Disney MONEY mistakes to avoid
November 6, 2015
Coming to Disney World is a dream come true and a vacation that will forever be treasured by your family or friends. But just because you saved up money to have a great vacation, it doesn’t mean you should be careless. It can be easy to get carried away and end up spending much more than you need. And you don’t want to ruin your vacation by leaving Florida with the sour taste of debt. So here are some easy tips to help you manage your money better:
Not setting a budget – first and foremost, you should set a spending budget. If you are traveling with a family of 4 for example, calculate how much it will cost per person to fly/ride, eat, sleep and play. We often remember to calculate the basic hotel + plane ticket + food but forget the incidentals. Remember you are going on vacation, so you should allow yourself and your family to splurge a little. Calculate money for merchandise purchases, gifts, photo packages, family meals, character dining and shows and attractions that you might want to visit besides the theme parks like Cirque du Solei or Blue Man Group.
Not valuing time- When on vacation time is your most valuable currency. Don’t ever overlook convenience for price. If you need to buy headache medicine for example, buy it at your hotel convenience store or the gas station you stopped at even if it costs $10 and you know it sells for $5 at the local drugstore. Shed the extra money for the sake of saving time (and a headache in this case. Pun intended)! Having to drive out of your way just to save a few bucks is a big mistake, because TIME is too valuable.
Not acting in the moment- on your trip to Disney you will encounter several things that you wish you could buy and of course you most likely won’t. But understand that if you see something in a store and decide to “think about it,” you might run the risk of not finding that item again. That rings true especially if you are traveling with a tour group that has a structured itinerary. You don’t want to go back home thinking “I wish I bought that [—-loved item here—-] because you thought you could find it cheaper somewhere or thought you would have had another opportunity to return to the same store to purchase it. Be true to yourself and learn to recognize when the item is unique enough that you should spend the extra cash on it! That’s also when having a budget comes in place.