This is an article written by my reader Amber on how she uses her overtime to save for her future and her future fun. The photo is of Donald getting upset with her for wearing a Mickey shirt. He also pulled the Mickey ears off her daughter’s head.
My family loves to travel, but we also want to save towards our future. But I’ve never been comfortable spending a large amount on a vacation unless we have a cushion in our savings. I’ve been “Couponing to Disney” unofficially for many years, and since finding Kristin’s site it has been so much easier. About a year ago we decided that we would like to be saving a bit more. I looked over our budget and realized that we were spending about $xxxx a month in bills, and other necessary expenses. It didn’t seem to fluctuate more than $200 in any given month. So my husband and I came up with the idea of putting anything over a certain amount directly into our savings account. Once there, 25% of that amount is added to our family trip fund.
I won’t be using my real financial information, so lets use a $1000 paycheck as an example. Say we are expecting a $900 paycheck, but because of overtime or other factors, the amount turns out to be $1000. That “extra” $100 is immediately put into savings. Once there, I divide the amount 75% towards future savings and 25% into the trip fund. It’s a guilt free way to save for travel.
Example:
$900 expected
$1000 received = $100 extra
$100 divided between regular savings and trip fund =
$75 savings
$25 trip fund
We never miss it, because we look at it as “found money”. If it had stayed in our checking account, it would have eventually been spent on who-knows-what. Since we started doing this, our trip fund has more than tripled with very little effort on our part. And it’s had no impact on our daily lives. Plus, our regular savings is growing at a faster rate, which is a relief.
Using this method we are able to save for our future and our future fun!
Amber is a stay-at-home mom currently planning her sixth trip to Disneyland. She hopes to visit Walt Disney World sometime in the next three years.