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

[cruisercassidy]

what we are doing is paying EXTRA on monthly bills like an extra 50 a month on the electric/gas bill, untill one whole month is paid extra, then i move on to phone bill, get that one paid a month exta, then car and so on and so on, untill my husband and i have both of our last paychecks before vacation COMPLETLY for vacation.

 

I love this idea! I'm putting a minimum of $25.00 back into a savings account each week. However I could definitely use this idea when it's closer to time for our cruise. That way I won't have to worry about the bills for a month and can focus on my trip! Great Idea!!!

[cruisercassidy]

We do an old antique jar (I think it's a 2 gallon vinegar jar) and all loose change goes in - my husband's daily pocket change and my car change - as well as savings from coupons. I also use MyPoints, which is an easy way to earn points based on shopping you already do and for visiting websites. Points get redeemed for gift cards at tons of stores, or (my favorite!) for a Visa gift card. I'm going to have enough points for our cruise in July to get $300 in Visa cards, which we'll use for expenses on our trip. The easiest way to get points is that you get e-mails with a link to a website, if you click the link and go to the site you get points if you use the site to place an order you get lots more points. Most of these I open and then immediately close. But I also have a reminder toolbar that alerts me when I'm shopping on a website that earns you points (like BestBuy, OldNavy, Target, Eddie Bauer, etc) and can earn points (usually 2-3 points per dolloar). That's how you get bigger point values. DH actually used this to book our cruise, airfare, and hotels prior to the cruise so we're getting points for all of it! I've also convinced him to book all of his travel for work through it to get points. If anybody is intersted in this, contact me and I'll send you a referral (so I can get referral points, of course!) I've also got gift cards for Christmas and birthdays for people through this program, at no cost to me!

 

 

I use Mypoints too! I cashed mine in last year for a $50.00 iTunes gift card. I'm gonna use mine for visa gifts cards next January. (Since my vacation is in the beginning of March.)

[Bones26]

For people who shop online a lot, you might want to try ebates. They give you a percentage cash back on your total (before shipping and taxes) for making purchases at certain stores. You get a check every 3 months for the money you earned. It kinda sounds like the MyPoints. Maybe compare the two sites and see where you can earn the most money. I am going to look into MyPoints for myself... Thanks lanabanana78 and crusiercassidy for the info.

 

Great suggestions everyone!

[sjn911]

I have cut way down on eating out, grocery and misc. household bills; and any paid music/play etc. events. Yes I miss both, but I have spent the past two years going to sporting events of 7 nieces and nephews with my family (still gets me out). I do occaisionally attend a movie or $15.00 limit venue. A move and the economy hit hard; but in past 2 years I took a couple of seniors on a "paid" cruise, just took a couple of weeks off visiting family and friends out of state, and have a cruise booked for end of the year.

All of this as a solo income earner and traveller...I do consider myself very fortunate..times are tough...but there are many ways to make it happen. Love this newly found thread...thanks all...sjn911.

[Gone_Again]

I've recently reevaluated all of my spending. The travel bug has bitten and I have a great desire to see the world. Being on a very tight income, I've had to get creative on how to do so.

 

I've done everything from changing my cell phone plan to making my own wine. I've found a coffee I like to brew at home rather than buy my morning coffee at the coffee chain.

 

I've started a blog about all the things I've found to save money on so that I can travel. If you want to have a look, please check it out! Note, I'm not a professional writer by any means, but since I found something that is working to help me save for traveling, I thought I would share with others. :)

 

http://stuffthepiggybank.blogspot.com/

[Kimbopolo]

At the end of the month, we deposit surplus $ in a special "Travel Fund". This is after living expenses, regular savings, and retirement funding. This method tells us exactly how much $ we can spend on our next trip.

[littlejo]

I have paid for the past 3 cruises we have been on by selling unwanted stuff on ebay. the first yr I did this, I paid for a 10 day cruise, all the excurisons we went on + we had about 4,000.00 blow money between us. The total I sold that yr on ebay was over 15,000.00. easy way to get rid of stuff I no longer need and make money at the same time. I have also begun to buy items that are on sale or really cheap with using coupons and selling it on ebay. Am a power seller.

[cruising to paradise]

I enjoyed reading your blog Gone Again.We are currently saving for 40th Anniversary cruise to Mediterranean. Every time I want to spend money I think about the cruise and I am determined we will go.I am working 2 part time jobs and the money from 1 job goes for bills and the money from the other is saved for the cruise. Its good to read how others do it and get different ideas.

[Gone_Again]

I enjoyed reading your blog Gone Again.We are currently saving for 40th Anniversary cruise to Mediterranean. Every time I want to spend money I think about the cruise and I am determined we will go.I am working 2 part time jobs and the money from 1 job goes for bills and the money from the other is saved for the cruise. Its good to read how others do it and get different ideas.

 

Thank you! Oh the Mediterranean! I'm sure once you get there it will be well worth all the work. I find the more effort I put into getting the vacation, the more I truly enjoy it. Staying in an inside cabin isn't alot of people's idea of a vacation, but to me, I'm just happy to be able to be on the ship, and will gladly take whatever room I can get! :).

[Honey and Cinnamon]

We have Connie Petunia the Piggy Bank... She is a large bright yellow pig and she holds dollar bills, each year we get a new one and fill it up with dollars no change... The change we donate to the church.... the bills go in there and we break it just 3 months before we leave for our cruise for final payment. the kids like to play Pinata to it in the back yard, we never know how much we accumulated in the back yard till we see how much we put in. We found last Jan 2010 that we had saved nearly four thousand dollars, so our entire family can have a nice trip.

We had fun though we spent it all this past March . Our kids bought the soda packages which was good for them kept them nice and happy and winding up till dinner time... DH and I got the water package and it was fun as we added our own mix to the water with gatorade to the water.

I try to save at least not less than 500.00 a month for our trips....since we can afford to do this, not many can. When we take our trips we take ten people with us, that is our gk, children and now pops will have to come but not on an all girls cruise. a themed cruise.

[vgordon]

We started about a year ago with this money saving idea. We have saved all of our "cash back" points from using our American Express, Master Card, and Debit card. We take advantage of special bonus point offers (sometimes as much as 5X the normal number) and have managed to amass about $500.00 in rewards. We also banked all money gained from rebate offers. Every little bit counts.................

[Sinjan]

We are a household of 9 so saving can be a bit challenging when someone always has their hand out. But we are also VERY determined cruise virgins! Most of what we do to save is very similar to what others have posted.

 

Saving Pocket Change - DH has always done this and when we have cashed in always ran in the $200 to $400 range. Now that this has been designated as cruise specific we expect the amount to be higher. Before we would rob it at will and the grandkids would dig into it. Now its deposit only!

 

Dedicated Savings Account - Every week when DH's check is deposited, I transfer whatever balance was left in the account prior to the deposit. For example say the account balance was $10 and the deposit is $100, I would transfer the $10. Sometimes it IS only $10, but other times it has been $100 or better.

 

Cruise Fund Bucket - I took a big plastic coffee container, cut a slit in the top, made a sign for the front and taped the whole thing up. It sits in the living room in a very noticable high traffic area and says "Cruise Fund. All donations accepted and appreciated!" lol We have told our family that when an occasion arises when they would normally buy a gift for one of us, to instead take whatever they would spend and drop it in the bucket. The 2 GK (GS5 & GD3) that live with us are being "encouraged" to add all change they find lying around. GD3 thinks its a great game. lol I've also seen some of my kids (8 ranging in age from 30 to 17) dropping in both bills and coins. But what has surprised me has been some of the friends of my DS17 contributing. Not sure how that really saves me any considering I feed them too.

 

We just started all of this in March and plan to cash it all in the week before our cruise. I'll try to remember to come back and post the $$ of each one.

[BroncosFan2010]

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.

 

I collect free samples all year long. It saves about $30 in travel size items, plus, most of the time the samples come with good coupons for the full sized items.

 

We have a budget for every month that includes separate categories for food, household items, clothes, utilities, etc. When we are under in each category, the additional goes to the cruise fund. It is a fun challenge to find ways to stretch the food and household budgets so that the maximum amount of money can go into the cruise fund. This month we were able to put $350 in the cruise fun, in addition to what we budget for vacations.

[yellowsnow]

This may have been mentioned already but here goes

 

I two combined methods to save for my cruise, direct deposit to a savings account and bank of america's keep the change.

 

The key is to plan and book in advance. As soon as I decide on what cruise I want to take, I look at how much the total will be after taxes and all and then divide that by the number of months left until payment is due. If that is an amount I can afford to put away every month, I set up a monthly direct deposit from my checking to my savings. Other expenses like excursions and drinks are for the most part covered with money saved using "keep the change." Keep the change is a system in bank of america that rounds every purchase you make with your checking card to the next dollar and transfers the difference to your savings account (for the first 3 months they even match what you save with keep the change) I save about $30 a month using keep the change, which is not too shabby after a year.

[BroncosFan2010]

This may have been mentioned already but here goes

 

I two combined methods to save for my cruise, direct deposit to a savings account and bank of america's keep the change.

 

The key is to plan and book in advance. As soon as I decide on what cruise I want to take, I look at how much the total will be after taxes and all and then divide that by the number of months left until payment is due. If that is an amount I can afford to put away every month, I set up a monthly direct deposit from my checking to my savings. Other expenses like excursions and drinks are for the most part covered with money saved using "keep the change." Keep the change is a system in bank of america that rounds every purchase you make with your checking card to the next dollar and transfers the difference to your savings account (for the first 3 months they even match what you save with keep the change) I save about $30 a month using keep the change, which is not too shabby after a year.

 

I have thought about doing the keep the change program. Do you like it??? Does it have another reward program attached or it is entirely debit??

[yellowsnow]

I have thought about doing the keep the change program. Do you like it??? Does it have another reward program attached or it is entirely debit??

 

I do! I'm pretty happy with it. I don't even notice that I am saving and I don't have to deal with coins everywhere or coin jars. The rewards is that for the first 3 months they match what you save. Say you saved a total of $30 on the first month, they match those $30 and deposit a total of $60 in your checking account. I use my debit card to buy lunch everyday and dinner almost every day so it works out nicely for me, that doesn't include the occasional coffee, grocery shopping, etc.

[mamalicious]

Keep the change is a system in bank of america that rounds every purchase you make with your checking card to the next dollar and transfers the difference to your savings account (for the first 3 months they even match what you save with keep the change) I save about $30 a month using keep the change, which is not too shabby after a year.

 

In the past year and one month, I have saved $145.31 thru Keep the Change.

[nicolen1101]

We are having a joint family garage sale over two weekends, and two locations. So whatever doesn't sell the first weekend at the first house goes up for sale again the next weekend at the next house. We are trying to plan a girls cruise for late September, plus my husband and I already have a 7 day booked for next May. So I can't go unless I come up with the money from somewhere else, since our regular "cruise fund" is going to the May cruise.

[cloverseeker]

We have an old Culligan water bottle that we put all of our spare change in and any money we find doing the laundry. We don't use a lot of "cash" because we almost always use a debit card for everything. So that way isn't really saving us much money fast.

 

So I started saving more money every week by writing a check for our groceries for $20 over the amount of the bill. That money is usually not missed because we could have easily spent $20 on impulse buying in the store. It also cuts down the quick little stops at the grocery store to just once a week. I can't count the times I have gone into the store to get a few items and ended up with $50- $60 bucks spent. We go once a week and add $20. My cash jug is really adding up now and we don't miss it.

[yellowsnow]

In the past year and one month, I have saved $145.31 thru Keep the Change.

 

Maybe the difference is because I don't use credit cards at all and I rarely use cash, so I use that debit card a lot.

[gr'aunt]

Marry a good-looking man (or woman!) with a fantastic job! An ugly one will do, but it's much more pleasant to have someone nice to look at in that cramped stateroom.

[Tmrlovesjr]

I started couponing in an extreme manner about 6 months ago. Stockpiling, buying 4 papers each week, buying coupons off the internet. So far I have paid for a 2 week cruise, and well on the way to pay for another later this year. I always get the freebies, and will be setting up a stand at my local flea market when it cools down to sell the expensive razors and fancy shampoos that I paid nothing or maybe $1 to buy and all that profit goes into the vacation fund as well as all my savings on purchases. We also bought NBA season passes for our closest team about 1.5 hours from home. We will go to the games we want to but the extra tickets we have been selling, it pays for the season tickets, we make a huge profit, and we still get to go to as many games as we want. Now we rarely eat out, never pay $10 a head for movies, but we eat well, I have started making alot of casseroles, stirfrys and entrees like those, that I can either cut the meat used in half by using extra veggies and we have at least 2 meatless meals a week. We are eating more healthy which shows in our waistlines so we can gain the few lbs on the trp w/o it being a big deal. Cruising is my only addiction and I am determined to get my fix. Happy cruising everyone. oooo we do transfer all my shopping savings or profit made into our "way to save" account at wachovia and don't touch it so we also get the extra buck for each transaction done. Since a huge part of my saving $ come from doing small transactions at drug stores ie checking out in 3-5 or more transactions the more I swipe the more we save.:D

 

'

[simplelife]

I have been saving my change since I booked in February. I cashed it in yesterday, and though I use debit card for most things, it still came up to $80. I got 50 singles and 6 fives. This is more than enough for my extra tipping, tipping and incidental spending in port, etc.

[nicolen1101]

Here's my newest plan... I budget $150 each week for groceries and general stuff we buy at the store, etc. So on the weeks when I don't spend that much instead of leaving it in the account I'm going to pull it out and put that amount into a cruise jar. I am also going to take any money that I budgeted on eating out and do the same thing. So maybe this will make me think twice before impulse buys and mcdonalds drive throughs when I see the "extra" money adding up.

[CruisinCrazy412]

This may have been mentioned already but here goes

 

I two combined methods to save for my cruise, direct deposit to a savings account and bank of america's keep the change.

 

The key is to plan and book in advance. As soon as I decide on what cruise I want to take, I look at how much the total will be after taxes and all and then divide that by the number of months left until payment is due. If that is an amount I can afford to put away every month, I set up a monthly direct deposit from my checking to my savings. Other expenses like excursions and drinks are for the most part covered with money saved using "keep the change." Keep the change is a system in bank of america that rounds every purchase you make with your checking card to the next dollar and transfers the difference to your savings account (for the first 3 months they even match what you save with keep the change) I save about $30 a month using keep the change, which is not too shabby after a year.

 

I also use "Keep the change" with B of A. I use my Debit card for almost everything. It is amazing how fast it adds up. I carry very little cash if any (that also keeps me away from the vending Machine at work!) Planning a yard sale for this month to make extra cash for Aug. Cruise ( Surprise birthday criuse for my soon to be 9 yr. old Grandaughter. She thinks I am taking her to the Beach for 3 days:rolleyes:). I have found when planning for a Cruise it is so much eaiser to cut down on spending. When I start to spend on something I could really live without, I think "Cruise or more crap"... Cruise always wins out!!

Happy Cruising everyone...