Nabbed the change

Yep, I did it. I took all the dimes, nickels, and pennies out of the little jar we dump change in. Wasn't much there but I did wrangle $4.27. I left the quaters in there for bus fare or newspapers, and that is another $5, but not counting it! Still, I am $4.27 closer to my goal.

So I got to thinking...

and I totally forgot to subtract a paycheck of hubs from the total needed. See, we always have one paycheck a month that isn't needed for bills, and we use it to buy the things the kids need. Someone is forever outgrowing shoes, or going through a growth spurt to the extreme that ALL the pants you JUST bought her now will not button. Or for things we need for the house. But the one before a vacay is always put back for the vacay. Sooooo, I am subtracting $1200 from the total. Yes, hubs make more than that a paycheck, and will have at least one payraise in before then, but I'm saying $1200. That right there is the tickets almost! Whoohooo!

And I found a $5 that hubs put in the change jar. It went to the fund also. Did I mention the $20 from a contest I won, and the $10.13 from Social Spark? If I did, don't mind me. I didn't save anything grocery shopping this week. I actually ended up spending more than I had planned. UGH! Hate it when that happens.

How we are going to save $4500 by August without trying to hard

I do paid posts for Social Spark over on Life with 5 monkies. That will go to the trip. As of today, that is $10.13 towards the goal.

I also work with Inbox dollars. Need to check that one.

Selling unused kids clothes they have grown out of.

Savings on grocery bills. Say if I plan on spending $200 that week, and only spend $160 then that will be $40 towards the Disney vacay! It all adds up. And if we end up saving more than the $4500 then, all good. More towards souveniers or some special dinner. Or maybe for vacay 2011.

So here we go.

Planning a Disney Vacation for a family of 7 can be quite daunting. I will track our progress and goals here, to keep it in prespective.

First off, the vacation will cost us $4000. That is Disney on a budget for us. No we won't be staying on resort, because frankly I can book a villa off resort for 1/3 of the resort price for a room that would fit us. Actually more than 1/3 of the price. Plus, with the added bonus of being able to fix meals in the room, we can purchase a few groceries while we are there and save even more. This will also allow for the little ones to be able to come back to the room and nap, eat lunch, and then head back to the park.

Also, I plan to use www.restuarant.com to purchase meal gift certificates so we can eat out 3 nights during our week long stay. You can score $100 gift cert for $40 or less on their site! Huge deal!

Going by a gas calculator I found online, and using today's gas prices Gas will cost us around $300.

A 2 bedroom condo (which was nicer than the 3 bdrm villa I looked at originally) will be $750 for 8 days. But if we decide on the 3 bedroom it will be $770. So either will be good. I'll let you know when I book it.

Btw...if you are wondering, I am starting this a year before I plan on going. I know crazy!