What are some neat/unusual ways you save for your trip?

[catiebug]

Hi! I'm in process of planning my trip for next year (Sept '08 to be exact) and I have the price per the disney site for my package choice which I'm using as an estimate until I see what codes and promos are run next year. So is there anything neat you do to help save up for your trips?

[Lulu]

Hi Catie-
Great question!! I know it's kinda silly, but I save all my loose change for the year & use that for some spending money at Disney! You'd be surprised at how much you can accumulate if you have time! I also have a Disney Visa & earn reward dollars that way.

[disneydame2004]

Not silly at all, Lulu - that change really does add up (I do the same thing!). I know some people never use change - if they break a dollar, the rest of the money goes in the jar, and that adds up pretty quick. We also throw in the bottle deposit refunds, since we get a nickel back for each can or bottle.

Our credit union lets us set up a "Special Purpose" account, which is basically a second savings account, and we have money from each paycheck deposited there. Since we never actually see the money - it is direct deposited - we don't miss the small amount of money each week.

MouseSavers.com - Disney Discount Source - Disney World Discounts, Disneyland Discounts, Disney Cruise Discounts is a great site with lots of information on deals. And Chris & Kristal Carson's book Disney on a Dime has lots of tips on getting the most for your dollars. Their site is Disney Discounts, Tips, Secrets, Savings and More- Save Money on Disney Vacations

[Shere_Khan]

I also do the change thing. I set up a special savings account for my vacation funds. I never use change and always break my dollar and put the rest in the jar. After a few weeks I roll up all that I have and put it in the savings account. The interest is not much but it's better then it sitting in the jar for the entire year (and it keeps my jar from getting full!).
I also use bottle deposit money since I live in MI. I know not every state has that. It is tempting however when you take back the bottles to use the money on something in the store, but I try to take bottles back when I don't have other shopping to do.
I also use National City banking online. I don't have part of my check direct deposited into my vacation fund (although that is a good idea). But once I deposit my check into my checking acct, it is really easy to transfer funds online. I try to transfer 10-30 dollars into my vacation acct every payday.

I also have a Disney Visa and try to let the reward points add up. I am not going to use them until we go to WDW. I am going to put the entire trip on the card as well and then just pay it off with the cash I have. That way I can get more reward dollars. Right before we go I will transfer them onto the Disney Reward Card and then there will be some spending money or money for meals.

I have been saving since March and we are not going to WDW until Oct of 2008, and I plan to have my entire vacation and maybe extra for my mom's vacation all paid for and in the vacation savings account.
So far so good!

[Kheprismom]

I do the bottle deposit money and loose change as well.
I'm thinking about starting a special vacation savings account. I'm afraid I would raid it for other things though.

[Weebo]

I do the change thing as well. That money mostly comes from my car. In the house, I have a jar where anything (minus the frogs and tissues) that's in my pockets go. It's good for me, because I have a habit of putting small change and bills in my jeans pocket...so that jar get big fast. Every three months or so, I will clean the jar out of all the silver and bills and deposit them into savings.

Another method I heard somewhere is to put back every five dollar bill you get. That's hard for me...I need those to take my dog to the dog wash.

Since I go in Nov. and Dec...I have a Christmas Club and Vacation Club account. I use the Christmas Club account for my WDW trip and my vacation club account to buy christmas presents. I know... I'm crazy.

[Veritas]

Like all those above we do the change thing. We also opened a special savings account and any "found money" (from the b-days etc.) goes into the Disney fund.

[disneyfanatic101]

I thought I was the only one who doesn't use change after they break a dollar! My brother brought me a coin separator I put each coin in their slot and it tells me how much $$$ I have.

I saved $9.25 in quarters for the games at Indiana Beach, now I have to start saving again!

[DisneyDreamer13]

I'm in the UK & my kids are getting money each week in dollars. I buy a $60 every month, the forigen exchange in town order one dollar bills in specially for me. The boys get $1 per day for good behaviour. So not only am i saving up so i dont need to give them a chunk of cash when we go, but i've had 2 very well behaved boys recently. I believe you could do the same think with Disney Dollars as you can get them from Disney Stores in the USA (cant get them in the UK or i'd be saving them instead, they look a lot more fun!).

[hgraber]

Not silly at all, Lulu - that change really does add up (I do the same thing!). I know some people never use change - if they break a dollar, the rest of the money goes in the jar, and that adds up pretty quick. We also throw in the bottle deposit refunds, since we get a nickel back for each can or bottle.

Hey, I do the same thing! I saved over $150 last year from bottle returns and spare change! I also threw in bills when I thought about it. Every paycheck, I'd just throw in an extra $10 or $20 bill. You don't really miss it and if it's in your wallet, you'll spend it on something frivilous like fast food or Starbucks. I made my husband promise not to take cash out of it unless it was an emergency.

[Pluto'sPal]

I also do the change thing and the disney visa reward dollars. Our change container has a picture of Mickey on it just to remind us what we are saving for. ISpare change does always seem to add up to be a lot of money.

[StarsNStripes]

I do the change thing also. I never use coins to pay so this works great. I also have a black travel folder that I got once from a travel agency. It's supposed to be used to hold plane tickets, etc, but I find that it makes a nice money holder. Whenever I buy something for someone that they're supposed to pay me back for, I take advantage of that folder. For example, when I run out to buy lunch for the office, I pay with my check card and then they pay me back in cash. Since I really don't use cash myself, I put that cash in my black folder. I find that once the money is out of my checking account, it's easier for me to think of it as "gone" when really...it's all going into my folder. Been doing this since I got back in March from my last trip and I already have $228 dollars saved up. Not bad. Might sound silly but this little trick works for me.

[firemedic]

We do the spare change in the jar thing too. My little girls can spot change on the ground anywhere. They're like a couple of vultures. It all goes to the "Princess Castle" fund as they call it.

[Dizisit]

About 2 of my quarterly bonuses usually cover a trip. I realize that not everyone gets them, ( we are very blessed ) but that way we just budget everyday expenses based on our regular pay & pretend like those 2 bonuses don't exist. The other thing our family does is tease each other if we are about to buy something that is really not needed - " Whats that sound ( put hand to ear ) I hear? ' WDW spending money ' being flushed away! " This seems to work pretty well MOST of the time!!!

[chipmunk12739]

We go to Disney every 3 years and begin saving all of our change as soon as we get home. It all goes in a huge 5 gallon water jug along with any money I find in the laundry, no matter how much (My son once lost $60 to the 'Disney fund.') For our last trip in 2005 we had saved over $1800. I'm now starting to plan our 2008 trip and trying to decide between October and December. By the way, the whole family sits together for 2-3 nights to roll all the change and talk about our trip.