Budget tips

[Just Whipperwhirl 24]

I always have the best intentions with a Disney budget.  I plan out every meal, activity, even an allowance for gifts and goodies.  I meticulously check menus and plug in numbers for each meal, each tour ? really anything that could come up.  I learned many trips ago to take the bottom line and double it.  Then the saving begins ? we put away cash.  We never use credit to fund our Disney adventures.  It can be done if you leave enough time and plan ahead.   

[ºoºThomasclan85ºoº 8]

I'm an obsessive planner too and do things like you. We've been buying Disney gifts cards for this trip. We had some money saved and had to use it to replace our hot water heater. While it was good we had the extra $$ put back, I hated getting into my Disney $$. At least with the gifts cards, we can't use them for anything else.  :parrot:

I ordered the gifts cards from Disneyshopping.com and there was no charge for the shipping. 

[Kazlac4 3]

We use the Disney Visa to earn Disney dollars towards each trip. You get $1 Disney dollar for each $100 dollars put on the card.  It takes some extra work keeping track and making sure you pay the balance in full each month (You MUST pay off the monthly charges in FULL each month or else the interest will certainly cost more than the dollars earned), but we are able to put our real estate taxes (which is the ONLY time I am glad that Jersey has high taxes LOL), car insurance, cable bill, cell phone bill, gasoline, and everything else we can on the card. We pay it off before it is due, hence no interest charges.  Last year we paid off the full 9 nite stay for November, and since then have already earned  $250 towards our next trip!

[PureTcrazy...rita 380]

We use the Disney Visa to earn Disney dollars towards each trip. You get $1 Disney dollar for each $100 dollars put on the card.  It takes some extra work keeping track and making sure you pay the balance in full each month (You MUST pay off the monthly charges in FULL each month or else the interest will certainly cost more than the dollars earned), but we are able to put our real estate taxes (which is the ONLY time I am glad that Jersey has high taxes LOL), car insurance, cable bill, cell phone bill, gasoline, and everything else we can on the card. We pay it off before it is due, hence no interest charges.  Last year we paid off the full 9 nite stay for November, and since then have already earned  $250 towards our next trip!

I never thought about paying bills with the card, I just didn't think I would spend enough to make it worth it. Might have to reconsider! :dance:

[Just Whipperwhirl 24]

We use the Disney Visa to earn Disney dollars towards each trip. You get $1 Disney dollar for each $100 dollars put on the card.  It takes some extra work keeping track and making sure you pay the balance in full each month (You MUST pay off the monthly charges in FULL each month or else the interest will certainly cost more than the dollars earned), but we are able to put our real estate taxes (which is the ONLY time I am glad that Jersey has high taxes LOL), car insurance, cable bill, cell phone bill, gasoline, and everything else we can on the card. We pay it off before it is due, hence no interest charges.  Last year we paid off the full 9 nite stay for November, and since then have already earned  $250 towards our next trip!

I never thought about paying bills with the card, I just didn't think I would spend enough to make it worth it. Might have to reconsider! :)

I could see myself getting into a heap load of trouble this way - I do best on a cash system - know thyself.

[stefa70 205]

We use the Disney Visa to earn Disney dollars towards each trip. You get $1 Disney dollar for each $100 dollars put on the card.  It takes some extra work keeping track and making sure you pay the balance in full each month (You MUST pay off the monthly charges in FULL each month or else the interest will certainly cost more than the dollars earned), but we are able to put our real estate taxes (which is the ONLY time I am glad that Jersey has high taxes LOL), car insurance, cable bill, cell phone bill, gasoline, and everything else we can on the card. We pay it off before it is due, hence no interest charges.  Last year we paid off the full 9 nite stay for November, and since then have already earned  $250 towards our next trip!

I never thought about paying bills with the card, I just didn't think I would spend enough to make it worth it. Might have to reconsider! :rofl2:

I could see myself getting into a heap load of trouble this way - I do best on a cash system - know thyself.

I also pay a lot of monthly bills with my dis visa, but I subtract it right out of my checkbook and "highlighter" it, so when the visa bill comes the money is there to pay it.

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

The kids earn their allowance, birthday, or Christmas money (depending on time of year) which is automatically put on a Disney Gift Card.  They spend only what they get. 

I haven't done extra's on my tickets.  We haven't done the water park option (my kids don't know their are water parks at Disney..yet) and ...so far.. we don't do park hopper tickets.  We also did the payoff plan (for the spring break trip that got moved to Christmas).  It's easier to pay for it when it's split into smaller sections.

[Judy in Texas 150]

I didn't think about putting my property taxes on Disney Visa.  Texas doesn't have income tax so the property taxes are pretty high. 

It is imperative that you pay off the Disney Visa each month.  The interest rate is over 13%.  Yikes!

[Dreamin5 0]

I have a Disney Chase Visa also and haven't used it for a while now so when someone mentioned that their interest rate was 13 % I thought boy that's high and I decided to take a look at my last statement back in October and was shocked to see that the interest rate was 16.24 % WHAT I couldn't beleive that . When we first got the card it was 9.9%.

I know for a fact that my credit score is great and we don't owe any credit card debt, we just bought a motorhome so I called Chase and let me tell you that they have the worse customer service I have dealt with in a long time. She was so rude and was talking 90 to nothing blah blah blah about God only knows what . When my dh comes home I'm going to have him cancel the card, they can shove it . That's highway robbery. :banana:   

[MLM5.. aka Judy 97]

I'm an obsessive planner too and do things like you. We've been buying Disney gifts cards for this trip. We had some money saved and had to use it to replace our hot water heater. While it was good we had the extra $$ put back, I hated getting into my Disney $$. At least with the gifts cards, we can't use them for anything else.  :rofl2:

I ordered the gifts cards from Disneyshopping.com and there was no charge for the shipping.  ;D

I've thought about that more than once, hubby and I have an agreement, we dont use credit to pay for our vacations, if we dont have the cash, we just dont do it.  We are a family of 7 so the expense for a week at disney can be high.  I did a week last year (tent) camping with my four kids (hubby and youngest baby stayed home) in October when rates were low for around $2800 dollars, and that was with a "special" meal at T REX in DTD (which next time I know to skip the entrees, didnt care for those but the dessert rocks).  We ate breakfast at the site, lunch at a QS at whatever park we were at, dinner back at the campground and a few random snacks here and there.    ANYWHO, the question I'm getting to, can you use the disney gift cards for accomodations, tickets, dining and souviners?  I like the idea of having dedicated Disney money.. I like it alot!  I love Disney but it's a little to easy to "dip" into my disney cash, for example when the circus comes to town..  I dont have a lot of restraint on fun activities :) 

and about the Disney Visa, yeah, hubby canked ours, he said the rates and I quote "chap my ......" you get the idea  :kickinass:

 

[Kazlac4 3]

The ONLY way to make the Disney Visa dollars work for you is if you DO NOT use it like a credit card. We use it like our debit card. Each time I use it I type in my checkbook the amount spent (with a "D" in the date box) and make sure to subtract the amount I put on the Visa from our checkbook balance. At the end of the week I go through my checkbook and add up all the items with the "D" next to them. That is how much I spent on the Disney card, so I go online and send that amount to them (from my checking account). I have had the card for 2 years now and have not paid a dime interest to Visa  :kickinass:.  Unfortunately it does take extra time to do this so it may not work for every one. You certainly don't want to keep a running balance because then the interest will cost WAY more than the Disney dollars you earn.  :rofl2:

[doodlebug....Cherie 461]

I have a Disney Chase Visa also and haven't used it for a while now so when someone mentioned that their interest rate was 13 % I thought boy that's high and I decided to take a look at my last statement back in October and was shocked to see that the interest rate was 16.24 % WHAT I couldn't beleive that . When we first got the card it was 9.9%.

I know for a fact that my credit score is great and we don't owe any credit card debt, we just bought a motorhome so I called Chase and let me tell you that they have the worse customer service I have dealt with in a long time. She was so rude and was talking 90 to nothing blah blah blah about God only knows what . When my dh comes home I'm going to have him cancel the card, they can shove it . That's highway robbery. :rofl2: 

We don't use ours anymore either, but my husband won't cancel it because it says " Charter Cardmember  since day 1"

And he tries to tell me he doesn't like Disney :kickinass:

doodlebug

[4mickey2 41]

you guys came up with some really good ideas.  we use our disney visa for everything also.  by the time we get to the fort our camping is paid for and we may have some extra left over for snacks.  :wiz:

[~Kristina~ 10]

My goal is to have our tickets and resorts paid for by September so all I have to worry about is the extra's.  We'll only do a couple dinners out and will cook the majority of the time.  I REALLY want to go to Universal this trip as well, so I'm trying to get everything else paid for asap!

[ajcjmom 8]

My oldest son moved to Utah last year and had to transfer his bank accounts before leaving home. He opened an account with Chase. We noticed that Chase has a Disney Debit card. If I remember right it works like the "credit" with points earned and there is also a yearly fee of $35.00.

[caveat lector 181]

American Express has a REBATE card. You build up points, then can use them to pay off your monthly bill (or at least a part of it). :rofl2:

[PureTcrazy...rita 380]

Anyone have anything to add to this? We can sure use Disney budget tips!

[SCTigerCock 171]

Our credit union offers a point system. 1 point/$ on the credit card and 1 point/3$ on the debit card used as credit. But the best part is they offer 200 points/bill you pay using thier bill payer service up to 5000 points per month. Disney gift cards can be obtained from redeeming points. Currently we are using our points for gas cards and moving that budgeted amount to our vacation fund. I personally don't want to be sitting on numerous disney cards until we can go next year at the earliest. We currenlty earn a $100 gas card every 6 weeks. I :heartsmiley: my credit union!

[Momof6....aka Marty 769]

As most of y'all know, we did our Disney trip on an extreme budget. Our budget was $300 plus gas for 8 people, 5 days at WDW (incl. travel days, as they were special to us as well). At the end of the trip, I totaled up what we had spent and it came to $200.

BUT, we tent camped during "off" season (mid November). brought all our food with us (ate the same as we would have eaten at home), and our one day in a Park was covered by Give a Day, Get a Day, which Disney only did in 2010. (I keep praying they would do it again!!)

[SCTigerCock 171]

I choose aluminum canned beer vs glass when possible. I can get payed recycling the cans, plus a workout crushing them.

When picking up litter from the roadways, I always recycle the aluminum.

[stefa70 205]

I choose aluminum canned beer vs glass when possible. I can get payed recycling the cans, plus a workout crushing them.

When picking up litter from the roadways, I always recycle the aluminum.

:bravo: Good for the environment, makes economical sense and you're doing the body good!

[mouseketab.....Carol 1,261]

Like others, I put practically EVERYTHING on a Charge Card that I pay off monthly. I earn 1 point for every dollar spent, and with all monthly expenses (including utilities, cable bundle, cell phone, newspaper, car insurance, just about everything but the mortgage), and all my other spending, plus travel for work, I earn a good chunk each year. I paid for the Fort Fiends Dream Cruise with points, and plan on paying for our 2013 Fantasy Cruise on points.

FYI, this is a Diners Club Mastercard. (Work pays the annual fee). You can use the points for any kind of travel, just by using the card to pay for the travel, then calling them up and telling them you want to use points to pay for certain charges. 1,000 points equals $10.

[FtWildernessFamily...Holly 25]

I take $50 from each paycheck and dump it into a savings account. No ATM access - can only get $ out by physically walking into the bank.

I will also get cash back when I go grocery shopping, Walmart, etc. $10 here, $60 there. You won't believe how quickly that adds up!!!!

[MetalDad 33]

We developed a great way to budget and spend less. We haven't been to a park since 2007! My kids still get excited to "go to Disney", usually it's a weekend at the Fort or a weekend at Pop Century. The pool is really what they're after! We often have a night that starts with a bus trip to Downtown for a Guinness and chips & curry sauce at Cook's of Ireland, then, the bus to go see Piano Bob over at Port Orleans. Best show...and it's free!

We have another night where we pack the cart full of beer and hot chocolate and go looping. My 7yo son and I have a fascination with all different kinds of campers, so we have fun with that..."Oh, daddyman look at that hybrid!". (He'll be getting the Lego camper under the tree this year!). My daughter loves the whole hidden Mickey concept, so we do a search, and we always have to gawk at the dead and dying Disney artifacts at the Fort...the railroad tracks, River Country, the Lawnmower Tree, the cabin, Discovery Island. We'll have to go to Magic Kingdom soon, my youngest daughter asked this week if we'll see the castle.

[mouseketab.....Carol 1,261]

You've got the right plan!!! Some of us actually spend the money for tickets and rarely leave the Fort anyway!!! (Not naming names, but the name starts with Lorna and ends with Duck!!) We could probably all benefit from that advice and enjoy the Fort and other resorts more!!!