What do you "sacrifice" for Disney vacations? - Page 6 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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We can budget money... its the only way that a family of four with a daddy whos hours are a inconsistant as the weather in florida, can go to disney world every other yeat, obviously our tax refunds fund a majority of the trip... But some of the sacrifices I make are:
* eating out is out... a home cooked meal keeps my kids happy, DW is an amaing cook, and I was a chef
*Dollar store. yea I know, but toilet paper, diapers, shampoo. soap, dishsoap, and laundry soap... yep, dollar store
*"tip jar" for the kids.... do something good, get a tip, keep the tip. last time I saved about 150 bucks
*DW is a waitress, her tips cover the day to day expenses, my paycheck pays the bills, her paycheck is saved... 120 bucks every 2 weeks it adds up
* if you don't need it, don't buy it.... shoe goo (gorilla goo from AAP) fixes separated seams in shoes like noones business, sewing, mending, goes a long way to saving a lot of cash.
i take my lunch to work or buy 1 dollar lean cusines. i work at a hospital so the food is bad so its not that big of sacrifice. LOL!!! and i have the amount taken out of my check and put in a disney account.
I usually depend on my tax refund for our Disney vacations. Starting this year however the refund is going to summer camp so I don't see any Disney trips in the near future.
WOW, I thought I was going to get a refund this year but the Gov took us to the cleaners! So much for taxes not going up.
The lack of a substantial tax refund (fed) this year and OWING to our state-- was the "shock" that prompted this thread!
I would move. I can't live in a state that has state income tax.
Don't move to Washington state though. We don't have a state tax, however we have a Gov. who decided to overturn our referendum requiring 3/4 of the vote to raise taxes (Sales, Property...) so she could raise taxes. Oh yes dead people voted her in the first term, and the people voted her in again so who ever lives in Washington deserves everything we get.
We will be moving to a state as soon as our son graduates next year.
I joked with DH that I read this thread and was going to post that we sacrifice having kids to go to Disney Which is partially true. We don't want kids (elementary librarian, former first grade teacher... I have 560something children, I'm good). He laughed and agreed that a child would definitely infringe on our Disney obsession.
But in all truthfulness, I guess I sacrifice little things, like clothes shopping, I don't go buy a lot of new clothes unless I need them for work, or an event, or something just wears out. I don't spend a lot on girly things like make up... I buy regular ole make up at Target like Cover Girl and I make it last And I swear, last school year, I got my hair cut on the first day of school, and didn't do it again until the last day...
I joked with DH that I read this thread and was going to post that we sacrifice having kids to go to Disney Which is partially true. We don't want kids (elementary librarian, former first grade teacher... I have 560something children, I'm good). He laughed and agreed that a child would definitely infringe on our Disney obsession.
HeeHee! I am a middle school guidance counselor so I understand!
If we did not have kids, we would definitely be able to vacation more--But DH and I had never been to WDW before kids and I do not know how we would have ever chosen WDW if it were not for wanting the kids to see it...
What a great topic with great suggestions. Like many others, eating out has been too big an expense for too long. Eating out 2-3 times a week literally eats away at savings. Even the local diner winds up being a $40-$50 (or more) meal for a family of four. Doing the math is eye-opening. We will probably skip WDW this year due, but might have an opportunity to go to DL after a family wedding.
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Hudson River view from promenade at Liberty State Park in NJ - Disney Magic in Hudson River, passing the new One World Trade Center
Contemporary/Red Boat 1993; Dixie Landings 1994, POR 6/2007; CSR 8/1998, 6/2005, 2/2011; 8/2012; DCL (Wonder)/Boardwalk 2000; AKL 1/2003, 6/2003, 6/2004, 4/2006, 6/2009; DL 7/2007, 7/2010; 8/2011; CBR 4/2008; Polynesian 12/11; Hollywood Hotel (Hong Kong Disneyland) 8/2008
[QUOTE=Nick and Ryans Mom;3162503]I signed up as a substitute in our school district this year to help with my Disney-addiction. I am surprised by how much I am enjoying working after 13+ years as a SAHM.QUOTE]
I'm a substitute teacher and I save all my earnings for Disney trips. I don't use my earnings to buy clothes or jewelry, because I'd much rather have a week at Disney that a lot of stuff in my closet.
We also have a change jar and I've got about $70 saved. We'll use some of this for tips for mousekeeping, toll roads, and gasoline.
For Valentine's Day, I gave all the girls got a $25 Disney gift card. Their dad gave them $50 cards at Christmas, too. It's great knowing that the spending money is set aside before we leave.
There are a lot of great ideas here that could be used to pay other bills and expenses!
Well, I don't know that there are specific things that we "give up" for WDW but there are definately things we do financially that help us so that we are able to go. We always bring our lunch to work, I never stop for coffee, etc. We seldom go out to eat or to the movies. DH and I drive older cars that are paid for (and we save a bunch on car insurance as we don't require collision coverage), our work schedules are such that I can get DS on the bus in the morning and DH can get him off in the afternoon (no before/after school program expenses).
Hmmm....now that I think about it, the lack of car payments alone probably frees up enough cash to fund our vacations. Maybe I need to think about upgrading my next trip........
Hmmm....now that I think about it, the lack of a car payments alone probably frees up enough cash to fund our vacations. Maybe I need to think about upgrading my next trip........
You should be able to go to WDW for 21+ days and take a 7 night cruise on DCL for one years worth of car payments
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Which is partially true. We don't want kids (elementary librarian, former first grade teacher... I have 560something children, I'm good). He laughed and agreed that a child would definitely infringe on our Disney obsession.
And I swear, last school year, I got my hair cut on the first day of school, and didn't do it again until the last day... 
Hudson River view from promenade at Liberty State Park in NJ - Disney Magic in Hudson River, passing the new One World Trade Center
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