Vacation Money accounts?

[pigletto]

I was just wondering what people do while saving money for WDW. Previously I assigned an amount, made payments when I could or took a chunk out of checking and that was that.
We've decided our next trip isn't until February 2015. So I have some of the money, and will add to it as we go along. I got thinking that if it's just going to be sitting there, I might as well earn a tiny bit on it, or use a U.S. savings account, or open an internet saving account with a small sign up bonus.. or something. So I am curious as to what everyone does. I mean even if I only earn $20 or $30 bucks by one of these methods that's a few more Mickey Bars at the end of the day.

 

[Gigi22]

Be careful with bank charges on accounts in US funds. We killed our US account because the bank fees were higher than the interest.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Depending on how far away our trip is, we have used several different methods.

Manulife Bank has an Advantage Account that's earning 1.55%. No risk, guaranteed interest, no fee to open or hold an account. Their USD Advantage account pays 0.5%. Again, its guaranteed and zero risk. And no account fees to eat up your interest gain.

In comparison, RBC (our bank) pays 1.05% on the Canadian high interest savings, and a paltry 0.15% on USD e-savings account. I have both of those accounts, too, and use them occasionally. These are no-fee as well.

A Tax-Free Savings Account is also a good choice. If you have longer and can stand assuming more risk, there are tons of mutual fund options that can bring you a much better return. That said, rates are not guaranteed so its less appealing for short-term savings. We do, however, have many families who save via that method through the two advisors at my office....and have yielded 20%+ returns over the past year.

My DH works overtime on a regular basis, so we take those "big cheques" and move a portion into whatever savings vessel we are currently using.

 

[pigletto]

Thank you so much. I will admit I am a bit clueless on all of this stuff but I am trying to learn. While dh was in school there wasn't much saving going on. Now that he is fully employed once again my mind is turning to ways to be smarter with what we have.
We also bank with RBC, and have regular checking and a high interest savings. I am going to look into the Manulife accounts. Thanks again.

 

[PrincessKimmy]

We are use a high interest tax free saving account.
We start saving about 2 years out, so its a good option for us.

 

[Ted in Halifax]

I have a scotiabank US dollar account and I put any us money I can get into that or buy and transfer in when the funds are trading lower. Otherwise I try to pay my reservation off as early as possible.

 

[isabellea]

We have an ING direct (now called Tangerine) saving account reserved for our vacations. Every paycheck money is automatically transferred to the account. We also have other accounts with automatic transfers to pay for taxes and renovations.

 

[KingstonGirl77]

We also have Tangerine. We are doing the 52-week saving challenge but since I couldn't figure out an easy way to automate the $1, $2, $3 per week and so on. Instead we deposit $26.50 a week and we will have $1378 at the end of the 52 weeks. We will top it up when we can but at a minimum we will have this amount. We plan to use this to cover travel fees for the kids sports but I will be setting up a separate account for vacations once we get back from this years trip. 4 more sleeps

 

[dis_guy]

Our saving/payment plan is very simple. I simply estimate (I tend to estimate the most it will cost) and just divide that amount by the number of months we have before it is due. That's 45 days out for Disney.

So each month I make sure I save, in our designated travel account (if not booked yet), or pay (if the reservation is made) the needed amount so it's all paid for before the trip. I know someone that just pays for one nights stay each month until it is all paid up.

I usually don't include flights unless we plan many months out (like we are now for 2015) and have time to save the needed amount. Airfare is usually payable in full at the time of booking.

I guess everyone needs to experiment until they find something that fits their particular situation.

 

[I Run Long]

We also use ING Direct (now Tangerine), in fact I have 2 savings accounts with them. One is a TFSA which is our Disney World account, and one is a regular savings account which I use as our veterinary insurance account. I make regular monthly automatic deposits to both. I only use my CIBC account for our mortgage and chequing account.

 

[pigletto]

I think I will sign up for the Tangerine savings account to take advantage of the $50 credit offer. I just want to make sure I understand everything correctly before doing so.

How do you make deposits into the account? From bank machines only ?Or can you list the account as a payee on your regular bank account (in my case Royal Bank ) and pay into it like a bill?

And when I go to withdraw the full amount (let's assume I pay $4000 with my credit card and then want to use the Tangerine money to pay off the balance on my card in full) do you transfer the money online to your credit card.. or do you have to go to a bank machine and withdraw it all?

Sorry if I am making this more complicated than necessary. I just want to make sure there aren't any hidden fees or withdrawl limits that I'm not considering.

 

[I Run Long]

I think I will sign up for the Tangerine savings account to take advantage of the $50 credit offer. I just want to make sure I understand everything correctly before doing so.

How do you make deposits into the account? From bank machines only ?Or can you list the account as a payee on your regular bank account (in my case Royal Bank ) and pay into it like a bill?

And when I go to withdraw the full amount (let's assume I pay $4000 with my credit card and then want to use the Tangerine money to pay off the balance on my card in full) do you transfer the money online to your credit card.. or do you have to go to a bank machine and withdraw it all?

Sorry if I am making this more complicated than necessary. I just want to make sure there aren't any hidden fees or withdrawl limits that I'm not considering.

Tangerine accounts are designed to have everything done online. You have to link your Tangerine account to a regular bank account. The sign up process will walk you right through the procedure. What I've done is set up automatic transfers within my Tangerine account from my CIBC chequing account. Of course you don't have to set up automatic transfers. You can transfer from your regular banking account into your Tangerine account whenever you like - all done online. Same goes for the reverse. So if you have a credit card bill you wish to pay off with money from your Tangerine account, simply log on to you Tangerine account, select "Move my money" and it will ask from where (Tangerine in this case) to where (your regular bank account). I never even visit a bank machine to do it.

So when I get back from Disney World and I want to pay off my credit card, I usually transfer the funds from my Tangerine account (at least 2 business days before it is due as it can take that long for the transfer to reach my CIBC account) and pay off my credit card on time, every time. It's a great way to handle bills and save for my trips.

 

[pigletto]

Tangerine accounts are designed to have everything done online. You have to link your Tangerine account to a regular bank account. The sign up process will walk you right through the procedure. What I've done is set up automatic transfers within my Tangerine account from my CIBC chequing account. Of course you don't have to set up automatic transfers. You can transfer from your regular banking account into your Tangerine account whenever you like - all done online. Same goes for the reverse. So if you have a credit card bill you wish to pay off with money from your Tangerine account, simply log on to you Tangerine account, select "Move my money" and it will ask from where (Tangerine in this case) to where (your regular bank account). I never even visit a bank machine to do it.

So when I get back from Disney World and I want to pay off my credit card, I usually transfer the funds from my Tangerine account (at least 2 business days before it is due as it can take that long for the transfer to reach my CIBC account) and pay off my credit card on time, every time. It's a great way to handle bills and save for my trips.

Perfect! Thank you very much for the details. I read everything over and I am off to sign up.

 

[lizzyb]

I have a bi-weekly contribution going into my TFSA to save for the trip and then a US account (no fees if I keep $200) for spending money.