$How do u save money?$

[WDWfreak89]

Just woundering maybe this could help me. I know im trying different ways to save money for a trip in Feb. 2006. I started something like adding 1$ everyday to a jar i started that like two months ago so we will have about 365$ My parents are saving little by little. Anyone have any tips on saving? Any ideas that you use to save that you would like to share?

 

[Trishnh]

A painless way to save is to save all your change at the end of the day. I always pay with bills and throw my change into a jar every night. I easily save several hundred dollars this way! Besides that, I save anything 'extra' I get, like rebates, bonuses or 'unexpected' cash. Every little bit helps!

 

[bigorangeandy]

I'm saving $20 every two weeks, and almost all of my change. I'm also selling things on EBAY (I have sold enough to pay for 4 nights in a moderate already) and have about 89 days more until we leave. Have you thought about a yard/garage sell, earn a little cash and move out stuff you don't use/need? Recycle aluminum cans, you won't make a lot but every little bit helps. Odd jobs for neighbors can also be a way to make some extra cash. Good luck and a lot of small steps will add up at the end.

 

[Laura]

I am a work-at-home mom and run my own internet business and from that I try and save about $500 per month to put towards our Disney fund. My husband's income pays all our bills so my income is purely for frivilous things, and I tend to spend at least half of it on Disney vacations. I don't see Disney vacations as frivilous though - I consider them a necessary escape for our family from the stresses of every day life

 

[philsfan2185]

I set aside $40 bucks each week, till I hit my goal. I'm suprised how disciplined I was with not spending any of the cash.

 

[Debbie]

All of our quarters go into a special jar. This is for our little one to use in the arcades at WDW and to pay for their passes. I just try to treat saving like a bill. I pretend that I have a note to pay and put that certain amount aside every month while we are planning our trip. I also work the elections as a commissioner and that is extra money. Last year, we had 4 elections; so that was $400.00 to save!

 

[Hakunamatata]

Every month I write a check to "Disney Vacation" and put it in the same container we put our change in. We are going in December and have already saved enough to pay for our room and passes. Between now and December is gas, food, and spending money.

Its going to be a special trip. Both sets of grandparents are going with us. I cant wait to take pictures....

 

[scorp111]

I pretend that I have a note to pay ....

That reminds me of my in-laws in Louisiana... I think it is very much a Southern thing to call bills, "notes"

How do we save for Disney?

We try to pay for little things along the way, but for our "spending/food money", which is our largest expenditure, we try to save a paycheck exclusively for it. Since I get paid bi-weekly, I get paid 26 times a year. Utilizing 2 paychecks per month for all expenditures, uses 24, leaving 2 extra checks per year.(about 6 months apart). We take that check and spend it at WDW.


Another tip on we could save money... would be if we could avoid the Disney Store... just doesn't happen though :lol:

Some great deals yesterday on Easter Plush, so DD got a very large Thumper.... and an Easter Stitch...... and an Easter Sully.....

But we only bought T-shirts off the discount rack....

 

[swimmom]

I save $40.00/week and all of our change. We've also decided that it's time to have a garage sale and that will also go towards our next trip in December.

 

[BrerVeritas]

You should try giving something up and using that money towards your trip. I'm trying to quit smoking, and with each pack that I don't buy, six bucks goes into the disney world fund. Ive cut my intake in half over the last three months and have 190 dollars saved. If I quit completely it will be about 140 a month. I'm planning to go next summer for a week...so far I'm on track.

P.S. I shoudn't have written that...now I'm having a craving... :hammer:

 

[PixiePower]

Every time we are tempted to run through the drive-thru or order a pizza- if we don't give in and go home to eat we put what we would have spent aside for our next trip. Same goes for when my girls ask for extras...do you want the $$$ for that or for something at Disney? They almost always save the $$ for Disney. Our diets are healthier and the kids have less junk laying around that they don't play with!

We are close to grandparents so the girls also ask to do chores for them to earn $$. I consign the clothes they have outgrown on a fairly regular basis. That adds at least $100 a month to the fund. A yearly garage sale usually adds a big chunk towards the annual fund pass.

 

[New2WDW]

Ideas!

Just woundering maybe this could help me. I know im trying different ways to save money for a trip in Feb. 2006. I started something like adding 1$ everyday to a jar i started that like two months ago so we will have about 365$ My parents are saving little by little. Anyone have any tips on saving? Any ideas that you use to save that you would like to share?

Great ideas above, but if your like me you don't have much of any money to work with. Here are some of what my family does:

1) Recycling is a great idea. Check with your local recycling center and see what they take, plastic bottles, aluminum cans, glass bottles, etc. We save aluminum cans from family members and get about $7 per month.

2) What extra money I do receive I put 10% towards the Disney fund.

3) This last one is not a way to get money but an encouraging method of Saving:
I made a list of all line items needed per day for our trip. For example: Day1: Room Fee $86 w/ tax
Prefferred Option $12
Gasoline trip down $45
Dining Plan Adult $35
Dining Plan Adult $35
Dining Plan Child $10
Dining Plan Child $10
Toll Booth Fee $2
Day 2: Thes again plus ticket per person, etc.

Each time we save up enough money for an item we put it in the Fund and mark off an item. It is a lot more fun than trying to get to a lump sum of $2000 or more. Plus you get to label the extras and if you get the money you can put it towards them.

Good Luck!

 

[PixiePower]

I think the other thing to think about is how your family eats while on vacation. We typically spend less then $50 a day for 4 people to eat in the parks...we are not big breakfast people though and eat something in the room before we go.

I know a lot of people that plan big meals every day...we plan 1 or 2 a trip. The rest is counter service and we can split those meals between 2 people. We prefer to have the $$ for things other then food.

We have also, when trying to do a really tight budget trip, packed lunch and snacks in our bags...kids were just as happy and we had extra time since we ate while waiting in line! That way we only ate a hot meal for dinner. Saves lots of $$$ that way.

Another idea is to sell old CDs you no longer listen to...you don't get much but every bit adds up!

 

[poohbear6103]

I put all my change is a Winnie the Pooh bank to remind me that it's for Disney. I try to use cash to pay for things whenever I can so that I can get change. Once it's in the Pooh bank, I am not touching it for the world. It really adds up. I have also sold stuff on EBay like some and have done surveys that if you have the time can add up as well. I also take part of my pay check and have the bank move it for me for my savings account. Yes, I have a savings account that I strictly use for Disney vacations. This way, I forget it's there and only take out the money a day before we leave so there is no temptation even a few days beforehand You all have great ideas!

 

[SewIn2Disney]

Congrats! That's great.....makes a non smoker like myself happy to hear that!

-I make coffee for my dad every morning, and the buck he would have spent otherwise goes into the jar.
-We do garage sales/flea market sales
-I design and sell purses and keep that money aside.
-A friend of mine, when writing checks/debit purchases in her check book, always rounds up, then when she balances her checkbook at the end of the month, the extra money she thought she had spent (from rounding up) goes into a bank. This is not for everyone....as some like their checkbooks to be perfect (heh...that's not me) but cute anyway.
-And my last one. Sign up for a credit card with benifits....frequent flyer miles, cash back, etc. Then put all big purchases on it, and watch the rewards come in! (note: the Disney card is nice, but the benifits stink!)

Great ideas on here...keep em coming!

 

[DocOrange]

Disney Credit Card

1% of purchases made with a Disney Credit Card builds up as bonus dollars, or magic dollars, or whatever they're called. We pay with the card wherever and whenever we can get away with it, instead of cash. Needless to say, this will work only if you pay your balance in full every month--otherwise you just waste that money in fees and interest. We're working our way towards a Disney cruise at the moment, courtesy of our grocery store, our gas station, the auto mechanic, the odd visit to McDonalds, etc. Now if only we could pay our mortgage off with it, we'd already be booking a stateroom for a Christmas cruise.

In addition to the fees, you also have to keep on top of when the dollars expire--something like three years after the month that you earned them.

 

[tinkfan05]

I make candles

I'm a stay at home mom who has been making candles now for 4 years. Last year my best friend (who's an at home beautician), and I decided that this May we wanted to take our families to Disney for a week, and pay for the whole trips ourselves with the money we make from our "jobs". Both of us started saving last April, and needed to save $4500 each. We had a race to see who could save for the whole trip first. I am happy to say that we have both just finished our savings and have all the $$ we need for our upcoming trip! We will be spending 5 days at Disney and then another 3 at a 5 star resort in Daytona Beach! We figured if we're going to to this, we're going all out! (boy, are our husbands going to owe us for this!!)

 

[Ringo8n24]

We have graphed our Disney "fund" on a poster board in the shape of Mickey. As we collected our change, we counted and charted it until we reached our goal. It had dollars on one side and a time frame on the other. A yard sale/garage sale was also a good way for us to make a large amount of money to go towards our trip. It helps you with your Disney trip and cleans your house of unnecessary junk.

 

[LadyDarling]

Here's what we're doing to save money:
1) Change ja
2) My DH and have our "date nights" for $15 or less. Sometimes that just means going to get ice cream or coffee or something. Or, if we don't go out all week, we treat ourselves to breakfast or lunch out on the weekends instead of dinner out. Saves a TON that way and we actually end up spending at least $10 less each time we go out. We've also cut that down to going out twice a month instead of weekly. Weekly, we invite the couple we're going to WDW with other and have a board game or Disney movie marathon night.
3) We canceled TV. That's right! It's saving us $2 a month, but that adds up!
4) We try to set aside $375/month to pay for the trip. This month, that didn't happen. We put the annual passes on credit instead and are working to pay those off.
5) New jobs! LOL That's right. Our current jobs don't pay enough to pay for our "habit" of being Disney freaks, so I've applied for one that will bring my hourly up by around $5 and my DH has been working harder and is getting a couple raises before then!
6) Cut back on the little things. We don't drink NEARLY as much alcohol as we used to. We get 1 bottle of wine a week, and since we live in Cali, we can find a good one for under $5 generally. We also don't drink soda. It's either water or wine. LOL
7) We're selling books on amazon.com and half.com for a little extra money towards the trip.
8) We're selling a brand new washer/dryer we don't have room for in our new condo.
9) We shop around for groceries. We have our bill down to $50 a week for the 2 of us. We don't buy boxed stuff. We buy whatever fresh fruits and veggies and meats are on sale and cook.

Cut back on the little things. Like, instead of putting money into a soda machine or fast food or something like that, stop and think "What could I do with this at Disneyworld?" You may find that saving all that little stuff saves a TON!

 

[New2WDW]

Great Ideas but what if...

This would be the greatest idea... This site shows about 20,000 members. Each member could send in a dollor and then the WDWMagic people could do Disney Trip give-a-ways to a few lucky families each quarter. I guess this could be a way to make sure everyone joins the site and pays for use. (I am a guest only) but this Lottery idea could get some people down there. Sorry only one winner per family, per houshold, per lifetime!