change. We have a vacation fund bank that counts the money as you put it in there and each day, we empty our wallets/pockets and add the change.

I also save all $5 bills that I get and don't spend them. I tuck them into a separate section of my wallet and then add them to the envelope I keep hidden in the house. Some weeks I will have about $20 to add, and sometimes only $5, but it was an easy way to stash extra cash for spending money on vacation.



Good luck!

 

[Marionnette]

I must be the only person that makes sure I have the money saved before I book a vacation.

Perhaps you are. I confess that I often book the vacation before all the money to pay for it is in the vacation savings account. When we took our European cruise last fall, we booked it 16 months in advance. We could have raided other savings to pay for it in full at the time that we booked by why do that? We had 14 months until the final payment was due and plenty of time to continue on our saving plan.

 

[jchrapcyn]

I "have" the money for the vacation in our general account- I just like to come up with extra ways to save for it before we go- that means more to spend when we are there- thanks for all the great ideas on here- you are all super!!!

I do use coupons, change jar, packing lunches, we rarely go out to eat, swagbucks, selling on half.com and a garage sale. I might try craigslist. I hope to be able to pick up 2 extra shifts per month- but the tax refund is HUGE!

 

[GinnyEmma]

Perhaps you are. I confess that I often book the vacation before all the money to pay for it is in the vacation savings account. When we took our European cruise last fall, we booked it 16 months in advance. We could have raided other savings to pay for it in full at the time that we booked by why do that? We had 14 months until the final payment was due and plenty of time to continue on our saving plan.

14 months, and a plan is one thing. I don't understand what the op's plan was?

 

[Mouse House Mama]

Do you have a change jar? We do and I have also started asking for a roll of quarters as part of my change if I have to break a $20 for say a cup of coffee. I then put the quarters in the jar.
I once also saw an ad on craigslist from a Mom that was asking for people's recycle. She would pick it up so her kids could cash in the bottles. That might work since not everyone does recycle.

 

[SaraJayne]

Perhaps you are. I confess that I often book the vacation before all the money to pay for it is in the vacation savings account. When we took our European cruise last fall, we booked it 16 months in advance. We could have raided other savings to pay for it in full at the time that we booked by why do that? We had 14 months until the final payment was due and plenty of time to continue on our saving plan.

Sixteen months or even a year out is understandable, but just a few months?

Anyway, like you said, I guess I'm in the minority.

 

[Marionnette]

14 months, and a plan is one thing. I don't understand what the op's plan was?

Not speaking for the OP but sometimes things happen that result in the vacation fund being raided. That would mean scrambling to cover the deficit rather than canceling.

And sometimes people just work backwards. They book the trip first and then formulate a plan to set the money aside.

I think either way is better than the "I'll just put it on my credit card and worry about how I'm going to pay for it later" approach.

 

[bjscheel]

eBay profits fund a lot of our trip costs. Hope you can get it all together and then some!

Things do happen! My usual plan is to have the money in the ING account and use regular funds to pay some over the 6 months, and then use ING Disney funds to pay it off before interest starts. Then I still have money left for next time! I had the money saved up for a vacation last time. We went in November and had it on the Disney Visa. In the meantime, DH was starting his own business and the bank wanted $5000 of our own money down. I raided the Disney fund.

In the end it was the best move we ever made and we had no trouble paying off what was left on the Visa. What we have made from that initial investment in DH would have been worth paying some interest on a Disney trip.

This time I don't have it all in hand, but I know that by the time the bill is due, we will have about enough credit card rewards to pay it off.

 

[jchrapcyn]

Yikes folks- OP here- this was my intention- I will put the vacation on my Disney Visa- yes I have the funds in the bank to pay it off- but I would like to replenish/add to that fund by Aug- we are travelling in Sept.- I am just trying to think of ways to come up with extra money/ and/or save money. I never meant to imply I was booking a vacation I could not pay for!

So right off the bat I just realized we have a $1600 tax refund coming- I don't even plan on using that for vacation if I don't have to- I will try to come up with additional ways to make some extra $$$

 

[nellyru]

Do you have kids? If so, maybe you can sell some of their old cloths on eBay? The last time I sold my daughters' dresses that she had outgrown, I made close to $1000.
Some brand name toys sell well too! Look around, you never know what treasures your house may hold.

I thought you were going to say sell the kids!!


Like Dave Ramsey says "sell so much stuff the kids think their next!"