Alleviating or Aggravating August??? - Page 4 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Scott - make a plan. When I am overwhelmed, I make a plan of things I know I can do. If it is to pay off people at $20/week, then that is my plan. At least I know I am moving in the right direction. Every trip to the moon starts with one inch.
Took 2 kids shopping for WDW trip on Friday. I bought them clothes, and took them to the drug store (better than a candy store for young ladies). I did spend money on myself that is VERY unusual. I bought myself RayBan sunglasses, using WDW as an excuse. Don't ask how much they cost. They are needed for WDW!!!
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
Dawn, great title . . . I'm hoping for Alleviating without much Aggravating.
The kids and I just got back from visiting my parents. It went surprisingly well thanks to Dramamine for the 7 YO and borrowed DVD's from the neighbor. (hint: we did a movie swap with the neighbors so we had new DVD's to watch for the trip. cost: $0 ) On the trip I spent:
Gas: $120
Food: $78 (including a lot of La. products I use that I p/u at the grocery store while I was there)
Entertainment: $42 (N.O. Aquarium and Tabasco Tour)
Souvenirs: $22
However, my DD got sick on Saturday and we ended up in the Emergency Room. Thankfully, it was just a UTI and they gave her Antibiotic ($4) and we were on our way. I know that bill will be costly b/c I have a $100 Emergency Co-pay and 10% of the total. And all of this b/c she refuses to potty train . . .arrgghh!
DH did not spend while we were gone (I left packed lunches and lots of leftovers for him). In fact Sunday night, our neighbors invited him over for dinner.
Today is grocery shopping. I am armed with my coupons and my rebates, so I'm confident I'll be off to a great start for August. The only Back-to-school stuff I need to purchase for DS is a pair of tennis shoes. In September, when it gets cooler, I'll need to get him some jeans, but that can wait a few more weeks.
Sue... there's nothing worse than trying to give a cat medications. But... I like your "bright side of things" outlook.
I've been fairly good the past few days -- all $0 for me.
I finally got to the bank yesterday to deposit the checks, so bill paying will now commence.
I'm also working on getting all our Flexible Spending Account submissions in and should have about $2k coming back from that, plus we will be reducing our contributions to it from the DHs weekly paycheck. (Now that we have secondary insurance in place to cover DSs medical co-pays, we don't need the FSA for much at all.)
I may as well confess. I have a stack of bills that I cannot pay. Its all medical. I can start doing the $10.00 a month payment method--but that will take forever.
The first thing I need to do is write down how much I owe to who.
Well somebody out there please give me a swift kick you know where!!
Consider your swift kick delivered! Free of charge too.
As someone has already said - make a plan. It may be the hardest part to do, but once it is done, you have a plan to follow, and that always makes me feel better. I don't always succeed in following it, but I do try.
As to spending - I had a card for free coffee this morning, but I did buy a bagel - $1.65, as I slept late and was in a rush this morning. I did throw a lunch together, so that should be it for the day.
$105 at the grocery store(s) today. That's $25 under budget!
According to my receipts, I saved over 65% using my coupons! I'm VERY happy about that. AND, I was able to stock up on a lot of great bargains on meat and pantry staples. Nothing else spent today. Tomorrow should be $0!
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As I was logging my savings into my excel "How we're getting back to Disney" spreadsheet, I forgot that I also received $25 dollars in rebates today, taking my total savings to 75% today.
I ended up having to make an emergency run to the grocery store -- DS's poison ivy got so bad that he wanted some Caladryl. Plus we were out of milk, OJ, grapes, and yogurt...
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Dh paid bills today. But, we have decided to put away $100.00- 200.00 every week. So when he paid the bills, he paid our savings account $150.00 too!
$26.00 for supper - we went out to eat.
The weekend is going to be tough.....our oldest son and his girlfriend are coming into town!
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Scott, on the medical bills. Little by little, they will go down. 
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