Favorite money saving/thrifty tip?

[kayhold]

This is how we save money to travel with.

 

I have a part time job, I bartend on weekends, so with my paycheck I go and buy a gift certificate from my TA, all my tips I change into US money and put away in a piggy bank marked USA. Closer to the date of the cruise I buy travellers checks for our excurions.

 

Lets just say these last three weeks I worked both jobs and bought a 700.00 gift card. My tips were just over 2000.00.

 

Guess who is doing some shopping and I still have about 6 months to go befor we cruise this last

 

Yay!

[kayhold]

The $5 dollar bill trick initially sounds good, but cash is outdated, and every time you use it you're coming up behind.

 

Just get a rewards credit card and put all the money you earn from it into your travel account. That way, it is actually free money.

 

I don't do credit cards. I have a visa debit card, through my bank, but you can no longer do rewards with debit.

 

Wells Fargo has a Way2Save program, and everytime I use my card, a dollar goes into savings and we use that for emergencies/vacations.

 

That said, we also are terrible at budgeting. Every Friday, we have an automatic transfer take takes money out of our checking account and goes into a bill fund. Anything left over is ours for the week. We pull that out in cash.

 

We save any change left over, and $1's and in just over a month managed to put about $200 away.

[Spring1onu]

We are planning to bring our own wine and soda. We do splurge on eating @ the specialty restaurants and in port (usually something small we split & a beer) but I'm putting back money each pay period (in a sep.acct) and buying funship dollars each month to give us an OBC. We are also utilizing points on our cc. We usually don't buy lots of alcohol on the ship so we do plan to attend the PG party as well as the farewell party. We don't book excursions through the ship and that saves lots of money. Love hearing all the tips from everyone. Call me cheesy/nerdy but I've really enjoyed the planning of this cruise and having plenty of time to do it :)

 

 

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[nurseingu]

We are planning to bring our own wine and soda. We do splurge on eating @ the specialty restaurants and in port (usually something small we split & a beer) but I'm putting back money each pay period (in a sep.acct) and buying funship dollars each month to give us an OBC. We are also utilizing points on our cc. We usually don't buy lots of alcohol on the ship so we do plan to attend the PG party as well as the farewell party. We don't book excursions through the ship and that saves lots of money. Love hearing all the tips from everyone. Call me cheesy/nerdy but I've really enjoyed the planning of this cruise and having plenty of time to do it :)

 

 

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That sounds justice me!! Love those Funship Dollars that turn to OBC! It's the way to go.

 

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[daijayx2]

I wish I could contribute my ideas, but this will be my first cruise!! I will summarize what I'm doing to save $$.

 

• We are smuggling booze.
  
• We will bring 1 bottle of wine (per person) and a 12 pack of mixers (per person).
  
• When we port we will get another 12 pack of mixers (per person).
  
• We hired a driver for Cozumel to take us to the great sites.
  
• We are parking at the hotel and taking a shuttle to the ship.
  
• We have an interior room, and I check almost daily for the cost to go down (Early Savers). So far, we have $120 on board credit!
  
• I'm bringing a fabric shoe rack for the back of the bathroom door (toiletry storage), and a sign for our door (for recognition).
  
• I will pack an alarm clock, a GPS (to name islands we pass), a sharpie and highlighter, zip locks, a multiple outlet plug-in, ipod and speaker.
  
• I will email copies of passports to myself in case they're misplaced.
  
• I will write our odometer reading on a large piece of paper and post it, so others see I'm taking note.
  
• We will order room service immediately and get some cookies to place in zip locks for snacks for the cruise.
  

 

 

I think that's about it!! Keep the other advice coming!! :)

 

I do have to say that I thought the odometer reading was little much and didnt think that would be something to worry about until today when i seen this on another thread!!

http://www.wftv.com/news/news/parking-lot-owner-caught-using-customers-car/nNM6q/

I have NEVER done a park and cruise but do you have to give ur keys to them at every location? Just the idea of someone having inside access to my car is a bit uncomfortable, Let alone if something like what happened in the video occurred!!

[mikeysed]

any help:

 

When and where is past guest free drink party?

 

When and where is the fun farewell party?

 

I am cruising on the Liberty if that matters

[Froufie]

any help:

 

When and where is past guest free drink party?

 

When and where is the fun farewell party?

 

I am cruising on the Liberty if that matters

 

The time/place of the past guest party varies - you will get an invitation delivered to your cabin during the cruise.

 

The fun Farewell party is the last night from 5-6 pm - it will not be HIGHLY ADVERTISED! It will only be listed on the small tear off section of the funtimes indicating the place ( no mention of free drinks or entertainment) - enjoy! :D

[chasinraynbowz]

After years of being a single mom and paying off my debt, I am the queen of cutting back, scrimping and saving. When money was tight, I would buy myself a money order and put it away. Surprising how quickly that adds up!! My credit union only charges $1 per MO, so it was worth it.

 

We save all of our change, including dollar bills.

We have coffee in the morning at home, not out.

We bring our own lunches to work (not only healthier, but much cheaper)

When we book cruises, we always book 6 or more months out, so I can make payments.

We always book ES (we qualify for the military discount, but ES is usually cheaper) and watch for price drops. So for, I have saved $100 per person on our December cruise!!

 

I am one who doesn't use credit cards either. I use the envelope method. I have an envelope for each day and once on the ship put all the envelopes in the safe. We use that days envelope only and if there is any money left, we put that in either the next days envelope or the envelope for the last day. It's always great to come home with money!

 

We pack our own sodas.

We don't really drink, so we may purchase a drink or two, but thats it... so its not worth the hassle of smuggling.

We don't smoke, but when we did, we waited till we got onboard and got a carton. Then we would buy more once in Mexico (they were even cheaper).

We eat on board (we do NOT carry food off the ship since I think its illegal).

 

We have skipped excursions and stuck around the port or on the ship before. Had a GREAT time!! No chair hogs... lol.

 

Luckily, we are no longer having to be as frugal as we once were, although old habits die hard.. lol. (Our kids are grown and we are almost debt free! :D) Recently I posted on here asking about the benefits of booking a balcony (which we have) vs a suite. Everyone said if money is not an issue, get the suite. Well, for us.... right now.... money isn't an issue and yes, we could get a suite. But, I just can't justify that extra expense... lol. So, we will keep the balcony!!

[live2cruise2011]

anytime we have ones or fives we put them away.. as well as if i have something that i have returned i will add that money.. we don't drink soda and very rarely do i drink.. dh not at all.. so free drink party does it..other than that we drive to the port and pack a cooler so we don't have to eat out.. we plan ahead to eat out once the night before.. and we book a hotel with free breakfast, parking and shuttle.. this time we paid under 50 for hotel .. so the extra we put in our envelope.. we make sure that we have at least 200 above anything we have budgeted and buy the minimum on everything.. we take hydration packs for while in port and fill them on the boat. before leaving because we do have a child that needs to be hydrated at all times. we always buy insurance in case we have to be evacuated and call and check in with dr's while we are in port so it is cheaper.. we feel that if seeing the world is what our children want.. then that is the least we can do is provide them with that time because we have one that we have had many more tomorrows then dr's ever thought he would have.. so yes we budget everything but we always take extra cause it helps to have a what if fund with you.. and our biggest money saver has been making the kids earn money for their own spending.. so we no longer hand out free cash..

[novinha]

I'm actually going to try to make money on my upcoming cruise. I'm going to offer myself as a chair/lounger saver. Want to go to the MDR for lunch? Play casino games till you're broke? Have a little "snuggle time" with your sweetie? I'll charge $10 bucks a plop. And when you're ready to reclaim your seat I'll tell you that someone gave me this seat hours ago. I've got a bad memory. I'll even forget about the $10 bucks until I find it in my pocket the next day and run to the casino to celebrate my boon!

[TriciaEMTB]

I'm actually going to try to make money on my upcoming cruise. I'm going to offer myself as a chair/lounger saver. Want to go to the MDR for lunch? Play casino games till you're broke? Have a little "snuggle time" with your sweetie? I'll charge $10 bucks a plop. And when you're ready to reclaim your seat I'll tell you that someone gave me this seat hours ago. I've got a bad memory. I'll even forget about the $10 bucks until I find it in my pocket the next day and run to the casino to celebrate my boon!

 

Genius!!!

 

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[chasinraynbowz]

I wish I could contribute my ideas, but this will be my first cruise!! I will summarize what I'm doing to save $$.

 

• We are smuggling booze.
  
• We will bring 1 bottle of wine (per person) and a 12 pack of mixers (per person).
  
• When we port we will get another 12 pack of mixers (per person).
  
• We hired a driver for Cozumel to take us to the great sites.
  
• We are parking at the hotel and taking a shuttle to the ship.
  
• We have an interior room, and I check almost daily for the cost to go down (Early Savers). So far, we have $120 on board credit!
  
• I'm bringing a fabric shoe rack for the back of the bathroom door (toiletry storage), and a sign for our door (for recognition).
  
• I will pack an alarm clock, a GPS (to name islands we pass), a sharpie and highlighter, zip locks, a multiple outlet plug-in, ipod and speaker.
  
• I will email copies of passports to myself in case they're misplaced.
  
• I will write our odometer reading on a large piece of paper and post it, so others see I'm taking note.
  
• We will order room service immediately and get some cookies to place in zip locks for snacks for the cruise.
  

I think that's about it!! Keep the other advice coming!! :)

 

Room Service is free (except for tip) and you can get that at any time. No reason to order them immediately and save them. :D

[Spring1onu]

I'm actually going to try to make money on my upcoming cruise. I'm going to offer myself as a chair/lounger saver. Want to go to the MDR for lunch? Play casino games till you're broke? Have a little "snuggle time" with your sweetie? I'll charge $10 bucks a plop. And when you're ready to reclaim your seat I'll tell you that someone gave me this seat hours ago. I've got a bad memory. I'll even forget about the $10 bucks until I find it in my pocket the next day and run to the casino to celebrate my boon!

 

Hilarious!! LOL!

 

 

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[firefly333]

Room Service is free (except for tip) and you can get that at any time. No reason to order them immediately and save them. :D

 

Im thinking the list is tongue in cheek. For one thing you can't order room service immediately. It's not available when you board.

 

Dont get why they would post their odometer reading.. and bringing a organizer and those other things might make you organized, but doesnt save money.

[daijayx2]

Im thinking the list is tongue in cheek. For one thing you can't order room service immediately. It's not available when you board.

 

Dont get why they would post their odometer reading.. and bringing a organizer and those other things might make you organized, but doesn't save money.

 

Firefly did you see the thread with the lot owner of a park and cruise in Port Canaveral well actually Cocoa Fl was using customers cars. So I am assuming he is going to park there and post a note so when he returns if his odem didn't match what he wrote he would know someone drove car and if they see it clearly that the owner of the vehicle is aware these things happy they won't bother with that car I am assuming.

I didn't understand until after I seen the other thread posted today.

[me & my peeps]

I have a 5 Gallon water jug that we began saving our change in a few years ago. Every day I would put the change from my pocket in there along with any dollar bills ($3 max). If we didnt order a pizza that week, the money went into the jug. We had initially started it with the intent of having a nice vacation, sometime, somewhere. The jug never got higher than a few inches, I can only imagine how much we could have - if we filled it up!!

 

Back in February the wife suggested that we count it all out and see what we had saved already. We were shocked when we ended up with a little over 3k!:eek: So we decided to book our first cruise - as it was already paid for!

 

Now that we know how much can be saved without even trying, we've started again with a 10-14 day cruise being our goal in a few years. I did the math for a friend and showed him how he could almost pay for a cruise for his family in 12 months,(2,500 @ $8/dayX7 days,X 4 weeks, X12 months) if he quit smoking and put that $$ into savings each day. He looked at me like I had 2 heads!:rolleyes: We dont smoke, so its easy for me to climb up on that soapbox ;)

[kayhold]

Now that we know how much can be saved without even trying, we've started again with a 10-14 day cruise being our goal in a few years. I did the math for a friend and showed him how he could almost pay for a cruise for his family in 12 months,(2,500 @ $8/dayX7 days,X 4 weeks, X12 months) if he quit smoking and put that $$ into savings each day. He looked at me like I had 2 heads!:rolleyes: We dont smoke, so its easy for me to climb up on that soapbox ;)

 

My husband recently quit - that was about $200 a month. Except now he spends that money on his and our sons RC truck habit, haha!

[me & my peeps]

My husband recently quit - that was about $200 a month. Except now he spends that money on his and our sons RC truck habit, haha!

 

Thats great! I dont smoke, but I have seen too many people over the years try and quit - to not have compassion for them and the enormous effort that goes into it. :D

[LMDaddy]

Don't drink.

Don't gamble.

 

Works for us.

[Out to sea!]

Don't drink on board. Save a boatload of money (okay, pun intended)! :D

[novinha]

If you bring battery operated devices onboard, take out the batteries and pack the device and the batteries separately so that things don't accidentally turn on and run out before your cruise even starts. And bring extra batteries too.

 

Bring your own hair conditioner as the shampoo on the ship may be convenient but IMO it's drying. I also bring my own body wash. You can't get much of a lather out of the ships body wash. Those items are expensive to purchase at the gift shop.

 

I always bring a fairly decent sized first aid kit. I have had to use it in some manner on every cruise. And when we've cruised with a group I get to be "doctor" for all those who didn't remember to bring a bandaid.

 

If you forgot something and can wait till you get to a port to buy it you should try to hold out. You'll probably find things are cheaper on shore. Not always but...

 

I try to stay out of the ships store. It really is no different than shopping at home. If you go into the store you'll find all sorts of stuff you "need".

[rferr]

I agree don't drink onboard except what you bring yourself. And to all the people outraged over the baggies, too bad I have done it for 21 years nobody has EVER said a word. If you are so moralistic or so afraid of your own shadow that's your problem.

[maldenmusic]

Book your own excursions through a reputable company.

[mwood0612]

[quote name=chasinraynbowz;33583355

 

I am one who doesn't use credit cards either. I use the envelope method. I have an envelope for each day and once on the ship put all the envelopes in the safe. We use that days envelope only and if there is any money left' date=' we put that in either the next days envelope or the envelope for the last day. It's always great to come home with money!

[/quote]

 

I love the idea of using envelopes for each day's cash allotment!!!

 

 

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[firefly333]

I love the idea of using envelopes for each day's cash allotment!!!

 

 

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Seems like a waste to me.

 

I have a RCL and SW card to earn points. 3 free flights on the SW card.

 

RCL I get double points for anything I spend on RCL and its a click of the button to add my points for OBC to my cruises.

 

I always pay my bills on time and do not pay interest .. so why not take advantage of free money. I dont get people who must not be able to budget well enough they would give up free money.