Couponing to Carnival?

I follow Kristin at Couponing for Disney and love her approach to her family vacations.  In a nutshell, she adds any "extra" money to their Disney Fund.  This money includes leftover grocery money, spare change, rebates, etc.  Hubs and I are paid in full for our cruise in August but we still have to take spending money (the "fun card") for anything not covered by the cruise (onboard souvenirs, adult-type beverages, coffee from the speciality coffee shop, etc).  We decided to use the "extra" money method to save for our cruise.  As of yesterday, we had 90 days until we set sail.  Already we have over $100 in our envelope.  This money comes from my photography jobs, Hubs' odd jobs, and extra grocery/spending money.  It is exciting to "find" money.  I don't think we have a set goal in mind at this point but it would be nice to save at least $500.  I think we can do it!!  I'll be updating so that I can go back and watch our progress.


90 Days!!!!!



An Experiment

Over Christmas weekend, Hubs and I committed to going on a 5 day cruise with my parents, my younger brother, and his best friend.  I use the word committed because that is what it is for us.  You see, Hubs and I are used to being by ourselves.  We almost always travel by ourselves and find that we enjoy doing what we want - when we want.  There are only two of us so we can do what each person wants.  Anyway, we feel that a cruise is the best way for all 6 of us to do what we want - spend time together, alone, I can read for hours on end while my mom visits the casino, etc.  It's a giant floating playground where we can all find happiness.

So our experiment is not whether or not I will commit a crime against one of my family members on this 5 day vacation but rather can we pay for our complete vacation without touching our regular budget or emergency savings account?  Is this possible? YES!  I can look back at my online banking and see time after time when we wasted money, overspent, etc. 

For the next 8 months, I hope to document our shopping and random expenditures to show how easy it is (hopefully) to be budget conscience.