Start Saving for Disney

Part of planning a Disney trip (or any vacation for that matter) is saving up for it. Vacations are one of the things that keep me going and an important time for us to reconnect as a family. We save all year long whether we are going on a Disney vacation or some place else. I thought I would share some tips to help you save up for whatever trip you are planning.

Save on your groceries and other shopping expenses - I am an avid coupon shopper. I save 30%-40% every week on my grocery bill, sometimes more. This can add up to a lot of money to put away in your vacation fund. I can recommend two website to help you get started or to increase your coupon savings. The first is a local website. It is called MomsNeedToKnow. Even if you are not local to the Pennsylvania area you should check it out. She gives lots of great info that anyone can use. She also follows the sales at a bunch of local grocery stores and matches them with the coupons in the newspaper. This site is awesome. The second one is TheCouponBinder.com. This is how I keep my coupons organized. She also has great materials on how to get the most out of your coupons and budget. I use both the coupon binder from this site as well as her budgeting spreadsheet. I find them both very helpful. Try to put some of the money you save into a vacation fund.

Start a vacation fund. - We have one and that determines our vacation budgets year to year. Some years we go lean and leave the extra money in there for a more elaborate trip another year. The best way we found was to open an account at ING Direct. I like it because once you open an account you can open multiple accounts under the main one. We have one for family savings, vacations, my husbands mustang, and emergencies. They are all on the same screen. You just go online and add another account and give it a nickname. We have money that goes into this account every month from our family savings (that gets money every week). It is forced savings and if I need the money back I can just transfer it back to my checking account (it does take a few days for the transactions to be available). If you are not comfortable with online banking then you can always ask at your regular bank what your options are.

Collect loose change -  This may sound silly but if you use cash alot then you should save your change in a jar. You wouldn't believe how fast it adds up.

Disney Gift Cards or Disney Dollars -  If you have your heart set on a trip to Disney then you should let your family know. They can get you Disney gift cards as gifts for Christmas, Birthdays, Etc. This can help you pay for your trip.

Disney Visa Card - This can add to your savings too. Check out my post here

Bring down the cost of your trip -  Check out some ideas at The Most Affordable Way to Visit Disney

I hope you find this helpful. Please leave comments with other ideas you have.