I'm back!!!
I wanted to update this post to show how well I did with my estimated vs. actual expenses...
Here goes...
Every time I look at this, it flabbergasts me! I cannot believe that I have earned almost $1600 in FREE money. These gift cards are going to give us the ultimate Disney FREE DINING experience
.
To break it down a little further, here is some of our dining plans so far...
Saturday: Planning to do the Parisian Luncheon at the F&W festival if it is offered this year ($175) but if it is not, I have a dinner reservation booked for us at the Yachtsman Steakhouse which should be the same cost, probably less.
We *did* the Parisian Luncheon and the cost was $174.09
Sunday: Lunch at the 50's Prime Time Cafe, sharing 1 appetizer, 2 entrees, 1 dessert and 3 sodas ($75)
We opted for lunch at Sanaa instead which came to $79.47
Monday: Hoop-Dee-Do Revue, Category 1, late show ($180)
I can't believe we've never done this show before! What a riot! Total cost was $178.30
Tuesday: Lunch at Sanaa, bread service, (3) sandwiches, (3) drinks...($75)..Still trying for a dinner ADR at BOG ($170)
We managed to get dinner at BOG, but they raised the price the week before our trip. Our total was $185.76
Wednesday: Member Night dinner at Splitsville ($150)
This was probably the best fun we had all week. 4 games of bowling and more food than we could eat for $150.18...unfortunately, I found out that the gratuity was NOT included (like it is with every other pre-paid meal) so I added another $25. Yeah, I know, it's a cheap tip, but we had to refill our own drinks and we saw our server a total of 4 times...she took our order, brought out our cups, delivered our plates, (someone else brought out the food) and then she brought me the "bill", which was basically just her chance to tell me that she needed a tip.
Thursday: Dinner at Jiko, sharing 2 appetizer, 2 entrees, 1 dessert and 3 sodas ($150)
We got 1 appetizer, 1 side dish, 2 entrees, 3 sodas and no desserts...and our total was $137.13
Friday: Breakfast at Boma ($75)
Well, Boma went up from $25 to $30 for breakfast so our total was $92.84.
So I came in within $30 (not including the unexpected $25 gratuity) for our TS meal budget for the week.
The initial plan was to pay for our meals with the gift card and use the "miscellaneous" fund for F&W booths. Instead, we just used our MagicBands at the booths and paid down our room charges (all food) with the dining gift card until it was gone. When all was said and done, I had to pay $42.47 from the "miscellaneous" fund. That's actually about half of what I was planning on spending at the F&W booths so I was still well-under my budget.
Total TS Meal Cost (as planned): $880
Total remaining Dining budget: $320
We should have no problem eating around these meals for $40/day. We are "snackers"...if we get hungry, we will grab a pretzel and share it, or a Dole Whip and share it. We would easily split a single CS meal with maybe an extra side between the three of us and it would be a meal. We will have our groceries in the room for all of our breakfasts and we will have snacks with us too. This is all based on the original $1200 that I have as my "base" budget. If I can get that extra $150, we will have a nice cushion to use at the F&W festival booths if the girls decide they want to hit them up this year. It's one of my favorite things to do, but I am not going to force it on them if they are not interested.
DONE!!! I DID IT!!!
The final numbers are in...I'm ready to leave, but I still have 108 days until our trip
My final expense budget is going to be $1665 in gift cards and $2100 in cash for a total cost of $3765. CHECK OUT THE BOTTOM AND SEE HOW CLOSE I CAME!!!
When I started this thread (35 weeks ago), I was starting with $579.35 in gift cards and $512.93 in cash. The gift cards were all earned for free and NONE of them were purchased.
In those 35 weeks, I have acquired a total of $1663.96 in gift cards (ok...I'm $1.04 short...I'll deal with it
) and I have also earned a whopping $2686.54.
That means I earned an average of $30 a WEEK in rewards and $62 a WEEK in cash, which was mostly from plasma donations. It certainly did not feel like I was earning at a rate of over $90 a week. I always tell people that they should not look at small rewards as "not worth it" because IT ALL ADDS UP!! Every cent counts! Even on days when I only earned 20-30 SB from nCraves, or only $0.30 in eBates for an in-store pick-up from Target, or just a few BB Rewards for buying my lunch at McDonald's...it was all adding up!
Now, I can start the month of July knowing that this year's trip is entirely covered. I am now looking towards October 2019 and I am starting my savings for that trip
. I would love to get it 50% covered by the time we leave for our trip this year....THAT would be A-MAZ-ING!
So here's what I paid and went to Florida with...
Airfare: $1294.35 (*includes the upgrade to Comfort+ and EBCI purchase)
Cash in my wallet: $155
PayPal funds: $300
MNSSHP Tickets: $300.11
================>>> This was my Out-of-Pocket Budget
Disney Gift Card/Visa Rewards: $1150.87 (*$150 was used to pay for the Tables in Wonderland card)
Amazon Gift Cards: $102.19
**In addition, I used $502.57 from the gift card to pay for the pre-paid meals
================>>> THIS WAS ALL FREE MONEY!!
...and this is what I came home with...
Cash: $25
PayPal funds: $179.23
...and a little over $13 leftover on my Amazon gift card too
So in the end, I spent $1695.91 on food and the Tables in Wonderland Card, $1294.35 on airfare, $300.11 on MNSSHP tickets, $100.25 on grocery deliveries, and $250.77 in miscellaneous expenses. That brings my grand total to....
....
$3896.39!
I can honestly say that there was very little that we did NOT do due to a lack of funding. I was able to let the girls get almost anything they wanted. Before we left, I took $100 from the vacation savings account and bought them each a $50 Disney gift card to use on whatever they wanted. They each bought a beverage flight (non-alcoholic) at the Light Lab ($7) and then Kaedyn bought herself a t-shirt at MNSSHP. Kam decided to save her remaining $43 until next year. She wanted a sweatshirt, but when she realized it was $40 and it was HER money, she suddenly didn't want it so bad
.
One unfortunate expense (from the PayPal funds) was on our final day. We packed our checked bags and sent them off with RAC before heading to AK for the morning. When we arrived, it started pouring rain...and, of course, our ponchos and umbrellas were already on their way to the airport. So, I shelled out $38 to buy the girls ponchos and an umbrella for myself. It rained for almost an hour and since we were in the AK for 4 hours, I am glad I spent the money. We logged almost 5 miles that morning before heading back to the resort at 2:30 to catch the bus to the airport. Once we got to the airport, Kaedy realized she'd lost ONE of her EarPlanes...how she only lost one is still a mystery, but I had to buy her a new pair ($12) so her ears wouldn't explode on the flights home.
Overall, I am pretty proud of myself for only missing my budget target by 3%. I had all of the money available before I left, and I even came home with over $200. I would have probably been spot-on if it weren't for the two, unexpected price increases ($5/person at BOG and $5/person at Boma) and the gratuity that was not included at Splitsville. That right there accounts for $85 of the $131.39 variance. If not for those two things, heck...I would have been off by only $46.39...that's only 1%
. (**Let me stray a bit...in 2012, we took a trip with the extended family. My dad payed for all 15 of us...tickets, lodging, airfare, food, everything....for a week. I helped him plan and budget and he keeps meticulous records, even more than I do. When all was said and done, he applauded me and said that the budget that I came up with for 15 people, all-inclusive for a week, was within $200 of what he actually paid
**)
So this concludes the 2018 budget planning thread for me. It's been a great motivator and, as you can see, I achieved my goal
.
Now...on to the 2019 budget planning thread