Money Saving Tips?

[cherbie66]

I find myself lately thinking "maybe we shouldn't have booked a DW trip this year" when I'm paying bills and barely having enough money for them. Since my daughter was 1, I have promised to take her to Disney for her 5th birthday though and I can't let her (or me, honestly) down. You only live once, right? As money gets tighter and tighter though, I wonder if any of you have some good money saving tips?

We are doing the free dining plan, so that should help a lot. Are there any other tricks for saving money that you may have tried or heard of?

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

[JoDisney]

If you have barely enough money for paying the bills, you should probably rethink your plans and consider a later date.
You could start saving for a vacation by putting all your change in the large Disney pop corn buckets or similar containers. Every time you get change put it in the jar. Then, take it to the bank and place it in a separate account. You will be amazed at how much money you can accumulate. You daughter will enjoy helping save the coins too and it will show her what she can accomplish.

[Sora1978]

If you have barely enough money for paying the bills, you should probably rethink your plans and consider a later date.


I agree with JoDisney, but if you have made up your mind to go I think the best way to save money for anything is to pay yourself first.

Most employers now give you the option to have your pay direct deposited, and you are usually allowed to have that go into as many as three separate accounts. I have an account set up at a local credit union just to save for vacations. Every two weeks I have money go into that account and in 6-8 months I have enough for a vacation without ever really feeling like I had to work to save money. I never carry the ATM card so I am not tempted to tap into it for everyday expenses.

[gaffz70]

If things are tight, I would probably hold off - if your daughter hasn't been there, she will not know what she's missing.I also think it is important for kids to understand about money and working hard to save for things - she could help you with this - she might be willing to give up some McDonald trips or something.

I would make a plan for how much you need to put aside each week to save for it and stick to that - I have it automatically deducted. Otherwise "other" things will always come up.
Do you have a Disney Visa? I use that for all of my purchases - food,gas etc. but I am religious about paying it off each month - you get 0% financing if u put the trip on there for 6mo.
I also use the rewards dollars for my spending money at Disney

Good luck, I'm sure you'll find some creative ways!!!

[cherbie66]

I have my vacation paid for. It used most of my savings, but thats what the savings was there for. My hours are being cut at work due to the poor economy, that is why money is tighter now. My daughter is spoiled and used to getting treats often for good behavior, so we made a disney box where she gets money for being good at school and home. She still asks for other treats and I have to constantly remind her that we are saving for our trip. Now, she is finally getting it. She will say to me "I really want ice cream, but we need to save our money for our trip." She is looking forward to Disney so much that I'm sure she doesn't mind much, but I still feel bad.

We are making things work. Rent is never late, bills are always paid, it's just tighter than before... no play money. I just wanted some ideas as to how to save some money for our trip/on our trip. Are there things that you buy at home instead of in the parks?

Also, how much money do you allow your children for spending money?

[nicster]

I like to bring cereal bars or protein bars on our trips. It substitutes for breakfast & is easy to pack. I don't know how kids do on this type of thing, but surely something on this vain will help save some $$. A child of 5 years old would surely love to receive Disney dollars, (ones look more impressive that one large bill). That way she could budget her self, leaning a lesson along the way. I don't have a dollar amount to suggest- you are the grownup, you have to set the limits according to your own circumstances. Remember you are setting the example :mickey:

[disneypk]

You didn't say whether you are flying or driving there.

[gaffz70]

I buy those fan misters at Walmart $5 as opposed to $20 at the park. My kids are allowed to buy 1 souveneir at the park. Since they are older I also tell them thay if they want anything else, then they need to bring their own $. They have also received Disney dollars for Christmas - they know that when those dollars are gone, they are done.
I also ship a box of snacks/BF foods and those misters/glow sticks etc (costs $20 to ship a box) to the hotel a week before we leave

[badkitty]

The free dining is great because if you didn't have it, I would suggest packing lunches for your days in the parks.

Here are my tips...

To try to avoid the "gotta have it" trickets in the park, purchase Disney related items from the discount stores or Disney outlet if you have one near you. You can give those to you daughter throughout the trip. You can surprise her in the morning or place it on the bed for a when she returns.

Bring ponchos, umbrellas, handheld fans/misters , sunscreen etc. from home. These items can get costly in the park.

Do you plan to rent a car? Cancel it and sign up for Magical Express. That will save a bundle.

Good luck! You will have a wonderful time!

[DestinationWDW]

My kids are 14, 11 and 5....of course they have been before but they still want, want want when we get there.....i would talk with her before you go about your budget re: souven:mickey:! My DH and I usually give each child about $50 and then depending on our personal budget at the time will buy them each a shirt or hat......Talk to her about impulse buying and not buying the 1st thing she sees or spending it all the 1st day....so hard when so many attractions have a gift shop when you exit. And in all honesty, every give shop has about the same thing...unless it is the attraction shop; for instance EE with a stuffed yeti....keep praising her for her saving $$$ and have a wonderful time...it is so tough right now but will be so worth it!!! Report back to us!!!!!

[pixiesmimi]

With the dining plan there is plenty of food and snacks without having to buy any more. We carry our own water and mix the drink mixes in them. We carry some snacks like food bars, small chips, crackers, etc. in case we want anything else. We have family members give the kids Disney Dollars for birthdays, etc. and that is their spending money. We just avoid buying any expensive souveniers. There are things you can buy at Walmart and other places and take along to give the kids along on the trip that look just like what you get in the parks but cheaper. We buy our fans, ponchos, etc. at Walmart or Dollar Store. Unless we just are in the spending mood, we can go on our trip without really spending anything else after the trip is paid and free dining, gas, etc. It is hard but can be done. Save your change and use this for your extra spending.

[cherbie66]

We are flying and were able to get pretty good rates about a month ago. Thanks for the tips on bringing snacks and cereal bars. That's a good idea. I have been picking up small stuff here and there for a while (moleskin, sunscreen, extra batteries for camera, etc). Buying things slowly definitely helps.

I think that we might actually be able to do this trip without spending too much extra once we leave. My daughter is maturing and becoming more aware of what money is and how we do not have an infinite amount, so that will help.

Thanks for all of your advice.

[swampfox28]

Free dining is a great perk!

Does the hotel you're staying at have a fridge and a microwave? How about a coffeepot? If it does, there are lots of food tricks that can help and bringing snacks/food can help stretch your food further. Also, with a fridge and microwave, you can take your leftovers and re-heat them later (if it's convienent). We found that on one trip when we had free dining that we LOVED Wolfgang Puck's Express pizza in DD. The food was considered counter service but felt more like dining - it was that good! We ordered an EXTRA pizza to take with us and snacked on it the next day. YUM!

Bringing cereal bars, cereal or packs of instant oatmeal (don't forget some disposable bowls and spoons if you do oatmeal or cereal!) Your DDP will let you get things at a Disney hotel gift shop, and this includes milk! So you can get a half-gallon of milk (I think!) for one snack credit; if you have a fridge, it can last you a few days.

Bring water bottles from home (not too many if you're flying, because they make your luggage heavy !!) and refill them during the day, using drink packets if you need to for flavor. Remember the free ice water trick, too (most places will give you ice water if you ask!)

We like to eat a snack/light breakfast and schedule a LATE breakfast/early lunch which can keep us full longer (this can be a good trick for character breakfasts!) OR go really early to get a good start to the parks before they get busy and bring your snacks with you to chomp on during the day so you don't get every snack that tempts you.

Definately go to a dollar store and get a little notebook to use as an autograph book. Also get some FAT sharpies if you can. You and DD can decorate your autograph books beforehand so that they're cuter than the ones in the parks!
You could also MAKE a passport (like the one they sell in Epcot) so that when she goes to the different countries in Epcot she can get a stamp in her book for "visiting" without spending the $10 or so for the official Disney one (it's cute, but not worth that much IMO.)

Kidcot stations in Epcot are great "freebies" and can be lots of fun!

Bring glo sticks/bracelets/etc., as well as other trinkets that might be fun - MUCH cheaper at home rather than at the parks.

If I think of anything else, I'll let you know but I'm sure there's TONS I'm forgetting or don't even know. That's the beauty of sites like this - SO many people love to share their ideas and you can learn a LOT!

Have fun on your trip!

-Sarah:mickey:

[1EeyoreFan]

You can bring some Caprisun drinks and small packaged snacks to eat btwn meals. We usually have a few on hand to keep our 4 yr. happy. We also bring pop tarts or breakfast bars since none of us are big breakfast eaters.

Stores like Target, Big Lots, Dollar Tree, etc. have $1 items with Disney characters on them. We pack some of these and dole a few out per day. They are nice surprises and help curb the "I wants". Buying light up toys or glow sticks at a retail store and packing them saves $ for the night time events as well.

I would also buy some ponchos to bring with you. That will save you from having to buy them in the parks in the event that it rains.

I usually limit one item per trip for each child. They know in advance that getting to go is the main treat!

[cherbie66]

Thanks so much for all of that wonderful advice Sarah! :mjump: You got me jumping with excitement again!

[Sam&Alex&Josh'sMOM]

You can do it with spending very little money! Last year I had been laid off in July. We had a trip planned (girls only My mom, me, and my 2 DD's 4&1.5) and paid for already. We went during free dining and stayed at a Value. Now the upside is I got a job offer about a week before my trip so i could go and REALLY not worry... But still we did not spend because in this economy you just DO NOT know. I mailed a box of breakfast food and snacks to myself at the POP... rented a fridge ... and kept milk, juice, etc in it. (ALso left overs that made a GREAT breakfast... like chocolate cake!!! MMMM Vacation... right???).. we brought water bottles that we refilled with ice water from counters... and used CS for lunches and TS for buffet dinners. There was always enough left from all the food to feed my younger daughter. The other thing we did was bring a loaf of bread, PB&J and made several sandwhiches each day fro the girls to much on if they got hungry.. it gave them some needed protein!

Easch girl was allowed 2 suvinirs.. (FOrtunatly my kids are pretty good about playing with stuff in a store and then saying good bye to it)..

The only $$ we spent was on tipping mouse keeping (which we had put aside ahead of time in envelopes)and tipping for the TS. And we saved for this money with a change jar.

THis year we are going again... Hubby is coming this time instead of my Mom... We have saved in the change jar since the last trip and already have $177... (This paid for MNSSHP with $25 to spare)) and we will have one more trip to the bank to cash in the rest of the change. It should be enough to cover mousekeeping.

We do buy the kids "Disney" clothes at Walmart, ponchos at the $1 store, and glow in the dark things at Michaels.

It can be done and you can have fun for not much more than the actual price of the trip! Remind yourself and your daughter that it is about spending the time together... take LOTS of pictures and those will be the best souvenirs you could EVER have!

[nicster]

( Remind yourself and your daughter that it is about spending the time together... take LOTS of pictures and those will be the best souvenirs you could EVER have!

You reminded me of one of the best things my mother ever taught me; she said "we are making memories"... Priceless:thumbsup:

[jusandnew]

These are some of the things we do. We have 4 children and myself and husband in our family.
[LIST]
1.Use taxes to pay for the trip
2.Buy disney things on sale for about 2 -3 months before we go instead of buying at Disney
3. Buy snacks and take them into the parks
4.Buy breakfast ceral/ pastries for in the am
5. bring a cooler for sandwich makings, lunchables for lunches
6.Bring a 1 liter bottle for water and koolaid/lemonades to refill the bottles in the parks.
7.stay in the values resorts or off grounds(discounts through orando sites)
8.Bring can cokes in a bookbags for dinners in the parks.(cheaper then buying large drinks )
9.Ask for extra bun when buying a double cheese burger. You can do this and save money on two burgers
10.Take your own camera for pictures

[Imalismom]

I use the envelope method. I take the cost of the resort/hotel and put it in one envelope. I
make tip envelopes. I make envelopes for snacks (since you have the dining plan alrteady) per day, and I make envelopes for spending money per day. I use ONLY the money in those envelopes - no credit cards. When I get home from my vacation, anything I have left over goes into a savings acct for the next trip. Since I have not used any credit cards, I do not have to worry about paying for something later.

When my girls got a little older, I would give them their envelope for the day for their spending money. They quickly learned that when the money was gone, it was gone - and that they could "save" their money for a larger item if they wanted to.


Here is another good thread to read through if you have not already:
http://www.intercot.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=49322

[momofdisneyprincess]

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone that posted here. Our next family vacation is not until May 2010 and I am going to adopt the envelope method. Really sounds like a great idea and what a great feeling to know the trip is already paid off rather than worrying about paying the credit card upon our return. We were also thinking of getting the counter service meal plan for our next trip as we will not be renting a car and staying on site this time. Do you find the counter service meal plan is a good option?

[Belster]

I always ship a package full of breakfast type snack before our trip. This way even though we are on the dining plan I do not have to purchase breakfast onmy own. Also, you could have the garden grocer deliver water to your room so that you don't have to pay fo rthe high price of water.

I would purchase a cheap wallet for your DD and put a small alloted amout of money in it...remember she is afterall at Disney that should be a treat in itself. Tell her that is her spending money for the week. She will enjoy having her own wallet and moeny to use.

For sure buy hats, fan misters, sunblock and anything else that you need at home...the rates while there are crazy!!

We have done Disney on a dime many times you will be able to do it.

Your next thing to think about should be creative ways to use your snack credits so that you and your daughter can take advantage of wonderful WDW treats!!!!

[Disney Doll]

We took our nieces ages 3 & 5 when I was still in grad school and not working full-time. We didn't have a lot of extra money, but were able to swing it for surprisingly little. We stayed at a value and ate mostly counter service. It's great that you have free dining because it seemed like our biggest splurge was a princess breakfast.

1. I am a huge fan of breakfast in the room. We bring a lot of stuff from home... dry cereal, instant oatmeal, breakfast bars, etc. Not only did it save money, but it saved tons of time. In fact we still do breakfast in the rooms even though we can now afford to eat out. I packed as much as I could in my suitcase so I wasn't paying to ship a package or for grocery delivery. I think the only breakfast item we bought was milk from the grab and go area of the food court.

2. I also stocked up on Disney goodies before we left home. I bought princess t-shirts, princess jewelery, princess backpacks, princess cameras, notebooks for autographs, and other trinkets. Every morning we had a surprise for the girls and it cost us very little. I planned about a year in advance and would just buy princess stuff whenever it was on sale. We're not big shoppers anyway so we rarely went into stores. The kids really never even asked for any extras.

3. I am also very careful with my packing list. If I think we might need it I bring it from home. Disney sells about anything you might need on property, but you pay a premium for that convenience. Ponchos, umbrellas, mole skin, medicines, laundry soap, you name it I have it.

4. I planned a full year in advance which gave me plenty of time to pay for things a little at a time. Plan tickets one month, park tickets another month, room over a couple of months. Really we didn't miss the money coming out little by little.

[LarryBoy]

A lot of good advise here about buying things ahead of time. We always go to the local dollar store and stock up on glow sticks. You can get a lot for just a few bucks. Pull them out at night and they are just as cool as all of the expensive light up toys.
Also sometimes The Disney Store will sell the same light up toys that the parks have at a clearance price. However, I haven't seen them there lately.

[Disney_Barbie]

Hmmm, this tip is probably too late for this trip, but for upcoming ones : we adore the Disney Visa (not only do I get all joyfull everytime I look at it:mickey:) But the points add up, we put EVERYTHING on it (gas, groceries, phone bills, EVERYHTING) and Pay it off in full each month. After 2 years of that we're about to buy our Annual Passes outright from disney points, we have to pay for groceries and stuff anyway, so at least this way I'm getting a little something back.

BUT NOTE : As many will tell you this kind thing ONLY works if you're VERY organized, detailed and responsible with your funds. We treat it like a debit card, we don't let ourselves pick up groceries, until the funds in our checking acount = more than the balance on our disney visa.
You're not going to get anywhere if you're getting $15 in disney points every month, but loosing $20 on interest or late fees!

[Jennifer_and_Chris]

Here is what we are doing for our trip in October:

1. We are pre-making our scrapbook pages now. A MK page, EP page, AK page, DS page, Fireworks page, DD page, Character meal page, etc. So, now the focus isn't on what to buy, it's on where to take the best picture for the scrapbook. We purchased each child their own kids disney digital camera for Christmas last year and they will be taking pictures along side us. This will also help with the withdrawls when we get home. We'll finish our scrapbooks and keep the magic alive for as long as we can.

2. Since we are driving from Michigan, I have bought a giant lot of Disney Mr. Potato Head pieces from ebay. When we leave, I will give them the potato heads in the case. Each hour, I will let them pick from the bag of pieces (crown, mickey ears, minnie bow, etc) and hopefully by the time we get to the treehouse, they'll have several different pieces to play with when we are in the room.

3. We have made "magic" bags for everyday. These are gift bags from the dollar store that is part of the "theme" of the day. A bag with cars on it for the day we leave, a princess one for MK day, a silver one with geocircles for EP, a blue simmery one with stars for DS and a leopard print one for AK. Also, have 2 new nylon pumpkin bags I got from a garage sale for a quarter for the day we go to MNSSHP. I fill it with similar themed items from the dollar store, stuff I find at garage sales, clearance at target, etc. You don't need to buy a separate gift bag either - you could use brown paper bags and by a pack of stickers from the dollar store with your child's favorite character.

4. The dollar store by me also has disney candy. Mickey shaped suckers, gummies, goofy candy, princess pops, etc. We use those in the daily gift bag too.

5. We are also making our autograph books. By "making" I mean we have a mini spiral book and are putting stickers on it. Each girl gets to decorate their own.

6. I'm making the passport books for EP myself. Just a small notebook from the dollar store. I draw and color the flag of the country and the name of the country on each page. I will be putting these books in the EP bag for the day.

These bags that I am making will be given to them by characters while they sleep. I've taken the idea from Mickey! When we went for my b-day, I came into my room with a birthday surprise from mickey. So, i will pass that magic onto the kids. The morning we leave, I will put the first bags on their car seat with a balloon (from the dollar store!!) and a card from Mickey. Each morning the character of the day will have left the day's bag in their stroller.

I will put only put a few of the items for the day in it. I will have the rest in my mommy bag and will "refresh" their bags for good behavior throughout the day. I want to the the bags as their "quiet" time in their stroller between rides to avoid meltdowns.

Here's a list of the stuff I already bought:
1. binoculars (garage sale 50 cents each) for AK day.
2. glow necklaces (pack of 2 for $1 - i have one for each day at the parks).
3. star shaped sunglasses (free - in a b-day goodie bag that they forgot about months ago) for DS.
4. Feather boas (from their own dress up boxes that I took out months ago)
5. sticker pages (from the dollar store)
6. snacks - from costco purchased for the trip.
7. tiaras and necklaces and wands - from the dollar store.
8. dinosaur toy - from the dollar store for AK.
9. disney colorign books - from garage sales and dollar store for the trip there and back and in the room for downtime.
10. Light-up disney swirlly toy things - from a garage sale and the disney store outlet center for about $4 for both.

you get the idea... and I have typed too much. Can you tell how excited I am?

[cherbie66]

The bags for each day are so cute! I love that idea! I picked my daughter up some princess stuff from Michael's that were a dollar each that I plan on giving her during the trip. I really like how you themed everything though! Nice thinkin!:thumbsup:

[MushuGrl]

Several people have mentioned this and it was the best thing for me..COINS COINS COINS!!! Throw leftover change in a jar.

A trick that I used to trick myself as well is, if I had a spare $5 or $10, I'd take it to the bank have it exchange for a roll of quarters or dimes.

It will add up TREMENDOUSLY over time!