What's your money saving/Disney gift card routine?

[KSR0330]

Thanks to threads on this board, I have began using websites and shopping apps to earn money towards paying off my student loan and credit card debt (my goal over the next year) and get Disney gift cards for a short trip next spring to celebrate my accomplishment (and I'm not putting it on my credit card!). I know many others are also doing this to pay for Disney future trips, so I thought it would be fun/helpful to share our "routines".

I use Swagbucks every day. This is my biggest earner. I trade my SB for Target gift cards that I use for groceries to help offset that expense (so I have more money to put toward my debt!).

I love Shopkicks! I spend time getting walk-in kicks and scanning items. They let you trade your kicks for Disney world give cards, so that goes towards my Disney fund!

I use Ibotta. This is where I think I can do better. Today I redeemed my money back and had it put on PayPal. I then ordered a Disney gift card on the Disney site. Now I think I could have done something different to earn...something. Maybe bought on BJ's? Used Raise? I wonder if I could have purchased through Shopkicks or Swagbucks to earn through them. Anyone have a good plan for this?

Fetch Rewards. This is also easy, just scan receipts you get from the grocery store. I haven't earned enough to redeem yet, but I'll probably get a Target gift card to use on groceries or a Disney gift card.

Bing. It's only a little ($5 Target gift card is my plan), but it's easy. It only takes a few minutes each day.

That's it for me. Please share how you earn gift cards/extra money and let me know if I can be more resourceful in my earning!

 

[agavegirl1]

My methods are pretty simple. I don't shop enough for the "shopping programs". I use my Disney Visa card for everything. Even beverages at a gas station for double Disney points. I also try to put away one $20 for every ATM withdrawal I make. I just took out and counted my savings so far. $1760 in cash, $550 in Disney gift cards purchased with Disney points and $1050 in rewards dollars on my Disney redemption card. I still have 8 months to go and still need to pay off the package (double Disney points) and buy airfare. My Universal Annual passes are already paid for and I have deposits down for one night's hotel stay at Universal and my Disney package. I only go every four years and try to have it all paid for in advance.

 

[disny_luvr]

My methods are pretty simple. I don't shop enough for the "shopping programs". I use my Disney Visa card for everything. Even beverages at a gas station for double Disney points. I also try to put away one $20 for every ATM withdrawal I make. I just took out and counted my savings so far. $1760 in cash, $550 in Disney gift cards purchased with Disney points and $1050 in rewards dollars on my Disney redemption card. I still have 8 months to go and still need to pay off the package (double Disney points) and buy airfare. My Universal Annual passes are already paid for and I have deposits down for one night's hotel stay at Universal and my Disney package. I only go every four years and try to have it all paid for in advance.

I like the idea of putting aside $20 from every ATM withdrawal. I’m going to start doing that. Thanks for the tip.

Silly things I do - If I stay within my $125 weekly budget at the grocery store, I buy a $25 Disney gift card. I set aside all $1 bills that have the same letter as the first letter of each of our names. I’m participating in the 52-week saving challenge. The money I’ve saved until our trip in June will go towards souvenirs/snacks. I’m already up to $200. I also deposit $25 a pay into a CapitalOne 360 account that I use towards vacations.

 

[WDW_fan_in_TX]

I don't do anything as extravagant as y'all, but I only make about $575 every 2 weeks. It was up about $900, but I got my pay cut by 1/3 about a month ago. So my savings aren't quite as massive as everyone else's savings. But here's what I do: Every paycheck I get, I have a budget for. I budget what bills are paid, what to spend at the grocery store, etc. Whatever is left over is our "everything else" budget. That means it's our eat out budget, our entertainment budget, etc. From that, I take 2 rolls of each coin and empty them into a bucket. I also buy a $25-$40 Disney gift card and put it into the system at DisneyGiftCards.com or whatever that site is. That allows me to save a little something. I just started for this trip in December (when booked Dec. 9), and I have saved almost $200 in change and $195 in Disney GCs.

I just signed up for shop kicks last week, but our little town only has a Walmart, CVS, Walgreens and Krogers. Nothing else. We went to a nearby town (about 35 miles away) Saturday, and I loaded up on shop kicks at stores over there. I also do Swagbacks, although I've only earned about 1,300 since I signed up Jan. 2. I try to do a survey daily but I always get a few minutes in then get kicked out of the survey. It's to the point that I don't even want to do the anymore. I have a Quickrewards.net account, but never go over there. So that's about it.

 

[KSR0330]

I don't do anything as extravagant as y'all, but I only make about $575 every 2 weeks. It was up about $900, but I got my pay cut by 1/3 about a month ago. So my savings aren't quite as massive as everyone else's savings. But here's what I do: Every paycheck I get, I have a budge for. I budge what bills are paid, what to spend at the grocery store, etc. Whatever is left over is our "everything else" budget. That means it's our eat out budget, our entertainment budget, etc. From that, I take 2 rolls of each coin and empty them into a bucket. I also buy a $25-$40 Disney gift card and put it into the system at DisneyGiftCards.com or whatever that site it. That allows me to save a little something. I just started for this trip in December (when booked Dec. 9), and I have saved almost $200 in change and $195 in Disney GCs.

I just signed up for shop kicks last week, but our little town only has a Walmart, CVS, Walgreens and Krogers. Nothing else. We went to a nearby town (about 35 miles away) Saturday, and I loaded up on shop kicks at stores over there. I also do Swagbacks, although I've only earned about 1,300 since I signed up Jan. 2. I try to do a survey daily but I always get a few minutes in then get kicked out of the survey. It's to the point that I don't even want to do the anymore. I have a Quickrewards.net account, but never go over there. So that's about it.

That sounds great. I earn most of my Swagbucks by running the nCrave videos. There's a lot of great tips on the Swagbucks thread that helped me a lot.

 

[trenty]

I do:
Swagbucks
Shopkicks
Fetch
Bing
Ebates

I also may use my Discover It Card cash back to buy discounted gift cards that I can then use to get Disney Gift cards. It depends on how much the above gets me before my trip.

I also do erewards surveys for Southwest Points. I did enough surveys last year to earn me free flights this year for my family of 3 (although I do have the companion pass from CC spend - so I actually only had to "buy" two plane tickets.)

 

[DisneyHardin]

My Disney gift cards are part of my grocery budget. I buy at $25 card every week when I shop. I also do tons of the deals at Target where if you buy certain items you earn a $5 gift card. I then save up those Target cards and exchange them for a Disney card when I have $50 worth (my Target doesn't usually have $25 cards, so I have to wait and do the $50s).

 

[comicguy]

Like the PP, I buy a 50 Disney gift card every time I go grocery shopping. It makes things so simple, instant 2600 per year for vacation without a second thought!

 

[oddjob701]

I do:
Swagbucks
Shopkicks
Fetch
Bing
Ebates

I also may use my Discover It Card cash back to buy discounted gift cards that I can then use to get Disney Gift cards. It depends on how much the above gets me before my trip.

I also do erewards surveys for Southwest Points. I did enough surveys last year to earn me free flights this year for my family of 3 (although I do have the companion pass from CC spend - so I actually only had to "buy" two plane tickets.)

Which gift card can you buy off Discover that allows you to buy Disney Gift Cards? I have been saving my redemption until I figured something out.

 

[MickeyMouseCD524]

I have like about 5 bank accounts that I keep track of. But every week I take $100 out of the account that my paycheck is deposited into and transfer that into my "spending account" so it's the debit card I go eat out on and will shop on, I also have 1 or 2 monthly charges that go through on it. At the end of the week whatever is left over, I buy the highest Disney gift card I can get. Usually it's $50 but sometimes it's more, and I put the change into the saving account I have to hopefully buy a house one day. So example: I went away for the long weekend and have $27.40 in the account now. And I give myself my spending allowance on Tuesdays so I'll move $100 over tonight and then buy a $25 gift card and put the $2.40 in my savings. Seems like a lot but it works for me.

I also Swagbucks and ebates it a lot. And I started doing Dabbl cause you can redeem for Disney GCs. And sometimes I'll try my luck at the Cash Show.

 

[trenty]

Which gift card can you buy off Discover that allows you to buy Disney Gift Cards? I have been saving my redemption until I figured something out.

I have been told that it should work at CVS, but haven't tried it yet. I figure I shop there anyway, so when I have a gift card I can buy what I need and just add the Disney gift card.

Discover it also has Landry's and Rainforest gift cards if you plan to eat at Rainforest or T-Rex.

This is my secondary strategy - only going to use it depending on how many giftcards I can get from Swagbucks, Bing, Shopkicks, Fetch and Mypoints....

 

[trenty]

I have like about 5 bank accounts that I keep track of. But every week I take $100 out of the account that my paycheck is deposited into and transfer that into my "spending account" so it's the debit card I go eat out on and will shop on, I also have 1 or 2 monthly charges that go through on it. At the end of the week whatever is left over, I buy the highest Disney gift card I can get. Usually it's $50 but sometimes it's more, and I put the change into the saving account I have to hopefully buy a house one day. So example: I went away for the long weekend and have $27.40 in the account now. And I give myself my spending allowance on Tuesdays so I'll move $100 over tonight and then buy a $25 gift card and put the $2.40 in my savings. Seems like a lot but it works for me.

I also Swagbucks and ebates it a lot. And I started doing Dabbl cause you can redeem for Disney GCs. And sometimes I'll try my luck at the Cash Show.

What is Dabbl?

 

[MickeyMouseCD524]

What is Dabbl?

It's an app you can download on your phone. It's all 5 min surveys but you don't get typed out of any of them. They really just show you an ad and ask you 5 or 6 multiple choice questions. I really like I just wish they had more cause I could sit there all day on those. They're new so there's not a ton but I check every few days. I have $3 so far and you can cash out at $10 for a Disney Gift Card.

 

[trenty]

It's an app you can download on your phone. It's all 5 min surveys but you don't get typed out of any of them. They really just show you an ad and ask you 5 or 6 multiple choice questions. I really like I just wish they had more cause I could sit there all day on those. They're new so there's not a ton but I check every few days. I have $3 so far and you can cash out at $10 for a Disney Gift Card.

Thanks. I downloaded it and there were only two things to do - a video and some questions. Easy enough but only made .45. Hopefully they will add more to do.

 

[trenty]

Not loving shopkicks but will keep it up at least until my trip this summer. Hopefully I will earn enough to get at least a $25 Disney Gift card. Only made 442 kicks since joining on Feb 5.

Loving Fetch - joined Feb 17 - already earned 1139 points. I should be able to get at least one $25 gift card before my trip this summer, hopefully two.

Swagbucks is my biggest earner though - focusing most of my energy there.

 

[MickeyMouseCD524]

Thanks. I downloaded it and there were only two things to do - a video and some questions. Easy enough but only made .45. Hopefully they will add more to do.

Yeah they replenish it about every other day. But they are new so it's not a lot. But if it continues to grow. I might ditch Swagbucks for it.

 

[trenty]

Yeah they replenish it about every other day. But they are new so it's not a lot. But if it continues to grow. I might ditch Swagbucks for it.

ok. I will keep it for now. Thanks for the info.