How do you save $ for your WDW trip?

[LoriMistress]

Tell me your best secret on how you save money for your trip to WDW.

 

[kirst_al UK]

From hotels to parks...

sorry pressed reply - oops !!!

 

[she-luvs-disney]

luckily for my family, my husband has a great seasonal job in the summertime and we are able to book the vaca and pay for the whole thing at once or i would probably never get to wdw!

 

[primetime52]

1. I pack my lunch and take the money I would have spent and put it in an envelope. At the end of the week it get deposited into savings paying 5%

2. Do the change jar thing too. Also bring coffee instead of buying it, that goes into the change jar.

3. I use amazon turking to make some easy cash when Im watching tv. I would post a link but dont know the policies. Search google for turking.

4. Direct deposit from my checking into savings, the interest builds up quickly.

5. Put my tax return into savings for next year to start off the fund.

I usually have about $5k saved when it comes time to plan, its easier to plan a trip using money you have rather than using credit.

Once I do plan I usually still have $500 -$1000 for Downtown Disney or Universal.

If I can ask you a technical question, what type of savings account do you have that pays 5%? For example, do you know if it's a mutual fund or other? And what specific bank or company do you use?

I have an "orange savings" account with ING Direct that is supposedly high yield, that pays 4.10%. I also invest in stocks here and there but those of course are much higher risk than savings. If there's a bank somewhere that pays 5% on low risk savings accounts I'd like to jump on board!

Of course, if you'd rather not disclose this information publicly feel free to PM me. Thanks.

 

[disneyherewecom]

We will definatley be using our income tax return.

 

[she-luvs-disney]

where do you get a disney gift card?

 

[Hammer1310]

When friends and family ask what we want for birthdays, xmas....we answer "Disney Dollars!!"

 

[JJLRo]

This is our first trip there and we're paying for it a few ways. We're taking 1/3 of our tax refund, we save all of our change and $1 bills and we're putting aside some cash every paycheck. Plus my husband is working overtime to help as well. No way do I want to charge it, have a fabulous time and then come home to a few grand in credit card bills, lol.

 

[Jodileigh]

I have $$ from my paycheck every two weeks direct deposited into my money market acct. Since I've been doing it that way years and years, I don't even miss it! Then, if we get, say, a tax refund or the tax rebate thing or whatever, Jeff and I sit down and discuss what to do with the money. Some goes to my vacation fund, some goes to something he wants (b/c he hasn't done DW with me and the boys since 2002), then the largest portion goes to a project that will serve the whole family. I also have AFLAC optical plan. Since I've already paid for the exams and glasses before I get my check from AFLAC, I just stick that into the vacation fund, too! I do NOT use credit cards on our trips or for them. I bring the Amex just in case of emergency, but that's it. Jeff uses an Amex card almost exclusively for his work. THe company pays the bill. However, we get the airline points for it! So, we're hoping that our airfare for our Nov. 2009 trip will be covered!! Then maybe my savings will cover us staying at Contemporary! YAY!! For this upcoming trip, though, we're sticking with mod b/c that's what I can afford!

Jodi

 

[jessicaj]

Here is some new things we do I have not come across yet. I am mostly a SAHM but here are some ways we can make a big difference on an already tight budget.

We canceled our home phone and just use our cell phones now saving us $30 per month that goes right into the vacation fund.

This year we also canceled cable. My DD is now in full day Kindergarten and my DS is too young for TV. So we save that $30 per month and put it right into our vacation fund. Sure there are shows that I would like to watch on other stations but you can usually find them online or my parents will DVR it for me and I will just watch it when I am over there.

I resale all my kids clothes that they have outgrown at resale shops. I know that many of you have mentioned rummage sales but I'm in WI and you can only do that 3 months out of the year. My house is to small to hold onto it all year long and get rid of it only in the summer months.

I am also a scrapbooker and have taken up scrapbooking other peoples trips for them to get a little money on the side. I love it because I can live their trip with them and it can be done during my DS nap and I can do it after the kids go to bed.

I also make personalized autograph books. I make them for my kids and family members. I try to make atleast 2 extra so that when somone asks me where I got them I can say oh I make them and I usually sell them right there. Its just bonus money that we don't count on. But it can be the diff. between my DD getting all the accesories to go with that new princess dress or not.

So if you have a hobby maybe you could find some way to make a little extra money from it. I just thought these things were unique to what was already said. Hope I helped!

 

[Tater48]

Work lots of overtime and pick up a couple of side jobs throughout the year. In my work, our overtime is pretty much unlimited.

 

[kasey1988]

-Ive started using cash instead of debt anbd saving all the change.
-putting all spare change in a bottle that ive put a picture of mickey on
-Saving all cans and bottles and using the money for my vacation fund (being a university student that adds up!)
-limit eating out/taking my lunch
-planing well in advance!
-Tax returns
-i take $200 a month minimum and put it in my vacation fund

 

[xsupaxmanxsfnex]

I have been saving change (not quarters because I use them) since about the end of last Fall, I can't really remember, and we have $41!!!!
We call it the Disney Fund and keep the change in a souvenir popcorn bucket.

 

[firedog31]

For the trip I have been putting about 150 200 dollars a month away from my job, I also save the change and have asked for money for my birthday.

Also I am going to be aeration and leaf pick up in the fall around the neighborhood where I will be able to make about 300 a house. If i do 3 or 4 a week for a couple of months tha will give me the money i need for the trip plus money for christmas and the start of spending money for wdw

 

[SnowWhiteMomma]

Well, I don't know how much slack I will catch for this but here goes: My husband and I follow the teachings of Dave Ramsey.

I too follow Dave. My car is paid for, my huge loan for fertility treatment is gone, school loans almost gone. Not paying off the house, because when the market settles we are going to build.

To answer the Disney question... We save. I put money from the weekly budget away. Hubby pays into the vacation fund every two weeks. We budget and have it paid off before we go. It is WONDERFUL to come home with no bill.

I know this goes against Dave Ramsey, but my hubby has the Disney Visa and easily charges 30k a minth for work. Since they have lifted the amount the $700 cap (of how many dollars you can earn per year) I hope to have a 2010 DL tirp paid for.

I don't make sacrafices while I am there, because I feel if I am going to spend over 3k to go I am going to enjoy EVERYTHING.

 

[RichieTruxillo]

Here are my current 5 ways of saving money, from the perspective of someone with 300k in student loans to pay off on a residency salary (around minimum wage for hours worked)

Pretty much I have a savings account used for trips the past 4 years. I do little things that add up and set deposits to go into that account. Here are some tips:

#1: Getting Paid to Surf the internet with Google (Link here): I use this service here to surf the net with. It installs a small, non-intrusive application to your toolbar. For each search you get 2.5p which amounts to 5-6 cents in US Dollars. Every 45 days, they deposit the amount into your Paypal account if you have over 20£ in your account. At 30-50 searches a day on average, it adds up, especially if you have referrals on board. Nice to get paid for something you already do anyway.

#2: Spare Change. Yes, everytime you go out to eat and end up with change, put it in a bottle for safe keeping. Every 3 months, go deposit it into the savings account you setup. Last time I checked, I had a whopping 44 bucks in change laying around.

#3: Ebay: I sell all of my games and books I don't use on ebay. It too, ads up. I got 150 bucks for an old Super Nintendo game that was lying around.

#4: Tax Return: Enough said

#5: Blogging for dollars. I make money on the side by monetizing my website blogs with google Adsense ads. The best part is that you can get a free blog and webhosting for free at Blogger.com now. The downside to this is that you have to make $100 bucks to get your first check and it starts out slow. It builds up over time though, takes about 3 months to get decent money rolling in.

30 bucks here and there ads up, trust me. Life is short, save up and go on trips!

-Richie

P.S. I just got back from Disney a couple weeks ago. Love my Pirate Hat

 

[BigB911]

Well, like most everyone else has said, work a ton of OT! My wife and I are working ourselves to the bone and have barely seen each other, but in passing, we're like, only 109 days to go!

Other things I have done are very small, but add up. I, too, have been doing the online surveys as well as focus groups for a local company (the focus groups are like $75 for an hour or 2 about once a month.)

I also save my cans (and my dads and dad-in-laws) and haul them to the scrap yard. Right now in my area, aluminum is going for $.70/lb.

I also try to re-use as much as possible. Foil, zip-lock bags, paper lunch bags, I re-use them all. Sounds silly, but it adds up! 1 paper lunch bag can last me a week. (And I don't use a soft thermal reusable kind or any other kind because I kept leaving them at work and forgetting them and then they'd disappear.)

Also, YARD SALE!!!! For someone reason, we love buying others used junk!

...It's all about pinching pennies...

 

[DISMOM]

The Economic Stimulus check at $1800 and $600 in Disney Reward Dollars from Visa helped our May, 2008 vacation. I am a nurse and worked extra shifts. We have paid off the last vacation Visa bill and did not have to dip into savings.!!! [yes!!] I am so glad that we went and so sad that it's over. ha. We had a great time.

 

[Carolyn1717]

Well fortunately we really don't have to save to do Disney. We kind of go whenever we want. We do encourage the children to save from their allowances for their own spending money so they learn the value of a dollar. We match whatever they have saved and then add $100.00 extra for each of them. They love it because they can then buy whatever they want and not have to ask us for it. If they go over what they have, well we kind of cover the difference.

 

[mickeymouse090]

Income tax refund, points from my Disney Visa, put a little money back from my paycheck...sometimes it is more & other times it is not. I have also got into the habit of saving my quarters. I will cash a couple of dollars in for quarters every week & turn my other change in for quarters & put them in my Mickey Mouse bank. Out of sight out of mind. Quarters are easier to count & roll when it is time to cash them in! :ROFLOL:

Even though I do these things for me I still don't get to go every year. My last trip was Jan 06 & my next trip is planned for Jan 09. It would have been Jan 08 but I had to postpone my trip because I got sick & had to have surgery. I am very much looking forward to my trip in 09 now that I am well again.

Keep counting quarters! :wave:

 

[tinkfan05]

I have two ways I save for Disney. I've been making and selling candles now for 7 years. This year I also just got a full time job, so now my candle money is my "play" money. So I've decided I want to "play" at Disney! I also use my rewards from my Disney Visa.