Anyone have any money saving tips?

[Ms.Disney]

Hello,
I am looking for ideas to save money. We are wanting to start saving for our next WDW vacation I would really like to find different ways to save money or even ways to bring in a little extra cash. I have heard of people doing surveys online, has anyone done this? Please hit me up with your best ideas, I am looking to stay in a deluxe this time around instead of a mod

[scootch713]

Rent points from disney vacation club member. It is saving me over $900 this year!

[kdkhopper]

I have a big jar in my kitchen and every week or two, I empty out the change from my purse. I make a point of not spending the coins so that I can put them in my jar. I've been doing this for about 6 months and have about $200 saved up. It's amazing how fast it adds up! This probably won't bring in enough cash to pay for a deluxe upgrade, but it will give you a bit of spending money.

[Quest4fun]

Here are some pointers that may be difficult for some but if you really want to save money these proven methods will do wonders.

1. Quit smoking. Pack a day smokers can save upwards of $1400/year by quitting.

2. Clip coupons. There's no shame in using a coupon. Use them at the grocery store, restaurants, hair salon, etc. Most coupon clippers can save well over $1000/year by shopping and spending smarter.

3. Go generic. Those Malt O Meal cereals aren't that bad and neither are most generic canned vegetables. It may only save you a buck or two at the grocery store but over the course of a year you're saving big bucks.

4. Drive smart. Plan your trips so you're not driving back and forth to get where you're going. Don't be a lead-foot either. Keep it closer to the speed limit and watch the heavy accelerating. Sticking to the freeway will also save you a buck or two by avoiding stopping and going at lights. It's also good for the environment!

5. Be efficient. You can spend smart at home as well. Get efficient light bulbs and turn them off when leaving rooms. Consolidate as many loads of laundry as you can. Set the thermostat at room tempurarture and leave it on. It costs more to cool a house down or heat it up than it does to maintain the tempurature. Don't run the water when you brush your teeth and take shorter showers. It's really easy to cut down on your utility bills by just being smart with your water and appliances.

These are some very easy things that just about everything can do and you can save enough for a Disney trip every year. No foolin!

[mook3y]

Without knowing your spending habits....

Eat out less often.

Take a lunch instead of eating out.

Drink coffee at home instead of starbucks.

Every day put your pocket change into a container and don't touch it.

Bring snacks with you into the park.

Eat breakfast in the room.

Surveys... I have gotten a lot of free things over the years, but never any substantial cash.

How about a garage sale?

Thats about it, without knowing more about you, thats all I got.

[Ms.Disney]

The one thing my DH and I have done is we save all of our change and as another posters said it does add up. We used to eat out almost every other day but have now cut that completely out. I try my best to watch the lights and we have changed all of our light bulbs to florescent. We try our best to watch how much water use. A friend told me to save cans but I am not sure if it would be worth it. Does anyone do that? Is it even worth it I do need to start buying Sunday's paper so I can cut coupons thats a good idea I have heard of people making a little extra money doing surveys online but I have yet to find a good site to use.

[PAYROLL PRINCESS]

I recycle my soda cans and while it's not a large amount it's about $70.00+ per trip. That pays for little extras.
I also throw my change into a jar and that adds up too.
Also, if you get a raise, take the amount that you are taking home and automatically have it direct deposited into a savings acount. That way you don't see it so you don't miss it. This is hopefully going to help me pay next years bill.
I also pay a little extra on my utility bills each month so that by the time my trip comes up, I might not owe anything on the bill that month so I have that much extra to spend too.

[Seasonscraps]

I would start by keeping track of what you are spending money on then find ways to cut back.

For example:

newspaper & magazine subscriptions are less expensive then going to a news stand.

I just dropped my movie channels & subscribed to netflix - that's an extra $45 per month.

Matinees instead of evening films are usually less expensive.

cut back/down on gift exchanges

use the library for books & dvds

do only full loads of laundry

refillable bottles and a brita water filter is less expensive then buying bottled water



Plus the examples from other posters...

brown bag breakfast/lunch
pass up starbucks
coupons/shop weekly sales
limit take out & dining out
save change

Every little bit adds up.

Good luck!

[Terra]

Here are some pointers that may be difficult for some but if you really want to save money these proven methods will do wonders.

1. Quit smoking. Pack a day smokers can save upwards of $1400/year by quitting.

2. Clip coupons. There's no shame in using a coupon. Use them at the grocery store, restaurants, hair salon, etc. Most coupon clippers can save well over $1000/year by shopping and spending smarter.

3. Go generic. Those Malt O Meal cereals aren't that bad and neither are most generic canned vegetables. It may only save you a buck or two at the grocery store but over the course of a year you're saving big bucks.

4. Drive smart. Plan your trips so you're not driving back and forth to get where you're going. Don't be a lead-foot either. Keep it closer to the speed limit and watch the heavy accelerating. Sticking to the freeway will also save you a buck or two by avoiding stopping and going at lights. It's also good for the environment!

5. Be efficient. You can spend smart at home as well. Get efficient light bulbs and turn them off when leaving rooms. Consolidate as many loads of laundry as you can. Set the thermostat at room tempurarture and leave it on. It costs more to cool a house down or heat it up than it does to maintain the tempurature. Don't run the water when you brush your teeth and take shorter showers. It's really easy to cut down on your utility bills by just being smart with your water and appliances.

These are some very easy things that just about everything can do and you can save enough for a Disney trip every year. No foolin!

Excellent tips!!! And I do many of those myself! We LOVE the Malt o Meal cereals in our home!!

More tips:

I just started doing this, this week!
Drying clothes on a clothes line instead of a dryer. [I already did the cloth diapers like this anyway].

Wash clothes in cold instead of Warm/Hot [Occasionally do it on hot for sanitizing reasons]

Shop for boxed/canned food goods at places like Sav-A-lot, Aldi's, and other similar "cheap grocery stores].

Try to do all errands in one [mapping out the best route to save on gas!]

Make a itemized grocery list and stick to it! Plan a weeks worth of dinner menus ahead [try to do things with leftovers for lunch the next day to take to work/school]. For my own grocery list I actually divide it into Meat/dairy/produce/canned and boxed/drinks sections!

Use natural "cheap" cleaning products such as baking soda, vinegar, olive oil & lemon juice. [different combinations for different rooms in the house! 1 part lemon juice to 2 part olive oil makes a great furniture polish.

Sell stuff on ebay!

LOVE the change jar idea! We do that too!

Join Netflix instead of going to the movies every weekend. Waiting for the DVD to come out is only a matter of months now!

Good luck and have fun

[MsMin]

I agree w/ the posts but what I do is throw the money in the jar instead of going to starbucks (CC's here). I average 1200 in my jar. If I pick up something for someone like an errand for my mom and she pays me back in cash it goes in the jar. Sometimes I use my debit card and get back an extra 20 cash and throw it in the jar b/c I don't miss it. I try to make a lot of my own stuff and do my own projects around the house and try to be creative w/ gift giving. I just find that keeping it in the general fund makes it easy to spend on "needed" things. I have a separate bank account just for Disney or trip savings so I don't touch it. $5. a week in the jar = 250 (assuming you don't save it on vacation).
I throw in a tax refund and it sometimes helps to have a Christmas savings club. Basically out of sight and "out of pocket" good luck with your savings...

[ncscgirl2005]

This is probably a little drastic for most people. Even my sister can't understand how I am going to do this but I'm actually getting a second job (part-time 16 hrs a week) to help save for my Disney trip. I am treating my mom this time around so I will need more money than we needed last time. This part-time job will help me boost my savings and have plenty in time for our trip in November.

Sure I will be missing some of the kids softball games but we discussed this before I applied for the job and they are all for it since they love Disney as much as I do. This will only last for about 3-4 months. DH is home in the evenings now so he'll be able to hold it down.

[ncscgirl2005]

Oh and one more thing,

I am a member of Mypoints. Right now, I have over 14,000 points that I will redeem for gas gift cards when it's time for our trip. Hopefully by then I will have lots more points to add to that. I may be able to get about $100 in gas gift cards to use on the trip down to Florida. That will help out a lot.

If you already shop online, simply go through their website to your favorite store and you get points for the amount of money you spend at that particular store. And they send you emails that are worth 5 points; all you have to do is read their advertisement. Those points accumulate.

[DisneyDog]

I've got a really good one -- sell your unwanted gold. Sell it now, the price is amazing. I raided my jewelry box and I had tons of broken chains and old necklaces that I didn't want anymore. I came out of the jewelry store with $550 for my Disney spending money! DH went with his old stuff and came out of there with another $400. And we really didn't sell that much. I might go back with my old high school class ring (we moved and I didn't graduate at that school, so it's not too upsetting to me) to see if I can make a few more dollars. That stuff was all just collecting dust, and now I have spending money for my trip next month!

[Gooftroop5]

I do surveys on line never qualify for the ones that pay more than a couple of bucks & also most I get points for that I can get free stuff with. One I'm working on getting the points I need to get a free micro sd card for my cell phone. I have done some sample test products. That is always a money saver. One was I don't have to buy dishwasher tabs for a long time. We don't run the dishwasher every day so the 90 day tablets I got to test & keep the test has been done for months now actually last me 180 days plus.

Can't say much more other than what the others have said. I can add if you live within walking distance to work then leave the car home. I know cold weather climates this is hard. We have this problem but once the warm weather is here dh is going to walk/ ride his bike to work & I will start walking to church & the local grocery store instead of driving.

We are also planning on decluttering our house by having a yard sale. We have a bunch of baby stuff we don't need anymore & we have stuff we got as wedding gifts that we never have used in almost 13 years & never will use.

[Seasonscraps]

Along the lines of mypoints.com, there is ebates where you actually get cash back for purchases.

One thing I started doing, mostly for convenience, was set up any recurring monthly bills like my cell phone, cable, etc - for automatic payment to my american express account. This way I only have to pay one bill manually instead of a handful, but at the same time I am building up reward points. They add up quickly and you can use them for air travel, car rentals, etc.

[ncscgirl2005]

One thing I started doing, mostly for convenience, was set up any recurring monthly bills like my cell phone, cable, etc - for automatic payment to my american express account. This way I only have to pay one bill manually instead of a handful, but at the same time I am building up reward points. They add up quickly and you can use them for air travel, car rentals, etc.

That's what a co-worker does too.

I am starting to do that with my Disney Visa as well. Those points should be able to help out with some food and snacks.

[crazypoohbear]

If you have kids instead of buying individual snack packs of cookies and such for school.
Buy the big sizes and snack bags and make your own snacks. I usually spend about 10 minutes breaking everything down into snack size bags so in the morning I just have to grab a bag and pack it for lunches. The same as buying the snacks but it saves a bundle.

[Crystal Palace]

This is probably a little drastic for most people. Even my sister can't understand how I am going to do this but I'm actually getting a second job (part-time 16 hrs a week) to help save for my Disney trip. I am treating my mom this time around so I will need more money than we needed last time. This part-time job will help me boost my savings and have plenty in time for our trip in November.

Sure I will be missing some of the kids softball games but we discussed this before I applied for the job and they are all for it since they love Disney as much as I do. This will only last for about 3-4 months. DH is home in the evenings now so he'll be able to hold it down.

I'm treating my mom to a trip this year too in December.

What I am going to do is take any money I have left over in my checking account each month after paying bills, and transfering it to my savings. I have eight months to do it, and I should have quite a bit saved.

Extra paychecks are great too. I get an extra paycheck in May and October this year. The one in October is going towards the trip!