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This post is sponsored by Glad as part of the #SAVEITSUNDAY campaign. A little while back, I mentioned that Glad had given me a $1500 educational grant as part of the its #SAVEITSUNDAY campaign to help showcase what families can do with money saved through proper food protection.
Why $1500? Well, that’s the estimated amount of money the average American household throws away in the form of wasted food every year. (I know.) (!!) Fifteen hundred dollars is a lot, you guys. Even if you’ve got a fairly high income, that’s still not pocket change, and if you’re squeaking by on a small income, then $1500 is a whole lot of pocket change! None of us would willingly throw $1500 into the trash and watch the garbage man take off with it, but that IS what we do when we throw away so much food. Admittedly, it’s not that exciting to cut the bad spots out of veggies, take fridge inventory, or turn wilted produce into soup, but $1500? That is exciting. And properly prepping and protecting your food the day you buy it is what will save help you save that $1500. My fellow #SAVEITSUNDAY blogger, Mavis, took her $1500 and bought a ton of groceries, which she donated to a local food pantry. This is a great way to see just how much food $1500 represents. I am shocked every time I reread her post and look at the pictures.
That is a LOT of food, people. I considered doing something similar with mine, but then decided to do something completely unlike me and spend it on something fun and expensive. So, um, we are going to Disney.
(Do you need a minute to collect yourselves?) We’ve tossed around the idea for years, and since our kids are getting older, we decided we’d better get on the stick and get it done before they’re off to college. (I realized yesterday that three years from now, Joshua will graduate from high school. What the what??) Now, we’re not staying in a Disney resort or anything (I haven’t completely lost my frugal mind!). We’re staying in a nearby condo that we were able to snag through my parents’ timeshare, and which is very affordable. The condo has a kitchen, which means that we don’t have to eat all of our meals out, and that alone will save us tons of money. (Because with six people, even Chik-Fil-A runs us $30 or more! And a sit-down restaurant is just crazy-pants expensive.) Also, we are driving, not flying. With six people, it makes waaay more sense to drive than fly. At first we thought we’d just do a few days at Disney (which would kind of use up the entire $1500 and then some.) But as we looked at ticket prices, it became painfully obvious that doing two or three days at Disney means you pay a premium price per day. For only about $100 more ($1725 vs. $1838), we could get five day passes instead of three day passes, which means the cost per day goes down to about $60. This made our choice kind of obvious, and we opted for the five day pass. So, we’re spending a little more than the $1500, but we’re getting five days, so, yay!
We bought our passes through Undercover Tourist, which seemed to be the best way to go. And we’re planning to use their handy-dandy crowd tracker to pick the least crowded parks for each day of the week. Also, we’re going before most public schools let out, so hopefully the crowds won’t be crazy bad. We shall see.
We’re obviously spending more than $1500 on our vacation, but if you’re a family with two parents and two children, you could buy Disney tickets for ten with the $1500 you could save by not throwing food away. Imagine all the other great things you could do and memories you can create with your family that will last a lifetime with an extra $1500! So, next time you don’t feel like eating leftovers, consider that those leftovers could add up to a spending time together on a family trip, and they might suddenly look more appealing. What kind of experiences would you create for your family with $1500? _____________ Now, I only went to Disney once, when I was about 14, so I’m quite inexperienced. Do any of you have good tips about things like what we should see, what we should skip, or the best way to use Fast Pass? What Disney things are worth spending money on and what things that are not? And feel free to throw in advice about anything else relevant to Disney as well! (If it helps, we know that we want to go to Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios, we don’t have waterpark passes, and we’re not super interested in Animal Kingdom.) |
Denise
Sunday 27th of September 2015
It is good to read how you spent your extra money. For the last few years I have saved from my grocery budget in order to go to Disney. As a child, it was my Dad's favorite place to take us kids. Dumbo is still my special place on this planet due to my pure joyful memories. We took our kids when they were tweens but I often felt guilty spending that kind of money for a one week treat. Now that we only have two older teens left at home, my husband and I have started taking yearly anniversary trips to Disney. I afford those by saving money from my grocery budget. My hubby gives me about $400 every 2 weeks for groceries and car gasoline. I put away $100 of it immediately and then try to provide fresh, healthy meals with the remaining funds.Often, I find myself with funds left over from the $300. I save those too. I save money gifts from throughout the year and leftover funds from our family vacation and Christmas budgets. We go in the fall when Disney promotes room discounts. In 2015 we stayed at Port Orleans for $119 a night. If funds are small we don't purchase park tickets. We mini golf, attend free resort tours, fish, rent bikes, attend free campfires and movies, and swim. We can both eat at Disney for $60 a day. I often hear of expensive food at Disney but haven't found that to be the case for us. Some great locations are Earl of Sandwich, French Quarter counter service, bread service at Saana Lounge (we split it, had water, ate at a great location, no Adrs needed since we ate at the bar, it cost less than $20 and we were full), Roaring Fork, Sleepy Hollow, Friar's Nook, Starring Rolls, Norway bakery, France bakery, Yak and Yeti Counter service (chicken fried rice for $4), Mr.Kamal's, Kusafiri bakery, Tune In Lounge, Yorkshire fish and chips, and I could go on. Some things we have found: We don't like ADRs. My hubby dislikes the idea of deciding 180 days ahead what he might be in the mood to eat. We don't like character dining. To us it is a waste of money to eat at high prices just to interact with characters. We can see the characters at the parks for free. $30 for a breakfast buffet or $60 for dinner is a crazy amount for us to each spend on food. There is no way I could eat that much. We like to eat when hungry and what we are in the mood for. As such I know all there is to know about the restaurants on Disney property. I'm informed. I utilize the lounges connected to table service restaurants to get the exact same food. The lounges are intimate and since we go during the fall, it is slow, very few customers. We buy Disney gift cards from Sam's. I budget us $100 a day for souvenirs, food, and activity costs. For example our next trip is for 9 days. I will buy $900 worth of Disney gift cards. It will cost me $858 as Sam's offers Disney cards at a discount when purchased in bundles of (3) $50 cards. I will put 2 cards a day in my Hubby's wallet, leaving the rest in the room safe. We know the money on the gift cards is what we have and never feel deprive. For us vacation is a time to relax. If I'm preparing food for breakfast then I'm not relaxing. It is good for me to take 1 week out of 52 to not worry about baking fresh bread, crockpots, grocery shopping, or creatively using up leftovers. I save all year so that for 1 week I can just breathe, look into my Hubby's eyes and remember my life's purpose. I take care of me that week at Disney. I cry at Dumbo as I remember the love of my Daddy and hear his words again that I am special. I'm the most beautiful thing in the world. I'm his princess. I laugh with my husband as we split many meals in a day, sampling new treats. We sleep in great rooms and experience great housekeeping and cast members. We try out new resorts although our favorite is French Quarter for the size and because home is Louisiana although not where we currently live. Their beignets are authentic, delicious, and I didn't have to spend an hour in the kitchen preparing them or cleaning up after them. That is what a vacation is for us. We stay within a reasonable budget. We put safeguards in place so that we can't overspend. We completely and totally relax. We pay Disney to meet all our room, entertainment, and food needs and turn off our phones. In 2015, my budget was $1000 total. That included, room, transportation, entertainment, meals, and souvenirs. I came home with money. We stayed 4 nights/5days. It was absolutely wonderful. It was one of our no park trips but turned out to be our most romantic trip.
A few last budget tips: We like to get the pressed pennies from locations we visited. I then mount and frame them. Pinterest has many ideas. We take our own pics. I create a Shutterfly book when we return. This year Shutterfly had there free book promotion going on. My book with pocket for paper memories of our trip was less than $10. We bring something different each year for autographs. Think outside the box: Walmart pair of white cloth shoes, a plain white t-shirt, a white plate from dollar tree, anything white... We each take a water bottle into the parks. There are not many water fountains around. You will find them near restrooms. But any counter service that provides non-bottled drinks will give you free cups of water. I refill my water bottle. I bring along powder drink mix-ins in case I feel the desire for a sweet drink. We love water so this isnt a sacrifice for us. We save sodas/teas for resorts when we can utilize our refillable mug.
Tom Newsom
Monday 9th of June 2014
Consider purchasing Disney Gift Cards. You can usually find them at Target or your grocery store. Get fuel points for buying the gift cards. Buy them with a credit card and get credit card points. But be sure to pay the credit card off or you aren't saving any money. Then when you spend money at Disney use the gift cards for food souvenirs etc.. It is like they are already paid for.
Don't try to do everything. That is not possible. Take your time and enjoy the day. The landscapes are beautiful. Attention to detail is exceptional. And the music-scapes are awesome. Listen to the music. Disney employees are called "Cast members". They are extremely helpful. Don't hesitate to ask any of them for help. Be sure to get the free photo-pass from any Disney photographer. Disney photographers will take your picture and then you can go online to see if you like it. The photo-pass photographers will take your picture with your camera too. I have lots of pictures from vacations where I am not in the picture because I was taking the picture.
It really is about making memories. I know you will have a great time.
Connie
Monday 5th of May 2014
Whatever you do, be absolutely, positively SURE to do the SOARIN' ride at Epcot as well as the ride inside the Epcot ball. The SOARIN' ride fastpass gets filled very quickly so try to get yours as soon as you are in the gate. If you take the park-hopper option on your park tickets, you could go to Epcot earlier in the day, take in the SOARIN ride and then take the monorail over to the Magic Kingdom. After the fireworks at the Magic Kingdom in the the evening, you can take the monorail back to Epcot in the evening for the amazing fireworks show there! Not to be missed!
There are tons of amazing things to do in all 4 kingdoms, not to mention the waterparks. My best advice is to not go too crazy trying to take it all in. You will only get tired and frustrated. It's better, in my opinion, to pace yourself and truly take in each experience that you do do than to rush all over.
Happy holidaying! My husband and I started to visit Disney in our early forties. We've now been there 4 times and will definitely go again.
Linda in Mass
Monday 28th of April 2014
The company I am associated with, gives us a free trip to Disney roughly every 5 years. We have been with our 2 girls 3 times to Florida and next year will be Disneyland. We never really plan what we will see. I have gotten the books from the library on the Unofficial guides with all the maps and timetables. But, I think that is too stressful for vacation. We just make a list of the must see attractions and make sure we see those. Epcot is my absolute favorite park and I could stay on Soaring all day. Get there first and also get a Fast Pass. You will want to go on it twice.
We always have a really big breakfast in the morning. We bring lunch, snacks and water with us into the parks. Then have a big dinner. Since you are driving and have a condo, you may want to bring a crockpot with you. You can then just make easy dinners that will cook all day while you are enjoying yourselves at the parks.
Also, make sure you rest during the hotest part of the day. I have seen so many kids have meltdowns in the parks because they were just too tired to walk anymore. It's not worth it, just take breaks. The shows are great also to have airconditioned breaks in the middle of the day.
Most of all, just have fun. We have gone when my kids were little (3 & 6) and teens (13 & 16). Next time we go my girls will be 21 and 18. We have had fun each time we have gone. Just enjoy the time and don't worry about all there is to see. You may not see it all but that's ok.
Kristy
Thursday 24th of April 2014
I'm a local and an annual passholder. We typically make it to the park once a week. Feel free to email me if I can answer any questions for you!