Saving 4 Disney vacation: Single parent tips

MommyMeNDisney

DIS Veteran
Joined
Mar 21, 2015
Ok fellow single parents let's share...

As single parents, it may be difficult to fund our Disney vacation endeavors. However, I do know that single parents are very creative when it comes to making ends meet. We sacrifice all the time for our kids. :)

I booked an Alaskan cruise on DCL for DS (2 at sailing) and I. This cruise is not cheap (by my bank account's standards), but being able to pay over time helps.

I would love to add a shorter cruise plus 3 days at the parks in the Fall of 2016, but don't know if it will happen due to finances.

What tricks/tips do you use to help you finance a great Disney vacation for you and your child(ren)?
 
SAVING $$$ is such a CHALLENGE for me :crazy2:
I love to spend money but in order to go on that WDW vacation I do have to cut corners.
~ automatically deduct $100 from my paycheck into my WDW savings
~ I also use 50% of my tax refund!
~ I bring my lunch to work everyday
~ We order pizza or Chinese once a month rather than every weekend (we used to do that)
Looking forward to following this post to get even more ideas!!!!!
 
Here are my tips for Disney cruises:

1) Set $200 aside and book a placeholder for a future cruise while onboard your current cruise. Even if you know when you want to cruise, don't book that date while onboard, because you will have to pay the deposit for the total cost of that cruise while onboard. Unless the cost of that cruise is somehow less than $2,000. You'll only put down a $200 deposit to book the placeholder. When you transfer the placeholder to an actual cruise, you will pay the remaining deposit amount (if applicable).

2) Booking a placeholder gives you a 10% discount on the cost of the cruise you select. You only have to put down a 10% deposit (instead of 20%). You receive a $200 OBC (Onboard Credit) for 7 nights or longer cruises ($100 OBC for less than 7 nights). You have 24 months to select and sail on a cruise when you book a placeholder. If you don't select and sail within the 24 months, your $200 deposit is refunded.

3) Book onboard directly with DCL (if you're not already booked with a travel agent you like). Then, transfer your placeholder to a Disney authorized travel agent who will give you an additional OBC that is 5% of the cost of your cruise. Note: You must transfer the booking to a Travel Agent within 30 days of your onboard booking.

By doing this, I didn't have to come up with a huge deposit while onboard our 2015 cruise for our 2016 Alaskan cruise. I got 10% off the cost of the cruise. I'm getting a $450 OBC that I will use to take care of tips and/or for pictures at Shutters.

Hope this helps someone. :)
 
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Well when I was a single mom, I would save any extra gas or grocery money, I would save any bonus or rebate (including my taxes) I would shop at goodwill and coupon.. Bring lunches vs. buying .. eat out at lunch vs. dinner.. nothing much different I do now even though I am married again.. we cut corners to go on vacation.. we prioritize it by what we'd rather spend the money on..
 
SAVING $$$ is such a CHALLENGE for me :crazy2:
I love to spend money but in order to go on that WDW vacation I do have to cut corners.
~ automatically deduct $100 from my paycheck into my WDW savings
~ I also use 50% of my tax refund!
~ I bring my lunch to work everyday
~ We order pizza or Chinese once a month rather than every weekend (we used to do that)
Looking forward to following this post to get even more ideas!!!!!

I totally understand! We've been cutting back too. I've wanted to order out or go to a restaurant with DS (especially when I'm having a not so great day & don't want to cook), but so far I've resisted the urge.

Someone mentioned a DVC (Disney Vacation Account) to me as a way to save/set aside money for your Disney vacations. Apparently, they give you $20 for every $1,000 you have in the account. It doesn't seem like much, but for a $5,000 Disney cruise, you can get $100 back. So, I'm seriously considering doing that.
 
I utilize several grocery savings apps on my phone. My favorite is Ibotta and Savings Catcher (Walmart), and I do use Checkout 51 but that one is harder to accumulate, at least for me. I recently began trying Receipt Hog and ShopKick but haven't had those very long so not sure what I think about them yet. I have gotten back over $40 using Walmarts Savings Catcher and I have already cashed in $25 on the Ibotta app and $8 into my next $25. I plan to use those savings to go toward my trip. :-) I have had Ibotta and Savings Catcher since October.
 
I utilize several grocery savings apps on my phone. My favorite is Ibotta and Savings Catcher (Walmart), and I do use Checkout 51 but that one is harder to accumulate, at least for me. I recently began trying Receipt Hog and ShopKick but haven't had those very long so not sure what I think about them yet. I have gotten back over $40 using Walmarts Savings Catcher and I have already cashed in $25 on the Ibotta app and $8 into my next $25. I plan to use those savings to go toward my trip. :-) I have had Ibotta and Savings Catcher since October.

Interesting, would you mind sharing how each of those work? I've never heard of them, but I'm interested in saving. :)
 


Interesting, would you mind sharing how each of those work? I've never heard of them, but I'm interested in saving. :)

With Walmart Savings Catcher, you just scan the QT code or bar code on your receipt and they will do a search for same items being advertised for lower prices among a bunch of your surrounding stores. If it finds a lower price for something, they match it and give you that money back.
For the Ibotta app, you have to watch a quick 20 or 30 second commercial, or answer a survey question to "unlock" the rebate for individual items. Then when you get the items, you scan the bar code for each of those items and then scan your receipt to prove you bought them. I like that app a lot because in addition to name brand items, they also offer rebates on generic items. You just need to pay attention that the size of the product matches up. For produce, you don't scan anything, it will pick it up on your receipt. They offer LOTS of rebates on fresh produce as well as staple items like bread and milk. Recently I even saw them offering a rebate for a bag of ice!
Receipt Hog you just scan your receipt for points that can add up to cash, and ShopKick you can earn points to be exchanged for cash by opening the app when you are at the entrance to a store, and then you can also earn additional points by scanning items. I plan on mostly just using it at the entrance to the store.
Checkout 51 is taking me longer to add up because you have to get up to $20 to cash out and they just don't have the items that I usually buy, so as soon as I get it to $20, I am cashing out and I won't do that one anymore.

Once you get the hang of them, it really doesn't take long to do these steps. With Ibotta, if you are connected to Facebook, it will connect anyone else on your friend list to your Ibotta "team" and it can help you build up your money faster actually. Once you start using it, you will get the hang of how it works. Some of these apps, offer rebates for things other than groceries as well. It's worth checking into! Good luck!
 
Got rid of my car. It's not as crazy as it sounds. Depending on your city (if they have bike infrastructure in place), it's a great option. I went with an electric cargo bike, I can haul both kids on it, and with the pedal assist, I don't worry about hills or showing up to work sweaty, but I can still get a workout. I don't pay for parking, insurance, or gas anymore. Maintenance is much cheaper as well.
 
I have a small amount from each paycheck direct deposited into a savings account rather than into my checking.

I know this isn't a good idea for everyone, but I use credit cards to pay for everything I can so I can get the rewards points. You have to have a lot of discipline to stick to a budget otherwise you could end up spending too much, and any interest charges and fees will wipe out any benefit you might get from rewards points.

I have 3 cards from Chase: my Disney Visa, my Southwest Airlines Visa, and a Chase Freedom Visa. I rotate which card I use depending on which gives me the best benefit. I used to get 5x's bonus offers from my Disney Visa a lot, but haven't in a few years. The bonus offers I get now are mostly from the Southwest card, because that's the card I use the least. I got an offer late last fall for bonus Rapid Rewards miles if I spent a certain amount on the card. So I shifted all my spending to that card and racked up a bunch more RR points. I was able to earn the last amount I needed to be able to pay for both mine and my DD's roundtrip flights for our cruise last month. In the first quarter, my Freedom card was offering 4% bonus points on grocery store purchases. I waited until Giant Eagle was offering double fuel perks on Disney gift cards and picked up the maximum amount that would qualify for the Freedom bonus offer. With gas prices at the time, I managed to get one completely free tank of gas and a second tank at less than half the normal cost.

ETA: I wanted to make it clear that I pay off the balance every single month. I never carry a balance because interest charges would eat up any savings from the rewards. The only time I don't pay off the entire amount is when I am using the Disney Visa 0% for 6 months option and that gets paid off before I accrue any charges.
 
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With Walmart Savings Catcher, you just scan the QT code or bar code on your receipt and they will do a search for same items being advertised for lower prices among a bunch of your surrounding stores. If it finds a lower price for something, they match it and give you that money back.
For the Ibotta app, you have to watch a quick 20 or 30 second commercial, or answer a survey question to "unlock" the rebate for individual items. Then when you get the items, you scan the bar code for each of those items and then scan your receipt to prove you bought them. I like that app a lot because in addition to name brand items, they also offer rebates on generic items. You just need to pay attention that the size of the product matches up. For produce, you don't scan anything, it will pick it up on your receipt. They offer LOTS of rebates on fresh produce as well as staple items like bread and milk. Recently I even saw them offering a rebate for a bag of ice!
Receipt Hog you just scan your receipt for points that can add up to cash, and ShopKick you can earn points to be exchanged for cash by opening the app when you are at the entrance to a store, and then you can also earn additional points by scanning items. I plan on mostly just using it at the entrance to the store.
Checkout 51 is taking me longer to add up because you have to get up to $20 to cash out and they just don't have the items that I usually buy, so as soon as I get it to $20, I am cashing out and I won't do that one anymore.

Once you get the hang of them, it really doesn't take long to do these steps. With Ibotta, if you are connected to Facebook, it will connect anyone else on your friend list to your Ibotta "team" and it can help you build up your money faster actually. Once you start using it, you will get the hang of how it works. Some of these apps, offer rebates for things other than groceries as well. It's worth checking into! Good luck!

Thank you for that thorough response! Sounds good.
One more question...are those apps that I just download to my phone?
 
Got rid of my car. It's not as crazy as it sounds. Depending on your city (if they have bike infrastructure in place), it's a great option. I went with an electric cargo bike, I can haul both kids on it, and with the pedal assist, I don't worry about hills or showing up to work sweaty, but I can still get a workout. I don't pay for parking, insurance, or gas anymore. Maintenance is much cheaper as well.

Electric cargo bike? I have to look that up.
 
I also use my Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards points to book my flight. This year, DS flew as a lap child, so that saved me some money. Next year, he'll be two, so I'm trying to rack up enough points to book both of us with my points. That's going to be a big savings for me!
 
Got rid of my car. It's not as crazy as it sounds. Depending on your city (if they have bike infrastructure in place), it's a great option. I went with an electric cargo bike, I can haul both kids on it, and with the pedal assist, I don't worry about hills or showing up to work sweaty, but I can still get a workout. I don't pay for parking, insurance, or gas anymore. Maintenance is much cheaper as well.

Just googled it. Where do your kids sit?
 
Just googled it. Where do your kids sit?
I have a longtail cargo bike. My oldest sits closest to me (with a pair of handlebars under my seat), and my youngest sits behind him in a baby seat. There tend to be two main types of cargo bikes that families with kids like - a longtail (Yuba and Xtracycle are popular brands, and Yuba has come out with a cool new one called a Spicy Curry), or a basket/bakfiet style bike. I kind of want a basket bike for the winter since I can get a rain cover. I could have two fancy bikes, and it's still cheaper than a car, especially over a couple of years. Hum of the City is a great blog, and I would definitely check out the Yuba website.

What's interesting is it actually saves me time. It's longer by bike if it's "good" traffic, but faster during rush hour. I'm never sitting in traffic. The kids are happier, and even with the pedal assist, I'm getting so much exercise.
 
I use my Disney Visa, but I use it for the 6 months no interest. I put a portion on it, pay it off in a couple of months, then put the other half on and pay it off. After getting right with my finances, having interest eats up my soul. LOL!

I also use Swagbucks to get free gift cards for gas down or gift cards to use in the park. I also have a huge change jar. I ONLY use cash and it's a pain taking out the amount I need each pay period, but the change adds up!
 
I use my Disney Visa, but I use it for the 6 months no interest. I put a portion on it, pay it off in a couple of months, then put the other half on and pay it off. After getting right with my finances, having interest eats up my soul. LOL!

I also use Swagbucks to get free gift cards for gas down or gift cards to use in the park. I also have a huge change jar. I ONLY use cash and it's a pain taking out the amount I need each pay period, but the change adds up!

What's swagbucks?
 
A lot of my saving tips won't be relevant but I'll add the more general ones.
- Direct debit weekly into a savings account
- Direct debit weekly into a bills account
Anything left over is for fuel, food, other expenses.
- Every coin goes into our WDW money bank that we bought last trip for this purpose, here we have $1 and $2 coins and it all adds up quickly.
- I say no a lot - to the kids, to myself, to friends and other family members.
- I make up a list of what we have to save for and once we have that amount saved it gets crossed off. I keep it on the fridge so the kids can have a visual reminder of how far we've come.
- Menu plan, menu plan, menu plan lol
- Shop in season.
- We bake a lot, and have take away 'at home'. Basically easy things in the freezer for weekend nights when I can't really be bothered to cook.
- I'm a member of FB community buy/sell/swap groups to sell unwanted things.
- When shopping, I look above and below eye level to find cheaper brands. If something I use is on special ie. toilet paper/washing powder I stock up.
- I get 'creative' in the kitchen and try and use up everything.

I think that's about it. I guess the real trick is to be focused on what you're saving for. I find it much easier to save money when there is an end goal in sight rather than just for the sake of it if that makes sense :)
 
I'm a single mom and life is a struggle...but I've managed 2 trips to WDW for myself and DD7 and am currently paying for and planning a trip for us June 2016. Disney is the only thing we do so it takes time and planning.Here are my tips.
1. We always stay at the value resorts. We love them!
2. I book the room only on BB offer a year or 2 out and pay along as I can.
3.We make a budget/ must do list and when we have that amount saved or payed for cross it off.
4. I save all returnables I find ( at work, home, family members) and my DD and I make it our "job" to see how many we can collect every 2 months. We currently have $10..from the last 2 mo. By June it might be $50!!!..we never know but this is our meal $ or whatever we need it for.
5. I use coupons and take that amount and add it to our fund. For example..I have $20 cash...my purchase comes to $18.50..after coupons..I put what I have left in our jar as soon as I get home..its hard at first but if you make it a habit it does add up.
6. I just started Ibotta. Its an app that gives you refunds for what you purchase. Like couponing in reverse. When you reach $10. You Can "cash out" .I have been doing It for one month and already have $20! Again by June the potential to have more spending money or meals paid is great incentive.
6. We only eat take out for special occasions. I cook at home.
7. We shop thrift stores and sales.
8. We have a yearly yard sale with our community days. We made $100- more for our Disney fund. My DD sold lemonade as well. After the cost of supplies she made $20! She is going to purchase trading pins at WDW.
9. I use clothes racks to dry heavy clothes -- less electric. And we gave up purchasing a new AC this year for Disney..$ we would have spend went into fund. Extreme maybe but we decided our older one was still OK and our fans are fine.
10. I use part of my tax refund to pay for Airfare- we fly Southwest- checked bags are free. We are able to take snacks and certain food items to cut costs at Disney.
11. My work offers a wellness health incentive with $300 to me if I do all the health maintainence things ie- flu shots, mammo, physical , etc. An easy $300 for our Disney fund!.
Sorry this is so long. Just wanted to encourage other single moms/ dads that a Disney vacation is possible with a little effort and time! :laundy:
 

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