how do I afford Dec of 2011

[poohbear07]

I want to bring my husband and son to disney in dec 2011 and trying to figure out how we can afford it. we have to put my son in daycare so our tax return is going to that instead of a trip. Anyone have idea's?

[tys_mommy]

Since it's over a year away there are lots of little options that can add up. Can you manage to put away $20 a week or bi-weekly? Do you eat out - even lunches at $5 can add up quick. Clip coupons and any money you would have saved with them put in a special Disney account. Not sure how your family is but any birthday/anniversary/Christmas money we get (hubby & I) goes straight into our Disney savings account.

[BigRedDad]

This truly depends on how long you are going for, where you want to stay (off site, on site, Deluxe, Moderate, Value), how much you need for eating and souvenirs.

Lets assume a Moderate for 2 adults and 1 child for 7 days, 6 nights, MYW with Hopper, and QSDP.

Averaging totals with today's prices:
MYW Tickets: $880
QSDP: $520
Moderate: $1100

Total: $2500

With 20 months until your trip, you need to sock away $120 per month. This does not include additional food, drinks, transportation to WDW, and souvenirs. I would plan to put away $40 per week to cover this defined trip.

You could save about $500 by staying at a Value resort which I would tend to prefer. You can also get by without the dining plan. You can save by eating breakfast you bring with you, making sandwiches and what not for lunches. You can purchase souvenirs from WalMart at home and hide them. Give them to your son while there.

In the end, you are looking at having to save about $120 - $150 per month leading to your trip to fully cover it.

[poohbear07]

My husband will not go with out the ddp...We stay at a deluxe and I do not know if he would budge on that either

[Joannelet]

at the end of each day ANY change you have in your pockets, wallets etc should go into a piggy bank. You'd be amazed by how much this adds up to. We always have all of our spending money from our piggy banks!!!! :)

[DVC2004]

How long are you looking to go? If you can do a shorter trip like 3 or 4 nights it might help if you won't go anything other than Deluxe. We always stayed Deluxe or DVC- but we tried Port Orleans Riverside this past December and we all enjoyed it. It was very nice. We are a family of 4 and got a free DDP package - 5 nights was just over $1700 (3 day non park hopper). However there is no way to predict what deals/offers could come in Dec. 2011. Also we went before Christmas. I would not recommend Christmas week as you will pay a higher price with pretty much no chance of discounts.

I don't think there is anything wrong with a little compromise if it means getting to do something you want. We were on a tight budget this last trip but we did it- and had a great time still.

[poohbear07]

We want to go for 5 nights and he wants to drive instead of flying...With a 4 yrd I would rather fly but he said it would save us lots of money

[Suzi Q]

I save change too - quarters in my Cinderella bank, all other in my Toy Story II bank! Woe to anyone leaving change in their dirty laundry or lying around - I snatch it and into the trip bank it goes (and I've scored a few $20 bills too!)
In about 6 months i can get at least $300 saved up, i roll change about once every 6 weeks or so and deposit into my disney only savings account.

Next Trip: May 2010, Ladies only (me and my sister), no kids, no husbands allowed!

[BigRedDad]

Well, the only place he is willing to sacrifice/compromise is on transportation, then you will need to start saving a lot more depending on the Deluxe. You are looking at $2600 - $3700+. Figure out where you want to stay and start a plan. WL is about $2600 and BC is about $3700. You are looking at almost $200 per month you need to save. You could also look at renting points from a DVC member. That could save a little.

[mom2morgan]

We want to go for 5 nights and he wants to drive instead of flying...With a 4 yrd I would rather fly but he said it would save us lots of money

He's right - but if he's so keen on saving money, he should also be willing to make some other concessions like not staying in a hotel, or not doing the dining plan! How long a drive would it be? For us it would be 4 days, so clearly isn't an option ;-) But I guess you need to take a realistic look at your budget, and see if you can a) put in more money, and/or b) lower your expectations for where to stay, etc. That's where we are at right now - and ultimately, it's going to come down to (for us) do we want to go sooner with the values and no "extras", or put it off for an extra year.

[megustamex]

I save at least $20 a week in groceries by using coupons without sacrificing any of my brand loyalty. I only buy certain items when I have a coupon for them. Once you start doing it you realize that there is a pattern to grocery store sales too, so using coupons on the days things are on sale really saves money. Sometimes I save as much as $50 a week!

We also started cooking more and cut eating out to once every 2 weeks, resulting in great savings.

Try to get your husband to consider the values. We used to always stay in AK but finally decided it just wasn't worth the money since we were barely in the room. The values may be small and have a lot of kids/teenagers, but they are Disney clean with Disney theming and we've always found GOOD Disney service, which while not as prompt as the deluxe resorts, is better than most other deluxe hotel chains. We prefer to spend our money on nice dinners at WDW instead. If you want a better pool consider the water parks and more option, which is cheaper at $50 per person per stay than staying in a deluxe resort. Everything is a tradeoff!

[forever a child]

I would suggest staying in a moderate and flying instead of deluxe and driving.

Also to add to what some of the others have posted...since you have a 4 yr old you probably have some used toys and clothes you son has outgrown or no longer uses...I have had great success selling on craigs list or you could also have a garage sale and use all the earning to put towards your disney saving fund. Also used furniture and kitchen appliances you no longer want or use sell really well as do older working electronics. I think I sold about $2000 in stuff last year on craigslist alone :) (while I was trying to find FT work).:thumbsup:

Savings wise, you need to watch the board for specials. Like currently you could get $750 credit that could be used for food instead of the DDP or the %40 off room only rate. Also sign up on Disney website and you may (or may not) get a pin code for discounts, since I hear a few people are getting free dinning offers in pin codes.

Lastly, perhaps if you did a quote at the rate your husband is suggesting and then did one with a moderate & driving and showed them to your hubby perhaps he might reconsider his options...especially if you get the disney video and show him how nice the moderates are.

Good Luck!:mickey:

[diz_girl]

If you're staying at a Deluxe with Dining (for a week), I'd estimate your expenses will be $4,000, excluding transporation. Here's the breakout -

Lodging - $2,000 - Value Season - AAA discount
Dining Plan - $630
Dining Tips (not incl in plan) - $150
Other Food - $150
Tickets - $750
Souveniers - $200
Extras - $120

You can save on some of this if you go during a free dining offer, if they have it, but you pay rack rate for your room, so free dining can offset a AAA discount (about 15%) when staying at a Deluxe.

Transportation costs are up to you. Some fly, some drive (like me). Figure another $500 if you drive or $1000 if you fly.

So you're talking $4,500 to $5,000. If you want to save everything before your trip, then you have about 20 months or so to save. That means you have to save $200-$250 every month. If that seems too much, try budgeting your household expenses with 2 paychecks a month, which is 24 paychecks a year. However, if you are paid bi-weekly, then you actually get 26 paychecks a year and you can sock away those other two paychecks for your trip.

I actually have an entire year budgeted at any given time. I plot paychecks coming in and expenses going out. I have one MAC expense per week for small cash expenses and one Credit Card expense per month for credit card purchases. I actually budget my credit card purchases on another spreadsheet and I have a dollar limit per month. Sometimes I exceed it, but usually not. It also helps me plot out irregular expenses like birthday presents. With the year-in-advance method, I have everything pretty well planned out. I am able to include quarterly (like insurance or haircuts) and annual expenses that might surprise someone else that only uses a budget that only has a month or two in advance.

You can also get a Disney Visa credit card, which you get $1 in Disney Rewards for every $100 you charge. That can pay for souveniers, extras and other food. My Disney Visa isn't even my primary card and I have earned over 200 points in just under a year and a half. That's $200 that can go toward my next WDW trip. Also, use Magical Journeys, an Intercot sponsor, they will make sure that you get the best deal available, even after you have made your reservation.

[Goofy4TheWorld]

I don't have time to run the numbers at the moment, but at first glance, the trip will be one of the most expensive you can take at Disney. Why?...

Going in December is the second or third most expensive time of the year to go comparing rack-rate then to rack-rate at other times of the year, so pricing value season for this trip wouldn't be accurate.

Also, December probably has the smallest chance of being discounted than any other month, so you can expect to pay rack-rate almost for sure, unlike during other times of the year.

[c&d]

You mentioned child care costs. We've used our Child Dependent care account at work to pay for some the trips.

It's nice getting that $5,000 check back at the end of the year. Granted it's money already spent but we look at it is as a savings account.

[Goofy4TheWorld]

I don't have time to run the numbers at the moment, but at first glance, the trip will be one of the most expensive you can take at Disney. Why?...

Going in December is the second or third most expensive time of the year to go comparing rack-rate then to rack-rate at other times of the year, so pricing value season for this trip wouldn't be accurate.

Also, December probably has the smallest chance of being discounted than any other month, so you can expect to pay rack-rate almost for sure, unlike during other times of the year.

After looking back at it, I guess I should state that the above is only true for the second half of December. December 17-31, 2010 is the first and second most expensive "season" dates to visit. However, November 28 through December 16, 2010 is the cheapest "season" to go.

So I guess some of the numbers will depend on whether or not you intend to visit during the first or second half of December 2011?

[Jennifer_and_Chris]

You mentioned child care costs. We've used our Child Dependent care account at work to pay for some the trips.

It's nice getting that $5,000 check back at the end of the year. Granted it's money already spent but we look at it is as a savings account.

We do the same thing. Use our Dependant care account as our savings for yearly trips.

We also do many of the other things. We too are budgeted for 1 year out as we are aggressivly paying down debt in an effort to get me to be a SAHM! We have at lest 1 garage sale a year and I do 3-4 Mom 2 mom sales a year. That alone will bring in over $1k for Disney. Add the Craigslist and ebay money and our trip is already paid for.

Plus we are DVC members and don't have to "pay" for accomodations - or more accurately - add accomodation costs to our trip expenses since the cost for DVC is already budgeted for in our annual budget.

Once I got on a roll selling items on craigslist, ebay and various sales, I have made it a priority to "clean house" once every couple of months. With 2 children, it's very easy to accumulate so much stuff. Helps the Disney pocketbook and the house stay uncluttered.

[diz_girl]

After looking back at it, I guess I should state that the above is only true for the second half of December. December 17-31, 2010 is the first and second most expensive "season" dates to visit. However, November 28 through December 16, 2010 is the cheapest "season" to go.

So I guess some of the numbers will depend on whether or not you intend to visit during the first or second half of December 2011?

I was figuring the first two weeks of December, since dec2011 was specified and not Christmas 2011. Plus, their son is in day care, which means they don't have to worry about missing school. Of course, if it's Christmas 2011, then they should add add least $1000 to their accommodations estimate, plus tack on another $100-$200 for the holiday premium for the dining plan.

[mom2morgan]

PoohBear - how you doing with the planning? This site is great for all the people doing the number crunching! I've sadly decided that I can NOT go at all and have the experience I want, so I'm going to have to wait until summer of 2011. That's that whole "go now and scale down, or go later and do it right" dilemma I mentioned above.

[poohbear07]

I still hope to go in 2011. The daycare will cost so much that we may not be able to. We just need to see what kind of tax return we get and book then. We will have almost a year of paying daycare so next year tax return should be good. Here is to hoping!

[BigRedDad]

Tax incentives for daycare is pretty good. I do not know your income or daycare cost, but here is where mine breaks out to be:

Dependent Child Spending Account: $5000 pre tax
Daycare: $10,000 for 12 months
Tax write-off: $5,000 ($10,000 - $5,000 for DCSA)
Increase to tax return: ~$1,500

My wife and I make quite a bit less than $100k per year combined. I hope this gives you some insight to planning.