Little ways to save in advance

[MargaretJ]

Thanks to someone on this board I started saving crisp $1.00 dollar bills a few months ago. I now have about $80.00 in $1's so I went ahead and started putting dollars in my MouseKeeping envelopes. I also plan to use the $1's for my Valet Parking while at Wilderness Lodge. One other thing I plan to take is a couple of rolls of Quarters for the Laundry & for Matt to use at the Arcades. Anyone else have any little ways to save for the little things at Disney?

[Tagrel]

I have a special vacation account that I save into. I deposit all rebates, refunds, any 'found' money directly in there. When I cash in my change, in it goes. And that tax refund - deposited! Ebay and/or garage sale earnings? In they go! I'm always amazed at how much I can come up with by doing this! I also do the dollar bill thing, only I don't only keep the perfect ones! Then I fill up the Mousekeeping, and general tip envelopes in advance just like Margaret! Its great to just pull them out and not dig for dollars or change.

Each week during allowance payouts, I give the girls their money and they are VERY good at saving it! They look forward all year to buying items at WDW, and they squirrel away the allowance, gifts from grandparents, and just about every cent they can get! They hand it all over to me for safe keeping, and I'm again amazed at how much they save. This is used for their WDW spending, and it saves us having to supply them with souvenir money. They are again very careful with spending it (well, Brinn is!) since they know its THEIR money. We enjoy trips to Downtown Disney for their shopping sprees! :)

[Moley]

Any gift money I get throughout the year goes to souvenirs. I even earmark amounts so I can tell the gift giver via postcard or note what their thoughtfulness purchased. My favorites are frames and books. These come in all price ranges and you can write in them whom they are from.

[Sheryl]

We've gotten into the habit of giving the boys Disney money for gifts and have talked the grandparents into doing so also. Like at Christmas they get some (usually $10) in their christmas stockings, they get some at Easter, and for other reasons like good report cards, or any extra cash that comes into their hands gets turned into disney money.

This is their money and can be spent on whatever they wish when we are on vacation. Not only does this give them a learning experience on how to spend their money, but it saves Mom's pocketbook. :wink:

:mickeyWalk: Sheryl :minnie:

[JennyAnne]

Any gift money I get throughout the year goes to souvenirs. I even earmark amounts so I can tell the gift giver via postcard or note what their thoughtfulness purchased. My favorites are frames and books. These come in all price ranges and you can write in them whom they are from.

What a great idea Moley! I am quickly trying to think of the amounts we have received. I think mom gave DH and I $20 each in our stockings and Papa just gave me some for my birthday. It's a great idea to make it a bit more personal, and to let them know if you used it on a special meal or a unique souvenir.

[DrDolphin]

Much Like tagrel - any "extra" money that appears goes into a savings account - refunds, rebates, birthday checks, ANYTHING that is not my regular salary - I also save my change every single day (I DO NOT spend change - only bills) - into my piggie bank and roll that change every 2 or 3 weeks - then I take the rolled change and buy Disney Dollars - this prevents me from spending it anywhere but Disney. I typically have 200-300 dollars in each trip envelope before I go and use this for food and spending - and it doesn't "hurt" my checking or credit card accounts.

[SuzyQ]

Great tips! We save via our "Disney Visa" - we just try to put everything we can on it and pay it off at the end of the month. ;)

~Suzy

[Timon]

We save on airfare by using our Delta American Express card for almost all of our purchases. Like SuzyQ we pay it off each and every month. I had a hard time convincing my dw to do this until I pointed out to her that there is no difference between writing out 4 or 5 checks each month to the A & P for our groceries (double miles for each dollar at grocery stores) and writing one check to Amex. They also have double miles at gas stations and home centers such as Home Depot or Lowes. Since we started doing this last May we've accumlated enough miles for 2 round trips and are well on our way to our 3rd.

[peipaula]

We save all of the American change that we come across. It really adds up over a couple of years and saves a little not having to deal with an exchange rate. And it is really great to have a big bag of change for the toll highways and laundramat.

I am planning on buying the girls some kind of admission tickets (Universal, Busch or Seaworld, whatever is on sale at the time) as part of their Christmas presents.

I really wish there was a Disney Store on this Island so that I could buy Disney dollars too. Then again, does anyone know if the Disney dollars are sold in Canada?

Here comes the big one. We are working hard to pay off all of the little bills and big bills by this fall so that we can start putting Roy's pension cheque in the vacation savings account. With a little common sense we should be able to live off my paycheque. Everyone keep your fingers crossed for me that we can stick to this promise to ourselves. I am a terrible compulsive buyer. (It is a wonder that Walmart is not calling to make sure I am alright). lol

Paula

[DrDolphin]

Paula - I know there is a way to order Disney Dolalrs directly from Disney through the mail - let me track down that info again and I will post it since some folks don't live near a disney store.

[LuvmeDisney]

Paula, I'm afraid you cannot buy DD$ in Canada. It's partly an exchange rate thing, and it would be a real nightmare for the stores to be constantly converting.

Linda