Creative ways to save?

[The Flying Dutchman]

Hi all! DW and I are in the middle of a house search (wish us luck!), so we likely won't be making our next trip to WDW in the near future. However, that doesn't mean we aren't thinking about it still! We are looking for any ideas on fun and creative ways to save for WDW that will both add up over time and help remind us that we are making progress towards that next trip. Any ideas?

[retiredfigment]

One year we were in a similar situation. I started a Disney jar and extra change that any of us had we put in it. Also, when I used coupons at the store I would put that money in the jar. It ended up being enough to buy 7 day hopper tickets for four of us.

[littlechris1977]

Have you checked out [site name removed]?

Also, I have a Disney Chase Visa that I use for purchases like Gas, and lite shopping, then pay it off before the end of the month. This earns me Disney Rewards points that I'll use on my next trip for a gift card.

[MuchLovedMama]

Yeah, we've done the saving change thing too. We would only use dollars to pay for stuff and any change that we got back would go into a jar.

[flipadeeflop]

Have you checked out [site name removed]?

Also, I have a Disney Chase Visa that I use for purchases like Gas, and lite shopping, then pay it off before the end of the month. This earns me Disney Rewards points that I'll use on my next trip for a gift card.

I need to start doing this!!!^^

This is more of a money managing tip, not saving, but my boyfriend and I used to simply put whatever $1 bills were in our pocket at the end of each work night (we waited tables) plus a $20 into a jar every week and that would be our vacation money. Now that we work full time jobs and have direct deposit we transfer about $200 a week into a separate savings account. Some banks will even do weekly automatic transfers for you and it adds up fast!!!

[paymerich]

My job offers direct deposit and allows me to put fixed amounts into separate accounts. I have $150 a paycheck placed into a. Vacation savings account at a: credit union (usually best interest). 26x 150 = $$3900. By taking it out before you can use it makes it eaiser

[faline]

Good luck with your house search!

It can be difficult to come up with money for vacations! Over the years, we've done a variety of things, including what others have suggested - put aside a set amount from your check each week (before it comes into your check). Direct deposit is great for this! Throwing coins in jars works.

Others have reported success with things like yard sales.

[The Flying Dutchman]

Thanks for the replies everyone.

At this time, we are doing the loose change in the jar. I like the idea of the direct deposit into a separate account, but with the house search ongoing, we would most likely have to dip into those funds as well. As for the suggestion of a yard sale, DW and I would LOVE to do one, but we live in an apartment complex where they are not permitted. Although, I think we could achieve some of the same outcomes by selling items to a consignment shop...(only problem with this is that we try to donate these types of items rather than sell them.)

I guess what I was hoping people would tell me is what type of off-the-wall and fun ways to save they are doing. For example, instead of a swear jar, have a disney jar where you put in a dollar each time you watch a disney movie. Or put a dollar aside whenever you see a disney commercial. Or put aside a dollar whenever you log onto Intercot! It would be like a Mickey Toll! (I know these aren't exactly CRAZY per se, but they are a little different and could show you how prevalent Disney was in your life and show you that you are making progress towards your next trip)

Any thoughts?

[The Flying Dutchman]

Good luck with your house search!

Thanks Faline! It has been quite the ride and extremely frustrating thus far, but that could be the topic to a whole different thread

[Kairi_7378]

I don't know if this counts, but we tend to eat out less when we're saving for a vacation. We will do dinner and movie nights at home and I will try to make a dish that we've had at WDW or try to eat something that goes with a Disney movie. (Like eating home made pizzas while watching Toy Story in honor of Pizza Planet, or eating Moroccan food while watching the Lion King.) It's a little silly, but I have fun planning these things!

[dnickels]

$5 dollar jars, swear jars, etc. are all great ideas, but with your current house-search you've got an opportunity to make the single biggest decision that can help you save money over years and years rather than a few months at a time to save up for a single vacation.

Buy only the size of house that you absolutely NEED. A 1,200 sq ft house will cost less to heat/cool, less in annual repairs/maintenance, less in taxes, less in everything than a 2,100 sq ft one will (all else being equal of course). In the last 60 years we've almost doubled the size of the average American home while family sizes have shrunk. Nothing has changed in our needs for that extra space, only our expectations.

I'd rather be the guy in a 1,200 sq ft place with thousands of dollars left over per year to spend as I choose than the guy in a 2,100 sq ft place that eats up that money in higher mortgage/taxes/insurance/maintenance. It takes a lot of $5 dollar bills or change jars to make up that kind of money.

[MushuGrl]

I feel your pain -we did that in 2007 - bought a new house in July, and took a trip in September.

Agreeing with the change thing, but as you said, you're likely to dip into any available cash for the new house. So what I did was if I had an extra ten or twenty dollars, I would go to the bank and exchange it for coins to add to the change jar. If I threw a ten in, I would later pull it out to buy something for the house. However, I would not touch ten dollars in quarters.

Also, and I'm not just saying this because I work for a newspaper - CLASSIFIED ADS RULE! Unload anything from the old house you won't need for the new one and advertise. (Example - our old house we had to used window AC units. Our new house had central air. We put the window units in the classifed ads and within a week, we had Disney food money covered.)

[CuteAsMinnie]

I made us a special vacation fund piggy bank and typically collect appx $300/year. The Disney Visa gives us appx $600 every trip which usually every 3 years. So, in a Disney vac year we have at least $900 spending $ which is more than enough for us. Given the ridiculous Amy of cash we all now need to spend for a WDW vac, we will add the WDW "payroll deduction" to our planning.

Re the house... You can never hear " don't get a house bigger than you NEED" too many times,especially in today's economy. The kids will be gone truly in the blink of an eye and the cozy place will be perfect once again. No job is secure these days (yep,it happened to us too ). And having the reasonsable house with the reasonable mortgage helps us sleep at night.

[spoiledraf]

Well sicnce you are house searching in a very down buyers market, if you take the difference in what you end up paying for the house you eventurally find, and compare it to what the same house would have gone for three or four years ago, that will be enough of a savings to pay for several trips to Disney!
Yea, I know. There won't be any money left over. But you will likely get a great deal on a house right now. Provided you can find a bank that will loan you some money. Good Luck!

[Dulcee]

Oof we know the feeling!

We're saving for our wedding, a house and maybe, just maybe a honeymoon in WDW (Personally I'd rather scrap the big wedding all together and just elope in WDW but the fiance isn't fond of that idea).

As far as how we're trying to save for Disney (amongst other things) money coming immediately out of paychecks upon deposit, change jar, all that fun stuff.

Big change we got rid of my FI's gas guzzling pick up truck. Traded down to a four door car and we're saving big on gas plus a smaller car payment. FI is almost done with the Police Academy and once he can pick up overtime all that money will go immediately to savings.

Something that I've found that has worked really well for me, I round all of the numbers in my checkbook up to the next dollar. You'd be amazed how fast that extra "change" adds up in your checkbook. Every 2-3 months I pull that extra out to my savings, doing it slowly means it doesn't hurt nearly as much. ATM withdrawals (something I try to avoid as I spend cash far easier then using my debit card) I tack on an extra $5. It stops me from taking out cash frivolously and when I do its an extra five bucks to our savings.

Its all working well so far. 1/4 of the wedding is paid off over 14 months in advance of the big day, 5K for a down payment on a house is put away and next we'll start chipping away at money for the honeymoon.

Happy saving and best of luck with everything!

[BigRedDad]

Disney Rewards Visa.

Our DD starts kindergarten and on a year round schedule (on 9 weeks, off 3 weeks). We found she is off the end of Sept. To save on camps, I looked into a week at WDW. Found out it is free dining, I have 2 free flights, and the reward points almost cover the cost of the trip.

[princessgirls]

Although the Disney Rewards Visa probably has one of the worst rewards programs.... it works for US because we like to go to WDW. I buy everything on it, and pay it off monthly. We accumulate several hundred dollars for each trip, as we only cash out when we are going on a WDW vacation. THAT is our spending money!!!

We are an average family. Both my husband and I work. We like to do a lot of activities. Activities cost $$, so I try and look for the BEST way to go. Value Season yeah it is hot at the end of August, but it is also cheaper... I can't always pull my girls out of school either.
I'm always checking for "deals", room deals or package deals. Free Dining is a winner for us. We like to do all that Disney has to offer, and usually another vacation during the year, and if I watch for deals and go during Value season, I really do get a good value!
Julie

[Ramblingman]

When we plan a trip, my wife figures out how much we need for the hotel, tickets, ADR's and those specific items. Then she will put away an equal amount each payday into a separate bank account for that purpose.

My job is collecting the mad money - the money we have to spend on a whim for souvenirs or things that are not planned. I have my secret hiding place and I won't tell anyone how much I am putting away. I take some cash out of every check and put it away. If I find bills laying around the house, they are mine after a day. Money in the dryer - gone. I make it a game to see how much I can stash away without anyone missing any or knowing how much.

We always have the change jar going, but we usually only cash it in before a Disney trip. That goes into my mad money pile to help pay for gas.

Another thing we do is as it gets closer, we find ourselves saving money here and there. When faced with a spending decision, we may say, I'll take the smaller item (or one less) and that will leave more for Disney. Just make sure you put that extra money aside in the Disney fund.