I need some savings ideas

[TiggerTeen86]

Research stuff around your house using the Search function on EBAY and sell it there. We made almost $800.00 this way.

 

[maci]

Here is a question. When you save all your change, have any of you ever used one of those coinstar machines? There are at grocery stores, and you just dump your change in and it gives you the $ for it. So you dont have to count it/or roll it. Does any one know how accurrate these things are?

 

[SandraC]

We spent $7000.00 CDN Funds (9 days) for our April 2001 trip! Way too much, but it was a great trip and filled with character meals and frills. We planned to go every couple of years, but the kids are young so we want to go annually. This means instead of $7000.00 trips, we'll have to do $4000.00 trips (again CDN funds, that's about $2600.00 USF). With all the suggestions on these boards I think we'll save lots! We spent a lot at character meals, but we really wanted to do lots of them. But now that we've done several, we'll only do two next trip and eat in room and lots of picnics. Here are a few tips that I can add to save money.

(1) Change your bank account to a better interest account. I did this and now I can about $250.00 annually in interest! That's about three character meals!

(2) We are 'entertainment junkies'. We live to have fun. For example, we have season's passes to our local theme park (Paramount Canada's Wonderland). We've been 24 times this year ~ each time we pack our lunch instead of buy lunch at the park. The passes cost $100.00 each, that's a bit over $4.00 per trip (SO FAR). We also have annual pass to our zoo, $40.00 annually ~ we know how to have fun without spending a fortune. So how does this help us save for Disney? Well, the great amount of time of spend at the zoo and at Wonderland means we aren't spending too much $$$$$ at other places that cost a fortune. Just think, it's about $50.00 per person to do anything fun with the family. So we aren't spending that.

(3) AIR MILES! I just cashed in my Air Miles for $200.00 gift certs for my grocery store. I will now take $100.00 from the grocery account and put it in the Disney Account. We are still up $100.00 of free groceries and the Disney account grows!

(4) I am COUPON GIRL! Everytime I save significantly using a coupon, I place half the coupon value in the Disney account, again still up. I usually only do it for coupons over $5.00.

(5) I used to buy a coffee everytime I went anywhere. Now I'll make one at home instead of using the drive-thru coffee store. It adds up when you think I'd spend $10.00 a week on coffee!

 

[Mom B]

I guess I'm just doing it wrong...seems like I have to figure about
$1000 per person for every trip (fortunately we're down to 4 now, with
2 kids married off...so they can pay for themselves now!). Granted,
we've gotten spoiled and can't stand the thought of staying at the value
resorts or, heaven forbid, off site. And we are too fond of the "good"
restaurants and dinner shows (thankfully we don't have to do Victoria
and Albert's this time like we did for our 25th anniversary!)
I am working on trying to rent DVC points and doing my own
arrangements this time instead of using a travel agent, and using my
Disney Club discount on park passes, but LOL! it still seems awfully
expensive! I don't know how we're going to afford it...but we'll do
it somehow anyway, because you only live once, and once in a while
you just HAVE to go to Disney!

 

[PoohMoma]

By all means Do Not get a loan just to go to Disney World.
We all love WDW and it IS wonderful, but get your priorities straight. Do you really want your husband to continue to have to work 2 jobs so you can go to Disney World. I bet if you use some of the tips on this board and start cutting back on unneccesary spending, you can go soon and you will feel so much better if you do not have that debt looming over you while on vacation! Good luck!!

 

[tink2dw]

I save money by not spending more,sample: I love diet coke but when it got to be $4.99 a 12 pk I looked for alternitives,I priced buying coke in a refill cup,verses store coupons and sales for diet coke, But my best price was at Winco for Shasta diet cola,it stays at $1.97 for a 12 pk and its as close to deit coke in taste as I could get. Also before Holidays they run sales at $1.59 and then I buy extra.

For grocery's I shop First at the Grocery Outlet,where I spent $50.00 on what at Safeway would cost me $150.!! Of course part of the trick to shopping at Grocery Outlet is to be Adventurerous Because the stock changes brands,may be there one time and not the next.
But dry pasta,is pasta who ever makes it,I look at ingredients closely[don't like tvp in my tuna,or flavored broth!] I check to see where things are made[bad experiece with jello cups packaged in Mexico] Candy and Cookies are alway 1/2 off name brand stores as is Olive oil. Oh,and never buy dressings for green salad as they are too acidic after sell by date. And then if I need something I couldn't find there. I go to Winco as they are consistantly lower priced than even using coupons.

One more thing I do Before checking out is look thru my cart to take out "the I want this items" do I need it or just want it,can I do without it,can the kids do without it,have they added stuff when i was deciding on which dressing to buy?? Can I buy the genaric soup? or the on sale favor of Rice a Roni? If I buy one flavored box of noodles I can fill the box with pasta from a bag to make that extra couple of servings instead of buying 2 boxes[and the flovor is the same].

All these thing help me save money!!

 

[pajamommy]

I've used the Coinstar thing, it seems accurate, however, they do take a certain percentage of every dollar as a processing fee, I think the last time I used it it was 13 cents/dollar. So that can add up, but I don't have the time to organize it and roll it all up, so I pay the 13 cents. I took a bucket that my husband had been putting his change in for about a year, and I got over $600.00 for a trip to Maryland, plan on doing it for WDW too! I love the Disney Dollar idea too, can you use them everywhere in WDW, such as the shops, restaurants, etc, or are there only specific places you can use them?

 

[AlicesAdventures]

If you are planning on staying off-site you might want to look at a hotel with extras. We will be going in Oct. and have made $89/night ressies at Hawthorne Suites on Palm Ave., LBV. They have 1 bedroom suites with full kitchens. They also offer a full breakfast buffet and an evening beverage social hour included in that price.

If you know when you will be going research airlines now. www.orbitz.com gives a pretty good sampling on the fares. If
you can swing it buy your ticket when the price is right. That's one thing that will already be paid for. We are planning on
going back again in February and Delta has a lower fare to Tampa than to Orlando at that time and it less than we paid for both
of us in Oct.

Since we know we wil be returning within the year we will be purchasing Annual Passes. I think the cut off time is if you will
be going more than 7 days, it will pay to get an AP. I purchased a DC card with the code on www.mousesavers.com and will be ordering (and saving) on our annual passes. That way we won't have to pay for tickets to the parks in Feb.

We also rent a car when we get there. If you have a Costco card you can save up to 25% if you use Budget, Alamo, Avis or Hertz.

Don't forget to check for any savings if you have a Disney Club card, American Express, Costco, AAA, AARP, Capitol One(or
other) credit card, any special savings through work (sometimes they offer DC), Gold C books or Entertainment type coupon
type books.

So far for airline, car rental, hotel and annual passes it will have cost approx. $2446 for 9 nights/10days. Our trip in Feb should be considerabally less - my brother is moving there in Dec. Most of all have fun saving and like someone else said- Don't take out a loan
for a trip to WDW.

And don't forget to put any rebates-from soap to computer equipment-that you might have sent away for in the Disney fund.

 

[maci]

Thanks for the info on the coinstar machine! I think I will roll it myself, it might be a fun activity for me and my son anyway, he loves to play with money! (who doesnt!)
Yes I believe the disney dollars are good everywhere at WDW. I think I will roll up and count all our change, take it to the bank, and then take the $ to the disney store to exchange it for disney dollars, so we will be sure to only spend it at disney!
56 days to go!

 

[R4racing]

I have taked to sticking any overtime, bonus or comission type pay into a separate vacation account. It isn't just for Disney, but any vacations, it is adding up quite nicely and we will have more than enough to pay for our next trip. We also have traveled with other family members and split the cost of the hotel, but our family is still small enough so we all fit in one room.

 

[Magickndm]

When you are there, try sharing meals, especially if you have kids. We get the chicken finger meals, then buy an extra fry and it can feed both me and my 10 year old daughter. Also, drink water instead of soda all day...each soda can cost $2.50 or more, this alone will save lots! When you do buy a soda in a bottle, save the bottle then reuse with water from a fountain.

 

[Daisimae]

1. Eat breakfast in the hotel room. Cereal for DH, (Milk is carried in the gift shops and we found out that one bottle will last for 2 bowls of cereal if we bring a small soft-sided cooler and refill ice am and pm.) PopTarts and cereal bars for me. Fruit Bowls and juice boxes for the both of us, those are stashed in the cooler to for the am. DH has to eat 2 hrs after breakfast. He brings PopTarts for that and gets milk in the park.

2. Share snacks, most fruit cups, frozen drinks (lemonade), are large enough for the both of us, inbetween rides. Or bring snacks into the parks with you.

3. Soda. Bring warm cans and at least one souviner cup, for every two people, into the park with you. When we were thirsty, we stopped at a food stand and asked for a cup of ice. Half the ice went into the souviner cup with halg the can of soda. The other half of the soda went into the ice cup.

4. Only eat one sit-down meal a day. and make that lunch if you possibly can. Meals are less expensive at lunch time and often it's the same menu, just smaller portions. Try getting the last lunch PS for dinner and picking up a snack of popcorn and water later in the evening. Use the menus at Deb Willis's Site and let the family plan where you all will eat and what you will have when you get there.

5. Break-up hotel stays. For the days we did non-Disney parks, (SeaWorld, Universal), we stayed at a nice hotel outside of Disney , that was closer to those parks. The rate was only $49.00 per night, it had free continental breakfast, microwave and fridge in room and free transportation to the parks mentioned above. It was a three-diamond AAA hotel.

6. Do reward programs. Next year, for the most part our sit-down meal every day will be paid for with giftcertificates from the rewards programs that we do. Rewards programs will also pay for a four-night stay at a non-Disney hotel, while we visit non-Disney parks.

7. Don't buy a package. They have extra stuff in them that you don't always get to use.

8. And bring your own medicine and first-aid in case someone gets sick. The price of Tylenol NyQuil and Band-aids is unbelievable, everywere at WDW

9. Book and non-Disney hotels early. The one we are staying at next year, has AAA rates that sell out very quickly. I'm booking as soon as they are scheduling them. Usually 11-12 months in advance.

10. Get a book that has touring plans and plan, plan, plan for everything, rides, PS's, counter service meals, breaks, rain-ponchos, tips, dead batteries, film, transportation. EVERYTHING!! Always have a plan B. Write it all down in a small notebook that you can keep with you. In the days, weeks, months and years before your trip, when you see clearances, sales and closeouts for items you might need, you will be able to buy them and put them away for the trip.

These are just some suggestions that I mostly found here that helped with our trip last year. They worked so well, I will use them again next year. Hope you find something that you can use too.

 

[kissafrog]

If you like to rent videos, check out your local library instead of the video store. Our library lets you borrow most videos/dvds for a week each at no charge. The only exception is the brand new releases, which are $1 a night. I have been surprised at what a great selection they have, and would much rather pay $1 than the $3 our video store charges. Dh and I like to rent movies over the weekend for after little one is asleep, and this saves a lot of money!