My name is Kristin and I am a coupon addict. My coupon addiction feeds my other addiction, Disney. How are the two related you ask? Well I have learned how to use the money I save by couponing to pay for my yearly trip to Disney World. Here’s how it all began….
When I found out I was pregnant with my daughter, I started making all these elaborate plans about a fantastic trip to Disney World when she was old enough to enjoy it. Then I saw the price tag of a Disney vacation and compared that to our finances and those dreams diminished. There was no way we could afford a Disney vacation with our current budget.
It wasn’t long after my daughter was born that I started couponing. But I only used a coupon here or there, like normal couponers do. In January 2008, my New Years Resolution was to become more adamant about using coupons. I started learning everything I could about saving money. I learned how to combine coupons and sales, how to stockpile, how to use rebates and eventually how to save my family thousands of dollars a year.
I was a smart shopper for over a year before I realized we could now afford a Disney vacation. So I started planning and by May 2009, we were at Disney World. We had 8 wonderful, magical days at the parks and it was everything I had hoped for and more.
When we returned home, we decided we would start taking a yearly trip to Disney. But we didn’t have the funds to designate to another vacation. We had other things we needed to spend our income on (day to day expenses, staying out of debt and paying down our mortgage). So I decided to challenge myself to save the entire amount we needed by couponing.
So I started racking my brain to figure out how I could save this money. I had a little less than a year to save.
The first and most obvious way to me was to start saving all our loose change. I withdrawal our weekly budget in cash. Instead of making correct change, I always break a dollar and save the coins. The change goes into the Disney fund. It usually averages out to about $10 a week. That’s $520 a year! That’s 1/5th of the cost of our trip and it’s money we don’t miss!
I also save whatever is left at the end of the week from our grocery budget. This inspires us to eat out less and not buy items we don’t necessarily need. And if I came close to spending money and I resisted, I add that to the Disney fund as well.
Next I save all our found money. Found money can be anything from $1 in the dryer to an unexpected gift from a relative. It could be money earned by having a yard sell or by selling your Aunt Irma’s spoons on Ebay. If we weren’t expecting the money, it gets applied to our trip.
Another source of my fund is using rebates. Prior to saving for Disney, I was not very diligent about using every rebate available to me and there were times that I would forget to mail in my receipt and I would lose out on the rebate. So I became more dedicated and organized about rebates and now they get deposited directly into the Disney fund.
There are also lots of ways to make money online. I participate in about 10 different survey and rewards programs. It adds up over time. I usually do them while I watch TV. And the more surveys you do, the more you can make.
I also have the Disney Visa by Chase. It rewards us with 1 Disney Dollar for every $100 we charge. So we use it to pay as many of our bills as possible. While it isn’t the best rewards card there is, it gives us other Disney perks as well. So it’s worth it to us.
I have successfully couponed to 6 different Disney Vacations and we are working on our 7th!
- The 2010 Disney Fund – Saved $3223.32 in 11 months
- The 2011 Disney Fund – Saved $3512.30 in 17 months
- The 2012 Disney Fund – Saved $3739.48 in 14 months
- The 2013/2014 Disney Fund – Saved $4103.82 in 20 months
- The 2015 Disney Fund – Saved $3381 in 10 months
- The 2015-2017 Disney Fund – Saved $6,547.12 in 17 months
- 2017-2019 – Put saved money towards having fun in the Orlando area now that we are local residents
- 2020 Saving for Disney Challenge
A Disney trip is not out of your reach if you are resourceful. As the great Walt said, “If you can dream it, you can do it.”
Read more posts about me and my family and read more post about the blog.
A Disney trip is not out of your reach if you are resourceful. As the great Walt said, “If you can dream it, you can do it.”
So inspiring! I’m looking to do a Disney trip for me and my boyfriend. Hoping that following the advice laid out in this blog will help us attend the Disney World 50th event :)
Such a motivating story! I really like your writing style. Keep sharing!
I just came across your site and I’m really enjoying reading your tips to save money for Disney. I am a single mother of 2, and have only managed to save for 3 Disney trips for me and my kids. 2003, 2007 and 2011 were those trip years. I’ve been trying to save for another trip, but something always comes up. I usually end up using my tax refund for the trips. Anyway, I am once again starting to save for a trip planned for June 2016. It will be our last big trip there before I make the big move to Clermont, Fla in 2018 when my youngest graduates high school. I’m going to use your advice, and try all your tips on saving for this trip and making it as special as I can. I wanted to ask if this page is current, if you are still keeping it updated? Looking forward to leaning more about saving and budgets, Thanks!