What Do You Prefer?

[kristenrice]

Pardon my late-night, random ramblings, but a thought or six crossed my mind and I wondered what y'all think...

I just cashed out to PayPal for $180, leaving me about $1.xx in my account. I use my Sunshine Rewards EXCLUSIVELY for Disney vacations and we're leaving in three weeks so I needed to cash out.:banana:

Now, my account is already back up to $25.54....enough for a Disney Gift Card. So I was thinking it would be great to cash in for a gift card that I earned for FREE in a matter of 10 days:love:.

But...it is also nice to have a nice BIG cash out of, say, $100 or more.

So I was wondering, do you prefer to save up for one big cash out? Or, do you prefer to cash out smaller amounts in frequent intervals?

I like watching my account balance grow, but it sure would be nice to get a "free" Disney gift card every month.

Since I can't post a poll, just throw out your opinions here.:thanks:

[m 'n c]

Well... in this case I'd cash out for the $25 if you weren't going to Disney again for a while.

Otherwise, I'd build and use it for something else. I love large cashouts. Plus you would cut down on the number of actual gift cards in your hands with larger cashouts.

[m 'n c]

Oh and don't worry about late night ramblings. I'll participate with you.

[Leslie]

If I was that close to going to Disney, I would cash out for the $25 and enjoy it.

With that being said, I have been letting my account build and I am so close to the $500 mark which feels like a huge accomplishment and I can't believe I have almost made it! I can't wait to cash out and I know that the day I get that card in the mail, there will be some serious celebrating going on!!!

updated: I just noticed you were leaving in 3 weeks, so I don't know that you would receive your gift card before you left, so keep that in mind.

[~Kathie]

I agree with Leslie....you probably won't get the gift card in time for your trip.

[kristenrice]

I knew that my current earnings won't be going towards this trip, but I always have one up my sleeve;).

The next officially planned trip is the one my dad is taking us on in June 2012. He wants to take the entire family (14 people so far, but DSis is planning on trying for another one soon!) for a week at either AKV or OKW. Ok, HE wants to stay at OKW but I want to stay at AKV. That's why we invited him and my mom to join us on our spring break trip next month. He has never seen the AKL/AKV so he can't make an informed decision yet;). He asked me the other day..."Do you think $30,000 will be enough to cover it?":eek: I never realized that he is planning on paying for EVERYTHING!! He said he's planning to pay for lodging (we're transferring in DVC points from another member), meals, airfare and park tickets. He said we are on our own for souvenirs, but he's covering everything else. So, I really don't need to save for that trip.

So, now I am thinking that I might like to use our DVC points to take a trip in June 2011. DD6 will turn 8 on June 23, 2011 so I thought about surprising her (and her sister who will be 5 at the time) with a trip to the BWV. I doubt that DH will have an issue with *another* Disney trip as long as I have all of the money saved up ahead of time. I've already told him that he doesn't have to go if he doesn't want to. But when my daughter asked him if he would go with her to WDW on her birthday, he said that he "could probably do that". (She doesn't know about my plan...it was all hypothetical at the time.)

I agree that arriving at the check in desk with 20 $25 gift cards to put on your room is a PITA! I've done it...it wasn't fun, especially for the poor folks stuck behind me in line! But, I like to see my progress. Seeing the balance on the computer is not the same as having the gift cards/cash in hand, ya' know? I like to save up in little amounts anyways. DH thinks it is silly that I get so excited about earning $2 a day in surveys. Then, I get all glowy when I return 2 weeks worth of pop bottles and add a whopping $8 to the vacation savings account. But all those little things really add up!

Here's my example of how much I've saved for our Easter trip to WDW...
*BACKGROUND: Last WDW trip was June 2009 so all of the earnings are SINCE then...

9 nights in hotels...
First night: Marriott points (7500) Cost: $12.50 (had to top off my account)
Second night: Marriott Gift Card ($75) Free from MyP****s Cost: $18 OOP
Third night: AMEX rewards points
Nights 4-8: DVC points
Ninth night: AMEX rewards points
TOTAL OOP LODGING COST: $30.50 for NINE nights
Park Passes: AP's from last year...no additional cost!
Food:
$180 earned in Sunshine Rewards, $150 earned in Disney Visa rewards, $50 earned in Discover card cashback, $125 earned in Landry's gift cards from MyP****s, and $95 earned in pop bottle refunds for a total of $600 towards the food budget while at WDW.
Travel:
Gas...$300 (that's our half, we're splitting it with my parents)
Food on the road: $200
Groceries: Free-ish (I'm redeeming my Speedway SpeedyRewards for a $50 food gift card so we can stock up on some basic necessities before we get there)

So, out of the roughly $1500 that this trip will "cost", I have earned about $850 in FREE money. That is over 50% of the total vacation cost! All of that was accumulated in less than 10 months and it was all done in small increments. When you see it like that, it is truly amazing. That's why redeeming for the gift cards on a frequent basis seems appealing to me. It's like I am earning it up in amounts that are not so dramatic. If I waited and cashed out for, say, $500, I would start to think about all of the other things I could get with that money...a new TV...a new sofa...half of a new mattress:)...etc. If I'm only earning it $25 at a time, then suddenly, I am not really thinking about what else I could do with it because it is "only" $25.

WOW!! I really ramble late at night!! I have the gift of making a short story long:D.

Thanks for listening....

[m 'n c]

yeah I totally understand the progress part of it. It is nice to have a stack of Disney GCs. Maybe go from $25 to $50. That will cut your gift cards in half. Or every $100 you could cash out for a card. That could represent your SM earnings for the quarter.

[gpp2001]

Okay - after reading your late night ramblings, here is my 2 cents! I currently have over $600 in my account and am still not sure I'm ready to cash out. My last three cashouts have been for $500 each. I guess I'm the opposite of you, I like to see my balance grow on the computer and there is always the possibility that I could lose those $25 GC or what would actually happen in my case, is that I would put them somewhere and forget where they are.

Another reason, I like to cashout for $500 or higher, is that I don't have to pay for postage. Every time you cashout for $25 or $50, you are losing $.44 to postage. Not a lot but it does add up!

Whatever you decide will be right for you and it's still "free" money! Enjoy! :sunshine:

[PSL1013]

I love those $500 Disney GC, less to carry around...this is the only amount that I will cash out for from now on. I will be bringing two of these with me when I go next October. Thanks SR!! :heart:

[fourfoxesinpa]

I like to cash out for $100 cards. For me, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. We typically use our cards for food and souvenirs, so every morning we head to the park, we grab a card and off we go. When we burn through it (usually the same day), it just gets tossed and I don't have to keep track of it. I also get cards in smaller denominations to give to the kids for Easter, Christmas Stocking, etc.

I've always hesitated to save for a larger card because I would be devastated if I lost it. Throwing all the eggs into one basket is scary to me.

[m 'n c]

I use to love cashing out for the gift cards but lately I've gotten hooked on paypal. I try to cashout in large amounts to help Tricia with fees. I prefer the paypal because I can put it into my savings account and earn interest on it. Then I just transfer to my checking when it is time to pay for the vacation and I'm all done.

[kristenrice]

Thanks for everyone's opinions:clap:.

I think I might just try to get the best of both worlds and redeem for gift cards when I hit the $50 mark. Maybe if I am able to consistently make SM status, then I might consider doing the $100 gift cards every quarter. If I make $120 or more, then I could do a $100 GC and cash out the remainder to PayPal and add it to the card at a later time.

I love the options:love:! I just hope I can keep up the earnings at this pace.

[Claiken]

I would find it far too hard to wait that long. being canadian, ive yet to reach 100 in a couple years. to date is only like $60 or something.... oh how i wish i could participate in more offers! lol.

But i suppose mayeb the more canadian members, the more would be available to us, so im not losing hope. i just participate in what i can and hope for the best.

its frusterating at times, but after all, it is free money, right?

[momof3lovebugs]

I am reading and just in awe of those of you who have made so much $$ here! :sunshine2: I hit my 20.00 mark and am now moving toward 30.00. :p My first thought is to cash out now, just to see if it's real. Is that weird? :blush: Then the other part of me wants to hang on to hit 100.00. I am hoping to make 200-300.00 by October for WDW.
First I was trying to hit 50.00. Now that I have been here and see that I am almost at 30.00 with less than a month, I upped my goal! :banana:

so back to the op :blush: if you have multiple disney trips planned, I would just watch the earnings pile up. You can always cash out with paypal, right? You are obviously diligent since you have earned so much for this trip already. Bravo for you! I am learning at the feet of all you masters!! :love:

[PSL1013]

I am reading and just in awe of those of you who have made so much $$ here! :sunshine2: I hit my 20.00 mark and am now moving toward 30.00. :p My first thought is to cash out now, just to see if it's real. Is that weird? Then the other part of me wants to hang on to hit 100.00. I am hoping to make 200-300.00 by October for WDW.
First I was trying to hit 50.00. Now that I have been here and see that I am almost at 30.00 with less than a month, I upped my goal! :banana:

so back to the op :blush: if you have multiple disney trips planned, I would just watch the earnings pile up. You can always cash out with paypal, right? You are obviously diligent since you have earned so much for this trip already. Bravo for you! I am learning at the feet of all you masters!! :love:

Oh, believe me....It's definitely REAL. I've cashed out for over $2,500 since joining back at the very beginning of Sunshine Rewards....almost all of it for Disney GC. I like going for the bigger amounts so that I don't have to carry around multiple cards, I hate seeing less than $100 in my account but that's just me so I tend to let it pile up before cashing out! ;)