Saving Pennies for Disney

I love being a Disney loving mom.  Planning Disney trips for my own family and talking about Disney with those who are just as passionate as I am or with those going for the first time brings me almost as much joy as the actual trips themselves.  In recent years, I've been successful in convincing my loving and supportive husband that annual Disney trips are essential for our family.  After all, "happy wife, happy life" right?

In order to go on a Disney vacation each year, I'm always looking for ways to save money.  In the past I've highlighted buying Disney gift cards at Target to get 5% off, using David's DVC rental store to book deluxe villas at moderate prices, and using Garden Grocer to save money on food while in Walt Disney World.  Today's tip is not Disney specific, but I plan to use my rewards towards a Disney vacation.

Back in the Fall, my sister-in-law began sharing her experiences using Ebates.  You may have seen commercials for this website, but if you're not familiar, here's the basics.  Ebates is a referral website. You create an account with them and log into their website before doing any of your online shopping.  They offer a percent cash back on purchases from A LOT of online retailers.  All you do is access the retailer through Ebates website and the cash back magically appears in your account.  Every few weeks, Ebates will transfer the cash back you've earned to your linked PayPal account and then it's yours to spend as you see fit.  

Are you going to pay for an annual Disney trip with the cash back you earn from Ebates?  Probably not.  I'm a "casual" online shopper.  I buy diapers for the baby, clothes for the kids, and some gifts online - by no means am I purchasing things everyday or spending large amounts of money.  Also, Ebates tends to offer between 1% - 5% cash back - not hundreds of dollars at a time.  I've had some purchases where I've earned less than $1 cash back, but others where I've earned $10.  You can also watch their website for double cash back specials and extra cash bonuses.  For example, my recent diaper purchase not only earned me the usual 2% back from my Diapers.com purchase, but Ebates was also running a special where you earned $5 extra cash back on any purchase from select kids retailers when you spent more than $25.  So the diapers I had to buy anyway ended up netting me over $6 back in easy money!

I've been a member since December and have earned almost $60 in cash back so far.  If my trend continues, by our Disney trip in November I should have over $200 saved up that I'll withdraw and spend on Disney gift cards.  That's a couple quick service meals in the park, or maybe an AMAZING 4 course meal for hubby and I at Artist Point, or an awful lot of food and wine tastes at the Food and Wine Festival in Epcot.  And of course when I buy my Disney gift cards, I'll purchase them with 5% off using my Target Red Card online through Ebates where I'll earn about 2% in cash back :)