We are currently saving for our next trip to the Walt Disney World Resort. My wife and I took our boys last summer and it has been our goal to go again as soon as possible. Because of the size of our family (two adults and five children), we have to do Disney a little bit different. This means driving from West Virginia to Florida and staying off-property. Doing these things (among others...I'll share sometime) help us keep the costs way down.
Because a trip of this nature can be so expensive, it is important to plan ahead make sure that you have enough money saved up. There is nothing worse than going into debt for a vacation. Dave Ramsey would fly in on his giant black helicopter if he knew you were doing something like that.
Unfortunately, from my research, I have found very few articles or ideas on how to save for a Disney vacation. There are a lot of articles and blogs that will tell you how to save money at, but not many that help you save for a trip. The exception is Couponing to Disney. That site has some really great ideas.
Here are the things that I am personally doing to help save for our Disney trip. This list is by no means exhaustive and I am sure that there are a lot of ideas that I am missing or not doing. These are just the things that I am doing.
- Set up a savings account and do direct debit to that account. My wife and I have the privilege of banking at Navy Federal Credit Union. Through NFCU, we have an account called an Easy Start Certificate, which earns us 2.96% on the amount we put into the account. It's not much, but every little bit helps, right? In addition to this account, I set up our checking account to automatically transfer $53 to the savings account every two weeks. Why $53? I found this chart on Pinterest and modified it a little. By having the money automatically put into our savings account every two weeks, we are guaranteed to be saving that money. And, by using the certificate account, it makes it a bit more difficult to withdraw the funds. I can get the money if I need to, but I have to call Navy Federal and talk to an agent (who are wonderful, by the way), so that makes me less likely to take the money out.
- Put all your loose change in a jug or jar. I love to go to the movies, especially during the summer. We don't have a movie theater in our town, but we do have a nice theater in the next town over. It costs me $12.50 (as of this post) to get a ticket, a medium popcorn, and a bottle of Vanilla Coke each time I go to the theater. I always go to the ATM and take out $20 before going to the theater. When I get home, my change goes into our "Disney Jug." When our boys (mostly the little ones) get birthday money, we make a big deal about having them put their money into the Disney Jug. Any coins we find or get from spending cash goes into the Disney Jug. I realize that this isn't a new idea, but this is what we are doing. My older boys and I recently counted the money in our Disney Jug and discovered that it is slightly over $100. We aren't going to pay for our entire trip, but it is certainly going to help.
- Save your "found" money for the trip. I call any unexpected money "found money." This is money that you receive or earn that isn't a part of your regular paycheck. For me, a lot of my "found money" comes from my Teachers Pay Teachers store. I make products and activities to use in my classroom and I post them online for other teachers to purchase if they can use them in their classrooms. In addition to saving for Disney World, my wife and I are also trying to pay off a credit card. Each month that I have my TpT store open, I set an earnings goal for myself. All of the money that I earn up to a certain amount goes to my credit. Anything above that amount goes into our Disney fund. I have been blessed to be able to put a little bit into the Disney fund each month for several months now.
Other places we receive "found money" from include my after-school activity and from Amazon.com. Three times a year, I have a program called Running Club that I host at my school. I typically have about 20 or so students who stay after once a week to run laps and receive incentives based on the number of laps they run. A simple concept, but it helps me to earn money to put toward the credit card and the Disney trip. From Amazon.com, my wife (who blogs at Mamas Like Me and I will share items and books we find beneficial. For example, I wrote about how I use dice in my classroom and I posted a link to the dice I purchased. When someone follows the link and purchases the dice, we receive a small percentage. This money goes into the Disney fund.
I know other folks sell items online or at yard sales to raise money. Others tutor or write blogs to earn extra money. This "found money" is a great way to help save your way to a great trip.
By the way, my favorite Disney movie is Mary Poppins. In fact, Mary Poppins is probably my most favorite movie of all time. It never gets old.
What ideas/suggestions do you have to save money for a vacation? Please share below.
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