hi my name is darla and my family and i will be coming to disney in june 2011. i wanted to know what you suggest for spending money per day. i am staying at the riverside resort and have the deluxe dinning plan.
hi darla, having the deluxe dining plan will save you quite a bit. the only things you need to budget for are souvenirs and gratuity. i know once i introduced my daughter to pin trading and vinyl mickeys, my souvenir spending went up ten fold. if you are not familiar with them, both are based on disney themed merchandise that is sold throughout wdw. when you eat at a table service restaurant you will be given a receipt that shows how much your meal would have cost if you were not on the dining plan. it is customary to tip 15-18%. you can have the gratuity charged to your room or you can pay by credit card or cash. its hard for me to give you an estimate. i would assume for myself that i would spend about $40 per person per day on both tips and souvenirs. hope that helps. all the best - michelle
what’s your day rate. i can only give you estimates based on what we spend with a family of 4. i am a stay at home mom, my husband commutes about 20 minutes to work and i have a teenage driver (16 year old girl) and a teenage boy with a huge appetite. i am now spending about $200 a week on groceries with two teenagers. gas is costing us about $100 a week. car insurance is about $400 per year. our housing runs about $1,800 per month with insurance. we live in a nice neighborhood but our house is only about 2200 sq. ft. you can definitely get larger homes for less money in a less expensive neighborhood, but i would defintely stay on the east side -- sandy and draper are nice. if you go on the west side, be sure it's southwest -- south jordan, riverton, bluffdale. 

since i'm digressing, i'll just continue on this bent. your better schools are on the east side -- anywhere on the east side. if you want to go north of salt lake, consider bountiful, and fruit heights (good schools, but slightly more expensive) stay away from ogden, woods cross and layton. traffic into and out of davis county is horrendous.

if you go one county south (utah county) you have an excellent school district with alpine. avoid lehi. alpine and highland are lovely little suburbs with great schools and a great atmosphere nestled right up against the mountains. home prices and taxes are higher than other places (like american fork, pleasant grove and orem) but they are very sweet places to live. if you're not mormon i probably would'nt consider them -- they're about 98% mormon. mormons are very nice people typically (i know -- i am one) but you're kids might feel a bit left out not being one of the majority.

ok, back to the topic at hand. if you would like to email me, i would be happy to tell you what we make and how we live, but i'd rather not broadcast that all over the internet. email me at daves\_comet@yahoo.com. i would be happy to answer any questions you may have about moving to salt lake. let's just say that i moved here 20 years ago and i have never found a place i like better. i have lived in many cities in different parts of the world, but this is where i hang my heart.

good luck. i'd say tuesday friday and saturday take a cruise from san diego. holland america line travels to mexico for 7 - 10 days from san diego. great food, great prices, and lots of touring in each city they stop in. i just went on the 7-day and i loved it. i got to see puerto vallarta, mazatlan, and cabo. mazatlan was my favorite. so beautiful and cultural. don't go through a travel agent that is going to charge you for their services. most agents are paid from the company they book you with and should not be over charging you for the same thing you could book on your own. they will charge an extra fee for airline reservations just because the airlines do not pay them commissions anymore. if you go on a cruise you can call the company direclty. it depends how much you would have to pay out on your current lease. hi dear. you can easily save a lot of money by making a few changes in your lifestyle. when you go grocery shopping, try to buy products that are of local brands, fruits and vegetables that are seasonal, bulk packets, etc. always make a list when you go shopping as it helps in avoiding unnecessary expenses. you can easily make a lot of crafts at home to decorate your house or for gifting such as lamps, photo frames, cushions, etc. make a monthly budget where you keep aside some amount to save. try to stick to the budget to save more. 1) add a comment to your reservation that it a birthday is involved. 
2) email/call the gm or concierge and let them know answer: `1.00` start paying attention and thinking about your targeted retirement balance. set a goal and an allocation and rebalance regularly to stay on track and mitigate risk. here are a few that i usually recommend: