Your Disney Fund

If you get paid every 2 weeks on your job, you actually end up with what I call 2 bonus paychecks per year. This is because your budget is set on being paid twice per month to cover your bills. If you stick to the budget religiously, you will end up with 2 bonus paychecks during the year. Our bonus paychecks fall in May and November.

If you get paid weekly, you will end up with a bonus paycheck in the months with 5 Fridays. In 2012, that is March, June, August and November.

When you get your bonus paycheck, you can use it for whatever works best for your family. Here are a few ideas:

• Add it to your savings/emergency fund
• Pay extra on your debt
• Pay extra on your mortgage
• Add it to your fund
• Use it to pay for Christmas gifts

We usually use our November bonus paycheck to cover Christmas expenses. The May bonus check goes into savings.

Be sure to read about all the ways to grow your fund!

This is a guest post from my friend Tabitha who blogs at Saving Towards a Better Life. She eliminated cable and was very surprised to find that she doesn’t mind living without it. If you think you can live without cable, it would be a great way to add to your fund!

So, after my husband went through his second job change in a year for an even lower salary, we had to take a hard look at our budget.  The only thing we had not cut back on was cable/satellite TV.  We had the bare bones package, with DVR and an additional receiver – this was costing us $80/month.  We had DirecTV and they have a great offer for those not sure if they’re ready to take the full plunge into no TV.  You can “suspend” your service for up to 6 months.  This is what we did – hoping that the no TV situation would be temporary until we got back on our feet.

Now, just because we aren’t paying a DirecTV bill anymore doesn’t mean we don’t watch TV anymore.  Here’s how we survive:

Before we turned off our service, I DVRed a lot of my son’s favorite cartoons. Even though we turned our service off, everything on our DVR is saved (after all, it’s just a hard drive like in your computer.)  We can access everything saved on it.

We turned our service off the beginning of December 2010, so when people started asking what to get my son for Christmas, I suggested several of his favorite cartoon series’ on DVDs.  He has a suffecient library of things to watch and I don’t have to worry about him being innundated with commercials for the hottest toy, junk food or another TV show I don’t want him watching.

I still watch all my favorite shows on the network websites. I watch Grey’s Anatomy on ABC.com and House on Fox.com.  Yes, I do have wait before it’s posted – some shows are posted the next day others run a week behind.  Either way, it’s not the end of the world to have to wait.  My co-worker that watches Grey’s Anatomy knows not to come in on Fridays talking about it – we have our recap conversation on Mondays.

One word: Netflix.  For around $8 a month we have access to hundreds (maybe even thousands) of movies and TV shows.  Eight seasons of 24 for me and every Thomas the Train movie my son could ever want to watch.  Plus we can have out one DVD at a time.  (Some movies and seasons of TV shows are available only on DVD right when they come out.)  So we can have a movie out or I can catch up on more recent episodes of shows (right now I’m watching NUMB3RS.)  $8 dollars versus $80 – much more reasonable expense!

So what about those things you need TV for, like news or weather reports?

News – is readily available online.  I can even still watch my favorite news show, The O’Reilly Factor on the Fox News site.  I follow Fox News on Facebook so I get news updates.  Plus, I listen to a lot of talk radio.

Weather – I use the Weather Channel Desktop when I need to check the coming forecast.  Plus, just about every radio station does the weather every 15 minutes in the morning so I get the days high and chance of rain – which is all I really need so I know how to dress.

So just because we don’t have cable – we haven’t completely cut ourselves off from civilization.  It is possible to live without TV.  And even with all the other ways to watch TV, now that we don’t have satellite service we watch a lot less TV.  It’s not on just for background noise anymore which is peaceful and I don’t get sucked in to watching a Saturday afternoon marathon of a bad reality series when I should be doing something else.

And here’s her update:

We disconnected our satellite service at the beginning of December 2010. Which means we have been without service for 14 months! When we disconnected, our bill was almost $80 a month (when we first got it, we paid around $65 and over the years the would increase the package or additional receiver fee by a few dollars – I have no doubt that we’d probably be paying more than $80 now because I’m sure it’s increased over the last 14 months).

But if you take the $80 we were paying and multiply it by the 14 months that we haven’t paid it, you will see that we have SAVED $1120! That’s a nice chunk of change! If I let myself think about it too long, I get MAD at myself for all the years we SPENT all that money on satellite!

Be sure to check out all the ways to add to your fund!

My kids and nephew at Disney in 2011.

If you are in debt or live paycheck to paycheck, Couponing your way to Disney (or the goal of saving money for something you thought you couldn’t afford) might seem completely out of reach, but it’s not. It may take you longer than someone who is debt-free or someone who has extra income to pad their fund, but you will reach your goal eventually!

Here’s why you can Coupon to Disney even if you are in debt:

#1 – By Couponing to Disney you won’t be adding to your debt by taking a vacation. Insead, you can grow your fund by finding the CASH in your budget to pay for a trip to Disney. While it may take you longer, by not charging it on a credit card you’ll save yourself months or years paying it off. We have paid cash for ALL of our Disney vacations.

#2 – You won’t be sacrificing your bills by Couponing to Disney. I don’t recommend that you take a specific amount out of each paycheck or getting a second job to grow your fund. It is about finding the money you haven’t accounted for/earmarked for other areas of your budget.

#3 – You won’t be putting off resolving your debt. I feel that a Disney vacation shouldn’t involve you sacrificing your credit or your livelihood. If you get unexpected money (I call this found money), don’t put it all in your fund. Take a look at your budget and delegate that money to the area that needs it the most. You could always choose to add just a small percentage of all found money to your fund and use the rest to pay off your debt/build your savings.

So what should you do if you are in debt and you want to Coupon to Disney? I highly recommend that you pick up the book Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey from your local library. This book completely changed our lives and the way we use our money. It helped us to get on track, get out of debt (except for our mortgage) and build our savings.

Remember, Couponing to Disney is all about saving money you would have spent otherwise. It’s about finding money left in your grocery budget that you would have spent if you weren’t couponing. It’s about finding creative ways to save and make money like doing rebates, surveys and more. Designating these savings & earnings toward your fund gives you a great incentive to follow through- since you are working towards paying for something you thought was out of your reach.

Ready to learn how to Coupon to Disney? Be sure to read the Start Here guide.

Head’s up: If you leave a comment that another reader might find to be rude or condescending, it will be removed. Everyone needs the tools and advice to make the best decision for their family. While one person might view being debt free as the best thing for their family, another might view having the memories from a vacation with their family as being the best thing. You do not know what someone’s life is like until you live it. They might have a family member who is suffering from a chronic illness or a child who has medical issues that will get worse with time and creating memories with them might be worth more to them then being debt free. It is my personal goal to give everyone the tools and advice they need to fulfill their dreams without adding an additional financial burden.

Having a budget is a critical way to keep your family’s finances in order. It doesn’t matter if you are Couponing to Disney, Couponing to Whatever or just Couponing to Coupon, you need a budget. There are lots of ways to make a budget, but here’s the easiest way I have found.

Step One

Take a piece of paper or a notebook and write down every single bill you have, the date the bill is due and the amount of the bill. It is best to put the list in order by due date (bills due on the 1st down to bills due on the 30th). Don’t forget the little things like Netflix, gym membership, etc. You might want to pull a couple month’s worth of bank statements to make sure you don’t miss a bill. Also for bills that fluctuate like power or water, write down the average amount of bill you expect to pay. Hopefully the bill will be less than you figure and you can put the difference in your fund!

Lower your existing bills (more here)

Step Two

Write down the bare minimum you must have for the following items:

• Groceries and Eating Out
• Gas
• Misc Expenses (like haircuts, oil changes, clothing, entertainment, after school sports, home repairs, etc)

Step Three

Write down all your paychecks, the date you get paid and the estimated amount for the next 6 months. If you aren’t on salary, write down the average amount of your paycheck. Just be sure you don’t over estimate!

Step Four

On a new piece of paper, start writing down your pay dates for the next 6 months and the amounts in columns. It should look something like this (the example is someone who gets paid every 2 weeks and makes $1,000 per paycheck):

June 1st ($1000)

(skip at least 10 lines)

June 15th ($1000)

(skip at least 10 lines)

and so on….

Step 5

Start with the amount you need for groceries and gas and deduct it from your paycheck.

Then start with bill #1 and write it under the paycheck that you will use to pay it. Write the amount of the paycheck that is left after paying the bill next to it. Like this:

June 1st ($1000)

Groceries – $300 ($700)
Gas – $100 ($600)
Water bill – $50 ($550)
Power bill – $150 ($400)
Insurance – $90 ($310)
Car Payment – $200 ($110)

Continue to do this for all your bills for the next 6 months. I know 6 months is a long time to think about, but you are going to feel great once you have this finished and you know how much money is left after you pay your bills.

And then you need to stick to your budget! That is the most important part about making a monthly budget. 

Option

My husband gets paid every other Thursday. Instead of taking our mortgage out of one of his paychecks, I divided it in half and take half out of each of his paychecks. Because he has 26 paychecks and we only need the mortgage taken out of 24 of them, twice a year we get what I call a ‘bonus paycheck’. It happens to be timed just before summer and just before Christmas. I pretend like that money is going to the mortgage and still deduct that amount out of the checking account, but instead I spend it on whatever we need or save it.

Be sure to check out all the ways to add to your fund and how to get your finances in order…

One great way to build your fund is to add gift cards to it. If you follow my Disney Fund Deposits, you’ll notice that I will deposit gift cards. Here’s a break down of how I turn those gift cards into cash for the fund:

Let’s say I have a $10 CVS gift card that I earned for FREE. When the gift card arrives in the mail, I take $10 from my drug store budget envelope and replace it with the $10 CVS gift card. I then take the cash and put it in my fund.

Or let’s say I got a $10 Visa gift card via rebate. When the gift card arrives, I take $10 out of my grocery budget envelope and replace it with the $10 Visa gift card. I then take the $10 in cash and put it in my fund.

If it was a gas gift card, I would take the cash out of the gas budget envelope and put the gift card in it’s place. And so on and so forth.

If I get a Disney gift card, I just put that gift card in the fund box. Since Disney takes gift cards everywhere credit cards are accepted, I can just use it at Disney in place of cash.

Be sure to read all the post about how to grow your fund!

This is an incredible guest post from my reader Vikki.

“HOW many gift cards do you want to use to pay off your room??”

The Cast Member on the other end of the phone didn’t believe his ears when I said I planned to use SEVENTEEN gift cards to pay my room balance shortly before our family trip to Walt Disney World. Together, it took us 30 minutes to enter all of the numbers, but it was the best-paid half hour of my life!

One of my favorite “Couponing to Disney” strategies to save money for our trip is buying Disney gift cards in advance. Those 17 gift cards totaled $1350, enough to pay off my room balance. I calculate they saved me about $400.  Maybe you’ll be able to use some of these ideas to save money buying Disney gift cards before your trip:

1. Gas reward points – Kroger (and other) grocery stores offer fuel points for buying groceries and gift cards. Often the gift cards will give you twice the points. Right before school started, my Kroger was running a special deal that offered FOUR times the fuel points for buying gift cards. Under that promotion, I bought $250 in Disney gift cards and got 1000 points, enough for $1.00 off per gallon. That meant a savings of $20 for filling my van’s 20-gallon tank. Savings: Up to 8 percent.

2. School promotions — My son’s high-school marching band requires hundreds of dollars in fees, but our Kroger-brand store offers 6 percent back to his account when I buy anything (including gift cards) at the store using a gift card linked to his account. I add money to the gift card (using my Disney VISA, of course), then use the card to buy groceries and Disney gift cards. I get the fuel points mentioned above AND 6 percent into his band account for trip and uniform fees. I made over $125 in the last year for his account between groceries and gift cards. Savings: 6 percent.

3. Sales on gift cards — Twice now in the spring, I’ve seen packets of three $15 gift cards ($45) trigger a $5 Catalina coupon that you can use on your next transaction at the store. Watch the gift-card area of your grocery store for special promotions and read local money-saving blogs. Savings: 11 percent!

4. Minimum-purchase deals — Sometimes stores have coupons for $10 off of a $50 purchase, or a soda deal that only works if you spend $25. If your total is going to fall short of that magic number, buying a Disney gift card can raise your store total so you can use a dollar-off coupon or discount. In the $10 off of $50 example, you’d save 20 percent!

5. Gift card bonus packs — In the past (and hopefully again soon), Sam’s Club has offered a $100 gift card for $98.87 that included a bonus $10 Disney Store gift card. You can use the $10 bonus card to buy T-shirts, plush, or light-up toys at the Disney Store before your trip, also a money-saver itself. Savings: 10 percent.

6. Disney VISA card – 1 percent Disney cash back, $200 offer for signing up. The Disney VISA runs special offers for certain categories in certain months – make sure you watch the mail for these offers. I had an offer for 3 percent back on groceries and gasoline over a three-month period. If you can shift your spending in those categories to your Disney VISA, you can earn extra points. That’s 2 percent extra savings (plus the whopping $200 sign-up bonus).

Each time I bought gift cards with a discount or rebate, I put the cards in a safe place and transferred my extra savings to my Disney fund.  This way I slowly built my stash of gift cards and earned cash toward other trip expenses.

If you know you will be visiting a Disney park in the next year, you could park all of your savings in an account earning 1 percent or less. Or, when you find a deal on Disney gift cards, you could purchase them as you go, and save while doing it. With a $200 VISA bonus plus roughly $200 I earned buying gift cards, I saved around 30 percent!

(Thanks Vicki!)