What do you sacrifice to go to Disney?

[kjs1976]

Ditto what a lot of people said - shop sales and clearances, Wal-Mart, etc.

I also make getting a bargain vacation my hobby - I watch airfare like a hawk...got tickets for this summer for $202...our lowest yet! The cheapest I had paid up until then was $227 three years ago...mostly we've paid between $230-270. And we use AAA.

Biggest "wake-up" for me came with our weekend escape in December to WDW. I won a free airline ticket and AAA rooms at the AS were $66. We decided we'd go for a 3 day weekend for our x-mas present to ourselves. I looked at a bunch of Christmas decorations I didn't really need, clothing on clearance/sale I had bought and not worn yet that I didn't really need, and some bills I could submit to work to get $ back and we were able to get back $600 in money we were just going to throw away on stuff we really didn't need or bills we had been too lazy to submit. Since I lost weight two years ago, I had to replace my entire wardrobe because it was all too big. It was a great feeling to buy cute new things that actually fit and looked good. Well, I already have replenished all my clothes, but was still in the habit of picking up and item or two every time I went to Target/Wal-Mart/Old Navy/The Mall/Anywhere with a clothing store and I didn't need to spend that money any more! DH had done this too on little house hold items or snacks he didn't really need. So we made a pledge to not do this any more and I have not bought a new item of clothing in 21 days! (bought bras with some returned x-mas presents just after x-mas so I just made it official on 1/1) Old Navy and JCPenny card is paid off! The only clothing items I will really NEED in the near future are new shorts for summer. So my goal is to hold off until they are out in March/April.

I know my story just got long here....but it really has been looking at what we really need over what we think we need. Even stuff like a treat at the coffee shop...I like the coffee coolers, but they are $2.99-3.99 at any of the shops in our town for one. I like them as a treat occasionally, so I found a bottled brand that is low-cal and tastes great for $3.99 for 4 bottles...not only is it portion control, but will probably last me a month and is only $1 a serving.

What we want: WDW vacations we can enjoy and make new memories with...not clothes, gadgets, or food that we'll forget about a week after we buy them.

 

[ugadog99]

I'm a widow with one income for my two girls and me. The girls do competitive clogging, but other than that, we really skimp on day to day things in order to afford Disney. We do have subways every Tuesday on the way home from dance, but we eat out very little. We don't buy expensive clothing, shoes, or accesories. We rarely go to movies or such, but I don't feel like my girls lack for anything. We just know that what we are saving on those other items will go to our Disney trips and that is what they want.

 

[MamaLema]

We never eat at restaurants and get take-out less than once a month. It's amazing how much you can save right there.

Really, it's little things that you do, but it really adds up in the end!

 

[laura001]

We have no mortgage, have a car loan though and two children in University (takes every exta cent we seem to have). We only put an extra 200/mth away for retirement(on top of retirement plan). We still have one more child to go to University in 3 years. It is very difficult for us to save unless it is forced as we don't like to skimp too much on our lifestyle (we try and do well for a few weeks, then fall off the wagon).

We have always had at least a two week vacation with a few short ones added each year. My DH has a very stressful job so it is important that he gets away for 2 weeks at a time for a real vacation. Every week I have an extra 50.00 taken out of my cheque in tax, I know it is crazy to give the government extra money, but it is a forced savings for us that we can't use for something else. So when our income tax comes back I know that I have approx. an extra 2500.00 towards our vacation, that coupled with my vacation pay of 3000.00, we can afford our vacation wherever it is. If I had my way it would always be at WDW but that doesn't always flow with everyone else....wonder why????

Anyway, that is my 2 cents (oops, perhaps I should have saved that)

 

[disneymom3]

Both cars 140 k plus, relatively inexpensive mortgage for 2 and a half bedroom house(DDs bedroom smaller than some walkin closets). "new" couch is a hand me down from friend, "new" kitchen chairs are a hand me down from friends, TV was $1.50 at a garage sale 2 years ago.

It sounds bad but it really is a matter of what is important to each person. We do have 3 computers but i doubt i'll ever buy a piece of furniture except bed mattresses new.

Planning May trip now.

You sound like us! Our lovely dining room table is a hand me down from DH's grandma when she moved into an apartment. That was 14 years ago and it has seen better days. We just throw a table cloth over it when we have company and hope they don't notice that the chairs don't match. Our fairly large TV and the couch in the living room were also hand me downs from DHs other grandma when she moved to a nursing home. This trip in Feb we will have a very nice digital camera that DHs mom is giving us cause she got a new one. One of the cars we have been driving for the last couple of years used to be my mom's before she stopped driving and the other car has 180K miles on it.

We also have two computers but one again is a hand me down and DH does have 4 guitars and we did actually buy our piano.

 

[Rock'n Robin]

This is our big trip this year, and I sold our hot tub for the seed money. For everything else I am reallly starting to skimp. For example, this morning DD#2 had a basketball game and DD#1 had dance, and usually I would have taken the kids out for breakfast, but today we came home to cereal. Same on the snow day Wednesday--I could have taken them out but didn't. We still eat out about once a week but I am ashamed to say that's a big improvement. I also buy weeks worth of Lean Cuisine meals when they are on sale; same cost as school food but so much healthier! (the kids pack--and the older they get, the harder it is to convince them packing is "cool")
As for my clothes, I have several pair of dress pants and I probably wear each pair once a week and then wash them. My students probably think I'm a hobo. I need to lose weight, but am trying to remember the WW points system on my own instead of paying weekly. When DD#1 "needs" an item of clothing we try the nice resale shop first, then Target, then on to Kohls or Old Navy. Usually we are able to find her nice brand name jeans at th resale shop for $8-10. We just discussed with her that she needs to wear a 1 piece bathing suit to Typhoon Lagoon, and she's working out a lot to wear a 2 piece, but I'm not buying both suits--she'll have to buy one herself.
I go in to work early every day to run a study table for career and tech kids who are failing English--and make an extra $22 a day (before taxes) for doing so. Much easier than working several house at any retail job for the same money. I use it to bankroll the girls' dance expenses and DS's soccer.
Robin M.

 

[Stitchfans]

just like others have said. no fancy cars, clothes. don't eat out a lot. any money gifts (Christmas, birthdays, etc) we get goes into the Disney trip funds, things like that.

 

[Disney Doll]

We live in a lot "less" house than the banks would have given us a mortgage for. Some of our furniture was bought used when we first married, and some of it is still being used. We tend to keep cars a long time after paying them off, so as to not have continuous car payments. We tend not to be the type who need designer clothing...shopping at Target, Wal-Mart and Dress Barn is OK with me. I use coupons at the grocery store. I don't feel the need to get every new "thing" that comes out, either in the fashion, home fashion, or electronics worlds. We have a desktop computer that is about 7 years old now...still works fine for us, so we're OK with it. Just bought a laptop, after DH's promotion, because he really needed it but got it during an amazing promotion from Dell, so it cost us half of what it would have. I have a cell phone, but it is the same cell phone I have had for at least 4 years...works fine, so there's no need to change it. DH did just recently get a new cell phone/PDA combo, but that saves on him having to have 2 things, so I think it's a break even.

It's a matter of choosing what is important and what is not. I have enough "stuff" to make me happy and contented. As a matter-of-fact, I am getting into the mindset of getting rid of some stuff. What I figure is that when I am old and in a nursing home, it's not going to matter what kind of car I drove when I was 43, but I will hopefully be able to remember the wonderful trips that I took with family and friends!!!!

 

[Hillbeans]

I value vacations (disney included) as one of the most important things in my life - I love travel and spending uninterrupted time with the family.

I guess it's probably one of the many reasons DH and I both work FT even though we've got small children - not just for vacations but to enjoy a comfortable lifestyle.

We decided not to go to WDW this year so we could do a deluxe trip when the baby is a toddler in spring of 2007. It will give us over a year to save up!

 

[Taylor]

We used to sacrifice a chicken before each trip, but we have found that our trips are much better if we sacrifice a larger animal like a goat.

 

[DisneyFix321]

You all are right. Its up to the individual and what they are willing to sacrifice. Its sooo easy to say lets put the vacation on a credit card and lets go. Then reality hits when you get back. Priortizing is the key!

 

[Kitty 34]

Years ago we chose not to build a new house and just remodel this old house as we needed. In the long run that decision has saved us a LOT of $$ because our house payments on this little ole house is very low.

 

[WDWLVR]

Well in our case I wouldn't call them sacrifices - more like lifestyle choices.

We live in a small ranch house that is payed for instead of a much larger house with a big mortgage. We both drive 1999 cars and will do so for a number of years to come. We don't eat out much, we both bring our lunch (or sometimes I come home), and we only go out to the movies 3-4 times a year. As I said these really aren't sacrifices to us.

We are also DINKS and consider our vacations important as it gives us time together away from our jobs and the rest of the family in the area.

 

[taramarie]

I chose to skp my own Master's Degree Graduation in Dallas to go to 5 days at Disney World. There was no way we could afford to do both so we chose Disney!

I got my diploma and all I just didn't walk. I did watch the 4 hour webcast last night though, so it was like I was there!!!

 

[Antonia]

I work a part-time job as an occupational health nurse. But I also work PRN at the local hospital. When I need my Disney money, I bump up my hospital work. It makes the work easier knowing that it is my Disney money.

Like many of you have said, DH and I live in the same little old house for 22 years and it is paid for.

 

[cyndibelle]

all we do is stop going out to eat so much....and instead of shopping for unnecessary things on the weekends we try to stay home....yea we have debt...we have nice things...but the way we look at it is ...you live once...enjoy life to the fullest....oh yea..we also stay at a value resort...which to us is perfect..we arent in the room much anyways...

 

[DisneyFix321]

all we do is stop going out to eat so much....and instead of shopping for unnecessary things on the weekends we try to stay home....yea we have debt...we have nice things...but the way we look at it is ...you live once...enjoy life to the fullest....oh yea..we also stay at a value resort...which to us is perfect..we arent in the room much anyways...

We eat out a lot too. That would save money!

 

[Mari annie]

We have been going to WDW for almost 18 years now and last year we started going on both vacations, Feb and April.
We all love FL and my son will be going to college outside MCO in 2007,
we eat out less, anything so we can go back.

We have found all our favorite places to eat, go and sightsee and look forward to the drive as a family now twice in a year.
I use coupons, we stay home alot and spend more time as a family, we buy cars that we upkeep and keep for years, I am having my daughter's braces put on at a Dental College, saving thousands that way.

Family time is too important for me to give up and we are used to going to FL and WDW. Anything we can do to save so we can continue. We have stayed at all the on site properities and now we are staying at off site properites.
In the beg. I didn't like it, but we go to WDW, we have AP passes, our kids have Yearly passes to DQ and it's nice knowing that we are going back in April, so not being right on property anymore doesn't phase me.
We spend so much time going on different properties to eat and going to Celebration, FL that we don't miss anything.

Wherever you stay or whatever you do on vaction, ENJOY!!!!!

I do whatever I can I am too selfish to give up my family's vacation!!!!
I have taken another part job as well.

 

[Tiggerlover91]

What do you sacrifice to go to Disney?

Absolutely nothing at all. I sacrifice nothing on ANY vacation I take. If we can't afford it, DH and I don't go. We no longer do Disney as it's not our thing anymore, but when we did, I saved up for it over a period of time without having to sacrifice one thing.

 

[olena]

Actually, it's the other way around for us. We've sacrificed a few things, including WDW visits and vacations, so Chris can go to school.