Making the Dream Possible: How I Got Budget-Smart to Fund our Adventures
Just beginning life as a single mom in 2008 I never imagined that I could've done so many of the fun things that I have with my son. In 2016 we took the 9 day vacation of our dreams. Mind you, this was not a result of years of planning and saving. I decided we would be taking this trip in December 2015 and we vacationed over my son's fall break in October 2016. Living off of one income is extremely tricky for any single parent, but with proper planning it is possible to live a comfortable life and still fund dream vacations (or other dream purchases). In this post I'm going to explain how I made it possible to fund a Walt Disney World vacation in less than a year, but these tips apply to other dream vacations as well. It's all about knowing what's out there.
My starting point for our WDW vacation planning was research. I spent hours reading books, scouring Pinterest, Walt Disney World website, airline sites, and multiple other sites looking into costs, money saving ideas, and best time of year to travel among other things. At the time Disney had a money saving account that was free for use and earned you $20 Disney gift cards when you had saved so much. I won't elaborate on this topic because this year Disney has decided to do away with this program, which is a shame. One of the great things about this program was the ability to create a budget, set goals, and save all in one place. And, with their access to Disney info they could also help you compare costs.
Once you have done your research create a budget. A budget is so crucial to life for anyone but especially when your income is limited. Any time you plan a vacation decide how much you're willing to spend and stick to that. Decide how much you'll set aside with each paycheck. Let's say you get paid every two weeks, if you (for example) set aside $100 with each paycheck at the end of a year you'd have $2,600 saved up.
This November we are returning to WDW for Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party. We will be there for 5 nights, 6 days. Below is my budget (keep in mind I plan on the worst case scenario end of things):
$1623.15 for hotel (All Star Music Resort on Disney property) and 5 days of park tickets
$0 for transportation in Orlando-using Magical Express to and from airport and buses (free)
$600 meals
$600 extras and unexpected expenses
$68/pp flight (we found cheap flights on Priceline using Frontier Airlines)
TOTAL=$2959.15
This may seem like a lot but when you factor in nearly $400 came from freebies through savings apps, money saved selling previously loved items, spare change totaling nearly $200, tax return check, dollar round up through Acorns, and a few extra shifts at work, it didn't really make a dent in my day to day budget. The $1200 for meals and extras can easily be adjusted. If you're looking to save even more money you can take supplies to make your own meals in the hotel and/or take snacks and sandwiches into the park. There's no rule at WDW against bringing your own snacks in.
In the past I have also used the following plan to save a significant amount of money over the course of a year:
Each week set aside the amount as identified below:
Week 1: $1
Week 2: $2
Week 3: $3
Week 4: $4
Week 5: $5
Week 6: $6
Week 7: $7
Week 8: $8
Week 9: $9
Week 10: $10
Continue this until you get to week 52, where you'd be setting aside $52 for your final savings attaining a total of $1378.
That's a lot of money saved painlessly!
Here are some more of my favorite, minimal effort, ways to make and/or save extra money:
1. Ibotta: Ibotta is one of my favorite apps to use. I have earned $262.02 free money using Ibotta. When you're laying around at home, instead of playing Candy Crush or scrolling through Facebook, find shopping offers on Ibotta that you're likely to use. For example, bananas, milk, Red Baron pizzas, Cover Girl mascara, diapers, etc. Watch the videos or answer the short questions, then the offer is saved for the next time you go to the grocery store. I've found that you also make more money in bonuses if you watch for weekend shopping bonuses, especially over the holidays. Sometimes you get an extra $5 just for redeeming the offers you've saved. There are also opportunities to make extra money shopping online. You can also get extra cash for friends that you recruit. Once you go shopping you scan your receipt and identify the offers you're redeeming and usually in minutes you have the money added to your Ibotta account, which can then be traded out for cash or gift cards. I like to get Walmart gift cards to buy discounted Disney gift cards, but more about that later in the Sam's Club section.
You can sign up at http://ibotta.com/r/tfpjygs . If you use my referral code tfpjygs you get a $10 welcome bonus. Who doesn't like free money?
2. Shopkick: Shopkick is easy and fun to use. I have made $129 in gift cards by using Shopkick. You get "kicks" which are points when you complete simple tasks. One way to get kicks is by walking into a store where kicks are available. Seriously, it's that easy, just open the app and walk into the store. Another way is scanning. They have specific products listed that you get kicks for scanning. This is where I get the bulk of my kicks. You can get kicks with certain purchases as well. They like to sneak in kicks for visiting websites or viewing specific items as well. You can also get kicks for adding friends.
You can sign up at http://getsk.co/best142767 . You will automatically get 250 kicks for your first walk-in or scan when completed within 7 days.
3. Ebates: Ebates is another way to make free money. I admit this is one that I rarely use, but I don't shop online much, except around the holidays. For those of you who shop online this one would be a dream. My mom loves it, but she buys everything online. Again it's a great way to make free money, just by buying things you would already be purchasing.
Connect and sign-up here to get $10: https://go.ebat.es/imsk/L0xDELgIlH
4. Dosh: Dosh is still fairly new to me, but within minutes of signing up I had $6 in my account. Dosh gives you opportunities to make extra cash, just by swiping your debit/credit card. There's minimal effort involved. You link your cards that you regularly use, then any time you spend money at one of the Dosh merchants, like Sam's Club or Denny's, you get a percentage back in your Dosh account. Simple right?
sign up here: https://link.dosh.cash/YCLI/p9przy5IlH
5. Walgreen's Rewards: You can collect reward cash towards your Walgreen's purchases just by signing up and scanning your card at the register. Don't carry cards? No problem! Just type in your phone number at the register. Once you accumulate 5000 points you get a $5 reward to spend in store. Once again I have used this to obtain Disney gift cards to apply to our vacation balance. Free and easy! The rewards add up too especially when you use Walgreens for your prescriptions.
6. Mercari: This is not a rewards program, but a simple app that, like Ebay, helps you to sell previously loved items for cash. As my son has outgrown clothes, toys like Thomas and Friends, and shoes, I have been able to sell the items on a phone app. You post your item, choose whether you will pay shipping or buyer will pay shipping and once it's been purchased you print the label and you ship it. You can negotiate with people for a quick sale or create a firm price and stick with it, knowing that eventually it may sell. Keep in mind though, the Mercari crowd tends to be a young, hip crowd, so you may be more likely to sell your Victoria's Secret PINK items than your Lane Bryant dress. I have made good, quick money and decluttered my home just by listing items on Mercari.
sign up here: Get $10 off when you sign up with my code [UEADXA]! https://www.mercari.com/dl
7. Vindale Research: This is one of those things that admittedly is not for everyone. If you don't mind taking surveys in your free time, this one's for you. It can be time consuming and can result in your email being bombarded, but it works. I suggest setting up an email just for junk messages. I completed surveys while watching t.v. after my son went to sleep at night and received a $50 check in the mail. It's really easy to get discouraged with this one though. While the site claims you can make $5-$75 per survey, typically it's less than $1 for 20-30 minutes worth of work. Take it or leave it...
Sign up here:
8. Sam's Club gift cards:This is where I got creative. I would take all the Walmart gift cards to Sam's Club and use them to purchase discounted Disney gift cards. At Sam's you can purchase $150 in Disney gift cards for $144.98. So you save $5.02 each time you do this. It doesn't seem like much but it adds up. If you purchase $1000 in Disney gift cards to put towards your vacation you could end up getting $33.50 back. Not bad! (Also keep in mind that even if Disney is not your thing, they have other discounted gift cards for things like airlines which could be applied to your flight to wherever your dream destination is.)
9. Extra work shifts: Okay, so this one is fairly straightforward. Sometimes you have to sacrifice a little to get a little. This is not always an easy or feasible option for a single parent, but take advantage of opportunities for extra cash where you can. I am a nurse so I am blessed to have many extra work opportunities. Even when my place of employment does not have bonus shifts available, I can make a little extra by working seasonal flu shot clinics or being a substitute school nurse. (Side note here: I strongly recommend nursing as a career path, especially for single parents, the flexibility and possibilities are endless. You can work in a hospital, nursing home, clinic, school, or even work from home.)
10. Walmart Savings Catcher: once again I reiterate, take advantage of what's available! Download the app, scan your receipts, and Walmart does the legwork finding any better deals in your local area and providing you the difference in Walmart spending cash which (wait for it....) can also be used at Sam's Club for those discounted gift cards.
11. Target Cartwheel: This one takes a little more work than the Walmart Savings Catcher app, but is still simple to use and saves you money. Like Ibotta, you choose the deals that interest you and apply them to your cart like coupons. There are other ways to save at Target as well. Keep your eyes peeled around the store for sales and check your local ads. You can also sign up for a Target card, which can be used as a debit card rather than credit card, which I highly recommend, and when used saves you 5% on all Target purchases.
Sign up here: https://cartwheel.target.com/
12. Gift giving occasions: when my birthday or Christmas rolls around I know I'm bound to hear, "what do you want for...?". Over the years I have not been shy about saying Disney gift cards or cash. My family knows how happy it makes me to be able to travel and they are happy knowing they've had a hand in making it happen. My brother drew my name for our sibling gift exchange two years ago. Our spending limit is $50. So my brother knowing my love of books and travel bought me a gorgeous secondhand book as a "card" and tucked a $50 Disney gift card into the pages. I was thrilled and immediately applied it to my Disney savings. It was such a simple gift but it brought me so much joy on many levels. Of course I'd be perfectly content with no present if my loved one can't afford a gift, but when they ask be a straight shooter and say I'd love it if you'd contribute to my travels. Also, for the loved one that's adamantly opposed to gift cards/cash as a gift, suggest luggage or clothing items you can use for your trip, which will ultimately save your money for your next adventure.
13. Acorns: Acorns is a money saving investment app, that rounds up your spending with your debit card and invests your change for you. Within a few months I had $100 saved just from rounding up my change. I had no idea how much I could save that way! You can also add money to you account for extra savings. Typically the investments you make on Acorns are low risk and you can choose how aggressive you want to be with your investments, but as with any investment you have to understand it is always a gamble. I will also mention that if you plan to invest more than $5000 this is not a worthwhile way to invest because the amount they make off of you at that point increases significantly. So explore other investment options if you want to save >$5000.
Sign up here: https://acorns.com/invite/NCQV58
14. Shop at Aldi: I was an Aldi virgin up until a couple years ago. I was caught off guard when I first walked in. What?! I have to pay to use a cart?! What?! I have to not only bring my own bags, but also bag it myself?! (I know, it makes me sound like a spoiled princess). But hey, guess what? The system works. I found many items comparable to what I would find at other local grocers for significantly less. I actually did a price comparison one time to see just how much I was saving. What would have cost me easily $150 at Walmart, ended up costing me $60 at Aldi. Not bad if I do say so myself. If you can live without the fancy name on the label, you just may walk out of the grocery store with some major leftover cash in your pocket.
15. Frequent Flyer Miles: if traveling is the dream this is a great way to get flights or flight perks for free. Here's where I will also say that the best way to get miles is usually with a credit card that carries airline miles perks. I say this with a word of caution: if you are not good with money management DO NOT get a credit card. This is one of the fastest ways to spiral out of control in a debt cyclone. I have not always been great with money and made a lot of mistakes in my youth, but those mistakes have taught me a lot. These days, I have a card to collect the miles, but I refuse to use my card unless I can immediately pay the balance.
Enroll in Delta Skymiles here: https://www.delta.com/profile/enrolllanding.action
Apply here for a Delta Skymiles Credit Card (my personal favorite):
Special Offer. Earn 50,000 Bonus Miles after you spend $2,000 or more in purchases with your new Card within the first 3 months of Card Membership and a $50 statement credit after you make a Delta purchase with your new Card within your first 3 months. Earn an additional 10,000 bonus miles after you make an additional $1,000 in purchases within your first 6 months. (Expires 1/31/2018)
17 Be smart with your money: Budget, budget, budget! If money is not your strong suit and you are unsure how to get started with a budget, I strongly recommend finding a Financial Peace University in your local area. I feel that Dave Ramsey's Baby Steps system is brilliantly simple and will motivate anyone to be better with their money.
"A budget is telling your money where to go instead of wondering where it went".
-Dave Ramsey
Learn more here: https://www.daveramsey.com/fpu/
Also keep in mind this basic tip: we so often will go miles out of our way to get deals on grocery items like the buy one get one free case of soda, or a 20% off coupon at Kohl's, which is great for money saving. However, we often forget this when we are making big purchases such as cars or computers. We can tend to be kind of lazy when we hear that the difference between buying a car 30 miles away or 5 miles away is $500 and we rationalize that $500 is a small dent in the price of a car, so why go out of the way? If you'll go out of the way to save $5 why wouldn't you go out of the way to save $500? Keep this in mind when making big purchases and ignore that silly little voice in your head that makes silly rationalizations. It'll save you tons!
Got great money saving tips? Shoot me a message and share. It's great to constantly be growing and learning! :)
