Track Your 2018 Vacation Budget Here...

[margievis]

Just to give you a heads up on your budget, the price of the dessert parties at MK is going up $10 at the end of May so the Garden View tickets are now $69 for your dates.

Thanks- I didn’t know that!

 

[margievis]

Just to give you a heads up on your budget, the price of the dessert parties at MK is going up $10 at the end of May so the Garden View tickets are now $69 for your dates.

Do you know if there’s tax on these prices? I’m guessing yes.

 

[margievis]

Updates in blue:

June New York trip:
Needed : $2,687
Saved/paid: $2404
Still need: $283
I’m fundraising for spending money, but may need to take at least $200 cash

August Disney Trip:
Needed: $3084.59 after adding 2 days to our park hoppers
Saved/paid: $1,511.48 (No OOP- all swagbucks, Ibotta, and other savings apps)
Still need: $1,573.11

Added 2 days at Art of Animation little mermaid rooms, paid deposit of
$174.38 (no OOP here either- trying to pay for this trip with Swagbucks, shopkick, etc, entirely) still need $174.38. I may upgrade this to a ticketless package with the quick service dining plan.
Update:
I did upgrade to a ticketless package with quick service dining. The total came to $561.53. I have completely paid this part of our trip off.

Magical Extras that I want to earn/ pay for with swagbucks:

Fireworks Dessert party at MK $60/adult(*4)=$240 needed
I booked this today-had to prepay with a credit card. It was $276. I will pay the credit card off with PayPal cash I can earn from swagbucks and Ibotta. I’m almost ready to cash in on Ibotta. I used my Southwest card to get the airline points.

In room celebration surprise for my niece-the one I want is $79
Memory Maker=$169 in advance
Starbucks spending money=$100 (at least)
Celebration cake for my niece at Chef Mickey’s=$35
(Maybe, if I get everything else paid for) In room surprise for hubby- romance pkg $120, add on 2 bathrobes @$60 each=$240 total

 

[kristenrice]

If today works out the way it should, my gift card budget just got a HUGE boost.

Today was our 180-day mark so we made the final decision that we ARE going to go to MNSSHP. With our DVC discount, our total came to $300.33. I was going to use the $300 cash "surplus" (the overage that I had when we decided to cancel the night at the Hyatt) and pay for the tickets with the vacation debit card...but then a moment of genius struck me. I printed up (6) different QR codes for Best Buy from the SB site and headed off to the store after church today. It was not busy at all so I had plenty of time to explain my plan to the cashier. She was more than happy to oblige. I used my Best Buy Visa card to make six separate purchases of (1) $50 Disney gift card. The cashier rang up each one and scanned each QR code. After the second one, we had a system. Since I am an ElitePlus member, I get 6% rewards on my BB purchases so that's $18 in BB rewards right there. On top of that, I should earn another $36 in SwagBucks to go with it. Then it got better...when I got home, I looked at my e-mail and there was an offer from my Best Buy Visa that said if I spend $100 outside of Best Buy this month, I will earn an additional $15 in rewards. Well, heck...I did that this afternoon when I got a $40 oil change and put $72 worth of gas in my tank. If everything credits the way it should, I will have earned over $70 in FREE DISNEY MONEY...just TODAY!!! Now, I just have to pay off the BB Visa with the money out of the vacation account and everything will be all square.

I made some pre-paid dining reservations today (Splitsville Member night and HDDR) and used my gift card to pay for them but I am still on track to make my goal WAY ahead of time. In fact, not including the amounts I theoretically earned today, I am a mere $68 short of my goal! I would like another $150 in gift cards as a cushion and based on my earnings so far, that is easily achievable at this rate.

Gift Card Budget: $1450
Gift Cards Earned: $1382.28
Gift Cards Needed: $67.72 (...but I want another $150 more than that!)

Cash Budget: $1800
Cash Earned: $2072.11
EXTRA CASH: $272.11

 

[margievis]

Updates in blue:

June New York trip:
Needed : $2,687
Saved/paid: $2404
Still need: $283
I’m fundraising for spending money, but may need to take at least $200 cash

August Disney Trip:
Needed: $3084.59 after adding 2 days to our park hoppers
Saved/paid: $1,536.48(No OOP- all swagbucks, Ibotta, and other savings apps)
Still need: $1,548.11

Added 2 days at Art of Animation little mermaid rooms, paid deposit of
$174.38 (no OOP here either- trying to pay for this trip with Swagbucks, shopkick, etc, entirely) still need $174.38. I may upgrade this to a ticketless package with the quick service dining plan.
Update:
I did upgrade to a ticketless package with quick service dining. The total came to $561.53. I have completely paid this part of our trip off.

Magical Extras that I want to earn/ pay for with swagbucks:

Fireworks Dessert party at MK $60/adult(*4)=$240 needed
I booked this today-had to prepay with a credit card. It was $276. I will pay the credit card off with PayPal cash I can earn from swagbucks and Ibotta. I’m almost ready to cash in on Ibotta. I used my Southwest card to get the airline points. Cashed in on Ibotta, payed the amount I cashed in. $60 paid, still owe $216

In room celebration surprise for my niece-the one I want is $79
Memory Maker=$169 in advance
Starbucks spending money=$100 (at least)
Celebration cake for my niece at Chef Mickey’s=$35
(Maybe, if I get everything else paid for) In room surprise for hubby- romance pkg $120, add on 2 bathrobes @$60 each=$240 total

 

[Andrea1975]

Was up early this morning because of the free dining rumors. Hopped on to MDE at 5:30 and was able to add free dining to my existing package and saved almost $270. My vacation account is actually more than enough to cover our trip, so I'm happily banking for next year (or some other fun stuff this summer) and thrilled to have knocked the price down a bit (and will be eating fancy meals guilt free!)

Updated Budget
Airfare (for 3): $558 (paid)
Airport Parking: $119
Disney package: 6 nights at pop century, 6 day tickets, DDP $2628 ($200 paid)
OOP Tips/food: $125
Other: memory maker, souvenirs $220
Total: $3650

Total Paid: $758
Remaining to pay: ~$2900
Vacation Account Balance: $3295

 

[Tygerlilly]

Okay, I officially have my budget for the next year and a half planned out! The first trip is fairly expensive because we'll be purchasing our season passes to everything. I've also added in a generous allowance for food and misc money, which I honestly think we will end up spending half of what is in that budget. Last year we went and spent around $500 on food for the week, and since we will have a condo with a full kitchen, I expect about $250 on groceries and eating at the condo for most of our meals. I'll start doing the serious savings for this once we get back from our Gatlinburg trip in 2 weeks!


Orlando Feb/March 2019 family trip
Condo for 2 weeks: $1581
Disney Annual Passes: $2713
Universal Premium Passes: $1725
Sea World Season Passes: $1082
Food: $2000
Gas: $600
Misc Money: $2000 (souvenirs, emergency walmart trips, etc)
Total: $11,671

Orlando November 2019 for honeymoon
Disney tickets: paid already
Universal tickets: paid already
Sea World tickets: paid already
Hotels or condo for a week: estimating about $2000
Food: $2000
Gas: $300 (driving kids to MIL's for the week, then flying out of Chicago)
Additional hotel in the Keys for 2 nights: $500
Flights: $700
Misc Money: $2000
Total: $7,500

Orlando Feb/March 2020 family trip
Disney tickets: paid already
Universal tickets: paid already
Sea World tickets: paid already
Condo for the week (will budget for 2 weeks): $1500
Food: $1500
Gas: $600
Misc Money: $2000
Total: $5,600

 

[disney-inspired]

I've pretty much nailed down the cost for my portion of our January 2019 trip.
These prices are only accurate if the Armed Forces Salute military discount is renewed for 2019. Fingers crossed!

January 2019 Trip

Hotel:
1 night @ Art of Animation suite - $63.99 (including tax)
5 nights @ AKL 1-bedroom Villa - $485.16 (including tax)
Hotel Total: $549.15

Transportation:
RT Airfare from LAX to MCO - $350 (estimated)

Food:
Disney Dining Plan for 6 nights - $452.94 (using 2018 prices)

Ticket:
5 day military parkhopper - $246.00 (using 2018 prices)

Extras:
Souvenirs $500
(this is really anything extra - souvenirs, extra alcoholic drinks, etc).

Total: ~$2100

I'm splitting the 1-bedroom villa with two other paying parties. Since my sister's family takes up most of the room, they are paying an even half of the room cost and I'm splitting the other half with my younger sister. The room and the tickets are awesome with the military discount and sharing the cost. It really is the only way we will ever be able to stay at a Deluxe resort. Waiting impatiently for 2019 packages and then the official renewal note for AFS.

Needed: $2100
Saved: $700
Still Need: $1400
I'm saving $100 from each paycheck and should have the total saved by October 2018.

 

[hsmamato2]

So amending my budget slightly to account for adding a couple of days to each ticket....cost 255 for 3 tix,which is offset by purchasing dis gc at a discount. (average discount on gc purchases are between 10-19% so another $216 for adding some days. overall calculations currently stand at 10 days/4 'adults'- Hotel is $224,Uber is approx $60,$850 for food,airfare $45,1127 for park tix, deduct this years travel credit ($300) = approx. $2006.00 total. (oh,add dogsitting but whatever lol) that means approx. $50 per person,per day for LOTS of family fun!!! (counting for 9 nights 10 days total)

Amended again to say that adding 3 days to our park tix cost about $93 for 3 people! so saved some $$$ there after all! (nice surprise) But I spent a bit extra on a new necklace and some food I just had to buy.... It's hard to keep track of exact #'s since I'm using discounted gc's for everything. (so that extra $93 was actually less money than that)

 

[margievis]

Updates in blue:

June New York trip:
Needed : $2,687
Saved/paid: $2404
Still need: $283
I’m fundraising for spending money, but may need to take at least $200 cash

August Disney Trip:
Needed: $3084.59 after adding 2 days to our park hoppers
Saved/paid: $1,586.48(No OOP- all swagbucks, Ibotta, and other savings apps)
Still need: $1,498.11( so nice to see this number smaller than the amount paid!)

Added 2 days at Art of Animation little mermaid rooms, paid deposit of
$174.38 (no OOP here either- trying to pay for this trip with Swagbucks, shopkick, etc, entirely) still need $174.38. I may upgrade this to a ticketless package with the quick service dining plan.
Update:
I did upgrade to a ticketless package with quick service dining. The total came to $561.53. I have completely paid this part of our trip off.

Magical Extras that I want to earn/ pay for with swagbucks:

Fireworks Dessert party at MK $60/adult(*4)=$240 needed
I booked this today-had to prepay with a credit card. It was $276. I will pay the credit card off with PayPal cash I can earn from swagbucks and Ibotta. I used my Southwest card to get the airline points. I have paid $85.48 from Ibotta/PayPal from SB so far, still owe $190.52

In room celebration surprise for my niece-the one I want is $79
Memory Maker=$169 in advance
Starbucks spending money=$100 (at least)
Celebration cake for my niece at Chef Mickey’s=$35
(Maybe, if I get everything else paid for) In room surprise for hubby- romance pkg $120, add on 2 bathrobes @$60 each=$240 total

 

[margievis]

Updates in blue:

June New York trip:
Needed : $2,687
Saved/paid: $2404
Still need: $283
I’m fundraising for spending money, but may need to take at least $200 cash

August Disney Trip:
Needed: $3084.59 after adding 2 days to our park hoppers
Saved/paid: $1,586.48 (No OOP- all swagbucks, Ibotta, and other savings apps)
Still need: $1,498.11( so nice to see this number smaller than the amount paid!)

Added 2 days at Art of Animation little mermaid rooms, paid deposit of
$174.38 (no OOP here either- trying to pay for this trip with Swagbucks, shopkick, etc, entirely) still need $174.38. I may upgrade this to a ticketless package with the quick service dining plan.
Update:
I did upgrade to a ticketless package with quick service dining. The total came to $561.53. I have completely paid this part of our trip off.

Magical Extras that I want to earn/ pay for with swagbucks:

Fireworks Dessert party at MK $60/adult(*4)=$240 needed
I booked this today-had to prepay with a credit card. It was $276. I will pay the credit card off with PayPal cash I can earn from swagbucks and Ibotta. I used my Southwest card to get the airline points. I have paid $187.50 from Ibotta/PayPal from SB so far, still owe $88.50

In room celebration surprise for my niece-the one I want is $79
Memory Maker=$169 in advance
Starbucks spending money=$100 (at least)
Celebration cake for my niece at Chef Mickey’s=$35
(Maybe, if I get everything else paid for) In room surprise for hubby- romance pkg $120, add on 2 bathrobes @$60 each=$240 total[/QUOTE]

 

[tink89]

$100 Disney Referral Bonus ( I post my referral link on some sites and i guess people have been using it.)
$280 Disney Reward Dollars
$50 Disney Gift card (Bought with ebates paypal in Feb.)
$60 Disney gift card( Bought with Best buy/Paypal gift card earned through SB).
$205 in SB( will trade for paypal/BB and get Disney Gift card)
$25 in Receipt hog( will have $40 before December)
$25 in Shopkick ( will try for $50 but probably not attainable)
$16 in checkout 51 ( need $20 to cash out)
$23 in Ibotta (will cash out in November)
$12 in ebates ( will probably increase to at least $50 by November since i do a lot of online shopping.)

Just wanted to update my balances.
Previous total was $796
New Total$1171
$200 Disney Referral bonus
$295 Disney Reward Dollars
$400 in Disney GC
$145 in SB
$25 in Receipt Hog
$16 Check out 51
$25 Ibotta
$50 My points
$15 Fetch

Made around $300 in 1.5 months. Plus i am waiting on around $200 pending credits both me and DH SB accounts.

 

[margievis]

Updates in blue:

June New York trip:
Needed : $2,687
Saved/paid:$2,687
Still need: $0
I’m fundraising for spending money, but may need to take at least $200 cash

August Disney Trip:
Needed: $3084.59 after adding 2 days to our park hoppers
Saved/paid: $1,636.48 (No OOP- all swagbucks, Ibotta, and other savings apps)
Still need: $1,448.11

Added 2 days at Art of Animation little mermaid rooms, paid deposit of
$174.38 (no OOP here either- trying to pay for this trip with Swagbucks, shopkick, etc, entirely) still need $174.38. I may upgrade this to a ticketless package with the quick service dining plan.
Update:
I did upgrade to a ticketless package with quick service dining. The total came to $561.53. I have completely paid this part of our trip off.

Magical Extras that I want to earn/ pay for with swagbucks:

Fireworks Dessert party at MK $60/adult(*4)=$240 needed
I booked this today-had to prepay with a credit card. It was $276. I will pay the credit card off with PayPal cash I can earn from swagbucks and Ibotta. I used my Southwest card to get the airline points. I have paid $187.50 from Ibotta/PayPal from SB so far, still owe $88.50

In room celebration surprise for my niece-the one I want is $79
Memory Maker=$169 in advance
Starbucks spending money=$100 (at least)
Celebration cake for my niece at Chef Mickey’s=$35
(Maybe, if I get everything else paid for) In room surprise for hubby- romance pkg $120, add on 2 bathrobes @$60 each=$240 total

 

[StacyStrong]

Budget: Hemorrhage all the money and do all the things because I TURN 30 A MONTH AFTER MY TRIP. TREATYOSELF

 

[seeingstars]

I've never posted an update since my initial post so here goes!

I successfully paid for my mother/daughter trip in May for about $120 out of pocket-which was mainly souvenirs.

Total price for the May trip was $2116-out of pocket $120

We have revamped our trip for September. We are booked at POP September 1-14 in a standard room with free QS dining. We have decided to do 10 day tickets with PH+. Looking to pay for this trip with as little out of pocket as possible.

Package: $3785
Airfare: $1090
Tours: $300
Memory Maker: $169
Total: $5244

Disney Gift Cards: $847
Plasma Money: $980
Online panels and apps: $928
Cash: $560
Total: $3315

Needed: $5244
On hand: $3315

$1929 out of pocket as of right now-I'm feeling pretty good about this. I need to get back into Swagbucks. Just gotta keep chugging along. Every little bit helps!

 

[margievis]

Updates in blue:

June New York trip:
Needed : $2,687
Saved/paid:$2,687
Still need: $0
I’m fundraising for spending money, but may need to take at least $200 cash

August Disney Trip:
Needed: $3084.59 after adding 2 days to our park hoppers/$2996.84 after room cost adjustment
Saved/paid: $1,636.48 (No OOP- all swagbucks, Ibotta, and other savings apps)
Got a phone call from Disney this morning. The pool will be under refurbishment while we are there, so they are taking the cost of our “pool view” rooms down to standard view cost. So a small savings for us, although I’m not sure if I’m happy about not being able to use Uzima pool.
Still need: $1,360.36

Added 2 days at Art of Animation little mermaid rooms, paid deposit of
$174.38 (no OOP here either- trying to pay for this trip with Swagbucks, shopkick, etc, entirely) still need $174.38. I may upgrade this to a ticketless package with the quick service dining plan.
Update:
I did upgrade to a ticketless package with quick service dining. The total came to $561.53. I have completely paid this part of our trip off.

Magical Extras that I want to earn/ pay for with swagbucks:

Fireworks Dessert party at MK $60/adult(*4)=$240 needed
I booked this today-had to prepay with a credit card. It was $276. I will pay the credit card off with PayPal cash I can earn from swagbucks and Ibotta. I used my Southwest card to get the airline points. I have paid $187.50 from Ibotta/PayPal from SB so far, still owe $88.50

In room celebration surprise for my niece-the one I want is $79
Memory Maker=$169 in advance
Starbucks spending money=$100 (at least)
Celebration cake for my niece at Chef Mickey’s=$35
(Maybe, if I get everything else paid for) In room surprise for hubby- romance pkg $120, add on 2 bathrobes @$60 each=$240 total

 

[Lvsdisney]

It's been a week since we've returned from Disney
But we had an AMAZING time!! I've actually been telling people that this trip was PERFECT so I don't think I can ever go back to Disney again since any other trip would pale in comparison. But really, we all know better than that!

So here is my final tally, and only out of pocket expense has been counted. Anything I paid for with money from SB, free GCs, Disney Visa Rewards, etc were not counted as I consider all of that money "free" (read: didn't come from a paycheck).

Hotel:
1 Night ASMu $86.36 (used some Disney Visa points toward price)
5 Night BWV Standard 2 Bedroom $0 (for our share, originally $1000)

Flights:
SW RT flight using RR points, Fees, and EBCI for 4 one-way: $104.80

Transportation:
Parking at Airport: $77

Tickets:
2 Adult, 2 Child 6 day non-hoppers: $321.86 (primarily used Disney Visa Reward points)

Food/Groceries:
Groceries: $188.31
Food: $0 (used free GCs and Disney Visa Points as well as a rebate Visa for all food purchases, came home with $11 left on the Visa!)

Dog Care: $59.95, bought my sister and her kids mouse ears (what they asked for!) prior to leaving (using a discount code and free shipping from Disney store!)

Souvenirs:
Minnie Ornament: $27
Memory Maker: $93.50 (used some Disney Visa Reward points toward the purchase)

Total OOP: $958!!!!! I did it!! I got my total OOP to be less than $1000 and I owe a HUGE thanks to this board for all the tips and tricks to make that happen!!

Now to start working on saving for the next trip....

 

[lookame]

We're not going in 2018 but Jan 2019 I hope it's cool to drop my budget and my planning here.
So we're doing a split stay Jan 4th-7th we'll be staying at Art of Animation and Jan 7th-12th we'll be staying at Pop.
So here's the deets
3 nights at Art of Animation mermaid room-$534.39
5 nights at Pop Century standard room- $748.14

We'll be driving so
$104 for overnight parking at both hotels
$600 to rent a car (possibly, may use my car)
$500 for tolls and gas

Tickets/dining/other
4 days at Disney parks using AAA discount- $1502.61
The other option is 5 park days(this is a big maybe)-$1564.23
Memory Maker-$169
1 day park-to-park for Universal- $675
--$20 to park at Universal
Food-$1600
Souvenirs- $1000

Altogether the cost comes up to about $7453.14 for 4 Disney park days

Now I have-
$825 in my bank account
$379.18- Disney gift cards
$3510 in cash
$185.63 paid on Art of Animation
$129.38 paid on Pop Century

So that leaves $2423.95 needing to be saved over the next 7 or 8 months. So how do I fill this gap...it's a little difficult. So every paycheck if we have a surplus of money we plan to set it aside. If we're lucky that's $100 every two weeks. Also, if we're lucky my ex will pay child support which can be any amount but that will be set aside as well. Finally my husband donates plasma twice a week. The first donation is he gets between $20 and $30. He uses 10 for gas and then gives me the extra (so 10or 20) the second time he donates he typically gets 40 but his donation places has bonuses periodically so his second payout can be 50, 60, 75 or sometimes a big bonus of 100 or more. While we can't souly rely on this as sometimes his protein is to low but it is pretty consistent. Another thing is we have a trip planned at the end of the month which we have around $900 saved for and whatever we don't use on food and whatnot we can set that aside as well. Finally if we can't make the entire 2500 left then we can drop some or even all the ADR we have planned and eat items we purchase at the grocery or fast food off site.

 

[kristenrice]

The gift card budget took a bit of a hit last month when I was sitting on $75 in BB gift cards that could suddenly no longer be converted into Disney gift cards. I was able to recover it nicely with an extra step. I sold the $75 BB gift cards to Cardpool and received $67.13 for them. Then, I cashed out another $25 in SB to PayPal. So, today, I will be taking (2) QR codes to BB and buying (2) $50 Disney gift cards. I will have to pay $7.87 extra (not the "free" money) but I should earn $12 back in SB so overall, I am still coming out ahead So what I thought was going to be a major blow ended up being just a little glitch. Now, I'm just going back to cashing out my SB to Target for the $25 discounted card each month and any extra will go to PayPal.

Here's where the gift card budget is sitting right now...
Total Needed: $1600
Total Acquired: $1503.19
STILL NEED TO EARN...$96.81 (*but I added $150 as a "cushion" so my basic budget has already been met)

Every time I look at this, it flabbergasts me! I cannot believe that I have earned almost $1600 in FREE money. These gift cards are going to give us the ultimate Disney FREE DINING experience.

To break it down a little further, here is some of our dining plans so far...
Saturday: Planning to do the Parisian Luncheon at the F&W festival if it is offered this year ($175) but if it is not, I have a dinner reservation booked for us at the Yachtsman Steakhouse which should be the same cost, probably less.
Sunday: Lunch at the 50's Prime Time Cafe, sharing 1 appetizer, 2 entrees, 1 dessert and 3 sodas ($75)
Monday: Hoop-Dee-Do Revue, Category 1, late show ($180)
Tuesday: Lunch at Sanaa, bread service, (3) sandwiches, (3) drinks...($75)..Still trying for a dinner ADR at BOG ($170)
Wednesday: Member Night dinner at Splitsville ($150)
Thursday: Dinner at Jiko, sharing 2 appetizer, 2 entrees, 1 dessert and 3 sodas ($150)
Friday: Breakfast at Boma ($75)

Total TS Meal Cost (as planned): $880
Total remaining Dining budget: $320

We should have no problem eating around these meals for $40/day. We are "snackers"...if we get hungry, we will grab a pretzel and share it, or a Dole Whip and share it. We would easily split a single CS meal with maybe an extra side between the three of us and it would be a meal. We will have our groceries in the room for all of our breakfasts and we will have snacks with us too. This is all based on the original $1200 that I have as my "base" budget. If I can get that extra $150, we will have a nice cushion to use at the F&W festival booths if the girls decide they want to hit them up this year. It's one of my favorite things to do, but I am not going to force it on them if they are not interested.

 

[lookame]

Balance updates
$112 my bank account
$734.18-Disney GC
$4164- Cash
$50-Paypal
$24.33-Visa rewards
$19.67-change jar

$185.63 -paid
$129.38- Paid

Total saved is $5419.19
We need- $2035.49 still for food and souvieners everything else is paid for (and we have 564.51 towards food