Disney!

Sure, it's the happiest place on earth, but when I said Disney did you immediately see dollar signs flash before your eyes?!  Well, never fear when my blog is near! 

Our family of four went to Disney in 2009 for seven days for less than $2,500.00. How did we do it? Let's break it down.  First, let me disclose that I am very "Type A" and spent lots of time researching, but I knew that this was going to be a huge trip for us and that we wouldn't be going back anytime soon, so I spent more time than I usually would researching for the best deals out there. 

TICKETS:
Can't get in without tickets!  Luckily I had a good resource here....my secret weapon if you will! My cousin Christie was instrumental (she's going to like that I used that specific word) in giving me a "heads up" on the best deal out there due to the fact that her and her sister and parents had gone on a Disney vacation ahead of me. So she did the leg work for me and found a great website that allowed us to buy four days and get the fifth day FREE! (my favorite word).  So follow this link: http://www.officialticketcenter.com/

Next Up...

A PLACE TO STAY!:
After much research and consideration we decided to go with renting a condo for the time we were going to be visiting "The Sunshine State."  We did this by going through www.vrbo.com. We ended up getting a three bedroom, two bath condo for six nights and seven days for $530.88.  We were only 10 minutes from all the attractions in Davenport, FL.

I would also like to mention that we stayed in Tennessee on the way home to break up the long drive. So this was an extra expense of $98.00 for the night.

View from Balcony at Condo

Condo Living Room

DRIVING vs FLYING:
We made the decision to drive. Mostly due to cost and we like road trips, but driving isn't for everyone and of course, flying is going to make your trip more expensive.  We used the website Road Trip America to calculate our gas expense in driving there. It ended up being $240.00 roundtrip.  Now, of course, this was three years ago and it is going to depend on the current gas prices. 


PARKING:
Now this will not be an expense for you if you fly and/or stay on Disney property when choosing your accommodations. At the time parking was $14.00/day, so we ended up paying $70.00 total in parking costs. You would need to check the Disney website for current parking prices.


FOOD:
My favorite part! I'm a "Foodie"...what can I say?!  We set aside $200 for food for the week. Since we were staying in the condo we ate breakfast there every morning before heading to the park.   All but one night we ate dinner out after we left Disney for the night. We brought bottled water for each of us and trail mix into the park daily (which is allowed) and we bought snacks each day.  Eating breakfast at the condo, just having snacks inside the park and eating dinner outside of Disney after we left the park for the night saved us big money in the food department. We even ordered pizza to our condo the last night we were there.  I need to mention that my kids were troopers. They didn't want to stop to eat, so the snacks we bought along the way and the trail mix worked just fine for us, but all families are different.

A DAY AT THE BEACH:
FREE! And...PRICELESS! Watching my kids run on the beach and seeing the ocean for the first time was indeed priceless. We made this stop on our way out of town to collect some last minute rays and warmth and some FREE souvenirs from nature itself - shells!  

Fun Stuff and Souvenirs:
(because I want to add it ALL up)...We took $500 in spending money with us. Some of the best souvenirs and fun things they did to celebrate their time at Disney was to get their hair done at the Disney Barber Shop in the Magic Kingdom and getting Passports in Epcot. They loved searching each country for the designated person(s) to stamp their passport. Each person they found also wrote personal notes to each of them from their country. It added so much fun to their experience at Epcot.  They also got their faces painted when we went to Animal Kingdom. This was a lot of fun for them too and provided us with some fun pics!

Disney Barber Shop Hair! (they might even sing to you while they do your hair!!!)

Disney Hair!

Hidden Mickey!

Passport Stop in Another Country

Stopping in Another Country to Get Their Passports Stamped and Signed

Passport Stop

Another Passport Stop

Face Painting at Animal Kingdom

Let's Add It All Up....

Lodging   $530.88
Tickets    $820.00
Gas          $240.00
Food        $200.00
Parking   $  70.00
Hotel       $  98.00
Spending Money: $500.00

TOTAL:  $2,458.88


Bottom Line....We had tons of fun, we didn't feel like we lost out on any experiences (and we have over 700 pictures to prove it!) and we have a lifetime of memories. Remember: Spend Moments, Not Money.

Coupon Codes

Two little words I love! I don't order ANYTHING online without searching for a coupon code first. There can be big savings in using coupon codes. In fact, I never order pictures without a coupon code. By now we all know that I love to save money. For those of you that have never used one or don't know what I am talking about, here is how it works:

When I need to order pictures from Snapfish (where I choose to share, edit and order pictures online). I first go to either Google (because nobody ever says, "hey, I need to Yahoo something) or Retailmenot.com to search for coupon codes. I then head over to Snapfish and place my order. At the end of each order there is a place to enter a coupon code. Enter the code you found online and "WAALAAA" you just saved money!  I just ordered 100 prints for $10 with free shipping! This is just one example of the many, many deals you can find. You can find a deal with a coupon code for almost every single website you use to order something.

Coupon codes are especially good for getting FREE SHIPPING! Who doesn't love that especially when the Post Office keeps raising the price of a stamps every other day?!  Sites like Retailmenot.com (and there are many more sites like this out there) even have listings for "Today's Top Coupons," etc. 

There is a couipon code out there for everyone from Dominos to Kohl's to travel sites like Orbitz.com.  So go stimulate the economy while saving money at the same time! It's a WIN-WIN!

Welcome to My Pig Farm!

This little piggy bought a computer, this little piggy went on vacation, this little piggy bought a new couch...and this little piggy squealed until Christmas!

These are my pigs and my pigs are ALWAYS hungry!  They all picky little eaters too...they only eat coins! In this instant gratification world where I see far too many people wanting "stuff" that they have to have NOW and passing that mentality onto their kids I've decided to revert back to what I know for sure.....That saving for what you want isn't such a bad idea. I grew up working from the time I was 13. I paid for the two years of college by myself because half of every paycheck I earned went directly into my savings account.  I also want to teach our kids how to save, so we started our own little pig farm! 

The kids love taking any and all change we have, find or collect and "feeding" the pigs!  They love it so much that they each have their own piggy banks in their room now and just made their first trip to the bank to cash in all the savings. Each left the bank with almost $30 and they discussed what they could buy with their savings all the way home. They are also right back to saving more coins.  Not only is this serving the purpose of saving money for items we need and want, but it is also teaching our kids that instant gratification is just that...instant. And then what?  It makes them stop and think about their purchases and they realize the time and effort it takes to save for what they want.  It is also making them appreciate the things we have here at home and the things we are able to do and vacations and trips we get to take.

Sure I've made financial mistakes along the way (I mean, I was a poor college student practically having credit cards thrown at me!), but this is my way of learning from it and passing it along.

Can I get an "OINK! OINK?!".....Now go start your own pig farm and bring home the BACON!

Stop And Smell The Roses...

FOR FREE (just don't cut them and take them home)!!!  Celebrate National Public Gardens Day on May 6th. I know, you didn't even know that this day existed, but that's what I'm here for..."You and me baby, we're stuck like glue..." Sorry, had a Sugarland moment.  Back to National Public Gardens Day...Sign up to get your FREE admission (for two) to a participating garden. Click here to get your tickets:  Better Homes and Gardens  You're Welcome!

Have Your Cake and Eat It Too!

My daughter recently turned 7 (which I am still trying to digest...someone cut me a piece of cake!). I don't like to spend a lot of money on birthday parties.  Sure you could go crazy and spend lots of money on your kids birthday party and try to get yourself on TLC's Outrageous Kid Parties show, but I am telling you right now that I would definitely be talking about you. I would also be wondering who you were trying to impress because it wouldn't be the kids (they are happy with balloons, cake and a game...think about it...did you hate your birthday parties growing up?).  So, unless you are Tori Spelling and you are rich and the guru of creativity you need to keep reading.

Let's talk theme. Birthdays usually have a theme, so pick one and roll with it, but don't roll out the dough.  This year my daughter had a breakfast birthday...like "Breakfast at Tiffany's!"! Creative, check. Cute, check. Cheap, check.

First stop, the thrift store. Here we picked up four fancy plates and two fancy bowls for plating the breakfast food for $1.50. We also picked up a server for the maple syrup for $.99 and a tiered server for $1.99 to serve the fresh fruit.

Second stop, Wal-Mart. This is where we picked up the blue tablecloth for $1.00, black plates for $1.50 (we purchased two), black cups for $1.00, white napkins for $1.50 and blue sparkle alphabet stickers for $2.99. We also picked up cake mix and icing for cupcakes ($6.00).

This is where we used our sparkle stickers!

Third stop, the party store. Here we only picked up a few items. We headed over to the clearance rack and picked up little, white favor boxes which were 12 for $1.00.  We also found decorative diamond rings that we used as cupcake toppers for $2.50. Our final item was friendship braid kits. You got three for .49 (we bought 9).

Homemade cupcake, decorative diamond ring and thrift store fancy plate

Final stop....FOOD!  On the menu was bacon, sausage, waffles, pancakes, strawberries, grapes and sparkling grape juice. We fed nine girls for $35.67.

Don't worry, I didn't forget the favors! I splurged a little here, I'm not gonna lie, but the cuteness factor got to me!  Each girl took home one flower clip for their hair. The total cost was $25.50 ($8.50 for three and I needed nine).  I justified this in my head by saying that it was a favor they could keep and use, not just another "throw away" item. I displayed them on the boxes that I filled with jelly beans (for $1.00 a bag).



This fits the requirements of cute and creative!

Grand total: $92.05 (Under $100) for a lifetime of Kodak moments and memories.



This is just one example. Remember the three "C's": Cheap, Creative and Cute!



Off To Get Some Ink!

Thought I was getting a new tattoo didn't you? Nope, not me (my husband says I am a wimp and wouldn't be able to handle it....which makes me want to prove him wrong!). 

I am actually talking about getting your ink cartridges refilled for half the cost of buying new ones. Did you know that places like Walgreens and Ace Hardware offer both black and color ink cartridge refills? 

In fact, Walgreens has a promotion right now (which they often do, just look in Sundays ads for their latest deals) for $12.99 for both black and/or color ink cartridge refills.  Plus, they are ready in minutes (the photo department and the pharmacy could have a race to see who fills the order first!). Walgreens will also package the refilled ink cartridge in a nice box for you to take home with a coupon on the side for 50% off your next printer cartridge refill! So guess what?! Your next printer cartridge refill is only going to be a third of the cost of a new one!  And with Earth Day approaching you can feel good about not throwing another printer ink cartridge into the landfill (and you can say you did your "part" and not be lying).

If you are concerned about quality. I understand. I was too. I can honestly say that the quality has been the same if I were to buy a new one or get my old one refilled.  At such a discount, you can afford to try it out for yourself!

Now Go Get Inked!

Spring "Break" Under $100

Ok, so my daughter took Spring Break literally and on day one (it looked fine and she didn't complain about it until day two) broke her pinky finger on the growth plate (the new puppy jumped up on the back step going into the house and knocked her over and she landed on her hand).  Welcome to the family, Josie!

We were off on the wrong foot...or finger, BUT, the week ended up going better and we ended up having a full week of fun despite the hand being in a half cast. Spring Break ended up costing us $96.99 and here is what we did:

$40.00 - Day One: Family Fun Night at a local Indoor Golf facility which included 1/2 an hour in the bounce room, one twelve inch pizza, four pops and a round of miniature golf for the entire family.

FREE - Day Two: First we headed to my aunts house in the "country" (two acres here in Illinois is considered country...trust me on this one!) to enjoy her company and have lunch then we spent two hours in Urgent Care getting a half cast for my daughter who had a broken pinky finger. This was free because I had credit at the doctors office from when my son broke his hand last year at recess. BONUS! (insert sarcasm)

$4.43 - Day Three:  Lunch at Lone Star with Grandpa (Kids Eat Free on Tuesdays and Grandpa bought us lunch). We then had dessert at Culvers and each kid had a FREE coin for a cone or cup of yummy! My cup of yummy cost me $2.43. Then we had some retail therapy. My daughter had her birthday money, my son had money saved up and I had gift cards leftover from my birthday. Four DSi games, one Wii game, one doll styling chair, one Zhu Zhu Pet, one Zhu Zhu Pet outfit, one Uno game, two new pairs of sunglasses, one pair of capris, two shirts, one packet of Squinkies, one wave hula hoop, one monster truck and one soccer ball later we headed home without paying a cent for any of it! We did pay for Silly Bands that were on sale at Walgreens for $.25 a packet for a total of $2.00 (yes, my kids STILL like Silly Bands).

$12.00 - Day Four: Bowling! The kids and I went bowling and it was dollar game night. The three of  us bowled two games each, paid for shoes (@$2.00 a pair) and had two hours of FUN despite feeling my age and pulling a muscle in my leg (how sad is THAT!), but I won a game...for the record!

$13.00 - Day Five: Lions and Tigers and Bears...OH MY! We headed to zoo with our zoo membership in hand. This is something we get as a present every year and it is much appreciated! We also enjoyed the dolphin show FREE as part of our membership. The kids each rode the carousel and with our membership the cost was $1.50 each. We enjoyed our packed lunch sitting right next to the wolves. They each brought home two Mold-O-Ramas (my kids love these...I haven't figured out why, but I am not going to argue the cheap souvenirs) for a total cost of $8.00. Oh wait, we can't forget that my daughter lost her tooth during the dolphin show. $2.00 was added to today's total for Tooth Fairy duties.

$27.56 - Day Six: Lunch and a Movie! We headed to Pizza Hut to use the kids BOOK IT Certificates that they earned from school for reading! That was worth two free buffets (I didn't say we ate good this week!). So, I just had to pay for one adult buffet. We then headed off to the movie theater to see, "HOP."  Cost was $7.00 per person, but of course, I had $7.00 left on my gift card (that I received for my birthday), so I only ended up paying $14.00. We packed snacks since we had just come from lunch. Not too bad.  My son also had his cousin over for the night which is always FREE fun!

FREE - Day Seven: Two sleep-overs and two FREE Blizzards from Dairy Queen. How did we get FREE Blizzards from Dairy Queen you ask? Well, the kiddos got them in their bags from the library when they completed the Winter Reading Program. WE LOVE OUR LIBRARY!

Now, in all fairness I didn't add the price of gas into this fun-filled week for under $100 (because that is just depressing), but even with adding that in we are still at $150 for the week. My kids told me everyday how much fun they were having and they thanked me regularly for everything. They just wanted my time and attention and that doesn't cost anything....Remember, it's all about Spending Moments, Not Money.