This Disney savings tip utilizes: coupons and… a Disney
savings jar! The savings idea is that
the amount of money that you save by using coupons, will be placed in a Disney
savings jar for your upcoming Disney vacation. It is simple, easy and fun!
First you need a place to put your savings - a Disney Savings
Jar! I used a half-gallon mason jar that I got from Michaels. The jar was originally $4.29 but I had a 40%
off coupon that lowered the price of my jar to $2.72 with tax. If you don’t want to buy a jar, you could
also use a large food jar that has been thoroughly washed out – you don’t want
your Disney savings smelling like pasta sauce or pickles!
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| Large Mason jars at Michaels. |
Now comes the fun part and where you can get your kids
involved in the fun – decorating your Disney Savings Jar! Decorating your savings jar reminds you why
you’re putting money in it – your Disney vacation. If you’re not a crafty person, the jar’s
decoration can be as simple as writing “Disney Vacation” with the day your
vacation starts. You can get the kids
involved and have them decorate the Disney Savings Jar. Your or the kids can use paint representing
your favorite Disney character; Disney stickers; Disney ribbon; if you have
them, glue old paper tickets to the jar; or glue a picture from your most
recent Disney trip onto the jar. The key
is to decorate your savings jar so that every time you see it or put money in
it you’re reminded of the end goal – money for your Disney vacation! This is my Disney Savings Jar; it may remind
you of a famous mouse.
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| My Disney Savings Jar |
Now that you have your Disney Savings Jar ready for money, where
are you getting the money to put in it?
By using coupons! Where are you getting the
coupons? Lots of places!
An easy way to
start couponing is the Kroger website.
The
Kroger website has digital coupons available to download directly onto your
shoppers card – no clipping required, all you have to do is click on the “Load
to Card” button!
Another great place to
get coupons is the Sunday newspaper.
In
my local newspaper, there are usually 2 – 3 coupon ‘books’ in the middle with
the rest of the store advertisements (Bonus tip: There is currently a Groupon
for a subscription to the Cincinnati Enquirer).
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| Coupon book from my local newspaper. |
Another great place to check for coupons before you go
shopping is
MyPoints and
Swagbucks.
Both
websites have coupons you can print to take with you on your shopping trip.
Using MyPoints or Swagbucks coupons is a double
savings – you get rewarded for actually redeeming these coupons as well helping
you earn free money towards your Disney vacation! (If you’ve not read my blog
post about earning free money towards your next Disney vacation –
read it here now!).
Also, before you go shopping, be
sure to check the store’s website for coupons along with the website
retailmenot.com for any coupons that you can use on your shopping trip.
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| My receipt from Michaels showing the coupon I found on Michaels' website. |
While you’re in the store there are store-specific apps that
you can use to check for coupons.
My
personal favorite is the
Target cartwheel app. While I am shopping I use the
scan feature within the app to scan the price tag of what I am buying to see if
there is an available coupon.
If there,
is I just show the cashier the app’s barcode and wha-la instant savings off of
my final bill and more money to go into the Disney Savings Jar!
After you’ve done your shopping there is still more ways to
save and thus add more money to your Disney Savings Jar!
My favorite app to save money after shopping
is
Ibotta.
I think of Ibotta more as a
rebate rather than a coupon because the savings aren’t an deduction off of my
bill.
Ibotta is a free app that after
you go shopping, you find the store you shopped at among the many listed.
Then look at the products that have cash
rewards.
Once you find something you’ve
purchased you need to ‘unlock’ the product’s rebate by completing a simple task,
then you verify your purchase by scanning the product
Your cash
reward amount will be deposited into your Ibotta account within 48 hours. After
you’ve racked up $10 in rewards you can transfer the amount to PayPal or to
Venmo then transfer that amount into your Disney Savings Jar!
Plus, if you join my Ibotta team (when you
sign up use code “ufhta”) we both get an instant $2 savings and we will both earn
rewards faster thus having more money to go in our Disney Savings Jars!
I also like Ibotta because its one of the few
places that offers “coupons” for alcohol.
barcode and submitting a
photo of your store receipt.
Now that you have a Disney Savings Jar and multiple ways to
get coupons, how do you know how much to place in your Disney Savings Jar?
This is the easy part!
The stores do the math for you and put on the
receipt how much you’ve saved - they tell you the exact amount of how much you
need to put in your Disney Savings Jar!
As for how often you want to contribute to your jar that is up to you on
what you feel comfortable with.
Do you
only save the grocery coupon savings? Do you save on every coupon used?
Do you save only the coupon amount from
Target? It is up to you, what you’re comfortable with and how much you want to
save.
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| It was late and I counted my change wrong. But it ended up being more money in the savings jar so I kept it! |
My final tip in regards to using a Disney Savings Jar: keep the jar somewhere you're going to see it. This way you'll be reminded that you need to place your money-saved in the jar! I keep my Disney Savings Jar on top of the refrigerator, that way I'm reminded to place my saved money in it while I'm putting my groceries away.
My last overall money saving tip is to use contact me to help you plan and book your next Disney vacation. Not only will I help you save the most money possible, I will help save you in time by looking for the best deal! I will also save you time by helping you book those hard to get restaurant reservations to Fast Pass selections! Email me at lauren@magicaltravel.com to get your next Disney vacation started today
!
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