budget tips for dvc members? About This Page:

[Eeyore Tattoo]

Originally Posted by smcnaught

The coin machine at my grocery store charges 9 cents on the dollar! Too much! My bank has one that can be used for free by account holders. I dump the coins at the bank and deposit the full amount in our vacation fund

I think I will call my bank & see if they will count the coins too.. Thanks for that tip !

[sootshouse]

Originally Posted by kazanimo

i started my jar of cash and would like to buy disney gift cards so I am not tempted to "borrow" the money. What can I use them for in the parks besides the stores ?? I usually buy the park tix through undercover tourist? can I use them for dining? but not the dining plan right?

If you are staying on Disney property, you can actually use the gift cards to pay charges you bill to your room. So for example, we had the dining plan and we charged the tips to the room using our Key to the World Card. Then we went to the front desk and paid those charges with the gift card.

[dworldluver]

In our area TDbank will take your change no charge whether you bank there or not. We though have dds that work at a restaurant and are frequent 'shoppers' at a local convenience store as we buy our gas there every week who will take our change and give us dollars - we buy wrappers at the dollar store or sometimes the restaurant will give us wrappers. We usually use that change money to purchase our ddp - usually have enough in 6 mos. for dh and I to pay for plan and tips. Always have an AP but since we go 2 - 3x a year at this point we buy every year. Dd buys every other year and gets 12-20 days each time. If we are doing basic ddp we bring our own coffee, tea and sugar as well as a box or two of cereal. We have a date night at least once a month where we go out for dinner or at least coffee (one of the things we swear by in keeping us married to each other for 38 years) but other than that we eat at home and buy groceries at Aldi's and BJ's. We are close to Lancaster so during the summer we make weekly trips to a nearby Amish farm for produce and baked goods and save a lot that way (make friends with them and not the farms that advertise on the road - although those farms are fresher and cheaper than most grocery stores) My dh loves to fly although with the increases and changes coming in the tsa checkpoints we may opt for driving in May and October this year. Our next 'expense' is to get an Owners Locker so that we can store coffee, coffee grinder, sugar, crock pot, toiletries and even clothes there and if taking airline we don't have to check a bag if we can find a cheaper fare on an airline that charges for checked bags. I guess I could go on and on because we cut corners over the course of time in so many ways. We bought into DVC a few years ago and don't regret it even one second. We don't use cc except prepaid one but dd who owns one of our dvc points pkgs. with has disney rewards card so she pays with it and gets her way of getting there with rewards. We also don't see the need to buy souvenirs especially since we lost everything in a house fire 9 years ago. Our 20th anniversary clock that was a present when we stayed at poly from wdw was in that house and so now we too do photos for our memories and give them liberally to family 'just in case' anything happens in future.

[Eeyore Tattoo]

Originally Posted by kazanimo

i started my jar of cash and would like to buy disney gift cards so I am not tempted to "borrow" the money. What can I use them for in the parks besides the stores ?? I usually buy the park tix through undercover tourist? can I use them for dining? but not the dining plan right?

If I remember correctly I think I did use gift cards towards our dining plan payment..

[Stephie1551]

Great ideas!!! we too have a disney coin bank, plus i give the kids GC for their birhtdays..christmas,,easter etc... When we are at Disney we eat breakfast in..We do get teh DP because eating out is something we pretty much only do on Vacation and special occasions. I have the Disney Visa...but it is actually my debit card for Chase bank...no annual fee, and i dont have to worry about paying a bill at the end of the month. I think i earn $1 for every 200...it really adds up..especially because we use it exclusivley for bills, shopping etc..

[nrhenley]

id you know that in most cases the interest you paid for your DVC is tax deductible? Request additional information!

Natalie H.
MeetTheMagic.com

[canwegosoon]

I do many of the same things that others have posted
-AP's for 2-3-4trips
-use Disney Visa as much as possible(I pay every week to keep balance under control)
-fly SWA
-rent a car 330 days out(a must for DH)
- watching the budget at home and limiting the take out and eating out


Some things that I also do that help me save big time is:
use kitchen towels and napkins instead of paper products
stock up on sale items with coupons (I heart CVS, a full cup)
live simply
limit movies(we use netflix)
buy end of season clothing items
live below means(but spurlge on things that are important to us as a family
invite friends over for dinners

[nurse_mom]

We have a coin jar as well. The girls just saved up 60.00 of coins so we got a disney gift card. So as of right now they have enough money for 1 20.00 item which isn't hard at disney.
We purchase our tickets at Undercover tourist, we are thinking of upgrading to an annual pass on our next trip. But that is 9 month from now and we needs to know how our jobs are doing.
We have our DIsney Visa. Currently we are up to 300.00 for our next trip, but the plans are for an extra snack and some time on the disney fantasy. I'm hoping to get at least 100.00 more before we leave. We also take advantage of the 5% codes any chance we get.
Starting a vacation account sounds like a great idea. I may have to consider this soon.
Flying- a touchy subject for me. I hate and I mean HATE to drive. I go crazy driving to my brothers who is 4 hours away. But with a family of five and a rental of a minivan I may have to bite my tongue and drive. Yes, I know it can save money, but idea of having a mental breakdown from the kids screaming and my husbands driving, is not a way I want to start or end a vacation

[zhemi]

Like most people on here, we too have APs. We found the discounts we get when buying souvenirs is worth it, especially if we can share that with the family members or friends that travel with us without APs.

To save I collect EVERY $5 bill we come across. My husband thinks I'm nuts when I snatch it out of his hands practically screaming 'We can't spend that! It's for Disney!'

I have an old Village Candle jar (makes the money smell pretty - ) stashed away where no one knows that I fill with my scavenged $5 and loose change. I also have a separate jar for just pennies.

I'm an extreme couponer, although not quite as bad as those on TV, but I do manage to save on average $100-$150 each shopping trip and have been known to get things either for free or close to it. The money I save goes towards Disney gift cards that we use to pay for the Dining Plan, tips, or just give to the kids as 'spending money'.

[Florida71]

Originally Posted by kazanimo

i started my jar of cash and would like to buy disney gift cards so I am not tempted to "borrow" the money. What can I use them for in the parks besides the stores ?? I usually buy the park tix through undercover tourist? can I use them for dining? but not the dining plan right?

Yes, DDP can be purchased with Disney gift card. I just spoke to member services a few days ago and was told it must be added at least 48 hours before arrival and can still make ADR's at the 180 day mark.
We use gift cards when saving money for WDW as it can't be spent anywhere else (aside from Disney Store). For our upcoming trip with 6 adults and 1 child DDP would be about $1300. We've asked each adult (not incl. 13yo) to put $26/month on our gift card, in 10 months we'll have $1300. ($26.00 x 5adults = $130/month x 10 months = $1300) Any extra available funds are added to a separate card for use at shops and resorts.
P.S.- If I purchase the cards at the grocery store instead of the Disney Store, I'll receive "fuel points" gas discount... those little things add up!

[Coop]

I've been adding a $25 gift card to my shopping list each time I grocery shop. It's not too much to add to the bill and it's like automatic savings.

[queen2]

All good tips. This year we are staying 13 days. The cost of the DP is out of our budget. Hubby wants to do it, I told him to save the money. I think we can do better taking food, snacks, soda, water,ect. Maybe buy one TS a day.

Last year when we went we drove, took a lot of already items mentioned.

[zhemi]

Originally Posted by Coop

I've been adding a $25 gift card to my shopping list each time I grocery shop. It's not too much to add to the bill and it's like automatic savings.

I do the same thing! Walgreens and Wegmans here in Western NY both sell gift cards. Wegmans has the $25 allotments, but Walgreens sells the ones you can put any amount from $15 to $500. I always buy $25.

I'm a big couponer, so the money I save with coupons allows me to add the GC to my bill. It adds up quickly and I love that it cannot be spent on anything but Disney! That discourages other members of my family from dipping in to 'borrow' money (that you know will never get paid back).

[disneybaby98]

If you are a DVC member, use your points for your hotel (no brainer) and then eat in! When we go we use Garden Grocer. It's just like grocery shopping only its delivered to your room! We usually get milk, cereal, bagels, pasta, easy food. Most of the time we eat breakfast in our room and we bring snacks to the parks. Of course we still go out just not every night. Also I believe JetBlue has a rewards program so you can always look into that to save money!

[matryma]

>Order in snacks for your hotel room, or if you have a car there are at least 3 grocery stores 10 minutes from the crossroads entrance by downtown disney. Don't buy a lot of park snacks, eat what you bring in.
>Don't go to a lot of TS dinners, eat big at lunch or Eat CS if you don't go off property.
>We do 2 trips per annual pass, at least.
>Also, my secret tip, we fly Jetblue. If the Price of the flight drops, you can call them up and get the difference back into a travel account. Then we use that and our points from the Jetblue CC and loyalty programs that will pay for the flights for one trip.