how much for a vacation (average for fam of 4)

[DisneyDudet]

Buy early. We bought our airfare as soon as we could(after paying off some christmas bills of course). We then booked the hotel, paying for the first night only, we bought our tickets teh other night and then we plan to finish paying for the room when we get there.

With our AmEx, we rack up points for rental cars, which we then get for free (we may have to pay taxes). We then eat dinners out of the park, say Wendy's, Chick-fil-a, etc. We can usually eat at Chili's (if the bf doesn't come-he eats a lot) for what it costs to eat at for one person at a sit down restaurant in the parks or at a resort. We usually have pop tarts or muffins from Walgreens for breakfast (we usually eat one buffet breakfast each trip).

We also save gift checks and money from christmas for meals and treasures during the trip.

We have AP's b/c we will be going back at christmas and it will be cheaper than buying tickets for each trip. Also, the AP rate was worth it. The total savings, even when you calculate the price of the AP in it, saves a couple hundred dollars.

I know someone who saves up a certain amount of his paycheck each time pay day comes around to set aside for their trip. They don't touch the money, unless they are buying for the trip.

Do without renting movies for a while. Try to limit nice outings to twice a month or once a month.

Also, if you plan on eating out for meals if you have a car, ask for gift cards to Chili's or gift certificates to McDonald's or other eateries around so those meals will be taken care of. Family and friends will ablige your request for those christmas and birthday type gifts.

I dont know how much we've spent this year for our trip, but its not cheap. We save and do without if that means going to WDW. I'm sure you'll do the same.

[Marilyn Michetti]

This is the time for a family to make plans with the incredible price of "around" $1500. Of course that doesn't include air fare, or meals. Watch the airfares online, and figure out how much you will budget for food. It's still really reasonable.
Good luck !