How We Paid Cash For Our Disney Vacation
How We Paid Cash For Our Disney Vacation. In late 2008 we made the switch to stockpiling. Shortly after we started stockpiling we went from spending $450 – $500 a month to spending $130 on average in groceries. With this savings we decided to start a “Disney Fund”. Each month we deposited $150 into the “Disney Fund” account.
As you know going to Disney is not cheap so we decided by saving and paying cash for the trip was the way to do it. By stockpiling we saved $3600 from our family budget in 2009. In 2010 we saved an additional $4000 from our family budget by stockpiling. We decided that our goal would be to go to Disney in 2011 paying CASH for the trip. We are very excited to say that we met our goal!
How We Paid Cash For Our Disney Vacation
By strategically using coupons and matching coupons to items on sale we were able to pay cash for our Disney Vacation. When an item is at “rock bottom” that is when you stockpile. Stockpiling is a strategic game. The objective is to “match” grocery sale prices to your coupons to take advantage of when your groceries are at the very lowest price or what we call “rock bottom”. This is when you stockpile. Stockpile when the price is free or close to free (70% off). You purchase in a quantity to last your family until the item can be purchased again at rock bottom.
By banking the money from our budget each month that we “used” to spend on groceries we were able to save without impacting the rest of our family budget. We deposited $150 from our “normal” grocery budget into our Disney Fund each month. We are very excited that we were able to save the money in just 2 years for our family vacation to Disney World!
Planning is KEY:
When it came time to plan our vacation we priced the vacation through several avenues. We priced through AAA, two Disney Travel Agencies and through renting DVC points. In the end the best price came through with a Travel Agent. We made the decision to go not during peak season for several reasons; it less expensive, it is not as crowded and because of the heat. In addition I scoured the Disboards and found a code to use which saved us 30%! Always look for a code before you book. The Travel Agent we booked through was able to use the code and came in lower than all of the other prices so that is who we booked with.
I wanted to share this with you because I tell people all of the time how Stockpiling has changed our lives! If we did not stockpile we would not be going on this dream vacation to Disney by paying cash!
You may want to check out our Stockpiling 101 Series.
We are very excited about our upcoming trip and I can’t wait to share more tips and planning strategy with you.
Disney Tips:
Tips for Planning Your Disney Vacation
Travel Articles:
How to save money at Kings Island
How to Save Money at Disney & Tips for Planning
Tips for Saving Money on Air Travel
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Melissa is a football and soccer mom who has been married to her best friend for 24 years. She loves sharing recipes, travel reviews and tips that focus on helping busy families make memories.
Thanks for sharing this! We just started stockpiling and attending Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University. We are already seeing a huge savings just from using coupons effectively. We have told our kids that once the debt is paid off, we are taking a trip to Disney, paying cash of course! Thanks for the tips. I have always wondered what would be the best route to choose as far as booking, etc! Have a wonderful time on your adventure!!
Thanks Misty!
Could you give us more information on how to find codes on disboards (I’m VERY new at this) and perhaps good travel agencies to look into? Which ones you found to be more helpful or more willing to work at getting a better price? Thank you for your tips. We are trying to stockpile, but with one grocery store near us (we’re in the boondocks) it’s hard to really stockpile deals since we can’t shop around.
You bet! I am doing a follow up to this post with my Tips for Planning 🙂
In addition to the disboard tips (I have never heard that word until now so I’ll need to look that up, this website has been a great source of info), it would be great to see stockpiling scores on more useful items (I’m still stuck on someone buying 12 packs of gum and then someone saying well my neighbors kids come over. My neighbors kids have parents, let them buy their own gum, defeats my purpose). Family size seems to play a role but also how you eat. For example, just on fruit I spend $14 a week at the farmers market (best price i’ve found yet) and meat runs about give or take $30 a week for four of us. Do you have any tips on how to save on those? Does your monthly amount include those or do you count those separately? I think that because we don’t have a super Walmart in NY, we lose out on cash back deals where you’d get paid to shop which is where we could score on meat and fruit. We only have a simple Walmart. We do however get double coupons up to .99 cents at most stores. Last year I was able to save $500 in coupons, this year I’m already at $1,000. Actual food bill is still at about $100 a week, would love to figure out how to get it down further.
Great, thank you so much! I’m hoping to go to Disney in a year and a half! 🙂
You will have a blast!
Hi there!
I need more help planning – doing this for end of April with 4 kids and Grandparents too! Already booked a town hme 4 bdrm for all of us to stay together.
Hope you had a great trip!
How rewarding! Disney is an amazing place to go, and what wonderful memories you made–guilt-free! Congratulations on using your money wisely and having fun!
Saving for the things you need, and esp. for those things you want, is part of a larger financial plan for your family. I’ve been debt free for almost 24 years and have found that vacations are even MORE fun when you don’t have to return home to accrued debt. When you have a “boundary” as to how much money you can truly afford to spend, you can relax more and enjoy the time you’ve waited for patiently. 😉
I am most defiantly going to read the stockpiling 101 series. I am a bargain shopper and I love to sock up while items are cheap!
Makes vacations much more fun when you can pay with cash! You can really enjoy it so much more!
I try to pay cash for most things, but this had some great tips that I can use!
We pay cash for almost everything and I think that’s a wonderful way to live! It makes those vacations all the more fun, knowing there will be nothing to pay off when you arrive back home.
I’ve been couponing for about 2 years and we’ve been able to live on a small budget…it’s an amazing feeling to be able to go on a great vacation with the money you saved!
Way to go! Thanks for the tips.
STAYING OFF THE DISNEY PROPERTY IS THE CHEAPEST! WE TOOK SHUTTLES TO THE PARK EVERYDAY-NO EXTRA COST!
(I LOVE JIFFY PEANUT BETTER, SUCH AN EASY TREAT TO PACK THE KIDS)
Wow, looks like I need to start stockpiling, great blog post, congrats on the Disney vacation..my turn is next!!
I need to start using disboards.
always pack a lunch to save money
Love being able to save money for whatever trips buy stockpiling!
We’re not planning a trip to Disney, but are taking a 7 day cruise and we paid cash. Knowing that we have so much money saved from stockpiling, it is a wonderful feeling
Great tips! Thanks
Look forward to using these tips, thanks!
Thank you for the post!
thanks for the inspiration. it can be done!
Ahh something to work for, sounds good to me!
Great tips about booking it. Now to save the money.
Jiff to go is great. I have used it many times. Using this for dipping apples is is just great!…… Take the Jiff to go on a family trip to the zoo bring your precut apples and you are ready for a good healthy snack.
I need to start a fund with my savings but feel I should pay off all my debt excluding my mortgage first before I start saving.
WTG!
Great ideas!
stockpiling is a great way to use your resources wisely
Use coupons to save dollars for your trip. Also, don’t use your room key on in-park purchases. That way you don’t get surprised when your room bill comes!
WE also pay with cash for our vacations. It allows you to not have the stress of having to pay for your vacations after the fact!
We paid cash a couple years ago. I have to be honest, It stressed me out, but my girls loved it! Great memories were made.
Great tips. I save the cash, but pay w/a card. That way, I get cash back. Then I pay the bill in full.
When Disney first opened my step-dad received complimentary tickets because he worked in office machine sales and was negotiating with Disney.
Later on we got free tickets again. A company I worked for later on, offered special tickets for their employees and there are many companies that do.
Often times companies you work for have special perks you may not even know about, so check to see if you can score free or discounted tickets. If not for Disney, there may be special deals on hotels and car rentals through your company.
I’ve never been there because I know how much it will cost — here’s hoping I can do the same and pay in cash when the time comes!
Amazing! Great tips and what a cute picture!
Cash is always the best choice
Disney fund saving is a great idea.
We (2 adults and 2 kids) have done Disney and Universal twice paying cash only. Not easy but such a relief to come home knowing I owed nothing.