Right! DH isn’t the same but he also enjoys the hunt of a good deal. He has the time to hunt. We got my 2020 Infiniti QX60 just last month for, all in, 14k. It has a reconstructed title. He did all the necessary repairs. Its in his skill set. Could use a few cosmetic repairs but I’m not concerned with spending more $$ on it. Super low miles. Value on it is about 40k. I had to drive a stripped out older model Tahoe Police Pursuit for a few months. Well worth it. I could have walked into a dealership and paid 40k for a vehicle but to me, that’s not worth it. Especially if DH is doing all the leg work 
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My cutoff is pretty low but only because I find it fun to “get a deal”. Usually I’ll check back on car rental prices and hotel prices (maybe once a week). For Disney GC I use them to pay the DVC fees since I don’t think I can use the CC to pay those, and so I’d miss out on rewards… Usually I get between 8-12% discount when I stack with CC offers and what not. It’s not incredibly time consuming, but like I said, I enjoy it.
I don’t bother with discounts/negotiating on things like my gym membership. I waste an obscene amount of money on Kindle because I don’t like the unlimited offerings generally and the library links are just that inconvenient to me. I will cancel a subscription to streaming to renew in a few months when the new offer rolls in.I also watch the special discounts/cash back on CC limited time rewards thru Chase and Citi mostly. I’ve “saved” a fair amount of money this way, especially with hotel stays and what not. (Not really Disney resort stays, just general Marriot/Hilton/whatever.)
Also, I’m the type of person who if I’m overcharged at the store for something, assuming it’s under $5 I’ll let it go and be fine. My husband will def go back to get the refund. If I am, on the other hand, UNDERcharged, my guilty conscience will not let me just take that. It’s very hard to explain to customer service why I owe them money sometimes, and they look at me like I’m insane and never know how to correct the issue, but at least I can sleep at night lol.
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I think there are 3 considerations:
- does it mean you get to go more often (or at all)?
- does it mean you get to do more or upgrad while you are there?
- do you enjoy the thrill of the chase (sounds like there are aeveral.of us on this thread).
For me the answer is “yes’” to all three. My first Disey trip as an adult was through a Hilton Timeshare pitch. I was able to go on an extra vacation that year - to Disney! - because we were willing to sit thorugh a time share pitch. We paid $350 for six nights at the Hilton Disney Springs and I stalked cheap airline flights. That is how I ended up here on touring plans. For the most part, Disney became a supplimental vacation to my regular
vacation which meant I had to find ways to do it cheap.
But I also enjoy the chase. I am both a maximizer and satisfiser. I am happy with what I end up with, but I want to maximize how nice it can be for the money I have. Stalking prices is a hobby(flights, hotels, rental cars) for me and I love finding what I want for a good deal. We are flying to LA for spring break. Flights were terribly expensive. I was stalking 5 different airlines across three different airports to try to find a deal. One Saturday, Alaska had a price that was $250 cheaper per ticket than anything I had seen, or have seen since. That is $750 savings. And a total rush.
On the gift card side - my current overall savings on Disney GC averages to 12%. Not only does that make me feel like I am beating inflation, like @Julianne_fki, I buy those cards here and there when I can get a good discount, which means they add up like the change in the change jar (I LOVE change jars). You don’t notice that $25 or $50, but next thing you know, you have enough money in gift cards to book yoir room and ticket for an impromptu trip to meet up with other liners.
I have loved my Southwest card, when I got it my DD was able to fly to Costa Rica for free when we went in 2019. The points I get off that card have paid for many flights to Disney. I like Southwest because the points are easy to use and they fly direct to Orlando. We are going to Hawaii in August, so I got an Alaska card (the same day I bought those tickets to LA). I have been super disappointed in how complicated it is to use those points for an upgrade. But I was able to get DD’s ticket to Hawaii for $100 (companion pass) and DH’s ticke for free (points). That’s an $1800 savings. I’ll close that one after trip.
Each little bit adds up. And I enjoy spending my time that way. In fact, when I bought DVC, I was kind of sad it meant giving up the hunt for the best lodging possible in my price point. But I absolutely find I cannot spring for super deluxe at a super deluxe price - my gut just won’t allow it. But if I can get it for a B price (like by owning DVC) it is super sweet.
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Your upbringing sounds very similar to mine. I always had what I needed, but not always what I wanted and often found odd jobs to get those things I wanted.
I feel seen on the donation vs sell front. I do free curb alerts and donations on things people sell. I have a hard enough time with “stuff” in my house and I just need it gone. But I keep change jars, and know which credit card is getting max return on cettain purchase catagories.
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This is a good point. For me the obstruction to going to WDW is 1) flying across the country (with kids) and 2) taking time off. Once I’m there, I’m not as concerned with the exact amount of my spending as long as it’s reasonably within my budget.
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I get full Disney vacations (like 6 nights) every 2-3 years to balance with other destinations. So if I want to go in between I have to make it as low cost as possible!
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This isn’t quite the same thing, but my story of cheapness that I can laugh at now was the time DH and I were in Vegas and had a split stay between the Wynn and Aria hotels. I wanted to take an Uber/Lyft but DH didn’t want to pay for that, so we walked, each with a rolling bag and shoulder bag. We were not Vegas newbies either, he knew it would take us an hour to do that walk.
He has never questioned my suggestion to use rideshare in any situation since then.
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That is like a psychiatric test to see who will break down and call the cab first on that long walk! I’m surprised you didn’t cave. 
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I’m all about saving money - until I’m not. Don’t usually pay full price for merchandise. Have waited at least six months for something to go on sale, but typically when it’s at the $100 or above price point. I will always take a discount, no matter how small. I am also quick to ask for a discount and sometimes will ask to have something thrown in for free. On the flip side, I’m ok dropping $$ on something I really want. The older I get, the more I am turning into the ways of my mother in law. She can be crazy frugal at times, but she also has hundreds of thousands in the bank. She’s a saver. Paid cash for her last three homes. Doesn’t carry insurance on them, which I think is risky, but she’s saving $. Retired at 60. She’s 82 now and lives comfortably. I want to be her, but with insurance on the house.
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I have a change 5 gallon bucket. I’ve filled it up once. It was around $1300. We cashed in and DH and I booked a nice cruise for 2 with it. That even covered 1 of out excursions. It’s now halfway full. It will probably take a few more years to fill but it will be fun to do that exact thing again.
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Wow that’s amazing!!
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That’s so cool.
When I was expecting my first, I emptied my change banks to buy my crib for my baby. It went through 6 kiddos and I still have it in the attic for when I have grandbabies visit. That was back when you still rolled it yourself. 
I so rarely have change anymore. I almost never have cash at all.
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Same!
We had been saving a crib we had for similar reasons, but since laws have changed about drop side cribs, etc., we ended up finally getting rid of it. We do still have a porta-crib to use, though…when the time comes…
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I don’t either but DH deals with a lot of cash. The rental properties pay almost exclusively in cash. When he does the deposit, he usually keeps all of his spending $$ out. So even though he isn’t getting rewards on the cc for his spending, he give me all the change to save. So I let it slide, lol. The first time it took 8 years to fill. I’m at year 6 now It’s worth the wait.
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The way I kind of view it is that Disney gets too much of my money to begin with. So any amount I can get back or prevent them from getting is a win to me. I probably wouldn’t do it for what amounts to a few bucks. But something like 10%, heck yeah. I do use my Disney Visa for everything, even though there are better rewards cards out there. We haven’t been back in almost 2 years but I have about $1200 that we’ll use for our dining and Dessert Party and a few souvenirs.
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But 10% is - generally - just a few bucks…
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Is it though? For me - 10% was $150. That is more than just a few bucks to me.
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What was your 10% on?
I hear 10% and generally go to merch. $5 and that kind of thing.
$150 is decent for sure. That’s a dinner.
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To answer the original question…I suppose how I handle it has changed over the years…but I will seek out discounts and deals as much as I can unless it is a huge amount of effort.
For me, budget has always been on the tight side up until relatively recently where I’m now making enough in my career to justify loosening the purse-strings, as it were. But even so, I do live on a budget…and I plan out precise costs for trips and such as much as possible. If I can save money, I don’t necessarily spend less…instead, that saved money is maybe applied toward something else.
For example, if I budgeted, say, $3000 for a trip, including lodging, food, gas, etc., and I found a discount on our lodging for $50 off…I’d definitely put some effort into getting that $50 discount because that would pay for one nicer meal, or maybe some additional experience, or an extra souvenir. I’ll still spend $3000, but I’m getting more for my money.
When we were younger, it really was trying to cut as much from our costs as possible. $5 here, $3 there, starts to add up. It is why we shop at Aldi for most things, and only supplement our groceries at Kroger.
But what is the cutoff? That depends…again, stage of life plays a role. But if I just go by today, I’m still likely willing to use that coupon for Arby’s if it saves me a couple dollars. But then there is the thread here about how to stack discounts by using Paypal attached to a rewards card to buy gift cards, etc. That’s just a lot of work that I’m not likely to follow up with. BUT, if, say, Meijer once again offers their 10% off gift cards, I’ll go and buy myself $1000 in Disney gift cards (using my Disney Visa card) to ultimately “save” $120.
Just recently, Aldi had a special buy Weight Bench. I’ve been wanting one for a while, and it was a good deal at $80. But I wasn’t entirely sure at that price. After a couple weeks they dropped the price to $60. I was now more tempted, but since they had a LOT of them still, I figured they would eventually drop in price more. Sure enough, a couple more weeks later, I got that weight bench for $40!
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