Track Your 2018 Vacation Budget Here...

I have read through the threads and I am super impressed with all your deals to get discounts. I can’t go back to Disney until fall 2019. My discover card is giving me 5% back at sams club with another 5% match at the end of the year. Sams has gift cards for 3-4% off. So is the 13-14% about the best I can expect, or is there another easy way to get them? I thought I’d grab a little bit before the end of March when the promo ends, then more in December before it ends the second time.
 
My updates are in red below:

When I first saw this thread, we were still trying to figure out our plans - now we've gotten quite a bit firmed up. Some background - I will be going with DH and DDs 8, 5 & 5 in August for 8 days. I've been wanting to rent DVC for a LONG time, and finally had DH ok with doing that. When I was trying to compare pricing with that from WDW, the Disney site didn't have any 1Br DVCs available at Boulder Ridge. Long story short, when we were communicating with the lady we rented from, I showed DH the pricing for the 1br because that's all that was available, and he ok'd it, but he was thinking of a number that I had given him that included dining plan and tickets, not just the room. So, the trip is costing us almost $2k more. :guilty: :scared:

Here are the numbers so far:

Estimate Actual
BRV 1br
$ 2,040.00 $ 3,825.00 <- paid $960
Dining Plan $ 1,597.65 $ 1,597.65
Tickets $ 2,198.02 $ 2,228.75
Flight $ 2,000.00 $ 1,534.80 <-- bought already (on CC to be paid off this month)
Souvenirs $ 500.00 $ 500.00
Tips** $ 300.00 $ 300.00
MNSSHP $ 370.00 $ 0.00
Groceries $ 80.00 $ 80.00
Childcare (for Adult Night Out) $ 130.00 $ 130.00
Stroller (OSR) $ 86.00 $ 86.00
Dog Boarding? $ 500.00 $ 383.00
Hotel w points $ 0.00
$ 0.00
Parking long term $ 96.00 $ 96.00

Totals $ 10,077.67 $ 10,761.20
Paid so far (this will change) $ 2,494.80

BRV Estimate was for a Studio, Actual is what it really is. We paid $960 so far for this. The remainder (and the Dining Plan) is due in June.
Dining plan - I don't expect prices to change.
Tickets - we're still not sure if we want to do 6 day parkhopper or 5 day parkhopper. I think the original number was for 5day parkhopper+. I'm hoping to get them through Undercover Tourist before they run out of the old priced tickets. If not, that number will probably go up.
Flights - Bought! I booked them on SW on Feb. 15th, and they were less than I estimated. YAY! PLUS, with SW we don't pay for luggage.
Souvenirs - I'm estimating $500, which is definitely high, but I include the PhotoPass photos ($169) in there, because that's MY souvenir.
Tips - Just a guess - I'm counting $5/day for mousekeeping, plus TS dinners, plus bellhops, etc.
MNSSHP - I put it in there as an estimate, but I don't really see the NEED to go. So that's a savings of $370 right there!
Groceries - I'm guessing $80 for the breakfast basics. We'll also have the dining plan, which I plan to use for lunch and dinner.
Childcare - this is another thing I can drop if I have to, but I don't want to! We'll be celebrating our anniversary while we're in WDW (21 years), and I'd like to have a nice dinner out.
Stroller - I priced out the cost for a double stroller, which I'm still debating. I posed the question on the Disboards FB site, and it came down pretty strongly on getting a stroller. If we need to, I can cut the cost by either getting a single and/or cutting the number of days.
Dog boarding - that's at home, of course. I estimated a bit high, although I'm still going to try to save up the estimated amount, because something ALWAYS pops up with this dog while he's being boarded. (They are a safe and wonderful place and I trust them completely - I just got "burned" once when we had him neutered at a late stage because he was a rescue, and he reacted badly to the meds, and what should have cost us only $400 was well over $1k!)
Hotel with points - we're going to BWI instead of PHL because we had better choices for flights, AND the parking is MUCH better there. Luckily, I accrue hotel points through my workplace, so I'm hoping we can score a free stay. Worst case, it'll be $180 for the night.
Parking - this is for the parking at BWI.

And this is what we're doing

  • We currently have $911 (now $961) in Disney Dollars through our Disney Visa (it's been a LONG time since we've used the points!) I'm guessing that by August we'll be over $1k. I could use that for tips & souvenirs or pay for part of my flights. We're using the $961 to help defray the costs for the flights.
  • I earn money through eBates - all of that is going towards our trip. ($117 in February)
  • In December, I sold quite a few things on my local FB yardsales. I haven't yet deposited that, but it was a couple hundred dollars. I'm still aggressively cleaning out my house, so I'm hoping to make a couple hundred more. So far haven't made any more. :(
  • We just got our dependent care amount ($2k) and our Federal Tax refund ($2900)
  • I'm going to ask that for the girls' birthdays (and mine) that we be given Disney GCs.
  • My healthcare through my company offers incentives - I think I have about $25 dollars more (unfortunately I spent the other $175 already).
  • Any hotel points that I can transfer to GCs for use elsewhere to free up "cash" for this trip.
  • I started Swagbucks on 2/27, and have about 1700SB as of 3/10. I'm hoping that I could get about $50 before we leave?
 
Hi, We are planning a WDW trip 7/21- 7/27 for 2 adults and a Disney Princess turning 12 in June. I booked 6 nights at WL and 7 day tickets through Disney for 3726.39. We will check out on the 27 th, but plan on spending the day in a park. We are driving from NC and plan to arrive around 1:30 on the 21rst for a lunch reservation at T Rex and plan to stay Friday and Saturday nights at Daytona beach on our return home. I have so far, bought $500. in Disney gift cards with my Target debit card, I have $150. In Landry gift cards from My Points (anticipating getting $50 more for Landry’s and $50 for Starbucks, maybe more) I plan on cashing out $150. From Ibotta, and plan to have $250. On Walmart savings catcher to use with grocery trips to get 5 - $50 Disney gift cards; I anticipate $275 reward from Disney Visa (may be more), I have $50. In Disney gift cards from Shopkick and hope to have another $50 before our trip, we have a change jar that should net another $100 - $150. Plus we have cents off gallon of gas from BP gas card, so hopefully with that and minus our normally weekly gas budget for 2 cars I’m expecting to pay about $150 for gas. So, our Disney budget for 6n/7 day at WL looks like 3526. (That’s minus gift cards used for deposit), plus $475 for food ( minus the other gift cards from MyPoints,Landry’s, etc) plus $150 in gas ( I pack foods/ snacks for on the road) and we will bring water and snacks plus some breakfast foods that I will take out of weekly budget with coupons. So our grand total will be around 4,151. For 6 nights/7 days at WL, Unless I’m forgetting something.
 
This is where I stood the last time I posted:
June New York trip:
Needed: $2,700
Saved/paid: $1,800 (OOP and fundraising)
Still need: $900


August Disney Trip:
Needed: $2,880.11
Saved/paid: $1,123.01 (No OOP- all swagbucks, Ibotta, and other savings apps)
Still need: $1,757.10


I found out that my sister, brother-in law, and niece will be joining us, so I added 2 days to our park hoppers before the price increase Sunday. We are planning n doing a split stay with out adding the dining plan, but I haven’t booked it yet, so I will wait to update that part until I do.

Here’s where I stand now:
June New York trip:
Needed : $2,700
Saved/paid: $2100(OOP and fundraising)
Still need: $850


August Disney Trip:
Needed: $3084.59 after adding 2 days to our park hoppers
Saved/paid: $1,223.01(No OOP- all swagbucks, Ibotta, and other savings apps)
Still need: $1,861.58

Plugging away!

Newest update:


June New York trip:
Needed : $2,700
Saved/paid: $2100(OOP and fundraising)
Still need: $600

August Disney Trip:
Needed: $3084.59 after adding 2 days to our park hoppers
Saved/paid: $1,348.63 (No OOP- all swagbucks, Ibotta, and other savings apps)
Still need: $1,735.96

Added 2 days at Art of Animation little mermaid rooms, paid deposit of
$174.38 (no OOP here either- trying to pay for this trip with Swagbucks, shopkick, etc, entirely) still need $174.38. I may upgrade this to a ticketless package with the quick service dining plan.
 


Been a while, but I'm still plugging away at this! Updates in blue

Going Nov 26-Dec 2 on a split stay (two DVC rentals)

4 nights at Bay Lake Tower Standard Studio: $1020 (paid)
2 nights at Copper Creek Villas (Studio): $608 (paid)
Tickets: 2 5 day park hoppers $865.90 (purchased prior to price increase on Undercover Tourist via Mousesavers, put on credit card, will be paying off, first payment of $100 this month)
Regular Dining Plan: For the 4 night stay: $603.92 (paid*)
Deluxe Dining Plan: $488.25 We were going to oop but we're also celebrating husband's birthday and decided to splurge for Deluxe for the last bit $353.84 to go
Memory Maker: $169
MVMCP: estimated $200
Epcot or HS Dessert Party: $160
Additional Costs: ? (Don't really have a goal on this as of yet)
Haven't started looking yet for airfare

*Paid for with discounted gift cards bought from Target and BJ's so out of pocket $573ish

Total not counting airfare and additional funds: $4115.07, $1429.31 of that to go.

ETA: Money sources: Ibotta, Swagbucks, Bing, various gift card deals (such as Grow Up Young), free lance work, budgeting and random sources of income such as selling unwanted dvds and video games on decluttr.
 
Last edited:
Just Booked:

November trip 5 days/4 nights staying at Bonnet Creek for 519.00
Starting at 0- Had to put down a 150 deposit.
Annual Pass Holder so tickets paid for

Need to save for the hotel 519 and food. My plan is to try to pay for hotel through swagbucks. I would need to make 85 per month. Final payment is due at the beginning of October.
 
I have had an awesome last couple of weeks acquiring "free" money to pay down our vacation!

"Free" Money came from various sources including Swagbucks, Ibotta, consignment sale revenue, and our coin jar! I consider the coin jar money "free" because it was already out of my regular budget as as the cash it started out as. So now I have $328 in my paypal funds which is $28 more than needed to pay off my DVC rental.

I rebooked our single night on property at ASMu which saves me $7 (given as resort credit which is fine because we'll be getting dinner and breakfast there).


UPDATED Costs/info in BLUE:

Budget is for 2 adults and 2 children

Hotel:
1 Night at ASMu ($94 OOP after using Disney Visa Rewards Money minus $7 resort credit for rebooking at a different resort)
5 nights BWV standard 2 bedroom, 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 other ways, see above) and at this point I have $0!!!! more to earn to pay for it!

Transportation:
4 tickets on SW booked, paid with RR points, so fees and EBCI (for going home), total $104.80. Parking offsite at my airport: $61.03

Tickets:
I had enough "free" Disney money (Disney Visa Rewards, DVA closing bonus GC, and other free GCs) for 2 Adult and 1 child 6 day ticket (non-hopper).Between discounted GCs and DVR money, the 4th child ticket cost $322 OOP. I didn't want to wait too much longer to purchase due to 1) possibility of ticket price increase and 2) FP+ day opens this month.

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 $150 between arrival night and the next day, 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 $450 total for food. I'm hoping to get this down since we'll be flying SWA and can bring non-perishables in its own dedicated suitcase without any baggage fees.

Memory Maker:
$169 originally, right now with free DGCs from the Grow Up Young and DVRpoints, it would be $109 (any DVR points I earn going forward will be applied to this, so I think I can get the cost of this below $100).

At this very moment, My OOP is $690!! This does not include the resort credit or the extra money I have in my paypal that didn't go towards the DVC rental. That money will go towards food, so it brings my food budget down to about $415, makes total OOP possibly $1105 which is bringing me ridiculously close to my under $1k ideal budget!! I actually over 2500 SB ready to cash out as well, so I will be able to reduce my OOP another $25 once I do that.


:cool1::cool1::cool1: If you can't already tell, I'm super pumped about this!!
 


It's been slow going on earnings since my last post. Just a slow trickle from credit card rewards and interest payments. I've been doing various shopping apps and swagbucks but haven't cashed out.

Disney just released some discounts for the time I'm traveling so I went ahead and rebooked my existing reservation. Right now the best deal they're offering for me is kids dine free--which saved me about $300 over no discounts and about $220 from the room only discount. I'm still hoping for actual free dining, but this is better than nothing and I was able to keep the same room category!

One thing I'll have to figure out is whether to do park hoppers if I don't get a free dining offer. The kids free package doesn't require park hoppers. My current plan has us using them on 3 of our 6 days. I could save $240 by refiguring our plan to just do 1 park a day.

For now--I'm leaving my budget as $3900--which would cover adding park hoppers to my existing package. If I get free dining or drop park hoppers it will save me $200-240.

I also realized that I can potentially save the cost of airport parking. I had ruled out uber because both of my kids are too small to use a seatbelt only--and uber family usually only has 1 car seat. But I realized I could book an uber with one car seat for my son (~$20) and just buy a cheap booster for my daughter ($10 at Walmart). That would save me almost $90 and if I can't squeeze the booster in one of our bags it's not a huge loss if I end up trashing it at the airport. For now I'm leaving the higher amount in our budget as a cushion.

Budget Update
Airfare (for 3): $558 (paid)
Airport Parking: $119
Disney package: 6 nights at pop century, 6 day tickets, DDP $2600-2900 depending on discounts/parkhopper ($200 paid)
OOP Tips/food: $125
Other: memory maker, souvenirs $200
Total: $3600-3900

Total Paid: $758
Remaining to pay: ~$3150
Vacation Account Balance: $3163

So--YAY. I still have enough to cover the worst case planning scenario, and I'll be earning more before the trip to cover any unexpected costs that come up.
 
This is an awesome thread! We are currently planning a trip for April 2018 (29 days!), and it's supposed to be our on a budget trip. As last year we went all out-WDW for 4 days and a Disney Cruise. That trip KILLED my budget and came in roughly at $5000 for 2 adults and a 2 1/2 yr old. So this year we agreed to only do Disney if we could keep it under $3000. Here's how that is happening:

Flights - All 3 flights paid for with miles, taxes paid was $35 total for transportation
Hotel- AOA for 6 nights, Sun and Fun Special around $1000, paid with Disney GC bought from Sam's (Paid $970 then got 5% cash back from CC company) so gained back about $50 bucks for spending $$
Tickets- Bought through Undercover Tourist, $1050 saved $140 for 3 four day passes (no PH)
Food/Souvenirs - $169 to the photo pass (my souvenir), 2 Character Meals (Bon Voyage and Cindy's), other then that breakfast in the hotel room and other meals Quick Service only, so $750 left.

Fingers crossed we will come in at or under budget.
 
THE PACKAGE
Stay at a 2 Bedroom-Villa (Lake View) at Bay Lake Tower at Disney's Contemporary Resort for 8 Adults, for 6 nights** [8/1/18-8/7/18]: $3652.76
Disney Dining Plan for 8 Adults: $3,623.52 PARTIALLY PAID
PACKAGE TOTAL: $7,276.28


PARK ADMISSION

4 Parkhopper Admission for 7 Days that's "Taken Care Of": $0.00 PAID
2 Adult Parkhopper Tickets for 7 Dats purchased directly through Disney: $1,032.00 PAID
2 Adult Parkhopper Tickets for 6 Days with Extra Day Purchased on Undercover Tourist: $949.58 PENDING
PARK ADMISSION TOTAL: $1,981.58

AIRFARE

Airfare for 8 Adults on JetBlue LAX-MCO (Purchased with JetBlue Plus Card/JetBlue True Blue Points)
4 Adults [1 Checked Bag*/person Included w/ JetBlue Plus Card] ($396.60/person): $1586.40 PAID
2 Adults [No Checked Bags, TrueBlue Points Used +taxes] ($11.20/person): $22.40 PAID
1 Adult [1 Checked Bag Included w/ Spring Sale Blue Plus Fare]: $317.59 PAID
1 Adult [ No Checked Bags, Spring Sale Fare]: $271.60 PAID
AIRFARE TOTAL: $2,197.99

"EXTRAS"

Disney's Memory Maker [Advance Purchase]: $169.99 PENDING
Hoop Dee Doo Revue for 8 Adults [Paying Out of Pocket] ($40.64/person): $325.12 PAID
Disney's Magical Express for 8 Adults: Free
Custom Cake to Be Ordered [Estimated Cost]: $125.00 PENDING
8 Made With Magic Ears 3.0 [Christmas Present For All]: $135.22 PAID
"EXTRAS" TOTAL: $585.54

GRAND TOTAL: $12,041.39

ESTIMATED SAVINGS: ~$7,00.00 as compared to regular rates/prices

Everyone going 8 of us is sharing the cost evenly. I'm being payed by them through the Venmo App, and everyone's been paying $120/month for 12 months. With everything, the total comes out to $11,520. That's short of our Grand Total, but I'm pretty much paying for the extras as added surprises, so we're just barely under budget. I'm looking to buy Disney gift cards through BJ's, so there may be even more savings that could potentially save an additional another $300.00.

Right now, the smaller things are paid for. We just need to purchase 2 more tickets, and pay off the bulk of our package. Gratuities at our Table Service Meals are yet to be determined, but that's an added cost we're very well aware of.
 
I've completely acquired the cash portion of my budget:banana:. (Well...technically...) I had a budget of $1200 for airfare, $300 for a night at the Hyatt and $300 for "incidentals" which made my total cash budget $1800. I booked my airfare for $1050 and we don't need to stay at the Hyatt anymore so I made the "incidental" budget $600. As of today, since the airfare is booked, I only need $600 in my account and I have $625.24:cheer2:. On top of that, if I can successfully donate plasma one more time this week, it will be worth $110:thumbsup2.

On the gift card side of the budget, things are also moving forward. I have been very lax with Swagbucks this month. After hitting my daily goal every day in the month of February, I basically gave up on March. I've had several days of less than 10 SB in earnings and my daily goal has dropped as low as 30:rotfl2: when it had been as high as 120! I've done a few surveys and offers and so I'm still making progress. I'm also being more diligent about scanning my receipts into Fetch rewards and clicking through my MyPoints bonus emails. That's helped me make some slow progress in those programs too. Fortunately, my Best Buy Visa is offering 3% back in gas this month which got me $15 in BB rewards. I need about $290 more in gift card earnings between Disney and Amazon to make my goal...but...$175 of that amount is an extra cushion. It was intially for the extra points I thought I would need to change our DVC reservation, but now that I won't need them, I figured I would leave it in the budget. Again, I don't NEED it, but I am going to leave it in my goal anyways because I can make it! In order to hit the $290, I only need to average about $1.50/day between now and when we leave.

That's lofty, but check this out....

My Best Buy Visa will earn me about $10/month so that knocks me down to $260. Then, I'll earn at least another $30 in Target FWP ($5/month), so that brings it to $230. When I "churn" my SB rewards 3 more times, that will be another $15 in rewards so that will take it down to $215. That means my daily goal will only be about $1 a day:cool1:....COMPLETELY doable!

The best part is that, assuming I can make my final plasma donation this week, I will have enough money available to take my trip by the end of this week. I have the SwagBucks in my account to redeem 2200 on the first of the month from April 1 through October 1 for a $25 gift card which I will then convert to a Disney gift card. (So I don't actually HAVE the money in my hands, but it will be available when I leave). Other than that, I actually will actually have either the funds or the reservations (hotel, airfare, tickets) in hand by the end of the week. WOW! I am stunned! What I thought would take a full year to save up for has actually only taken me 6 months. Now, I can start saving up for add-ons that we might consider like mini-golf, room service or a horseback ride.
 
I wish I had enough time to budget and plan, but we always end up planning a vacation last minute. The only thing we plan ahead is Disneyland.
We are doing Cabo in a few weeks and that is all paid for.

We are now planning on San Diego sometime in the summer. I have flights and hotels covered with points. We only need $$ for food and activities.

The one i am actually planning for is Disneyland in December. My trip total is $1750 or around there( i can't remember). Here is what i have earned so far.

$100 Disney Referral Bonus ( I post my referral link on some sites and i guess people have been using it.)
$280 Disney Reward Dollars
$50 Disney Gift card (Bought with ebates paypal in Feb.)
$60 Disney gift card( Bought with Best buy/Paypal gift card earned through SB).
$205 in SB( will trade for paypal/BB and get Disney Gift card)
$25 in Receipt hog( will have $40 before December)
$25 in Shopkick ( will try for $50 but probably not attainable)
$16 in checkout 51 ( need $20 to cash out)
$23 in Ibotta (will cash out in November)
$12 in ebates ( will probably increase to at least $50 by November since i do a lot of online shopping.)

My goal though is not to pay for the trip since i already have that covered. I always have an envelope & put anywhere from $100 to $300 in there every month and use that for Disneyland or any other vacation we have.( that is how i paid for cabo) We thankfully earn well enough to not "have to" worry about paying for a vacation but i am very frugal and will try my best to get the best deal i can. We will be going to Disneyland with 11 other people and I am hoping to use the funds to pay for all food/activities for us all.

Everyone in my family knows that if they are traveling with me I will have us have the most fun for the least amount of money. Hubby always jokes that if we were to ever win the lottery i would probably still be trying to use coupons or find good deals and getting Disney gift cards. I always respond that it is not a probably but a definite that i would.

Last year i earned so much in gift cards that I was able to pay for breakfast at Minnies, Dinner at PCH, Storytellers Brunch and a few other meals in between and some shopping. It feels good to have fun and not have to worry about how much you are spending because you already have everything covered. I am hoping to have about $1000 in "free" money if there is anything left which i doubt it will be put back in the envelope for next trip
 
We have a weekend trip to DL planned for memorial weekend.
Who's going- DH, myself, ds18 and dd21 and her boyfriend. DD and boyfriend are paying for their own tickets and food. We will pay for transportation and hotel.

Driving from Az- Rental minivan $300 + $150 gas= $450
Hotel- staying in 3 bedroom timeshare owned by inlaws= free for us
Tickets- 3 two day tickets non hopper $600 - $400 Disney reward dollars= $200
Food- $200 cash + $150 Disney reward dollars= $350 ($200 out of pocket)
Total $850 for 3 nights, 2 days for 5 people

Add on 2 night in San Diego on from DL
Hotel $550 2 bedroom suite with kitchen for 2 nights
Food- Stopping at grocery store before checkin for breakfast(muffins, bacon and coffee), snacks and 2 nights dinner (pizza, chicken strips and sides) $100
2 lunches for 5 people $100
Total for SD= $750

Total for 5 nights trip= $1600
 
The Swagbucks offer at BestBuy will DOUBLE my earnings by the time I leave. Here's my plan...

Right now, I have already included in my earnings the 13,200 SB that are sitting in my account which translates into a $25 gift card once per month from May 1-October 1 ($150). In addition to those funds, I still want another $235 in gift cards. I will earn a bulk of that from SB, but I will also earn from BB rewards as well and possibly Target FWP cards, assuming that the glitch was completely fixed (haven't checked at my local Target yet).

So with the BB deal, what I will do is try to earn at least 2500 SB every month so that I can redeem for $25 to PayPal IN ADDITION to the 2200 for the $25 BB gift card each month. Then, I can buy a $50 Disney gift card and use the QR code to earn the 600 SB which will make it a lot easier to earn the $25 a month:thumbsup2.

Here's the updated budget numbers right now. As I am getting closer to the trip (even though it's still 6 months away), the numbers are getting more solid.

Gift Card Budget: $1600
Gift Cards Acquired: $1342.61
Gift Cards Still Needed: -$257.39

Cash Budget: $1600.00
Cash Acquired: $1975.02

NO MORE CASH NEEDED! GOT IT ALL!!!


 
This thread is awesome! I've spent the last few days reading through most of it.

We have booked a trip for 1/2-1/7 2019...not technically a 2018 trip as per the thread title, but the bulk of my saving strategies will occur throughout 2018, so I hope I can join along!

A little background...

We are former AP holders. We spent a lot of money last year on five trips total with another one the year prior to that. We decided that we (and our budget) needed a break from Disney for at least a year. We live 10 hours away, so all those trips was not a cheap endeavor. Even with the tickets paid for, we still had food, gas, and lodging to fund. All that adds up quickly! Plus, we had a little bit of "entitled Disney" attitude from the kiddos. They were not appreciating the sacrifice and effort it took to get us there so often, so it was a good time for a break.

Fast forward, and I have Disney withdrawal syndrome bad! And our kids are starting to get the bug again, too. So, DH and I have decided to book a trip in January just after the new year before they head back to school. We're thinking of making it a big part of their Christmas this year. They get so much stuff at Christmas. I'm beginning to believe that experiences mean so much more than stuff. So, while they may get a few physical items this year, Disney is going to be their big gift.

I'm a frugal person by nature, so I want to get the trip as low as possible. Since we're just getting started, I have not built up my free savings strategies until now. I think by participating in this thread I will be more accountable in working towards free Disney money everyday!

So here's our plan-

Disney Trip Date- January 2-7, 2019, 5 nights 6 days

Shades of Green Hotel- $795-$159 deposit = $636 still to pay. DH is a vet and SoG has a special in January and September that allows vets to stay there. It is normally for active military and retired military. I'm stoked about this because, as a family of five, we are stuck with either family suites or moderates if we want to stay onsite. This is a major savings, as I was pricing out CBR to be well over $1000, plus that lovely parking fee they have now added. (I think SoG also has a parking charge, but it is fairly low in comparison.) And it is right across from the Poly! I'm thinking we may have to have a breakfast at Kona Cafe...

Base tickets from Undercover Tourist- $1963.58- $19.63 Ebates rebate= $1943.95 to pay

Food- $650 cash (Does not include the GCs I already have for food)- This is a higher figure than I think we will spend, but I want to be prepared. We drive, so we always pack a cooler with milk, sandwich meat, drinks, etc. We typically eat breakfast in the room, as our kids typically want nothing more than a bowl of cereal in the morning. We mostly eat QS in the parks, but we have packed lunch in a few times when at HS since it does not have a ton of options that we enjoy. (But TS Land will be open by then...hmmmmm)

We're thinking of doing at least 2 TS meals this time. I have a $100 GC to Rainforest Cafe, so that will be one of them. We haven't really discussed exactly where else we want to go. We love the Garden Grill and have eaten there many times, so that's an option. But I'm thinking we should branch out and try something new or go back to a place we haven't been to in a while. 'Ohana is a favorite, but my kids were really young last time and did not really enjoy it. I think they'd like it now that they are older. Trails End is another option we're thinking about. We've been there for breakfast but not dinner. So, it is up in the air, but I think $650 is a healthy number for us for food, which will include groceries for the room and on the trip to and from Orlando. I also have a $50 Starbucks gift card for snacks and drinks at least once or twice.

Gas- $300- We know just from having gone so much that this is about what we will need, unless gas prices go completely insane by then.

Souvenirs $150- We NEVER spend this kind of money on souvenirs, but I'm thinking of giving the kids each a $100 Disney GC on Christmas morning along with their Magic Bands (I will purchase special ones with Christmas budget money.) This number may change if I need some wiggle room.

Total Trip Cost Left to Pay- $3679.95

This seems like a do-able number in the time I have left to pay for everything. I'm giving myself 8 months to get as much of this for free as possible or at a deep discount. I'm really into Swagbucks and all the receipt apps, so I want to work those systems as much as possible. I don't really do credit cards much anymore, but we do still have some points from a card that we haven't cashed in, so that's where my two food GC's will come from.

Here's what I have so far, as meager as it may be:

Gift Cards-

  • $100 Visa pre-paid card
  • $50 Walmart
  • $100 Rainforest Cafe
  • $50 Starbucks
*I currently have about $120 pending in Swagbucks to cash out at some point, probably for Walmart or Sam's Club cards, as I like to get Disney GCs at Sam's for their discount. I hope to earn lots more. I also have almost enough points in MyPoints for a $50 payout right now, with a goal to increase it as much as possible. I hope to earn at least a $25 Disney GC through Shopkick, but that app is slow-going for me for some reason.

Cash Savings-

  • $120 in extra cash I get for babysitting. I expect to earn about $200 more before we leave. This is a very sporadic babysitting gig, so that is why it is so low
  • $100 in our vacation budget (we just used most of it for another trip-this is what is left)

That's it! I've got a lot of work to do! But I think it will be fine. I plan to put away a minimum of $1,000 of my income plus another $1,000 out of DH's income for the trip. I am also planning to save back any cash I have left over from my grocery budget each month. We're also going to do a better job at sticking to our budget instead of being so loose with it so that we can fund our vacation budget more quickly.

Thanks for letting me play along! I hope to return with news of more savings.
 
Newest update:


June New York trip:
Needed : $2,700
Saved/paid: $2100(OOP and fundraising)
Still need: $600

August Disney Trip:
Needed: $3084.59 after adding 2 days to our park hoppers
Saved/paid: $1,348.63 (No OOP- all swagbucks, Ibotta, and other savings apps)
Still need: $1,735.96

Added 2 days at Art of Animation little mermaid rooms, paid deposit of
$174.38 (no OOP here either- trying to pay for this trip with Swagbucks, shopkick, etc, entirely) still need $174.38. I may upgrade this to a ticketless package with the quick service dining plan.

Newest updates:

June New York trip:
Needed : $2,700
Saved/paid: $2100(OOP and fundraising)
Still need: $600/ I will send $300 of this when I get paid Friday.
I’m fundraising for spending money, but may need to take at least $200 cash

August Disney Trip:
Needed: $3084.59 after adding 2 days to our park hoppers
Saved/paid: $1,411.48(No OOP- all swagbucks, Ibotta, and other savings apps)
Still need: $1,673.11

Added 2 days at Art of Animation little mermaid rooms, paid deposit of
$174.38 (no OOP here either- trying to pay for this trip with Swagbucks, shopkick, etc, entirely) still need $174.38. I may upgrade this to a ticketless package with the quick service dining plan.
Update:
I did upgrade to a ticketless package with quick service dining. The total came to $561.53. I have completely paid this part of our trip off.

Magical Extras that I want to earn/ pay for with swagbucks:

Fireworks Dessert party at MK $60/adult(*4)=$240 needed
In room celebration surprise for my niece-the one I want is $79
Memory Maker=$169 in advance
Starbucks spending money=$100 (at least)
Celebration cake for my niece at Chef Mickey’s=$35
(Maybe, if I get everything else paid for) In room surprise for hubby- romance pkg $120, add on 2 bathrobes @$60 each=$240 total


 
Some updating on this, updates in blue
Going Nov 26-Dec 2 on a split stay (two DVC rentals)

4 nights at Bay Lake Tower Standard Studio: $1020 (paid)
2 nights at Copper Creek Villas (Studio): $608 (paid)
Tickets: 2 5 day park hoppers $865.90 (purchased prior to price increase on Undercover Tourist via Mousesavers, put on credit card, will be paying off, first payment of $100 last month)
Regular Dining Plan: For the 4 night stay: $603.92 (paid*)
Deluxe Dining Plan: $488.25 We were going to oop but we're also celebrating husband's birthday and decided to splurge for Deluxe for the last bit $224.19 to go
Memory Maker: $169 ($138.80 to go)
MVMCP: Purchased for $210.88
Decided to drop dessert party from plans

Additional Costs: ? (Don't really have a goal on this as of yet)
Haven't started looking yet for airfare

*Paid for with discounted gift cards bought from Target and BJ's so out of pocket $573ish

Total not counting airfare and additional funds: $3965.95, $1128.89 of that to go (which includes the tickets which I hope to pay off by November but may not necessarily do so)

ETA: Money sources: Ibotta, Swagbucks, Bing, various gift card deals (such as Grow Up Young), free lance work, budgeting and random sources of income such as selling unwanted dvds and video games on decluttr. We're moving at the beginning of the month to an apartment with lower rent which opens up funds as well to pay off the credit card.
 
Budget Estimate
Airfare (for 3): $558 (paid)
Airport Parking: $119
Disney package: 6 nights at pop century, 6 day tickets, DDP $2600-2900 depending on discounts/parkhopper ($200 paid)
OOP Tips/food: $125
Other: memory maker, souvenirs $200
Total: $3600-3900

Total Paid: $758
Remaining to pay: ~$3150
Vacation Account Balance: $3291

Just slowly grinding away. I've added about $130 in the last month. I finally got my check from the PA Treasury for unclaimed funds that I submitted a claim for 2 months ago. It was some overpayment of fees from college days. A whopping $6. Woohoo!
 

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