Couponing to Disney

Last week I returned from a trip to Florida with my family of four. I want to express my thanks to Kristin for the SavEars group. She made our 10-day trip from Ohio a reality by introducing me to Swagbucks and numerous other savings websites and deals.

Through Kristin, I learned about Swagbucks and joined in January 2016. This month (July 2017) I hit the $2,000 earned mark. I find that amazing and I am so thankful for everyone in SavEars who offers tips to help with Swagbucks.

I had planned to take my family to Florida in 2019 or 2020, but when money started coming in from my Swagbucks earnings and then I won $500 from a Ricola text sweepstakes, we decided we could do it this year. I started planning last summer and kept everything a secret from my kids, ages 5 and 9, until we were in the van leaving for vacation.

By earning money through Swagbucks and special interest groups that I was invited into because of Swagbucks, we visited Clearwater, LEGOland, EPCOT and Disney Springs and we stayed at the All-Star Music Resort for two nights. We were able to stay the night at the LEGOland hotel for the Fourth of July and had gift cards for many of the restaurants we visited on our trip.

I am a SavEar at heart so this group fits me so well. I save all-year long and am known by friends and family for my love of Disney and ability to stretch a buck. I am unbelievably thankful Kristin mentioned visiting Orlando Premium Outlet’s Disney Store Outlet. I usually scrimp and save and never buy myself anything. You would have thought I was a millionaire the way I was scooping up merchandise. I got Christmas shopping done, bought souvenirs for all of us and left feeling amazing.  I paid for it ALL with my Disney Gift Cards earned by converting Swagbucks points into Walmart and Sam’s Club cards and then cashing those in at Sam’s for discounted Disney Gift Cards.

To help with even more saving, I use other savings-related apps but Swagbucks is by far my best earner. I also take advantage of credit card categories and bought gas gift cards when we would earn 5% cash back instead of 1%. We hold an annual garage sale and that money all goes to our vacation fund.

At Kristin’s referral I went through Kari O’Dell from Destinations in Florida to book my room. I had originally booked a regular room at All-Star Movies but when a deal came up, she was able to move us to a preferred room at All-Star Music AND save us $30! Without the SavEars group I never would have thought to go through a travel agent, especially since we were just staying two nights.

We would not have been able to do our vacation this soon without Kristin and this group. We are still planning a 5-6 day Disney trip for 2020, but being able to take my daughter to see Elsa and Winter the Dolphin at Clearwater Marine Aquarium meant so much to me. To return home and not have a vacation to “pay off” feels amazing.

When we returned home, I added my remaining vacation gift card balance to my other saved Disney Gift Cards and can happily say that we won’t have too much more to save before our next trip. It was nice to take a break from saving while I was on vacation but I’m ready to get back at it. Thank you Kristin and all those who help each other in this great group.

(Thanks Jenna!)