5 Years in the Making.. A FREE Trip to DISNEY!

OUR Family is Going to Disney Next Year

For "FREE"

True Story.

This is like the ultimate couponer's dream, right? Well, it took 5 years of saving Disney Rewards Points/Dollars, but we FINALLY got enough saved up to be able to go during the "off season" and stay at  a "Value Resort" for 7 nights for FREE! All 5 Members of my family! That includes a FREE Quick Service Dining Plan and the basic theme park tickets.  Whew!

Of Course! I had to upgrade the trip to get the FULL dining plan, because we want to eat with some characters! And, after some other upgrades I threw in, the out of pocket on the vacation plan we are getting will be right at about $500. For 5 people! That is just amazing. It took years and years and lots of patience. No, there were no insider tips or tricks. No saving "found money" in a separate account.. just straight forward saving our Disney Rewards Points until we could cash them in for this trip.

The lesson there is PATIENCE. You can get what you want through hard work and patience.

But mostly, I am a planner. I have been throwing things in a "Disney Trip Bin" for a couple years now so that when we were ready to go, we would be READY TO GO!  And on the cheap!  

Things I have been watching for sales on and couponing for and will be taking with us:

Disney Fruit Snacks:  Bought the boxes of 10ct packs using rare coupons for about 75c a box... grabbed Phineas and Ferb, Princesses, Cars, Tinker Bell, you name it! Hello cheap in park and road trip snacks!

Disney Cars Juicy Juice Juice boxes: Can we say Back to School Clearance time??! Yeah!

Glow Sticks for the evening shows: Bought at Michael's crafts stores using 40% off one item coupons, making them 60c for about 15!

Every time I see a clearance for Crayola Color Wonder, Those get snatched by me and thrown in for the car ride... I have gotten quite a few of these sets for FREE after coupon and sales... and a few for $2.50! (Reg up to $8 ea)... Also, found a Melissa and Doug Travel wooden Hang Man set for $3 instead of $20! My Friends Tigger and Pooh compact Magnetic travel book/games that will be great for while we are sitting waiting for a parade to begin, Highlights activities kits on clearance for 75% off, etc etc etc.

Walmart has Disney Color/sticker activity sets near the check out for $1 ea. Grabbed a few of those.

Went to VistaPrint and Ordered T-Shirts for FREE (shipping only, about $4 a shirt).. and used a 40% off coupon to buy fabric markers so that the kids can get SHIRTS signed instead of autograph books. These will last longer and the kids can wear the signatures from their fave characters!

Stocked up on $3 shirts from the Disney Store to take with us to wear...

Ditto on $1 Disney Sunglasses, $1 Disney Flip Flops, $4 Disney Crocs, etc.

Found $9 (reg $40) Disney Store Princess Dresses, $3 Crowns, and $3 light up wands.. each girl will get to wear a full princess costume and be fancy for our fancy (and free ) dinner at California Grill atop the Contemporary Resort...

Bought a "Lot" of Trading Pins on Ebay on the super cheap. (about $1 a pin!)  They come as an undescribed mixed lot. Bought 99c Disney Lanyards from Party City for the kids to keep the pins on.. they can trade for the ones they really want once they get to the parks...

AND, I wont forget to stop by the FREE Character Meet n Greet at Epcot's Imagination's West Pavilion. Show a Disney Visa there, and you get a private session with 3 characters and the Disney World photogs. Then, you get to pick out your favorite picture to keep for FREE!

Also, I made sure to include on all my dining reservations that it was the FIRST TRIP to WDW for my kids... they tend to make a big deal when they know these things! We might get free confetti decorations on our table, or free cupcakes, or...?? You never know!

What I do know is that as I go along and find things super cheap for the trip, it goes into the bin.  IF you are planning a trip next week, next year, or a couple years from now, I suggest starting a bin of your own. It helps focus what you have, what you need, keeps it all in one place so you can pack more easily when it is time... It is a lifesaver to me! And prepacking things like snacks and "souvenir" type stuff now will save soo much time and money later. Who wants to wait in line for a bottle of water when you could be on Space Mountain???

Special shout out to the folks at Chip and Company for all their great dining suggestions for me! They will take the time to give personalized advice. They are super great and have awesome Disney Giveaways all the time. Go like them on Facebook and tell them I sent you! :)  

VistaPrint Always Has Deals

VistaPrint is My Go To Place For Office-y Supplies

 They Always Have Deals and Specials Going On

I love going to VistaPrint.  I hate that you have to go through different links to get the different specials. It is kind of a pain that they don't just let you stack a bunch of codes. But, anywhoo.. VistaPrint is my go to place when I need office type supplies.

Want to browse for current deals? Just Google VistaPrint Deals.  Or, you can go through Ebates HERE to shop VistaPrint.  You will get the deals AND CashBack (5% right now).  

New to VistaPrint? New members get special deals, up to 80% off as well when they sign up HERE. 

I just ordered new business cards that I can hand out when I go shopping.  People stop me when they see my binder and always ask how I coupon and where they can learn it.  Now, I will be able to direct them here and to some of my fave blogs too!  

I did hem and haw over whether to pay $2.99 for my FREE business cards so that they would not say "Free Business Cards at VistaPrint.com" on the back. I decided it was TOTALLY appropriate for a couponer to have that printed on the back of their cards and kept the cards free! 

There are so many great things you can do at VistaPrint if you think outside the box when a good deal comes along.  You can make your free business cards into Mommy Cards with your name and your kids' names and bdays and your phone number  to hand out to friends and relatives.  You can make Gift tags with the free business cards. You can make gift tags with the FREE mailing address labels they do. You can put "Property of..." on address labels.  "IF Found, Please call..." and so on. I made address labels with my daughter's name and my phone number in case she loses some of her school items when she goes next year.  I am going to stick these to all of her personal school supplies.  Is VistaPrint running their FREE Banner/Sign promotion?  Why not make a generic "Happy Birthday, Andrew" sign (if your kid's name is Andrew.. otherwise swap the name accordingly) that you can hang up every year at little Andrew's party?   Anyway, there are a LOT of neat ideas here.  

I made my kids a play kitchen set from Santa this year.  TONS of play food, dishes, utensils, etc etc etc. It was really elaborate.. pot scrubbers and all.. (I shopped an entire YEAR for all these items on clearance and spent LESS than $100 on the whole thing.. kitchen included!)  Then, I went to VistaPrint and ordered the FREE Banner to be all girly and read "Three Sisters Cafe" to hang above their kitchen set.. 

With their Free Items, you DO pay Shipping. 

I love that they also take PayPal. It comes in quite handy since I do Ebay too! 

What creative uses have you all found for the "Office" supplies?

Catch me out shopping and you will find me with my Free business cards in my Bargain Binder that I keep in my FREE Canvas "Coupon Couture" tote!