Saving for a trip

[Jessie&Buzz]

My hubby and I have decided that when we have an certain amount saved we will start planning a trip to our favorite place! My son (who's 4) asked me when we were going to Disney World (my sister is just about to get on her plane w/o us ) I told him that we are saving money to go. He said "you don't have to save money, I have some in my piggy bank" What a sweetheart!

How long does it usually take you to save for a trip? We figure we probably won't have enough till late 2008 or some time in 2009. We want to to be able to buy food every pay! :ROFLOL:

 

[Since1976]

To be honest, my wife and I rarely deal with hard numbers when planning for a trip. The main idea is "We're going, whether we have the money or not," which pretty much plants a subconscious motivation to be as thrifty as possible before, during, and after a trip. During our last three trips (including to DLR), we didn't do any financial planning at all. We still have a house and car, so I guess this attitude has worked out.

We're not rich, mind you. Our income is just barely enough to scrape by. Yet somehow it all seems to come together when WDW vacation time comes around. Oh yeah, it also helps that we were "suckered" into buying a timeshare 5 years ago, so our lodging is always being paid for in not so painful increments.

 

[Nansafan]

We do little things each week to save for vacation that really add up. Of course there's the jar with change like everyone else has but things to think about are your regular family weekly budget. Suppose you order pizza every Friday, try skipping one week a month and throw the pizza money in the WDW Vacation envelope. If you work and buy lunch out every day, try bringing lunch from home (if an option) 2 days a week and throw that money in the WDW Vacation Envelope. Open a separate savings account titled Vacation and resolve to put and set amount into it each week. Does your company offer a credit union? If you don't see the money, it's easier not to spend it. Another thing we do is when we get $100 in the WDW Vacation envelope, we go to the local Disney store and buy Disney dollars or convert the money to a Disney gift card. This way you can't spend it on something frivolous like groceries. I realize you are not asking for saving tips, just sharing some of our savings tips. We go to WDW at least once a year and these things help us stay on track. It's amazing how quickly $50 a week adds up to a vacation.

 

[carolina_yankee]

We keep an envelope that we each slip $10 into each week. If we borrow money from the envelope, we have to return it at 100% interest. That will usually cover most of our food. We're DVC members, so that's covered, but we'll sometimes start with a few nights at PC or a moderate on cash. Then, I'm a bargain hunter for airfares - our last three trips have been at $49 each way on Southwest. Over the course of a year, I can usually come up with all the funds.

Dirk

 

[Jessie&Buzz]

We do little things each week to save for vacation that really add up. Of course there's the jar with change like everyone else has but things to think about are your regular family weekly budget. Suppose you order pizza every Friday, try skipping one week a month and throw the pizza money in the WDW Vacation envelope. If you work and buy lunch out every day, try bringing lunch from home (if an option) 2 days a week and throw that money in the WDW Vacation Envelope. Open a separate savings account titled Vacation and resolve to put and set amount into it each week. Does your company offer a credit union? If you don't see the money, it's easier not to spend it. Another thing we do is when we get $100 in the WDW Vacation envelope, we go to the local Disney store and buy Disney dollars or convert the money to a Disney gift card. This way you can't spend it on something frivolous like groceries. I realize you are not asking for saving tips, just sharing some of our savings tips. We go to WDW at least once a year and these things help us stay on track. It's amazing how quickly $50 a week adds up to a vacation.

Thanks for the tips. My hubby loves to order pizza at least 1 time a week. I'll have to suggest to him that he puts that money into a Disney fund! (I'm actually sick of pizza! :ROFLOL: )

 

[emmersandjack]

We keep an envelope that we each slip $10 into each week. If we borrow money from the envelope, we have to return it at 100% interest. That will usually cover most of our food. We're DVC members, so that's covered, but we'll sometimes start with a few nights at PC or a moderate on cash. Then, I'm a bargain hunter for airfares - our last three trips have been at $49 each way on Southwest. Over the course of a year, I can usually come up with all the funds.

Dirk

we also are dvc members and usually try to start our trip out with a couple of days out of pocket at a mod or deluxe resort. this time it's animal kingdom lodge for four days before heading over to the beach club for a week. we lucked out this year on airfare, because on our last trip we were asked to take a later flight and then given free round trip vouchers for our next trip. we also just like everyone keep the disney jar, and even though we don't go when it's free, we use the dining plan-for us it still works out to be cheaper than paying regular.
we also usually start planning our next trip while we are on our current trip. so, i guess we never get out of the saving mode.

 

[macsmom]

I have calendars made out through 2010! I figured out if I go once a year, when I can start paying for my trip (499 days in advance) which tells me when I need my deposit. How many paydays between now and my 45 days before I get there (paying off the package). And, I pay an amount each payday. Might not work for everyone, but with a calendar, you might be able to show your DS "how long until our trip." It works for me and I'm....considerably older than 4! :lol:

I recently made up a list of about 20 things to do to save, etc., for my sister's co-worker. People at my work laugh at me, but I'm going and they're not!!

danna

 

[sweetpee_1993]

We pinch pennies and save everywhere we can. If one of us works overtime or we have some extra money pop up we usually sock it into savings or buy a pass or something just like we never had the money at all.

We also generally start the planning process for the next trip as we are leaving from our current trip. We're never out of the "save mode".

Our next trip has our travel budget ballooned like waaaay more than we've ever spent before. Our boys are getting to an age where they understand money and how it's earned by working hard. We sent them invitations to a Family Disney Vacation Planning Meeting held at our dining room table at a specified time. I had Disney refreshments for everyone (Mickey pretzels, etc.) and handouts that I created on the computer for the trip budget. We went over each item: gas, lodging, passes, food, souvenier $$. I let the boys see just how much the trip will cost. They were both speechless. We had them make suggestions how as a family we could save money. It worked out good. I didn't hear "Mom, I want a new...." near as much! LOL! I treated it like an opportunity to make a life-lesson out of the trip. They know that money doesn't grow on trees. They see that it takes a lot to fund a trip. They understand that working hard and planning carefully can pay off.

I think there are oodles of ways to effectively save. Find what works for you and go with it.

 

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

Our trips coincide with the amount of overtime I can get at work. This last 12 months they've been offering the o/t like its going out of fashion - hence our next trip is booked and I'll have the balance saved up for soon after this Christmas :sohappy:

 

[macsmom]

I love your meeting idea! Including the kids in the planning is a good thing. Lots of kids don't understand the money portion.

danna

 

[Jessie&Buzz]

I love your meeting idea! Including the kids in the planning is a good thing. Lots of kids don't understand the money portion.

danna

I love that idea too. In fact, I think I'll get out the Girl Scout Jr Badge book for my daughter. There is a badge about traveling and planning it. Makes a great lesson and she earns something by doing it!

I think we need to sit down and talk things out. I'm sure there are many many things we could do to save money faster.

 

[kennyj29]

Do you get tax returns? That's what we use. We also starting taking lunch to work. We also take any change left in our pockets and throw it in a container. We have saved quite a bit of money that way. My husband never lets me pay anything with change. We use dollars only and any change left goes in the bin. That is how we get a lot of our spending money for when we are down there. This year so far we have $450.00 saved just by doing that!

 

[bgraham34]

We dont save per say. Once the trip is booked we crack down on things. Unfortunitly this year I will have to take money out of savings for it. Usually its just not spend so much during the week.

 

[Craig & Lisa]

We dont save per say. Once the trip is booked we crack down on things. Unfortunitly this year I will have to take money out of savings for it. Usually its just not spend so much during the week.

Doing that may make you feel but the end results will make you feel :sohappy: :sohappy:

 

[kennygman]

A yard sale is a good way to pick up a couple hundred extra dollars and clean the house of unwanted items.

 

[hrcollectibles]

I save for trips by selling stuff on ebay.. heck these past 2 weeks alone I made enough to almost cover the price of my AP

 

[NWDMD]

We're currently in the same boat as you guys. I'm in grad school and my wife works. So we're definitely NOT rich. Another pizza suggestion for you guys would be to pick the pizza up instead of getting it delivered, that saves the tip plus the delivery fee which is a few dollars here.

We've always just scraped by, but we decided we'd pick a number we'd want to save per month, then figure out how to save that amount. We took all our costs per month and put it in a spreadsheet then we calculated how much we could spend per week on groceries and eating out, which are basically our only two variables, everything else is pretty much a fixed cost. My wife plans the meals out for the week and calculates how much it will cost (she brings a calculator to the grocery store). She's very good and so far we're actually saving MORE than our goal.

With Disney in our minds it hasn't been hard at all to save, it's almost a competition now. At the rate we're going, our only decision now is to go multiple times and stay at POP, or go one huge extravaganza at a deluxe (we've never stayed at a deluxe before). Good luck with saving and if you're anything like us, you can save huge amounts on groceries.

Good luck,
NWDMD

 

[ThinkTink721]

My DH takes a p/t job to help us pay for our trips!
:wave:

 

[rcapolete]

what me and my wife do is set aside a portion of our state and federal tax return plus some of my work bonus. This allows us to go every year or so

 

[macsmom]

A yard sale is a good way to pick up a couple hundred extra dollars and clean the house of unwanted items.

Unwanted items?!? I love all my stuff! Even all the stuff in my garage which if I got rid of my car could fit in! :ROFLOL: :ROFLOL:

My father says I could probably pay off the house if I had a yard sale with all my stuff. I refuse to call it junk like he does.

danna