Track Your 2018 Vacation Budget Here...

kristenrice

NOT just an ambulance driver
Joined
Apr 25, 2006
Hi Everyone!:wave2::welcome:

Obsessive planner here...I thought it would be cool to have a place to put my budget and progress out there so others could see it, possibly learn a few things, give me a few pointers, and maybe even get inspired:wizard:.

Right now, my vacation plan is for a 6-night stay in October of 2018 with my 2 daughters who will be 13 and 15 when we travel. DH doesn't want to go so he is staying behind by choice. That's actually a big help for the budget since it saves me the cost of a park ticket, airfare and dog boarding...not to mention food.

Before I get into the nickels and dimes, I'll start with what I am NOT including in my plans. First of all, we have DVC, so our lodging costs are "covered" by our points...for the most part. I made need a few extra points, and if I do, the added cost *will* be added into the budget at that time. Second, I already purchased our park tickets. Long story short, I already have a 13-month Gold AP (for me), (2) 5-day park-hoppers and (2) 7-day park-hoppers, all of which were purchased before Disney instituted the "must activate by" policy. So, I have our tickets for our 2018 and 2019 trips already paid for and in hand. Our 2019 trip is going to be longer so I am saving the 7-day tickets for that trip.

That leaves the budget for this trip...and here it is...

1) Airfare: $1200 We live 10 minutes from the Grand Rapids airport and obviously prefer to fly out of there, but it is SO expensive and the flights are almost never non-stop. We have flown from Flint and Detroit and I am fine with either of those if the price and times are right. Southwest has been our airline of choice in the past because we had so many points from the SWA Visa card, but for this trip, I will have about enough points to cover (1) one-way, so I am not going to rule out Delta as an option. Starting in December, Frontier is coming to GR and they will be (supposedly) offering non-stop service to MCO so that is another possibility. The airfare budget is $400/each, which is high. I intended it to include everything from luggage to seat assignments to EBCI, basically any contingency that we may need, depending on our airline. I also want to make sure that I do not have to limit myself to an 8-hour, 2-stop itinerary, or a flight that comes home at 8am, because they are the cheapest.

2) Food: $1200 I have (3) components to my food budget. The first is the purchase of the Tables in Wonderland Card ($150). This will cover both trips, and in 2019, we are travelling with a party of 8 so it will more than pay for itself. The second food portion is our grocery order ($50) from Amazon Prime Now. This will be mostly things like soda, eggs, cheese, fruit and bread. The rest of the food budget is our dining budget in the parks ($1000). My plan is to earn this entire amount in gift cards from programs like Swagbucks. We like to eat at least one table-service meal each day, with the possible exception of the days we are at Epcot since we will be there during the F&W festival. We are not big eaters and we can definitely fill up on an appetizer and a couple entrees between the three of us. The girls are not into character meals and they don't particularly care for the buffet or AYCE meals either (thank goodness!), but they do enjoy a good steak...so that TIW card will get put to good use.

3) Other Expenses: $600 This is the amount that I will budget to include things like an extra night in a hotel in case we opt to fly out of Detroit and drive over the night before, tickets to the Halloween party if we decide to do that, activities/demos at the Food and Wine Festival, and stuff like that.

My total budget is $3000


Here is what I have available so far...
Disney Gift Cards (*or equivalent): $554.35
*Includes anything that can be converted to a Disney gift card as well as Disney Visa Rewards
Amazon Gift Cards (for the groceries): $25.00
Cash: $512.93

Total Available: $1092.28
Total Still Needed: $1907.72

Here's how I save...
First, $19 every 2 weeks goes into a savings account that is ear-marked for vacations. Second, I attempt to donate plasma twice a week. I get $20 for the first donation and $50 for the second donation. Like a lot of women, my iron level fluctuates so sometimes, I drop below the allowable range and I am not able to donate. That effects my payout for the week. Because of this, I cannot count on my plasma "income" as a reliable source of funding for my Disney vacations so I have a back up. Every April, I receive a longevity bonus from my employer and I usually use that to take a solo trip in October. Since this will be a "family" trip, I was going to use the money on something more "selfish" (like a new ballistic vest for work) but I can certainly put it towards the vacation if we need it.

The best way that I earn money for the trip is by earning FREE gift cards. I save up the free-with-purchase gift cards from Target and convert them into Disney gift cards. We have a Best Buy Visa card that earns rewards on gas and dining and I convert those rewards into Disney gift cards. I actively participate in SwagBucks and earn a LOT of gift cards from there too. In fact, all of the gift cards that I have were all acquired for FREE.

So there it is...all out there in writing...I want to have it there to measure my progress. When I dip into my cash for stuff that I probably don't need, I can see it out there and know that my fellow budget board folks will know that I slipped up:guilty:...which will make me think twice about those impulsive trips to the casino:crazy2:.
 
Hmmm...next year will be a tree house villa courtesy of my brother since I paid for the BWV GV this year. He's a Hertz President's Club member and gets an awesome corporate rate for a rental car (he paid $125 for a Lincoln Navigator for 8 days last week!). We'll split the cost with him and my siblings for the next trip ($100, give or take).

I have pre-2017 tickets but I think that I will take advantage of the current DVC offer for Platinum Plus APs for myself and husband. Cost will be just under $1200 and I expect to pay with GCs. I have enough GCs to pay for them now but I want to make sure that I have enough in reserve to cover my DVC dues. If I get a renter for my points, I'll use that money to cover the 2018 dues.
ETA - I got a renter and the deposit has been paid! Estimated dues are out and they are lower than I had budgeted.

We used a shuttle service to and from out local airport. Splitting the cost with my sister and brother-in-law cut our OOP cost to $96 with tips.

Tipping bell services, mousekeeping and the skycaps in the airport will run another $80.

We have enough Southwest RR points to cover 2 RT tickets. OOP cost will be the 9/11 fees ($23) and EBCI ($60).

Food will be the next biggest OOP cost and I'm estimating $1,000 for the week. I'm hoping to earn enough in GCs and PayPal to cover this.

Souvenir spending is always flexible. I spent $250 on Christmas ornaments, thank-you gifts, a t-shirt, golf hat and wine glasses on this past trip. All paid with GCs.

Amount needed -
Cash ~$300
Disney GCs ~$2500
SWA RR points ~?

Current Savings -
$166 PayPal
$7455 Disney GCs (it looks like a lot but like I said, I have DVC dues on 600 points to pay in January)
$5 Visa GC50
$19.16 Amazon GC
$90 Landry's GCs
$50 Wolfgang Puck
$25 Earl of Sandwich
$185 Starbucks (way more than I want to have on hand but when I'm getting them for free from rewards programs, who am I to turn them down?)
Whoa, now that I've put it all down in one place, it looks like I could splurge on a few "pluses" next fall - like a repeat of the Wine vs. Beer experience we did this year or a dessert party for the whole family. I'll have to take an accounting of what I have once we get closer to the actual trip.

ETA - My brother booked the Tree House Villas last night (10/30)!!!!! We're set to go next fall for F&W with all of my siblings and their spouses!!!!!!
 
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Those look great and I'm impressed on the planning! I'm not sure at this point if we'll be able to vacation anywhere. Alot to factor in finances and other things. BUT I'd love to go to Disneyland versus Disneyworld next time we vacation. Haven't been there in a very long time. So, that would be airfare, hotel, park tickets, food, dog boarding, and possibly rental car to factor in.

At a completely wild estimate I'm guessing $5000 for one week, seems terribly high but I'm not even looking at anything seriously, just off of what last year to Disneyworld cost us roughly. We spent about $6500. But, last year we also had a side beach trip hotel a few nights, went exploring a bit on the east coast of Florida, flew in an out of two different airports, had a rental car, etc. So there are ways to save and costs that can be cut. Next vacation would be to one location. I am setting aside $50-$75 a month right now, and once Christmas is done will bump that up as I'm funding the Christmas savings account still. Then see how taxes go when we file.
 
Cool stuff. I'm hoping I can pick up a few tips here as well. I'll include my planning too.

I'm planning a 2018 Thanksgiving-ish trip currently expected to arrive 11/17/18 and depart 11/27/18. My planning includes DW, DD5, DD3, & myself DH. We are DVC members, so I will not be including accommodation costs.

1) Airfare: $44.80 We have more than enough Rapid Rewards from our SW Visa Plus for 4 one way tickets from our home airport to MCO, the fee is $22.40. We also have enough miles on United for 4 one way tickets from MCO to our home airport, the fee is also $22.40. We use credit cards for all our monthly expenses/bills, so we typically have enough to use for one way tickets for SW or United for all 4 of us. This amount is already accounted for in our bank.

2) Park Tickets: $2,266.36 We plan to purchase 4 Platinum Plus Passes (going in 2019 as well). Will be using my Target Red Debit Card to purchase Disney gift cards at a small discount, and then using those gift cards to purchase the APs. The discount at least pays for a good chunk of the taxes for the passes. I've purchased $1,000 in gift cards so far, so will be there soon hopefully.

3) Food: $1,500 This is a little higher than what we typically spend on food, but we will be traveling with my DW family, and plan to invite them for 2 table service/buffet meals. The rest of the time will be just the 4 of us; this includes mostly resort QS (2 per day) and 1 extra table service meal with just the 4 of us. I am also going to using my Target Red Debit Card to purchase $1,500 in Disney gift cards (pays for a god part of the taxes again), and I will be using either the AP discount or DVC discount for our meals as well (which ever is better or available). This total amount has also been saved to our bank account.

4) Misc: $825 This would include any sort of souvenirs, snacks, traveling expenses, or any other unexpected expenses. This will be saved to our bank account and cash on hand. This portion has already been saved up, so we are good there.

The amounts saved to our account have been typically accumulated over the last 12 months, putting $100-5500 in at a time from our income (we run a tight budget). We don't know the MVMCP schedules or costs for 2018 just yet, but when I know that we will decide on making that part of our trip/budget or not.

Total Expenses: $4,636.16
Total Saved/Already Paid: $1,869.80 (Disney Gift Cards & Bank Account)
Total to be Saved/Paid: $2,766.36


The tickets are a big chunk of the expense, but it will be nice to already have that paid for our 2019 trip.
 


I love these threads.... I'm a a crazy obsessive planner (so I've been told:rotfl2:) and I was just looking at my 2018 travel budget so far.... Right now I have planned a spring 2018 extended family trip to WDW. I'm budgeting for 4(mostly)
Current calculated costs are-
hotel for 8 nights -points+ $224
airfare- all points +44.80 fees
Tickets bought back before any use by dates so I paid around $850 for three 5 day passes(4th person pays for own tix)
Food OOP for week-budget approx $100 per day x 9 days=$900 (total spent $765 so 15% disc. on gc purchased already) so $765
Uber to/from MCO budget $100
dogsitting $40 per day x9=$360 (ack)
airport parking at home is about $65-75
so it's mostly paid for already basically and total is $2409 (APPROX)

also considering a cruise in winter 2018 (but I have a horrible time deciding that far ahead to spend $$$) and that would cost $2086 for 4 peeps..so if I do both trips that's about $4351 total for big trips for the year. But I'm leery of deciding so early on a cruise,it's just a great deal!
our airfare is covered by points for trips so that makes a big difference too.
 
Updated to reflect actual $ amounts.

Budget is for 2 adults and 2 children

Hotel: 5 nights BWV standard, rented through a DISer, splitting the cost with my parents but they are paying more (they offered) since they decided to join us and I was originally getting a studio. $1000 for our share. I've been earning money through SB and at this point I have $387 to earn to pay for it completely with no money OOP. Final payment due end of Feb.

Transportation: So far I have 4 one way tickets on SW booked, paid with RR points, so fees and EBCI, total $82.40. Currently pricing out flights to MCO, I'm hoping to get less than $400 for the 4 of us. I have the Disney Visa where I can apply points to airfare, so I'm doing the math to see if that's a better deal than using them to buy tickets. Parking at my airport is $11/ day so $66 unless I can find a better deal on Groupon. No other costs as we are using DME and buses.

Tickets: I had enough free Disney money through my Disney Visa for 2 adult 6 day tickets. I still need the kids tickets which is $788.10 from Disney or $738.16 from UT for the 2 of them. Again, I'm going to run the numbers to see if it's a better deal to use my points for tickets or airfare. (I'm going to purchase before the next price increase, so by end of January to be safe based on previous increases).

Food: we are planning on breakfast and dinner in the room, I priced out what we need on Instacart and it's about $250 and we'll split with my parents, so about $125-$150. I also have budgeted QS lunch for DH and I for the 5 days plus snacks around the world the night we arrive. I usually order kids meals so I'm budgeting $20-25 per meal (for the 2 of us combined), and I figure no more than $100 on arrival night, so we'll say $250 for the week for QS meals (last time we went we did the same thing and we spent less than $300 and that included a TS dinner so I think it's realistic). So $400 total for food

Memory Maker: $169 (again, hoping to use Disney Visa points since I'll have bought my tickets prior to Feb, so any other Disney points I earn will go towards this and the food budget mentioned above)

So, as you can tell, my main focus is as little OOP as possible! Right now if I did nothing and only paid the remainder OOP, it would be $2242.56. My goal is to get that number below $1000. Wish me luck!!

ETA: Currently I have $134.80 in Disney GCs, and $193.38 in Disney Visa Points, so using those would be bring my total down to $1914.38
 
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We have an 8 night stay at the WL in August 2018. My original goal is to stay under $5K out of pocket, but looking at food prices is giving me palpitations. I like signature restaurants and I have a feeling they will put me over! Got to sit down and plan it out.

This is what I have so far:
Hotel & Tix - "labor day deal package" through unnamed travel agency - $3,300 - includes 8 night hotel and 6 day MYW tix w/ one waterpark day for 2 adults and 2 kids. The hotel is a great deal, but the park tickets seem expensive. I think it's still a decent deal though.

Flights from CA - We have 44K SW points right now and will probably accrue another couple thousand before we book. This will hopefully pay for 2 RT flights. I do not want to open another credit card so I we'll be paying for 2 flights OOP. Hopefully under $800, will have to see. It might make more sense to choose a different airline because I know AA and DL has good deals and non-stop flights and save the SW miles for a different trip.

Food - Ugh, I have no idea. I do want to have some splurge meals, but some of the prices are so outrageous. The girls would love dining in the castle, but my DH might have a heart attack looking at the bill! I will plan some cheaper meals (Trails End, QS, etc), but my first thought was to budget $1,000 - Maybe it should be more like $2,000 - gulp! Let's say $1,500 for now.

Other - I'm not big on souvenirs, but we'll probably buy a few - $100, Memory Maker $169 (a must, we are so bad at taking pictures!), Kids club if we go to Jiko $110

So that's more like $6,000 now and doesn't include incidentals.

Money -
I will keep accruing my Disney reward dollars, but it's not my most advantageous card so I will probably only have a few hundred by next August. I will collect Disney gift cards at the grocery store and get 6% back on my Amex. I also will be getting around $800 from my Costco Visa that I will be putting towards the trip.

Since we're coming from CA I'm ok spending a little more. Most likely we won't be back for a long time (DH if ever, LOL!) . Just got to keep saving.

ETA - My girls know about the trip already and I already told them we were doing scaled down birthday parties for them this year to help pay for the trip. We tend to go overboard on birthday parties and if we switch to doing special with one or two friends this could save a lot of money!
 


I love this idea @kristenrice!

I am currently trying to plan two trips for 2018 for as little out of pocket as possible.

May 2018 would be a surprise birthday trip for my daughter who will be turning 6. Plans include DD5 I reserved a package through a travel agent for 4 nights at POP with 3 day PH tickets+1 FUN option and QS dining plan

Package: $1443-I've already paid this package off using gift cards I have earned from Swagbucks and various online panels

Airfare: Hoping to use the miles+cash option from Delta. OOP would be $384

Memory Maker: $169

Misc: $400-I don't expect I'll need a lot of spending money for souvenirs but it will be nice to have just in case plus anything that doesn't get used can be applied to our September 2018 trip.

September 2018 will be a trip to celebrate my husband's 40th birthday. We are hoping for free dining but will be going with or without it. Plans include DH, DD 6, DS 2. 7 nights at POP with 5 day PH tickets and QS dining

Package: $3472-hoping this price will decrease with some sort of offer

Airfare: Hoping to use miles+cash option from Delta. OOP would be $768

Memory Maker: $169

Misc: $800-used for souvenirs and hopefully date night if my in-laws decide to join us on this trip.

Total Needed: $6449 since I have already paid the balance for my May package
Disney Gift Cards or equivalent: $705

Just gotta keep chugging along. Every little bit helps!
 
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I am doing a four night/three day mini Orlando trip. There are multiple people involved, some who live paycheck to paycheck and don't have much money who I am helping out too. DS and friend had their September Orlando trip canceled due to Hurricane Irma that they were so looking forward to and saving for, for a long time, so I am helping them out with coming in November for a mini stay. They went to Branson instead in September as they already had vacation scheduled. I told them to go ahead, do that, use their vacation monies there, and that I would cover air/lodging/theme park tickets for them for a mini stay in Orlando plus lost wages for DS's friend due to having to take time off without pay. My parents have a condo for two weeks that some of us will stay at some of the nights. DH and I are coming from St. Louis. I have a cousin from Tampa who I want to see who doesn't drive except locally and won't spend money on a theme park ticket, so I am covering expenses for an uber for him and a ticket at SeaWorld.

Total expenses
-- Airfare -- free -- Southwest points for four tickets for me, DH, DS, and DS's friend
-- Lodging for the stay for DS and friend at Hilton Grand Vacation Club SeaWorld - $600 (Their original Sept. rate was a heck of a lot better (stellar really quite the bargain). But they were so looking forward to staying there and sometimes I'm a sucker for enthusiasm.)
-- Lodging at La Quinta by my parent's condo one night (me and DH) when my cousin will have the second bedroom at the condo my parent's have for the duration of our stay and beyond - $80. DH and I will stay at the condo the other three nights -- freebie from my parents.
-- Lost Wages -- Giving DS's friend $400 as paid vacation time was used for Branson and time is being taken off without pay // person who doesn't make that much and lives paycheck to paycheck
-- ubers for my cousin to and from Tampa -- $160
-- Orlando Eye/Wax Museum/Titanic for DS and friend -- $150
-- Tickets for five for SeaWorld me, DH, DS, friend, and cousin -- $400 (Everyone likes this park including my parents, my cousin, my nephew and his roommate who have season passes, etc.) The whole extended family are up for this one.
-- Tickets to Magic Kingdom for DS and friend $210
-- Tickets for me and DH to Gatorland -- $70 (DH loves this park and hates Disney. He usually doesn't come with me to Orlando, but wanted to this time since DS would have a friend there. Often I have just gone down with DS. I am a sucker for enthusiasm when it come to DH and will gladly go with him to Gatorland which he thinks is a really cool place.)
-- Food and Spending for four (one big meal will be at my Nephew's house who lives in Orlando who is having us all over one night, parents will have food at the condo, meals out will be fairly modest -- Hash House, Sweet Tomatoes, some counter service at parks) -- budget is just $600 -- This will cover airport parking and things like that too. Cousin will cover his own food.
-- I don't buy souvenirs and those who do are on their own.
-- My parents are renting a large car and will do most of the transportation
-- DS and friend will have a few ubers and be on their own for that.
-- $100 to neighbor for keeping our dog who he and his dog are in love with. Dog already goes there three days a week because they enjoy him so much.

Well all that comes to $2770 and I budgeted $3000.

How I save:
-- In my regular budget I save $600 a month for vacation. ($300 a pay)
-- I actually and I don't feel particularly good about this was short with covering wages for DS's friend and took that $400 out of my charitable contributions budget which is $500 a month ($250 a pay) (That's less money that I am sending to the Red Cross for hurricane victims.)
-- I didn't originally budget the monies for my cousin either, but have some extra slush funds for when I have extra things come up that I took money out of for that.

This trip is in just three weeks and is funded (Nov. 10 -14).

Other trips
-- Key West in February 2018 (four nights/three days) (just me, DH, and DS)

-- Sedona, AZ in May 2018 (full week) -- extended family group -- Everyone should be there -- celebrating my parents 60th wedding anniversary. -- having my niece and her husband stay for free in our condo (but that's just on the hyda-a-bed and I love having them).

(I am on track for both of these with my normal vacation savings.)
 
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I'm currently thinking about two different options for summer 2018. One would be going to California for ~a week and splitting time between Disneyland and Sequoia National Park. The other would be going to Disneyworld for a week. Depending on the exact itinerary, they actually price out almost the same. I'm currently planning for me and my two kids, but my Dad is not doing well health wise and we're not sure he'll make it to summer so all of this might fall apart (or I might try to bring my Mom with us if he does pass away in Spring but not sure I or she will be up for it. That would change the costs, but she'd probably also want to contribute to the costs so it would probably be a wash.)

California Trip--either June or August 2018
Airfare (for 3): I was budgeting $1200 based on prices I was seeing, but that could change by next summer.
Rental Car: I get some discounts as a federal employee and it looked to be about $200 for the week
Sequoia Hotel: $300 for 2 nights (I don't think this includes taxes, and if I'm not able to book in advance it will likely go up)
Disney 3 day package with max pass: ~1650
Food and Misc expenses: ~500 (this is probably a little low, but my kids don't eat much and I plan to hit a grocery store and do some meals in the room). My kids don't really expect much on souvenirs so one t-shirt or toy keeps them happy. Sequoia entrance fee is only $30.
Other: One of my best friends lives in LA so I'm hoping we can stay with her on arrival day or departure day which lets us cut a hotel night. If I can convince her to join us at Disney I'll probably cover her ticket.

So adding that all up and throwing in a little cushion comes to about $4000.

Florida Trip--August 2018

Airfare (for 3): Shocker--flights in late August to FL are usually really cheap! Budgeting $600
Disney hotel: aiming for 7 nights at Pop with either a discount or free dining (which I would upgrade to the regular dining plan) $900-1100
Park Tickets: 6 day tickets. Assuming the free dining deals are the same as 2017 I'd have to get park hoppers--if i decide not to do the free dining I won't bother because my kids are young enough that they can't handle a really long day bouncing around. $1200-1450
Food and tips: It will be a little over $200 to upgrade the dining plan, plus tips etc or we'll have to pay out of pocket. Estimating $400-550
Other: I'll pay for memory maker, some souvenirs for the kids, etc. $250-300

Putting that all together comes out to somewhere in the $3600-3800 range.


Savings Status
I am throwing all my extra money into a separate savings account earmarked for vacation. I'm not doing discounted Disney gift cards because I want to keep all my options open in case I have to change plans due to my Dad's health. But basically any money that comes in that isn't part of my regular income goes into this account. So gifts, interest on savings accounts, credit card rewards, selling stuff, tax refund, etc. I also use shop kicks, ibotta, amazon mturk and swagbucks. I'm not obsessive about them, but it's probably about $75 a month between them which adds up when you have a whole year to plan!

Currently I have $550 in my savings account, $203 in credit card rewards, and $37 in my mturk account which adds up to $790 already earned.

I should bring in another $700 in interest and credit card rewards by next August. I am very conservatively estimating another $100 from various rewards programs (it should be much higher, but I can also see myself losing steam at some point and skipping a few months so I don't want to count on it). Figure another $250 from gifts and that brings a total of $1050.

The last piece of the puzzle is my tax refund. This is the first time I'm filing as single (my divorce was finalized this summer), I had to refinance my mortgage, and I opted not to change any withholdings this year since I was really unsure where I would end up. I won't know this with certainty for another few months, but I've been playing around with the IRS withholding calculator and it looks like I could end up getting about $2000 back from the IRS. Of course--this also depends what happens with the various tax reforms being proposed and when they take effect. I *think* I'll also get a state tax refund but I'm not factoring that in for now. I don't normally like to get such a big refund (I'd rather have that money during the year), but since I've been living on a budget that doesn't include that money it's kind of fun to be able to treat it as a windfall.

That all adds up to $3840 by next summer-which is not quite enough to cover the California trip but should cover a Florida trip (and since my estimates are all low end, I think it will end up being enough for either). Of course, if we take the trip in June, I'll have 2 less months to save up, but the credit card bills won't be due till August! Late August is my preference (the weather in FL will suck either way but the crowds should be lower in both places) but my ex gets first dibs on picking summer vacation weeks this year, so it will depend what he selects.
 
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Update...

Here is what I have available so far...
Disney Gift Cards (*or equivalent): $559.35
*Includes anything that can be converted to a Disney gift card as well as Disney Visa Rewards
Amazon Gift Cards (for the groceries): $25.00
Cash: $512.93

Total Available: $1097.28
Total Still Needed: $1902.72
 
I love this thread! Our Budget for our May 2018, 10 night trip is $8000. $1,000 was the left over balance from the great churning days of 2016 that I saved for this vacation. ONe thousand came for our 2016 Tax refund and the balance $6000 will come from the sale of our car after my in laws gifted us a newer car last month. This trip is for 7, DH DD13, DD11, DS9, DD7, my mom's bucket list trip and myself. My mother is only covering her airfare and what ever she wants to splurge on for the grands, so that is not included in my budget. I also add what ever I get rom regular online shopping at Ebates. Currently in PP I have $21.81 for at current total of $8021.80

We are currently booked with 2 rooms at POP for 10 nights at $123.58 at night for $2,470.60. If they are not done or almost done with the referbs giving them queen beds I will have to consider offsite.

I bought our airfare last week! We live on an island so it is challenging but to get over the the mainland for 6 is $788.80RT, Spirit for 6 RT is $945 exit taxes currently are $282 and 6 checked bags at $30 each is $180 for a total of $2195.80

Convention ticket at 5 days plus a waterpark day for the 7 of us are $2441.21

Considering a QS plan on my mom's room with the 2 littles if the plan still provided no distinction on QS credits at $960 for most of our park food along with another $200 to order snack and breakfast foods from Publix. My kids are big snackers and living out of the US means there are lots of things like Oreas and string cheese they just love when we visit the US.

$150 for bed and breakfast on the return night because we arrive at midnight and our flight back to the island is at 10am.

I already have $617.95 in Disney gift cards purchased at Target and the small bonus I got from the Disney Savings as they closed for $570.

I plan to get the rest of my gift cards through Disney as living abroad makes earning gift cards very hard. I am hoping to the them at 10% off with the deal they often run in Dec instead of the normal 5%.

Total before savings is $8,220.61. I want to purchase an additional $5,100 in Disney Gift Cards
If I save with an additional 5% at Target it is $100 short of my goal
If I save with an additional 10% at Target is it $155 over my goal

If we decide to stay offsite to have the bed space for 7 not crammed into doubles, we need to rent a car and purchase insurance so price will be about the as POP but we will eat more meals out of the park less than $960+$200. Or maybe we will plan a TS one day. We do not like to spend our time sitting for big meals unless it is a non park day which we will have one to go shopping. This budget is not coming from vacation funds but household as we purchase clothing, shoes and new bathing suits and such that I would have ordered online to ship down anyway. We will rent a car for the day or Uber depending how many want to shop DH is a definite no.
 
Another obsessive planner here! Love this idea!

Our trip is January 16-23, 2018, and it’s me and my adult DS. We prefer having our own rooms which really increases the cost of the trip, but we’re much happier having our own sleeping spaces. We each cover our own trip expenses.

We’re currently booked for seven nights at the Poly in “pool or marina” view rooms using the Gift of Magic room discount. Staying at the Poly is a one-time splurge for us and the only way we can justify the expense is by being as creative as we can in finding ways to cover the costs.

The total estimated cost per person is $6,072, but after taking into consideration the discounts, bonuses and credit card points/miles I’ve accumulated, I estimate my out of pocket cost to be around $1,592, or a savings of approximately 74%.

This is the breakdown of my budget:

Airfare: $1,150.40 / 100% paid with points.
By booking through the Chase Travel Portal we were able to get 50% more value from our Chase Ultimate Rewards Points (thanks Chase Sapphire Reserve card!). I used 76,693 UR points for my round trip first class ticket.

Resort: $3,974.10 / $635.50 paid to date
Seven nights at the Polynesian Village Resort in a “pool or marina” view room. I paid a one night’s deposit of $535 using my Disney Vacation Account which was funded with a combination of credit card travel credits and Disney gift cards (acquired at a discount of 56%). I also made a $100 resort payment using my Barclaycard Arrival Plus card and then redeemed $100 in points to erase the charge.

The remaining room balance of $3,338.60 will be paid with:
  • $608 in Chase Ultimate Rewards Points
  • $538 in Barclaycard Arrival Plus Miles
  • $50 in Amex Cash Rewards
  • $2,142.60 in Disney Gift Cards (purchased at a discount averaging 59%)
Tickets: $0
Last January, I upgraded my park hopper to an AP when AP room discounts were released. I saved enough with the room discount to more than cover the cost to upgrade my ticket.

Disney Dining: Estimated cost: $315
We purchased Tables in Wonderland last January and saved enough on that one trip to cover the cost of the membership. I track every expense from every trip so I know pretty much how much we’ll spend for food on this trip. At home we limit ourselves to eating out about once a month in order to save money and eat more healthfully. But on vacation we order what we want and don’t worry about the cost or calories. Sometimes it’s the most expensive thing on the menu, often it isn’t. We don’t drink alcohol and often choose water instead of a beverage with our meals just because we prefer it. We frequently split counter service meals and treats, not to save money, but because there are so many delicious options to try we don’t want to fill up on just one thing. I know we’ll likely average $45 per person per day, but if we happen to go over we won’t worry about it. We’ll charge everything to our Magic Bands and then pay off the balance with discounted Disney gift cards every couple of days.

Starbucks: $50
I have a $50 gift card purchased at a 20% discount.

Refillable Mug: $19.16
Will be paid with Disney gift cards.

Earl of Sandwich: $12.50
We have a $25 gift card for the two of us to share.

Ghirardelli Ice Cream: $13.55

We have $27.10 left on a gift card for us to share.

Sprinkles: $7.55
We have $15.10 left on a gift card for us to share.

Special Events: Total Cost: $251.79 / Out of Pocket Cost: $0

DS and I each opened Chase Checking accounts this summer and after meeting the direct deposit requirements, we each earned a $300 cash bonus. We are using that money to pay for:
  • Spirit of Aloha Dinner Show: $78 (should get a 20% TIW discount refunded the day of).
  • Fireworks Dessert Party at Tomorrowland Terrace: $79
  • Disney After Hours: $94.79 (with AP discount)
We each have $48.21 left of the bonus. If the Fantasmic Dessert is offered during our stay, we might do that.

Souvenirs: $60

I likely won’t spend this much, but I have $60 in Disney Visa Dream Dollars that I’ve earmarked for this category.

Other Expenses:

Airport Hotel: $116.21
We’ll spend the night at a Best Western near PDX the night before we fly to Orlando. I redeemed enough Chase Freedom and Discover Card points in Best Western gift cards to cover the cost for both of our rooms.

Uber:
$87.50
We plan to use Uber to get to and from our home airport and for an occasional ride at WDW. We stocked up on Uber gift cards this summer when they were discounted at Walmart.com. This occurred at the same time that Chase offered 10X in Ultimate Rewards points when using Chase Pay. We ended up paying $146.30 for $175 in Uber gift cards.

Tips: $15
When I get my Costco Executive Membership rebate check each year, I cash it at the service desk. After deducting the cost of the Executive Membership, the remaining cash goes into my vacation bank. There’s usually enough to cover tips plus some extra cash that I bring along for emergencies.

Total: $6,072.76
 
Update

Disney Gift Cards and Equivalent: $564.35
Amazon Gift Cards: $25.00
Cash: $532.93

Total Have: $1122.28
Total Needed: $1877.72
 
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Adding in my November goals (copied over from the weekly rewards thread)

  • Redeem for a $25 gift card from swagbucks---DONE
  • Redeem for $25 PayPal from swagbucks
  • Earn $20 on mturk--Earned $2.05 so far
  • Redeem a $10 gift card on shopkick
  • Earn $30 in credit card rewards--earned $2.01 so far
 
I love this thread!

We are doing a split stay in January/February of 2018. We will be staying two nights at AKV and seven nights at the Poly. We will have two adults and two kids

1. Transportation – $200. We drive straight through, so we won’t have any extra hotel costs. This should cover gas and coffee in both directions. I will be bringing food for meals along the route.

2. Lodging – DVC points, so the cost won’t be included in the budget.

3. Tickets – Salute to Armed Forces 5-day hopper x 4 (Already purchased)

4. Food – I am really stuck on this number. We have done meal plans on our past trips, but we are going to pay OOP on this trip. We have always had credits left over in the past. We are planning 4 or 5 TS, with the rest QS. We are also planning on eating breakfast in the room, except for two mornings. I was thinking we might eat lunch in the room a couple of times too. I am not sure if this is the right number, but I’m going to budget $2000 for meals, snacks, beverages, and groceries.

5. Other – Tips (I’m budgeting $70, but it could be less, depending on if we are present for bell services delivering our bags at either resort). Dog Boarding $330. Souvenirs/Extra Costs - $400.

Total Expenses - $3000
Total Available - $2260 ($1660 combo of Disney Visa points and Disney GC, $600 cash
Total Needed - $740

I plan on getting another $150 in Disney GC, $100 Landry GC, and $50 Starbucks GF. We will also acquire more Visa points. The rest will be saved cash and any Swagbucks cash I can acquire.

Whew! Less than three months to go!
 
I love these threads.... I'm a a crazy obsessive planner (so I've been told:rotfl2:) and I was just looking at my 2018 travel budget so far.... Right now I have planned a spring 2018 extended family trip to WDW. I'm budgeting for 4(mostly)
Current calculated costs are-
hotel for 8 nights -points+ $224
airfare- all points +44.80 fees
Tickets bought back before any use by dates so I paid around $850 for three 5 day passes(4th person pays for own tix)
Food OOP for week-budget approx $100 per day x 9 days=$900 (total spent $765 so 15% disc. on gc purchased already) so $765
Uber to/from MCO budget $100
dogsitting $40 per day x9=$360 (ack)
airport parking at home is about $65-75
so it's mostly paid for already basically and total is $2409 (APPROX)

also considering a cruise in winter 2018 (but I have a horrible time deciding that far ahead to spend $$$) and that would cost $2086 for 4 peeps..so if I do both trips that's about $4351 total for big trips for the year. But I'm leery of deciding so early on a cruise,it's just a great deal!
our airfare is covered by points for trips so that makes a big difference too.
Updated to add 12.75 ebates to deduct from overall cost (slow but easy lol) and $50 erewards points to SWA (5k points) for the airfare for 4 (but I'm unsure of how to calculate the savings other than just calling it $50 off the total) so 62.75 effortless extra saved this week.
 
Sounds like fun!

Myself and 2 friends are going down for 5 nights in January. One of my friends has never been to Disney and needs to keep everything on a tight budget so no extravagant meals. Lucky for her I own DVC and we will stay 4 nights at the Poly on my points.

Airfare: I got insanely cheap flights on Frontier $100pp round trip. Add $50 for a checked bag total is $$350 for all of us. Using Magucal Express from the airport.

Park tickets. I have an AP and we are attending Disney After Hours as well as one day at EPCOT and one day at Animal Kingdom. $680 for all.

Lodging is AKL club level the first night and 4 nights at Poly. AKL is $440, Poly is on points but figure buy in plus dues at $600 (I am not charging my friends so I will not include in pp total).

Food will be club level snacks and drinks plus Sanaa, yak and Yeti, Earl of Sandwich, Trader Sams, geyser Point, Skipper Canteen, sunshine Seasons and Tangerine Cafe. Budgeting $200pp or $600.

2070 for all of us not counting souvenirs...less than $709 pp all in. Seems pretty reasonable.
 
Update

Disney Gift Cards and Equivalent: $564.35
Amazon Gift Cards: $25.00
Cash: $532.93

Total Have: $1122.28
Total Needed: $1877.72

UPDATE

Disney Gift Cards and Equivalent: $594.35
Amazon Gift Cards: $25.00
Cash: $621.93

Total Have: $1241.28
Total Needed: $1758.72

...I just want to point out, this is $119 in earnings in only 9 days. There were (2) $20 plasma donations and (1) $50 plasma donation which accounts for $90 of the cash earnings. The remaining $29 in earnings was all earned through Swagbucks which required very little effort on my part.

My immediate goal is to get to at least $1000 in cash by February 1. That is right about the time SWA should be releasing our flights. I should be able to buy SWA gift cards from Target and if I need 3 tickets at $350 each, that will cost me $997.50 with the 5% discount.
 
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Update--November goals are going well!

  • Redeem for a $25 gift card from swagbucks---DONE
  • Redeem for $25 PayPal from swagbucks--DONE
  • Earn $20 on mturk--DONE: Earned $32.80 so far with $2 pending
  • Redeem a $10 gift card on shopkick--DONE
  • Earn $30 in credit card rewards--earned ~$14 so far

So new goals:
  • Earn $50 on murk in November
  • Have enough SB balance to get a discounted gift card on 12/1 (at 655/2200)
Overall progress: $912 earned of ~$3800-4000 needed. Almost 1/4 of the way there!
 

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