We used to go every-other year, so we had time to save and plan. One thing we do to save money is stay longer when we do go. I know that sounds stupid, but when we have to pay $1200 to $1600 in airfare to get there, we make it worth our while and stay longer. Yes, we don't as frequently, but when we do, we go for 8-10 nights and get our fill.
My wife gets paid every two weeks, but we only budget for her to get 2 checks a month, so 2 times a year, we get an "extra" check. Usually a big chunk of this goes into our vacation fund. We also budget $100-$200 a month in our household budget to vacation. We use various rewards cards and pay them off each month. We do have a Southwest Visa card and have used miles to pay for trips in the past. We also will put any "extra" money we end up with towards vacations (work bonuses, tax return, consulting work I do, etc). In the end, I will also pay for a trip using gift cards, but will only go and buy them right before I need to pay it off. Last time, I went into Sam's and bought 10, $500 gift cards and the money saved by the Sam's discount was used to pay for a few meals at WDW.
Good luck !