Budgeting With Disney GiftCards
Disney Gift Cards are super easy to use and they can even save you money!
Click HERE to read our blog post on how to get discounts on Disney Gift Cards.
Here are a few ways you can use Disney Gift Cards to keep yourself on track with your budget while on your next Disney Vacation.
1. Use them to categorize your spending.
The big ones are food and souvenirs! Once you have your budget set, divide that up between your giftcards and separate them into a food gift card and souvenir gift card.
You can even go a step further and if you know what you would like to spend each day, you can have a new gift card for each day!
2. Keep your kiddos on track AND teach them budgeting at the same time!
If you have a set amount that you want to spend on souvenirs and snacks, you can give each child a gift card with that amount!
Let them know that is all they get for the whole trip and when it’s gone, it’s gone!
This will help them to think if they would really rather have a Mickey bar every day, or a fun keepsake that will last them much longer.
Hopefully this can help avoid any melt downs or arguments on why they can or cannot have that extra bubble wand or Mickey pretzel. If they spent all their gift card money, they’re done!
3. This is a helpful trick for you as an adult as well!
We tend to go a little overboard when it comes to souvenirs and the food festivals!
We set the same rules for ourselves and it helps us to
A.) not feel guilty when we do want to make a purchase (that money was set aside specifically for it)
B.) keep us from overspending, once the balance is zero, we’re done!
4. Track your spending for future trips
If you plan on going on future Disney trips, keep your receipts and at the end of your trip, add up what you actually spent!
This will help you to have a better idea on what you need to budget more for and what you don’t have to a lot as much money for on your next visit.
5. Label your gift cards so you don’t forget which one is which!
If you are like us, you will probably have several giftcards that all look the same.
That can make it a little confusing to remember which card is for what.
Simply write on them what they are for: Food day 1, Souvenirs, Snacks, etc.
Easy! That eliminates a lot of confusion!
6. DONT FORGET TO PAY YOUR ROOM BALANCE!
If you choose to not use your gift cards while on the go and instead charge items to your room, don’t wait until your checkout day to pay the balance off!
Instead, make SURE that you pay it off at least the night before checkout so that you know the payment won’t go through on your credit card on file.
We like to have a little extra insurance by paying it off at the end of each night, just in case we happen to forget the last night.
The charge that would go through may only be a few hundred dollars instead of potentially thousands.
Now that you know how to use those gift cards to their fullest, it’s time to start packing!
You can read about our top things to pack in 2020 HERE
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