I found a new way to "save" for a cruise

[FanofFlorida]

I plan to take my cash that I am setting aside for the cruise and get traveler's checks- that way I a less likely to "dip" into the vacation fund- plus they are ready to go for the trip.

[luckycruzer]

another tip..round up your check amount, only in your check register...if your grocery bill is $14.69..write 15.00 you save it..I write about 23 ckecks a month..so about $14 extra, on your bank balance, and let it ride til vacation.also easier to add, sub't and it is only a few buck diff..and it is painless. If you live in a complex, take a morning walk on Sat/Sun in the parking area...fumbling for keys in the pockets of "happy people" can ectricate loose change. I did this for 18 mos. between houses..granted..slow..but always found money..what you save, you had planned to spend, and were willing to live w/o..so take the supermarket $$, and pay the kitty at home.. I neeeed to roll change, or get a bigger jar!!!!

[carribeansol]

The change jar just wouldn't work for us, we live almost entirely cashless (it's unusual for me to even have a single dollar bill laying around) and use the debit card for anything we need. What we do to save for vacations is have a set percentage transferred from each paycheck into a dedicated vacation account. It adds up quickly and doesn't get touched for anything other than the yearly vacation. Any windfalls (tax returns, stock dividends, etc) also get deposited there.

 

We are cashless too now.

 

Our bank (Wachovia) does a WaytoSave account. Everytime you use your ATM/Check card it transfers $1.00 to the WaytoSave account. Just this month, I saved $57. I would never just transfer $57 to a savings for a cruise. It is hard enough just saving money for emergencies. I love this account! I never miss a dollar when I use the card.

 

I bet most banks have something like this. I have heard of some rounding up the change and putting it into a savings account.

[hi2you]

I don't know if this was mentioned yet-I didn't read all the posts. I gave my nephew a bank manager jar for his birthday. It holds coins only ($1 and $2 for you fellow Cannucks), and it counts them. This would be a good thing to have for trip saving.

[zdkrempin]

One tip is, everytime you come across a $5 bill, put it aside. Those 5's add up pretty quick.

 

 

This works for me. You'd be surprised how fast they add up. DONT SPEND THE 5's

[FlaGrl4Evr]

Great tips everyone. We are doing the change jar as well. In addition, we will do a garage sale when the weather warms up. We did this last year prior to our trip to Fla. and could not believe that we made over $1100.00 ! This was for stuff like old sports equip., camping supplies that we have not used in years, kids and adult clothes, kitchen ware, ( who needs 3 crock-pots, 2 bread makers, and 4 blenders) extra and odd dishes, some odd pieces of furniture, old computers..... You get the idea.

WOW, we had it for 2 wk-ends in a row, advertised in our local paper and we had so many people we couldn't keep up. The last day we marked everything down. We are cleaning out the attic for the next one.

[tarap2480]

We use our Flexible Spending account at work. It is pre-tax deduction for health care expenses (braces for our daughter, copays, pharmacy purchases). The $28 a week will add up to $1,500, which will payoff our cruise. It makes saving easy.

I am currently looking into the AMEX blue card, it offers good cash rewards for gas, groceries and other necessities.

[copi2boys]

We do the change in the jar. We do not live in a bottle deposit state but I pay myself the deposits when I buy the drinks. I have just started rounding up in my Quicken checking register and for Feb I have already moved over $17 to the vacation fund. Should have thought of this one ages ago! When I use coupons I also look at my receipt and whatever amount is saved by using coupons I put in the account. Sometimes they are doubled and tripled. Today I got free toothpaste with a $.75 coupon that was maxed to $1.00 by the store . The toothpaste was on sale for $.99 - so free toothpaste and $1.00 for the fund!

[purrlinda]

My husband likes to keep our pig's separate as he thinks it's a competition to who can save more change. However, it all goes into the same pot at the end.

 

I do life mostly cashless, so when I do have some change I always throw it in the pig very excitedly.

 

We also have a separate pig for our recycling money. We started this last year and it's worked out nicely. I think we have about $30 in there now.

 

I also have two direct deposit savings accounts; 1 for my annual Hawaii vacation with my husband, and the other for the vacation I take with my sister and other family. It all works nicely.

 

But try the recycling thing - it's been a nice little bump to our vacation cash!

[PoofyTheCat]

So what you're doing is giving the utility companies your money to earn interest on? Why not just put the extra into a savings account so that YOU earn the interest. That would make more sense. You're actually costing yourself money doing this. It's purely a psychological exercise and not a very money saavy one at that.

 

Yeah, because the interest earned in a bottle at home is AMAZING! :rolleyes:

 

I applaud the initial idea. It must be such a nice feeling when cruise month comes along and you have no bills to pay! BRAVO!

 

Also, just beware that saving coins will cost you 8% if you use a coinstar machine to cash it in. Some banks (fifth third did it years ago, not sure if they still do) will allow you to cash in loose change free of charge.

[MAO]

I have a budget lets say I expect to bring home $400 a week and for some reason (worked a few xtra hrs) I bring home $425, well thats $25 I wasn't counting on...into the cruise fund. Of course this won't work for people who are salleried but...just another idea:)

Oh and tag sale (some call them yard sales) cruise fund $$, anything extra cruise fund!! Hell with all this talk I should be able to do more than 1 a year:D But I'm not always consistant;)

Happy criusing everyone!

[rudi_mentle]

You've probably heard of OPM (other people's money), well here's a simple twist on that. We save literally hundreds of dollars this way and it doesn't cost us a penny.

 

Pay for all your normal household expenses (groceries, gas, utilities, etc.)with a Cash Back Credit card. Almost all of these now accept credit cards as a form of payment. Why not make your normal expenses that you'll incur anyway pay for you. If you are concerned about budgeting and getting behind on the credit card, just prepay the account weekly as you would normally incur the expense.

 

My favorite card has always been the Discover Cashback card. And if using this card don't forget to take advantage of the periodic specials they run. Earlier this year Discover was running 5% on travel... $2,000 for the cruise and air just earned $100! Cha ching!!!!! And that's just one purchase.

 

There's a site to compare cash back cards and see which is right for you - creditcardguide dot com / cashback

[Tiffany1203]

We are cashless too now.

 

Our bank (Wachovia) does a WaytoSave account. Everytime you use your ATM/Check card it transfers $1.00 to the WaytoSave account. Just this month, I saved $57. I would never just transfer $57 to a savings for a cruise. It is hard enough just saving money for emergencies. I love this account! I never miss a dollar when I use the card.

 

I bet most banks have something like this. I have heard of some rounding up the change and putting it into a savings account.

 

 

I agree! I have WaytoSave thru Wachovia (walk all ova ya) ;) and LOVE it! :D

[GraceTravel]

We have a grocery store that has "double" coupon wednesdays on top of its "advantage card". I look at the grocery bill and transfer that amount of "savings" to my cruise account. I saved $49.06 once on a $80 grocery bill.

 

Also check out hey its free .net-- you can get many samples for items you will need for the cruise, like toothpaste, shampoo, mouthwash, etc. Those are items I won't need to purchase now.

[taravthompson]

What I do is I only use one credit card for any travel, about once a month I will add to my ship board account using Carnival's fun ship dollars (other lines may have the same type of set up). By the time the crusie comes around I will have plenty of on board credit and everything from airfare to cruise fare has already been paid. This way I do not get hit with a large bill at the end and maybe if I do not spend it all I will get some back.

how do I do the fun ship and how do I add money to/for spending on the cruise?

[taravthompson]

So what you're doing is giving the utility companies your money to earn interest on? Why not just put the extra into a savings account so that YOU earn the interest. That would make more sense. You're actually costing yourself money doing this. It's purely a psychological exercise and not a very money saavy one at that.

 

 

I agree... open a savings account away from your primary bank if you have to but I would say every pay period put 10-20 away. I have a family of 7 and it is hard but the determination that my husband and I deserve a break is so there... do not ever pay your utilities higher... they are already over charging...

[taravthompson]

We've been saving our change in the change compartments of our vehicles and haven't cashed it in for a couple of years, will be interesting to see how much is there! (Any change that makes its way into our house goes into the two 2-yr old grands' piggy banks! :o) Also, I usually get a bonus at work every month, ranging from $100-$400. This month's will be $400 - yay! I also received an offer in the mail, to open a new account at a neighborhood bank and receive a really nice duffel bag as a gift...it looks perfect for DH to use as a carry-on for our (first!) cruise in May, so I'm going to open a savings account there and designate it as our "vacation fund" and tell DH we can now start packing! :D

Where are you going in May/ I will be on the dream with the girls this trip it is my first cruise..

[kharrison__15]

I, too, have been saving change for a long time. I usually use this towards small vacations/weekend trips to visit friends. This is my first 'real vacation' without family, so I'm looking forward to spending my own money. It makes it much more rewarding :)

 

I also save all the cash I make from 'side jobs'. Being young and single leaves me pretty open to babysitting, house sitting, dog walking, ect. Any 'extra money' (usually cash) I make aside from my full time job goes into my trip fund.

 

I also have the privelage of being the maid of honor in my sister's wedding this August, so unfortunately, I have to split all the extra cash between the funds! :)

[DonnaK]

We do the garage sale thing. Each spring and fall, we do major cleaning inside our house, tool shed, etc, and set aside things we don't need/want anymore, including clothes. Then, we have a weekend sale. We advertise in the Pennysaver (local weekly newspaper) and usually collect around $1000 each time, with the added benefit of having a neat and well-organized home. People buy the strangest things, in the poorest of conditions, so we set out everything even old towels for rags. We have a 25 cent table, a 50 cent table and a dollar table for the small things, and then put price tags on only the larger items.

 

Family members often save up their unwanted items to donate to our sale too.

[AShann]

Hi- In this electronic world, how about setting up a vacation checking account, and drafting an amount you feel comfortable with every month? Pull $50 a month out of your primary account and put it in there. At the end of the year you'd have some extra $ for vacation and you'd likely not miss this much a month!

[FINTUCKYFARMS]

If you're really into couponing to save money, you should check out this woman's blog that I've been reading for a while now....

 

Google couponing to disney. She is doing pretty much what you are, in that she is putting away her "savings" to create the fund for their trip to Disney world. SHe is a crazy organized couponing fool, and I've saved a ton of money by reading the deals on her blog :) Seriously, it's wonderful!!

 

fistfullofcupons.com does the same thing. Saving as much as we spend on our food bill each week. Makes a huge difference.

[cloudshoveller]

:)This post warms my heart. My husband and I are determined we are going to save enough money to book a cruise for our Anniversary. We are cruising virgins but I am now obsessed with the idea and all I do is comb the CC boards planning and dreaming. We have already begun saving, but I am immediately going to implement your suggestions. Yay!

[wotaripper]

I have a little jar that was given to my late mother for her to use to save for her cruises...marked "Cruise Fund". That's where I put my daily change. I just added my daily dollar bills per Talus731! The amount should start adding up in no time. Thanks! I have a few things that I hope to sell on eBay, as well.

 

Any more ideas out there? I'm desperate....I'm hopelessly HOOKED on cruising!

one of my biggest savings as i work full time is to very rarely buy lunch i take leftovers or buy tins of soup etc i can heat up in the microwave take a sandwich or crackers cheese and tomato etc. i figure 5 days a week at $ 10 a day for lunch and snacks theres $2600 a year ive saved .plus i get to eat some really nice lunches on my cruise.

[Acklander]

So what you're doing is giving the utility companies your money to earn interest on? Why not just put the extra into a savings account so that YOU earn the interest. That would make more sense. You're actually costing yourself money doing this. It's purely a psychological exercise and not a very money saavy one at that.

 

this advice made sense in the old days when banks paid a decent amount in interest, but in the current days of 1% interest it's not like they're losing that much money, so if it works for them all is good.

 

What I do, is have one of those big 5 gallon water jugs with a skinny neck (so you can't get the bills out). In it I throw all lose change. I'll also take out of the bank all "extra" money earned to throw in the jug. Whenever DH works an OT shift he'll put half the money in the jug. At my job I get extra referral kickbacks from other companies, and I throw all that money into the jug - they're just little amounts from each company, but last year it added up to just over a thousand dollars all together. I've just picked up an additional side job for about 10-15 hours per week. I plan on putting half of that money in the jug as well. With the tax refund we put half in the jug, and so on.

 

I don't really save much as far as coupons and things like that since I tend to buy the off brands instead. They usually come out cheaper than the named brands with a coupon. We're going to be moving soon, and will be having a yard sale to get rid of all the extras and clutter stuff. I'll be putting all that money in the jug as well.

[youngestof9]

:)This post warms my heart. My husband and I are determined we are going to save enough money to book a cruise for our Anniversary. We are cruising virgins but I am now obsessed with the idea and all I do is comb the CC boards planning and dreaming. We have already begun saving, but I am immediately going to implement your suggestions. Yay!

 

good for you! One suggestion posted in a different thread was every time you get a $5 bill, put it away for vacation (or whatever). I started doing that and currently have $145 without blinking an eye! I normally would have spent it on unnecessary things (like my favorite, diet coke big gulps from 7-11 LOL). It totally adds up!! Today I broke a $20 and got $17 change and they gave me 3 $5 bills (well, and 2 singles lol). I was fretting because I really don't want to end up with no cash in my wallet, but 3 $5 bills is jackpot anymore. LOL!!!