My Plan

Today is the day!

I'm actually really excited, which I wasn't sure I'd be. Normally the idea of exercise and no more Taco Bell would fill me with sadness, but I'm feeling good about things this time! Maybe because I have a greater goal in mind beyond just the weight loss itself.

So now to give you an idea of what my plans are.

First...the weight loss. I am going to do Weight Watchers. Again. No need to reinvent the wheel. I have lost over 60 pounds on WW before and I know it works. I know I can afford it and I know that I generally don't feel deprived while on it. I have failed on WW only for the same reasons I would have failed on ANY diet....laziness. This time I have Disney keeping me motivated. I will also begin utilizing my 24 Hour gym membership again and using my Wii Fit more. The weight loss is requiring less creativity because I've done it before. As I've been saying..."It's not about what I don't KNOW, it's about what I don't DO." I'm going to start doing. I have a lot of weight to lose, but for the purposes of this blog and this trip to Disney, I am setting my goal at 60 lbs. I don't want to set myself up for failure by setting a goal that is unrealistic.

Second....the money. THIS is going to require much more creativity because of the fact that our family budget simply does not support a trip to Disney. Not in a timely manner, anyway. And not in the manner in which I am hoping to go. I don't want our budget to be so tight that there is no room for splurging and fun. I don't want our hotel to have roaches and I don't want to eat fast food for every meal. I want to have a vacation. Here are some ways I will be saving for our trip:

**Birthdays and Christmas. Our family members have been informed that all Christmas and birthday gifts this year are to be monetary contributions, Disney gift cards or items which we would have need to purchase for the trip anyway.

**Craigslist and ebay. We have a lot of stuff around our home that could very easily be someone else's treasure. We're going to clean out some closets and add to the Disney fund simultaneously. Win-Win. Win.

**Couponing to Disney. The day after my Mom reminded me of our impending trip, I started googling like mad. Terms like "Disneyland for cheapskates" and "Disneyland when you have no money". This delightful blog popped up on my list and I instantly decided that this woman and I were kindred. She has been a tremendous source of inspiration and information. So I will be "Couponing to Disney".

**Online surveys. Couponing to Disney also linked to some sites that have already earned my quite a few dollars. They are online survey sites that pay you for taking.....(you guessed it)...online surveys. there are LOTS of these sites out there and not all of them are legit. I will give you details in a future post about which sites are worth your time. I have been working these sites for about 3 weeks and I've earned about $80 so far. They work. Each site requires you reach a certain dollar amount before they will "cash you out", so for future reference, I will not be including the amount I have earned from any survey sites until I have the cash in hand. So, for example, when I give you the amount saved so far today, it will not include the $80 mentioned above. I haven't cashed out any site yet.

**"Found Money". Recently my MIL gave us $15 for picking her up at the airport (she didn't have to...she insisted). Since that money was not in the budget, we just stuck it in the Disney fund. Can deposits fall into this category. Loose change falls into this category. Any money that we never planned on having or using will fall into this category and will go right into the Disney fund. Even if it's only a penny. Pennies add up!

**My Scentsy business. I sell Scentsy and we have decided that all commissions between now and Disney will go into the Disney fund. So if you feel inspired to help us on our journey to Disney, buy some Scentsy from me. You'll love it! :) I'll put a link on my sidebar to my website and that will be all you'll hear about Scentsy from me. That's not what this blog is for. But I would be remiss if I didn't at least mention it!

So far, the cash we have IN HAND that we have saved for Disney is: $144.02!!! Not bad for 3 weeks work! (And like I said...that doesn't include the survey money yet).

So those are my plans. I had intended to include a little bit more information in this post, but it's already REALLY long, so I'll save that for another time. Thanks for reading!

TTFN~
Kimberly