What do you do to fund your budget for WDW???

[caa1277]

With the rising costs of pretty much everything, I would assume everyone's budget is stretched thinner than normal. I know mine is!

So with that being said, what are you doing to save money for WDW? Did you get another job? Cut back on other things?

Share what you've done and let's help everyone save and budget for a trip to the World!

 

[happily single]

Change jar. We just counted what I've thrown in since December and we have almost $70.00 I plan on throwing in $10 or so a week. If I get paid $105 then I throw in the $5.00 if I get paid $111 then I only throw in the $1.00

Soo, needless to say no plans right now for a trip, but at least I'll have the money for a deposit

 

[GoinToDisney]

Our parents ask us every year what we really want for Christmas and Bdays. This year, we asked for $ toward a disney trip. Any time dh works overtime or does a side job or we get any other unexpected $, it goes to the Disney fund. We also go during the less expensive months and watch for codes.

 

[bellebuzzandpooh]

One year I took a part time retail job to fund our trip. As soon as I'd earned enough I quit!

Now I am a jewelry designer and sell on ebay and etsy (mostly etsy), as well as do home parties.

I think saving is a great plan, but if you can bring in extra income in addition to saving it will add up quickly!

Oh, I also think a seperate vacation account is great. It makes it harder to touch the money or spend it accidentally, plus you can easily see how fast it's growing.

I forgot to add that I also blog for profit! They pay really well and it gets sent straight to my paypal account. Here is a link about it. http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1688394

 

[aka-mad4themouse]

I go rewards to add to my Disney coffers. There are a few good GPT programs that you can learn about on the Rewards Forum. I also use my Disney VISA to pay for anything that I can put on a CC (car insurance, vet bills, cell phone, etc.). And DH has a corportate Diner's Club MasterCard for his business that he the same with so that we can use the points for free airfare.

 

[stahshee]

I use the cahnge jar my dh and I throw our change in
I just started sunshine rewards and Mypoints If I get 50 between the both I will be pumped
one thing I did notice if I shop on line I have no change to throw in the jar, but I do get points. (I rather have change)
I am limiting our"fun" like going to the movies, going out to eat. For 6 people it really adds up.
( I did get a gift card to the movies which I will hold off until summer for a new Disney movie)

I had the kids stop buying milk at lunch it was 240 a week and I have no idea if they were drinking it or dumping it out!
I am really cutting back on my Disney budget. We are renting a condo so I paln to cook more and We have gone so many times dh and I do not need souvies. (kids have to save there own spending money).. any more tips I would be thrilled!

 

[Dabelsteen]

Two change jars! One in my car, one in my house. Also started a vacation club as well as a Christmas club account at my bank.

 

[kfeuer]

I always do everything I can think of to help our vacation account along:

Market Research groups (in-person)--they generally pay $75-$125 for a couple hours of time. Look for firms in your area and get into their database, and then they'll call you when they have a study you might qualify for.

Credit card rewards--I use a combo of our cash back card, a card that lets us get gas gift cards, and the Disney Visa depending on who gives us the best reward. We charge everything (including utilities, food, etc.) and pay it off at the end of the month. This usually adds a few hundred dollars to our fund.

Online surveys--they don't pay alot, but every bit helps

Mypoints & Ebates--Ebates gives you cash back for online purchases, and Mypoints gives you points for purchases and reading emails, fulfilling special offers, etc.

Test drive rewards, when possible. Just found out about one today for a $50 Best Buy gift card. It won't help with a Disney trip, but it will buy us a few things we ordinarily don't splurge on.

Opening bank accounts--fairly often I get offers for $50-$100 for opening new bank accounts. I don't always do these, but if the terms are right I will.

Cleaning my office--My DH and I clean my office twice a month and make an extra $100. It only takes 45 minutes (no bathrooms or kitchen) and it's a pretty easy way to make extra money.

That's all I can think of at the moment, hopefully this will give someone some new ideas.

 

[tikilyn]

We have a vacation fund account that gets 100.00 every two weeks. So 200.00 a month goes into the accounts. We started out with 25.00 a month and when we got use to not seeing it on the check we then added another 25.00 and so on. I'm about to up it again so we can have 250.00 a month for vacations.

 

[PeabodyJen]

I'm planning on taking a long-term substitute teaching job (Feb-April) to pay for our trip in May '08. When those middle-schoolers and early mornings start to get me down, I'll just think of our upcoming trip (and of course spent some time here at the DIS boards) and I'll feel better instantly. It will be a GREAT motivation!

 

[Jakesmom504]

We have about $700 just in quarters in a change jar...granted it's from years ago! I've also been selling on Ebay. I have almost the whole trip paid for just from selling on Ebay. Still have a lot more to sell so now I'm working on airfare. I'm hoping to have enough by the beginning of the summer to have the trip itself paid for so I can start working on spending money. We are planning to go Aug 30.

 

[HeyIt'sMe]

We have a savings account set up just for vacation and have $200 deposited there every time we get paid (15th and last day of the month).

The savings account pays for the airfare, resort and tickets. For meals and souvenirs we work on building up our Disney Visa Reward Dollars. We put everything we can on the Disney Visa and pay if off at the end of the month.

 

[Mrs.Reese]

I do the "demo thing." Everytime I get a check I put it into the savings account. I also withdraw $40/week and put it into an envelope. Bad I know, in case of fire, theft but we don't notice $40 a week gone.

 

[dnoyes]

This may not work for everybody but it has been a lot of fun for us. I'm a pretty handy guy and like to work on things in my time off. Never been one to sit down on weekends if you get my drift. We go to auctions (or estate sales) and buy an old travel trailer or boat or? for a few hundred bucks and take it home and give it a complete makeover. Fix it from one end to the other until it's in the condition we would use it and then sell it.

When the $6-700 we've spent turns into $1500 we go and get another RV and do it again. Before you know it you're looking for $3000 Rv's and the next sale pays for your trip.

We could pay for a trip out of pocket any time we want but for us it's the whole adventure that makes it all the more fun. I get to spend time with my wife and daughters as we rebuild these RV's and maybe even teach my kids a thing or two.

It's fun to be walking around EPCOT knowing the ten day trip you are on only cost you about $500. and a lot of hard work.

 

[EthansMom]

I had the kids stop buying milk at lunch it was 240 a week and I have no idea if they were drinking it or dumping it out!

Our school doesn't have a cafeteria, so the PTO offers "Hot Lunch" 4 times a week, which is brought in from fast food places. Hot Lunch costs $2.75 - $3.50 per day and does not include a drink. Since I'm the PTO Treasurer, I process the checks for our Hot Lunch Program. I've gotta say that I can't believe the number of people who buy their children Hot Lunch multiple times per week.

Likewise, with ice cream, which one of the student groups sell to raise funds. Some kids are buying ice cream most every day... $0.50/day and it isn't even healthy!

I let my son get Hot Lunch once a week (he can pick the day) and ice cream once a week (on Friday). But I'm definitely in the minority at our school.

This week, my DS needed some more jeans. Instead of buying new, I bought them used at the consignment store. I usually buy his pants new on sale (~$13/pair), but paid $6.50 per pair for slightly used ones.

We're also dining out even less and less. I can make a really nice meal at home much less than the price of eating out. And we don't have to wait for a table. Make up a box of jello or a small batch of cookies for dessert and the kids are happy as clams with our at-home meal.

 

[crazelion]

Rewards : Mypoints and coke rewards is paying for July 4th trip to Orlando. I save my tip money when pouring beer that goes into my vacation fund to.

 

[elmosmom]

Hi
There's some great ideas here. We started our vacation budget rolling by having a rummage sale.
I sold a few things on craigslist and tomorrow we're listing a few things at the ebay store.
We've got aluminum cans to cash in and a change jar going. It's adding up slowly but surely.
I'll be watching for more ideas, thanks for sharing.
sue

 

[aka-mad4themouse]

I just wanted to add another idea that may work for some.

If you have a skill or talent that you can teach, market it. I teach French to grade-school children. But there are a lot of skills that I find many parents would love for the kids to be able to learn because they never did. Sewing, knitting, light carpentry and woodworking, word processing and EXCEL. Some school districts even offer adult continuing education classes (non-credit) that non-traditional teachers lead (if you're not interested in teaching children).

 

[Grendalynn]

We pull out $X amount from my paycheck every other week. We sit down and divide the total amount of the trip by however many weeks il it needs to be pai off.

We cut out extra expenses. Lke going out to eat, more thrifty on our groceries, bonzi runs to Walmart and TJMaxx. So on and so forth... All things that I sell on ebay (EBAY ID: Grenalynn ) goes toward our Disney Fund. We also ask for Disney Dollars for Birthdays, Christmas or whatever esle. We also do the change Jar which is spending money more or less for when we are there! Hope this helps....

 

[eatatmidnight]

Hi
There's some great ideas here. We started our vacation budget rolling by having a rummage sale.
I sold a few things on craigslist and tomorrow we're listing a few things at the ebay store.
We've got aluminum cans to cash in and a change jar going. It's adding up slowly but surely.
I'll be watching for more ideas, thanks for sharing.
sue

What are aluminum cans going for these days? My teenagers and friends go through a few each month.