As of January 1, 2019, we have closed our forums. This is a decision we did not come to lightly, but it is necessary. The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk. The server software itself must be updated, and it cannot be without removing the forums.
So it is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to our long-running forums. They came online in 2000 and brought together so many wonderful Disney fans. We had friendships form, careers launch, couples marry, children born ... all because of this amazing community.
Thank you to each of you who were a part of this community. You made it possible.
And a very special thank you to our Guides (moderators), past and present, who kept our forums a happy place to be. You are the glue that held everything together, and we are forever grateful to you. Thank you aliceinwdw, Caldercup, MrsM, WillCAD, Fortissimo, GingerJ, HiddenMickey, CRCrazy, Eeyoresmom, disneyknut, disneydani, Cam22, chezp, WDWfan, Luvsun, KMB733, rescuesk, OhToodles!, Colexis Mom, lfredsbo, HiddenMickey, DrDolphin, DopeyGirl, duck addict, Disneybine, PixieMichele, Sandra Bostwick, Eeyore Tattoo, DyanKJ130, Suzy Q'Disney, LilMarcieMouse, AllisonG, Belle*, Chrissi, Brant, DawnDenise, Crystalloubear, Disneymom9092, FanOfMickey, Goofy4Goofy, GoofyMom, Home4us123, iamgrumpy, ilovedisney247, Jennifer2003, Jenny Pooh, KrisLuvsDisney, Ladyt, Laughaholic88, LauraBelle Hime, Lilianna, LizardCop, Loobyoxlip, lukeandbrooksmom, marisag, michnash, MickeyMAC, OffKilter_Lynn, PamelaK, Poor_Eeyore, ripkensnana, RobDVC, SHEANA1226, Shell of the South, snoozin, Statelady01, Tara O'Hara, tigger22, Tink and Co., Tinkerbelz, WDWJAMBA, wdwlovers, Wendyismyname, whoSEZ, WildforWD, and WvuGrrrl. You made the magic.
We want to personally thank Sara Varney, who coordinated our community for many years (among so many other things she did for us), and Cheryl Pendry, our Message Board Manager who helped train our Guides, and Ginger Jabour, who helped us with the PassPorter-specific forums and Live! Guides. Thank you for your time, energy, and enthusiasm. You made it all happen.
There are other changes as well.
Why? Well, the world has changed. And change with it, we must. The lyrics to "We Go On" for IllumiNations say it best:
We go on to the joy and through the tears
We go on to discover new frontiers
Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
Moving forward now as one
Moving on with a spirit born to run
Ever on with each rising sun.
To a new day, we go on.
It's time to move on and move forward.
PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
But eventually, we must move on and move forward. It is the right thing to do.
So we are retiring this newsletter, as we simply cannot keep up with it. Many thanks to Mouse Fan Travel who supported it all these years, to All Ears and MousePlanet who helped us with news, to our many article contributors, and -- most importantly -- to Sara Varney who edited our newsletter so wonderfully for years and years.
And we are no longer charging for the Live Guides. If you have a subscription, it's yours to keep for the lifetime of the Live Guides at no additional cost. The Live Guides will stay online, barring server issues and technical problems, for all of 2019.
That said, PassPorter is not going away. Most of the resources will remain online for as long as we can support them, and after that we will find ways to make whatever we can available. PassPorter means a great deal to us, and to many of you, and we will do our best to keep it alive in whatever way we can. Our server costs are high, and they'll need to come out of our pockets, so in the future you can expect some changes so we can bring those costs down.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for your amazing support over the years. Without you, there's no way us little guys could have made something like this happen and given the "big guys" a run for their money. PassPorter was consistently the #3 guidebook after the Unofficial and Official guides, which was really unheard of for such a small company to do. We ROCKED it thanks to you and your support and love!
If you miss us, you can still find some of us online. Sara started a new blog at DisneyParkPrincess.com -- I strongly urge you to visit and get on her mailing list. She IS the Disney park princess and knows Disney backward and forward. And I am blogging as well at JenniferMaker.com, which is a little craft blog I started a couple of years ago to make ends meet. You can see and hear me in my craft show at https://www.youtube.com/c/jennifermaker . Many PassPorter readers and fans are on Facebook, in groups they formed like the PassPorter Trip Reports and PassPorter Crafting Challenge (if you join, just let them know you read about it in the newsletter). And some of our most devoted community members started a forum of their own at Pixie Dust Lane and all are invited over.
So we encourage you to stay in touch with us and your fellow community members wherever works best for you!
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I save all my change. I mean ALL MY CHANGE. I never use it to pay anything and insist the cashiers give me change back instead of using pennies in the penny cup. Some years I have saved $1000.
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Ah... I have just seen the value of the Disney Vacation Club. I've done the Target Red Card 5% to buy Disney gift cards, but they get cumbersome when you are buying them at $50.
We save change and return cans for spending money.
We save by buying Disney gift cards at Target or Sam's Club then, rather than keep a stack of gift cards around the house, we add the gift cards we purchase to our Disney Vacation Account, which we use to pay for our trip.
With the Target Redcard, we save 5% when we purchase the gift cards with our Redcard. At Sam's Club, they sell a pack of 3 $50 cards for around $142.50.
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Disney offers a savings account. It is zero interest but for every $1000 used from it for a disney vacation you will get a $20 disney gift card. You can set up regular deposits or only when you want. And you can deposit with credit card, debit card or gift cards. If for some reason you need a refund that can be done too.
I have a seasonable job at a candy store that I work Valentine's and Easter every year. When I got paid I immediately take that amount out and put it in a paper envelope. For Valentine's I took the $175 and applied that to my room. Easter I just took the $185 out and into my jewelry box....then at the end of the month, usually the last Friday I know I have an extra $100 to put towards to my room....and of course having a tax refund helps alot too....
I don't like to ask for gift cards but somehow I get them and I just keep them for my upcoming trip.
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Kate in PA All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them- Walt Disney
I am a fan of saving all of my $5.00. I actually read it several years ago on this site. I almost always save about $1,500 per year that way. In the summer, that becomes vacation and home improvement money.
I am a fan of saving all of my $5.00. I actually read it several years ago on this site. I almost always save about $1,500 per year that way. In the summer, that becomes vacation and home improvement money.
You repeated yourself This thread was started in 2016. The info is still good though for those who might come here wondering the same thing. For those that do, here is my two cents.
I use the Disney Visa card to pay for everything instead of using my cash and then when the bill comes in, I just pay it off. Then I use those points for our room. I also treat our vacations to Disney like a monthly bill that has to be paid so I put money away every month. From Lenny's job it's typically $5 a week. From my second job, it's typically $10 a week. When I worked for the school, my paycheck was always different so the amounts I saved from that always varied. Now that I have a more regular job (I'll work all year instead of just 10 months) I'm hoping to have a more regular amount that I save from that check. It doesn't necessarily add up fast but it does add up. We just went in August of 2016 and I already have about 25% of the money we need for another vacation.
You repeated yourself This thread was started in 2016. The info is still good though for those who might come here wondering the same thing. For those that do, here is my two cents.
I use the Disney Visa card to pay for everything instead of using my cash and then when the bill comes in, I just pay it off. Then I use those points for our room. I also treat our vacations to Disney like a monthly bill that has to be paid so I put money away every month. From Lenny's job it's typically $5 a week. From my second job, it's typically $10 a week. When I worked for the school, my paycheck was always different so the amounts I saved from that always varied. Now that I have a more regular job (I'll work all year instead of just 10 months) I'm hoping to have a more regular amount that I save from that check. It doesn't necessarily add up fast but it does add up. We just went in August of 2016 and I already have about 25% of the money we need for another vacation.
You know, I thought it sounded familiar!
I thought I looked back to see if I had posted. Oh well.
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1) Use Disney Visa for just about everything (and pay it off each month)
2) Change Jar
3) Selling items at consignment sales and on Facebook
4) Ibotta (couponing app - I make a few hundred dollars each year)
5) Other online money making sites - Swagbucks, Crowdtap, Receipt Hog
6) Target deals (buy 2 diapers, get $10 target gc, etc,... I will save up the Target gift cards and then buy a Disney one with them)
7) Asking for gift cards for any gifts (birthday, mother's day, Christmas, etc.)
1) We have multiple change jars...I'm in the process of converting it all into paper cash right now. It was starting to take over! DH has a big water jug (you know the size from an office water dispenser!!) and it is about half full. Told him we need to cash it in and bank it...it's going to put a hole in the floor if it ever gets full!! My work credit union has a change machine and they do not charge anything to accept the change unlike the other credit union that DH and I are members of.
2) I use Ibotta - when it gets to a certain level, I cash it out and buy a Disney gift card.
3) I also use Checkout 51 (similar to Ibotta - but not as lucrative).
4) Through Fred Meyer (local grocery store - Kroger) we get points for every purchase (including discount fuel points) and each quarter we get cash back - that gets turned into a Disney gift card.
5) I also play around with Shopkick (another app) - doesn't require me to actually buy anything. You scan items in the stores you are in and get "kicks." When you have a certain amount you can turn the kicks into a variety of gift cards. I will have to get a Walmart or Target card, but from that I can get a Disney card. Right now I'm at about $75 worth of "kicks" for just wandering different stores or malls. And in the winter in Alaska, it's nice to get out of the house and just wander around for exercise since I'm not a big skier!!
6) We have the Disney Rewards credit card. And we pay it off monthly to keep from having to pay interest.
7) We have an airlines mileage account. We purchase items we need (ie: flowers, etc for family out of state) through their shopping plan to build up miles for airfare. However, I am careful about just buying those things we would buy anyway, not just buying to get the miles...
So after reading this, I love the ideas of the 52 week challenge and the 365 day challenge. I think we are going to have to try these!!
I have also been telling myself I need to get back to pulling out $35 a week for my own personal "spending" money. You know, this would be the money I would spend if I wanted a latte (not that I drink them) or to go to lunch with a friend instead of going home from work for lunch. At the end of the week, whatever is left over goes into my savings envelope or jar and the next week...I get another $35. I managed to save a lot doing this over the course of a year. Made me really think about my choices of what to buy.
All of this adds up...some of it is like free money! If these companies are going to give it to me...then I will take it!!
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Jennifer / Eeyore is my favorite!! OMG - He's sooooo grown up!!!! And an EAGLE SCOUT!! I can still remember my cute little Tiger Cub! 2016 Reading Goal - 75 books
I do a lot of the same stuff mentioned here - but I hardly use cash anymore, so here's one tip that I haven't seen here that I can contribute:
I have a bank account at Ally that makes 1% interest (remember when we used to get 10% at the bank.....), that is ONLY for vacations. That way I'm not dipping into my "rainy day / OMG I got a flat tire" fund.
I'm pretty good about budgeting and know that after all my bills & savings are paid for the month, I have $x left over. I divide that number by 30 days and that's how much 'extra money' I have per day for expenses. Let's that works out to $25/day. At the end of each day (or at least 1-2x/week), I tally up everything I've spent - gas, food, etc., and figure out how much I have left over for my daily expenses. I then transfer that to my special savings account.
it's important to do it daily, because if it's not in your account, you forget you have it. Moreover, it's very easy to find "legit" expenses if you have the money sitting there.
If you can even save $50 a week, that means you'll have $2600 in a year's time, not counting interest! And if you throw any additional fundage in there (part time jobs, an extra $20 in an old purse, etc.) it goes faster! I've been using this method for a long time and it works out nicely. AND...it's not tied into Disney's saving program, which means if you really need that money for something else, you have immediate access to it.
2) I use Ibotta - when it gets to a certain level, I cash it out and buy a Disney gift card.
3) I also use Checkout 51 (similar to Ibotta - but not as lucrative).
5) I also play around with Shopkick (another app) - doesn't require me to actually buy anything. You scan items in the stores you are in and get "kicks." When you have a certain amount you can turn the kicks into a variety of gift cards. I will have to get a Walmart or Target card, but from that I can get a Disney card. Right now I'm at about $75 worth of "kicks" for just wandering different stores or malls. And in the winter in Alaska, it's nice to get out of the house and just wander around for exercise since I'm not a big skier!!
I also use Ibotta, Checkout 51, and shopkick! I love Shopkick. I feel like I can get a lot of kicks in a month, enough for a gift card. I usually get Target. It's so easy and it's free money. I also use Receipt Hog and Yaarlo to scan my receipts, but it takes a while for them to add up. Oh, and when shopping online I use Ebates - you get a percentage back I think quarterly, as a "big fat check".
I also use Receipt Hog and Yaarlo to scan my receipts, but it takes a while for them to add up. Oh, and when shopping online I use Ebates - you get a percentage back I think quarterly, as a "big fat check".
Hadn't head of those two...Will need to check them out.
We don't do a huge amount of online shopping...and when I do, I try to get air miles. I wonder which would be the better value??
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Jennifer / Eeyore is my favorite!! OMG - He's sooooo grown up!!!! And an EAGLE SCOUT!! I can still remember my cute little Tiger Cub! 2016 Reading Goal - 75 books
I'm only a teen so most of my Disney stuff is bought by Mom and Dad but they also like me to be responsible with money on trips so what I do is ask my Pop Pop and Nana and Gramps and Grams for Disney Gift Cards for Christmas and My Birthday, Valentines, Easter Basket and I use that for special things I want buy at Disney.
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Brittany~Take On The World
I'm Lightning to her Thunder~Riley(Me) & Maya(Emily/BFF) Girl Meets World
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This thread was started in 2016. The info is still good though for those who might come here wondering the same thing. For those that do, here is my two cents.
My work credit union has a change machine and they do not charge anything to accept the change unlike the other credit union that DH and I are members of. 
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