Things you do to afford a Disney trip...

[scottmel]

We do WDW every year, deluxe hotel, and this year did WDW and an Adventures By Disney Trip Backstage Magic! What is a lifesaver for me is

1. Giftcards! Chase has 5% bonus at gas grocers and when our fuel perks are double it amounts to a 17% savings. So that is a pin of it's own really! I buy when double and extra percent points and use the Disney Vacation Account to track them.
2. Southwest airline with credit card 50k free points. We have NEVER paid to fly. Just open and close the card every year before the renewal fee comes up and they continue to offer us 50k to sign up each year. So between DH and I we have banked enough points to NEVER pay for three of us to fly in the last 8 years and we go yearly and sometimes twice!
3. I am a big believer in reselling! The things I sell are crazy sometimes but someone always seems to want them and I have ZERO clutter in the house thanks to it!

 

[polineedyan]

A theme I keep thinking about is that even though we find ways to cut spending at home, its a not a guarantee that anyone will actually "save" that money for Disney. Our most successful trips we financed because we made a goal. We had a budgeted amount to put toward Disney. When you have that line item in your budget and you religiously pay it..you'd be amazed at how little you have to "slash" and how frequently you actually exceed your goal.
For example, lets say the wife and I agree to put 80 a week towards Disney each. We put away 160 each week "technically" but very often I will throw a hundred instead of 80, or I'll start doing other things to exceed my goal. Saving coin, garage sale, ebay..etc.
Once you commit to a goal, you'd be surprised how easy it is to meet it. Often for us its in half the projected time.

 

[kydisneyfans]

We keep it simple. There are 2 "extra" pays a year, where there are 3 pays in a month. The extra pay is our Disney money. We own DVC, so our room is covered. Gas isn't that must of a cost anymore. We sneak in a $25 Disney gift card from Kroger here and there. Really, we're just paying food and tickets and we have to eat anyway.

We also amass credit card points, we'll fly if it's cheap, and use Hilton points if needed. Nothing drastic, we budget monthly and use the extra for vacation.

 

[worm761]

A theme I keep thinking about is that even though we find ways to cut spending at home, its a not a guarantee that anyone will actually "save" that money for Disney. Our most successful trips we financed because we made a goal. We had a budgeted amount to put toward Disney. When you have that line item in your budget and you religiously pay it..you'd be amazed at how little you have to "slash" and how frequently you actually exceed your goal.
For example, lets say the wife and I agree to put 80 a week towards Disney each. We put away 160 each week "technically" but very often I will throw a hundred instead of 80, or I'll start doing other things to exceed my goal. Saving coin, garage sale, ebay..etc.
Once you commit to a goal, you'd be surprised how easy it is to meet it. Often for us its in half the projected time.

This doesn't necessarily work for everyone. It wouldn't work in my household. I am a stay at home mom so I don't have a regular income to be able to save weekly. And this year DH paid for our trip to New York that we just got home from. We still wanted to go to Disney but it really wasn't in the budget. So I upped my Swagbucks and Perk game and started saving the gift cards that I get from there. I was doing some transcription but we haven't had a project in a while. So yes, your method works in your house. Not so much in everyone else's.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

We each have an extra side job...or two....that
(a) we enjoy doing (very important to us!) and
(b) gives us extra money for our vacations.

DH always has opportunities for overtime. We allocate a portion of that to vacation savings.

We save in the easy, everyday ways.....price matching at the grocery store and Walmart, using coupons, Ebates, Checkout 51, Zweet, etc. Those savings get redirected toward vacations.

For our vacations themselves, we stay offsite (huge savings), book flights as soon as fares are released (which is generally the way to get the lowest price from the airport we fly from), purchase our attraction tickets at a reduced cost (Groupon, Travelzoo, Livingsocial, Blue Friday sale for SeaWorld) or buy APs, and sign up for the various email clubs offered by many restaurants to help reduce our dining costs.

 

[FairestOfThemAll37]

We do WDW every year, deluxe hotel, and this year did WDW and an Adventures By Disney Trip Backstage Magic! What is a lifesaver for me is

1. Giftcards! Chase has 5% bonus at gas grocers and when our fuel perks are double it amounts to a 17% savings. So that is a pin of it's own really! I buy when double and extra percent points and use the Disney Vacation Account to track them.
2. Southwest airline with credit card 50k free points. We have NEVER paid to fly. Just open and close the card every year before the renewal fee comes up and they continue to offer us 50k to sign up each year. So between DH and I we have banked enough points to NEVER pay for three of us to fly in the last 8 years and we go yearly and sometimes twice!
3. I am a big believer in reselling! The things I sell are crazy sometimes but someone always seems to want them and I have ZERO clutter in the house thanks to it!

How have you gotten that many SW bonuses? Most people (as per chase T&C) aren't eligible for a bonus if you have received the bonus within the last 24 months.

 

[calypso726]

We are addicted to Adventures by Disney trips. In addition to budgeting for the trips, I groom and board dogs. Mostly ex showdogs and my own "grandpuppies" since I used to show and breed Champion Golden Retrievers. I have learned to utilize sign up bonuses on credit cards so we can fly overseas on miles. DH and I have managed to accumulate well over 2 million miles doing this. I also take advantage of the bonus categories for shopping on the cards and always try to shop online through a shopping portal. We focus more on trying to fly on miles than get cash back since we find the value of the miles tends to be higher when we redeem than what cash back would be.

 

[hollypoast]

I drive an 11 year old Honda Civic to work. Not the most luxurious commuting means but I'm sure it will provide me with many more years of service so I can save for my next used car. Plus no car payment = a Disney trip each year. So worth it!

 

[hsmamato2]

This doesn't necessarily work for everyone. It wouldn't work in my household. I am a stay at home mom so I don't have a regular income to be able to save weekly. And this year DH paid for our trip to New York that we just got home from. We still wanted to go to Disney but it really wasn't in the budget. So I upped my Swagbucks and Perk game and started saving the gift cards that I get from there. I was doing some transcription but we haven't had a project in a while. So yes, your method works in your house. Not so much in everyone else's.

as a longtime sahm.....that method works really well for us- b/c it's a matter of choosing a goal and adding to it, in the way you can within your budget. My own way over the years has been- since I don't have a personal 'income' I decide on a certain amount that I can painlessly carve from our budget for vacations. I also consider what I 'save' a part of our deal, since we are spending less than we would b/c I am deliberately choosing a set spending pattern,to go along with the above. So our income includes what we 'save' over regular spending and prices,like grocery store sales, 2nd hand shopping,haircuts at home,etc. So the $$ I set aside for vacations comes from all of that,plus I use credit card offers carefully to maximize out free and cheap travel within that set budget.to stretch it farther. So it's like I take a part of "our" income (dh paycheck) and make it "mine" to apply it to vacation for the whole family..... like the pp said, when you set a goal,then you can get there in your own time. our weekly/monthly budget page has a special line marked vacation savings that gets tended to weekly along with all the other budget items.

 

[hsmamato2]

How have you gotten that many SW bonuses? Most people (as per chase T&C) aren't eligible for a bonus if you have received the bonus within the last 24 months.

it can happen, though officially they say it can't. and beware of this method,they recently changed the 'rules' to much stricter sign up policies.... it's always YMMV in these things....

 

[FairestOfThemAll37]

it can happen, though officially they say it can't. and beware of this method,they recently changed the 'rules' to much stricter sign up policies.... it's always YMMV in these things....

Yeah, I got nailed along with a whole lot of other people with the auto decline with no reconsideration for having "applied for too many cards in the past two year" ugh

The real kicker on that is that it's not even just chase cards that they include

 

[Marbel]

There is a promo with Virgin Mobile that you can get a $15 Starbucks credit for $10. We collected quite a few of these for our last trip and the bonus cash took the sting out of the exchange rate. So if you don't have a Virgin Mobile plan ask around and see if your friends aren't going to use their codes. My dd collected one every few weeks for me before the trip

I'm with Virgin Mobile and received this promo. Do these GCs work in the states? I'd love to get a few.

 

[wishesuponastar]

I would cut out eating out as much as possible. Cut down on buying clothes. Cut our gift giving budget, I would even say no gifts for me for a year.

 

[nooneshome]

We have the money to take a Disney trip anytime we want but I enjoy doing small things to save money to take on our trip. I cut back on eating out for lunch at work. I started doing Walmart savings catcher. Anytime I save money on household things I will put that amount in my Disney savings ziploc.

 

[momtosam]

What we did last time:
Got a Southwest credit card to fly free
Stayed off site and made breakfast in our condo
Bought gift cards in advance at Target with 5% off
Researched discount codes for rental car
Bought tickets through Ebates deal

 

[DizMe]

We do a lot of the things already mentioned - watch food budget, don't eat out much, points on credit cards, only one car payment, clean/mow our own house, don't smoke, water from the tap, no soda.

One thing I didn't see mentioned is savings on hobbies. I LOVE to read, but I'm now just visiting the library once a week with the kids. We take out a ton (literally can barely carry the bag) of books so I haven't spent money on books in a long time. DH used to rent movies all the time and the cost added up but now we have netflix and overall it saves us money since we also dropped cable TV. We do spend money on Swimming lessons for the kids but I'm resisting putting either kid in any other activities. Not really to save money, more to save time & they aren't interested yet. When I ask they say no. We do have a zoo membership, but that gets us into other places free/discounted such as other zoos & the science museum as well. We also spend a lot of time riding bikes, playgrounds, beach which are all free.

I wish I could figure out how to save on my hobby. I'm an avid knitter, and though I sell some of the things I knit, many are gifts or just because I want to try a pattern. I have a whole lot of yarn already but I still find sales that are hard for me to resist. The purses I knit (that I sell for $50), for instance, take a certain type of yarn that went on sale for a really low price. That's good, but I now have enough yarn now for tons of those purses and I'm bored with knitting them because it takes up time I want to use for knitting other things! Also, friends and family keep asking me to knit specific things for them and they don't realize how expensive it can be. I make it a gift for Christmas or whatever but it's often pretty pricey.

 

[westcoastfldisneygirl]

Hi there! New here! This thread has some great tips! Here are mine. Sorry for any repeats. H and I love to travel (Disney and beyond) and every little bit helps!

I sign both me and H up for the birthday deals that companies have. So twice a year we take advantage of incentives. For example:
-Firehouse subs gives you a free sub on your birthday (just show ID)
-Ruby Tuesdays gives you a free burger and fries on your birthday (just show ID)

We cut our house cleaner. We hadn't been happy with her lately anyway (even brought issues to her attention, didn't help) and clean our own house now. We also mow our own lawn, etc.

-Bought less house then we could afford, still comfortable in an 1800sqft 3 bedroom 2 bath. Drive 2 cars paid off, will drive until no longer safe, driveable, etc.

I use swagbucks for buying Christmas gifts. We have also cut out a lot of gifts out. Sticking to immediate family, and my niece and nephews. That said, I have already started Christmas shopping. I even have some people done!

I use Receipt Hog, Target CARTWHEEL and I love Coupon Sherpa when I'm out and about for deals and coupons.

I shop at the Habitat for Humanity restore when possible. Lots of great finds!

Rarely go out for dinner. If we do, it's lunch, or a 2 for $20 deal or something like that.

I sell and buy clothes on Poshmark.

Buying less meat, eating more beans, etc. Buying generic brands help too!

 

[milwaukeemommy]

I have never been to the Restore..... keep meaning to stop but we always seem to be on our where to somewhere else, & the only time I remember it's there is when we pass it LOL. If you have a Red Robin near you, they also give you a free burger for your birthday ... we just went there on Friday, in fact. My birthday & son's birthday .... yep, 2 free burgers!
I'm doing horribly at saving for our trip next year. There is just too much fun stuff to do in the summer, & so much of it is very un-cheap!

 

[crystaldawn]

We have two paid for cars and just save monthly. Shop around for insurance.

We budget for everything.

My husband has a freelance writing job and can actually make a decent wage depending on how much he writes.... when we are saving I encourage a lot of extra writing

We have a capital one 360 checking (formerly ING). I use it as a savings..... I automatically transfer money every other week or more often if I "find" extra.

I say yes (sometimes) when work calls and asks me to pick up a day of time and a half (I immediately take that money and put it in savings)

We often travel off season and shop around for pricing sometimes changing our dates by even one day saves us quite a bit. We have rented points for DVC. We have stayed offsite in condos. We love character dining but to offset the cost eat at least one meal per day at the condo/hotel. We fly southwest (mostly) so pack a bag of food or have stuff shipped prime to our

We have driven MANY times from Michigan..... that is no longer something I wish to do so I shop around for decent airfare.

We have no animals. Our youngest is now allergic so we can't get any. But we chose to stay animal free because of the cost associated with animal ownership. Thank goodness for Facebook and all the people posting pics of their animals destroying things.... makes it a little easier.

We go to the library. We have a children's museum membership which we use a lot. We do not have cable (this was a huge adjustment because we love baseball). We do have amazon prime and netflix. We go to the playground and beach. We do all of these things instead of activies that cost $ every time.

We rarely take our kids out to eat. We pack snacks. I meal plan and shop sales. Pack my kids lunches for school. Buy in bulk if it makes sense.

We are not afraid to say "we can't afford it"

Overall I think over the last 15 or so years we have realized that for us Disney is a priority and we make it happen because it's important to us to spend that time with our kids. Some of my best memories are of disney trips with our kids.

 

[Holly Quinlan]

We go in off seasons and we drive. I have a Disney area in my budget every month so that helps to keep on track. I buy Disney gift cards from my local grocery when they have 4x fuel points and pay for it with a rewards card.( I Just saved $200 between gas and rewards points) We don't spend a lot of money on clothes and I do haircuts at home. We don't go out to the movies much. I save money by making my own laundry detergent and cleaning products but I would probably do that no matter what. if I have the option to by reusable products v.s. disposable I buy the reusable. We just bought DVC last year and our first DVC trip is coming up so that will help plus we will get the TIW card for dining and the DVC AP discount