We are in the process of saving for my 5th trip, my daughters 3rd trip, and my husbands 2nd trip to Disney World hopefully in January 2020. We know how expensive it can be! Our last trip as a family of 3 plus my mother-in-law (who payed for her own ticket, but we paid for the room) was a little over $3000. I mean, who just has that kind of money laying around? Definitely not us. As you have probably read in my previous post, Thomas is in the US Army (Reserves), and he also works for a seperate company doing factory work locally. As you probably also either know or figured out, those 2 jobs don't make enough to be going to Disney a bunch.
SO!
I have compiled a list of tips and tricks that I personally use for saving for future Disney Vacations.
Disclaimer: This will not be your typical list, and believe me I've read close to them all. This will also be a seperate post than the "How to Save While Your There" post. I will post that in a couple of days or so.
So without further ado, let's begin!
1. The typical "Take Surveys"
While there are many...MANY different survey sites these days, I have only found a couple that actual work for me.
- Instagc.com
I have been using this site for a few years now, and I absolutely love it. It's pretty much your standard survey/watch video kind of website EXCEPT there is no minimum to how little you can take out once you've made it.
Here's an example of what I've made over the few years. (There's a lot more than this, it's just what would fit inside of a screenshot).
As long as you put the time into it, there is no stop to the money you could make off of Instagc.com. Another amazing thing about this website is, there is many different ways you can "Cash Out". I prefer my money these days going straight to paypal, BUT you can also choose for MANY different types of gift cards, check or direct deposit. So it's great for a small bonus to you Disney savings.
So Mturk is run by Amazon.com, which many of you know well. Kind of like Instagc, there are MANY tasks you can do of all different kinds! Some are surveys, some are finding things in pictures, and some are just as simple as looking up a username to someone on twitter! It doesn't pay as well as Instagc, but it adds up just as quickly with the quicker tasks they give you.
Personally, I choose to have my mturk money go to Amazon money, but you can also choose to make it go straight to your bank account.
2. Taking Money Out a Little Bit At a Time
Something new that my husband and I just started doing is taking a little bit of money out of each paycheck, and by little I mean $5-$20 weekly. Like Instagc and Mturk it doesn't seem like much money but it will add up quickly!
3. Book Your Disney Vacation Early
For our trip to Disney Jan of 2020, we will book our trip in Jan of 2019. Why? Just for the fact of after you pay the initial deposit (usually for a week it's $200), you can constantly add you extra money towards your Disney Vacation by just calling Disney! That way when you finally get to your Disney Vacation, there's not as much money that you have to spend! Takes a huge weight off!
Bonus Tip: Booking early at a Disney Resort gets you Early Access to Disney Fast Passes!
4. Buying Disney Gift Cards
One of the best tips we found on our last trip to Disney was buy your Disney Gift Cards at Kroger during their 4x the fuel points on gift card events that they have at least every few weeks. If you are driving to Disney, it's an amazing way to save money on gas for your car (We saved over $1 off a gallon!).
5. Stop Eating Out (or atleast so often)
This is one of the harder tips for my family and I to accomplish because I usually HATE cooking, but the truth is, it's most likely cheaper to eat at home then it is to eat out.
6. Sell your things!
Having a yard sale or selling things on facebook can be a great way to make some extra cash for your next Disney trip. Before we left for our last trip, I sold many of my clothes that had either gotten to big or too small. Facebook Marketplace can be a great tool!
7. Start a Disney Change Jar!
Before our last vacation, I found a jar at a local flea market that was identical to the one on the movie UP, and in that jar I saved over $100 worth of change before our last trip. Can't ever save too much spending money, right?
8. Get Rid of the Monthly "Extras"
So if many of you know me, I used to have an obsession with makeup. Not just your normal "Oh I love to wear makeup everyday". It got to the point I no longer had drawers in my house before of it. I had an Ipsy subscription, a Birchbox Subscription, a $10 Razor Subscription, and a Boxycharm Subscription along with various games I play on my phone that had a $2 or $3 charge a week. But, if you want Disney bad enough, your going to do anything to get there...right? I got rid of ALL of it, and put the extra money into my "disney account".
What other tips and suggestions do you have to save money for your trip? I'd love to hear them, and possibly use them in a later post!
Hope everyone is having a fantastic Labor Day!
XO
CarlaTheDisneyNerd
