Wishes And Pixie Dust

Follow the journey of a Wisconsin family of 4 who relocated to the Walt Disney World area in July 2011

Category Archives: Freecycle


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Saturday Doings :)

When we started our blog, it was mainly for our own purposes, to keep track of different aspects of our move.  We feel honored that so many of our readers follow us regularly, and some readers aspire to follow in our footsteps and make their own journey to Florida to be closer to the Mouse.  🙂    In response to that, we attempt to post regularly, and to provide more informational blog posts that may help you with some of the major decision making that goes into a multi-state move.  There are times that we share a blog post, and think “Really?  No one is going to want to read that, it’s boring!”, and then we receive a few comments that encourage us that yes, you really want to hear about it!  Today we wanted to share with you what our day looks like three weeks before our move, to give you a feel of perhaps what to expect when you experience your relocation.

Saturday is typically a very routine day in the Vitek household.  We always begin with a trip to the library to return and check out different materials.  We are very heavy users of the public library, it’s not very often we miss a visit, and we intend to keep up the routine once we make the move.   We have two libraries in which to choose from in Clermont: Cooper Memorial and Cagan Crossings:  we will most likely select Cooper Memorial as the library we most often frequent as it is closer to us than Cagan Crossings.   Library cards must be applied for online, so we will do that the week of our move, so that they will be ready for us the following Saturday.

After the library we came home for lunch, and waited for a Craigslist exchange, twenty more dollars earned for our piggy!  We then went to our oldest son’s apartment again, then off to Festival Foods to do some grocery shopping.  We’ve been researching grocery stores in the Clermont area, and we do believe Publix will probably end up being our store of choice, although we’ve heard some good things about Sweetbay, so we may check that out as well. We pulled up the advertisement on the internet and the prices are quite comparable with what we are currently paying in Wisconsin.

We came home and unloaded our groceries, and went through the kitchen cabinets to see what else we could offer to Nick, and it ended up being quite a nice pile.  He will get more once we are down to our last couple of days, but it felt good to be able to clean out items and not have to pack them!   Saturday is also pizza night, and the big decision of where to order ensued.  We want to make sure that we have our favorites one last time, and tonight we chose Rocky Rococo, a large sausage pizza with breadsticks.  We waited to order until after 5:00, because we drive to pick it up, and we had another Craigslist transaction that netted an additional ten dollars.  We always watch a movie with our pizza, and tonight’s selection was Cars.  We still have yet to see Cars 2 in the theatre, but we plan to do that soon.

We did have a couple of minor *bad* things happen today.  One, the check engine light came on in the car.  We are hoping it’s just a glitch, as we just had the car undergo a 30 point inspection for the trip, including an oil change, and really can’t afford to put more money into the car at this point.  The second thing involved an accident with a glass of soda and our external hard drive.  At this point we’re not certain if any data is lost or if the device works.  The cord did get severely bent, however.    This is also another item that is not in the budget to replace.

Tomorrow we hope to finish up Ben’s room and make some progress in Catie’s.   The kids are a little nervous that their belongings will not be packed in time, but we keep reassuring them, that yes they will.  No toy gets left behind.  LOL  Nick is coming over on Monday to get some more of his things, and we plan to move the unwanted furniture into the garage, so we can Freecycle them.  We have a lot of odds and ends in the garage, and are going to be letting people come and take what they want.   Kind of like a free yard sale.  🙂

So that’s our day.  We didn’t get a huge amount accomplished today in terms of packing, but some days are like that.  We really like the fact that we’ve had plenty of time to sort through our belongings, so that we are not feeling hurried and rushed right now.  Six months notice was perfect for us; it was far enough away to not feel pressured to do everything at once, but close enough that we weren’t discouraged that it was so far away We do better with short term goals, but that’s just us.  You may find that a longer time period works best for you.

We wish all our American readers a very Happy Independence Day Weekend and please stay safe!  We’re planning a new blog post for Monday which highlights our local haunts, so please watch for that.   Mark is also working on a post that highlights a favorite Walt Disney World resort hotel, hoping to put that out later this week.


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Relocating Your Furniture. Or Not.

As you contemplate a long-distance move (or perhaps you have already made the decision to move), one of the early questions that arises deals with the moving of furniture.  If you are using professional movers, you will want to think about this prior to the appointment, as the contents of your house will be inventoried, and you will generally need to know if you plan to move an item to your new home.

There are a few questions you need to consider as you think about this.  How old is my furniture?  Is it worth moving hundreds of miles?  For us, the answer is no, it’s not worth it.  The majority of our furniture are older pieces, and realistically, the cost it would add to our invoice is more than its value.  We are only keeping a select few pieces of furniture, and most of it is being discarded on Freecycle.

We will state, however, that it is kind of stressful to dispose of your furniture and not move it.  We made the decision early on that we were not going to move our desk; it is solid oak and extremely heavy.  It has been the thorn in our side for every move, and we’ve simply had enough with it.    We made arrangements with a local person to come and pick up the desk.  In order for this to happen, the desktop computer and work laptop needed to be disconnected, which is not a small feat given the massive piles of cords and modems involved!  They were temporarily placed on the kitchen table, while we moved the desk out to the middle of the room.  Unfortunately, this person never showed up, and we were faced with an enormous desk in the middle of the dining room, and computers disconnected and sitting on the table.

Thankfully we have a large foyer by the front door, and we were able to drag the desk out there and reassemble the dining room into some semblance of order.  We used four smaller tables/bookcases to replace the desk, and while not an ideal situation, it should be okay for the next five weeks.  We have someone new scheduled to come tomorrow, so if all goes well, the desk should be gone by tomorrow afternoon.

We have been slowly giving away our furniture; this week alone we have parted with 2 bookcases, a rocker & ottoman, three chairs, and (hopefully) a desk. We prefer Craigslist and Freecycle as means to dispose of our furniture because you can set the time frames when you want people to come buy to pick up your stuff.  Another option you have available is to hold a rummage sale, but then you are responsible for hauling your furniture outside, sitting outside with it all day while hoping it sells, because if it doesn’t, you will have to bring it back inside (or place it in a garage if you have one available to you).

There are a few furniture stores that we are considering in Florida, recommendations given to us by friends:

  • Clermont Furniture on Hwy 50
  • Ashley Furniture
  • Rooms to Go Outlet in Altamonte Springs
  • American Freight
  • Sears (for mattresses)
  • Original Mattress Factory
  • IKEA
We’re putting them in our blog mainly so we have a reference point to go back to later.   If any locals have some other great furniture or mattress stores to add to the list, we’d love to hear about them!  Our plan is not to replace everything immediately, but only buy the essentials first and then add pieces as we can.   One of the reasons we chose the apartment complex we did is that is comes furnished with a full size washer and dryer.  This is a huge expense that we did not have to assume and are thankful for that!
Thanks for following along!


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Farewell to Rosenow

Today was another series of “lasts”:  the last time I will drive to and from the schools, which surprisingly feels very weird, but more importantly, it is the last time Catie and Ben will see the inside of their respective schools.  Catie will miss her friends more than the school, but poor Ben has been having a rough adjustment with transitioning on.  At fifth grade graduation yesterday, the principal gave a small talk about the “Rosenow Way” (Rosenow is the name of the elementary school):  the school environment is a close-knit community, where teachers treat the students as their own children, and the students are always welcome back to the school to visit.  He said, “you can always come back home”. Ben has been attending Rosenow since 2003–eight years is a long time in a young child’s life, and especially with a child who has autism:  it’s so very hard to walk away from what is familiar.

 

We reached an important milestone in the Vitek household today:  we brought up the few remaining items that were left in the basement.  It may not seem too monumental to some, but this is the first time ever that we have been living in a house that does not have piles and piles of boxes in the basement.   This is what was left in the basement:

So we have added to our Goodwill/Freecycle pile 🙂  We have been trying to pack at least a box a day, if not more.  We have started to organize our photos/videos/candles into the bags they will go in our car trunk.  With our pictures we are throwing away the duplicates and those stored on the computer.  We can always order more prints.   When we first decided to move in July, we were totally unaware that certain items could melt while in transit, notably crayons, videotapes, candles, and potentially cassette tapes and photographs.  Well, we knew about crayons, having previous experience during a family vacation trip to St. Louis, but didn’t think about the rest.  🙂  The framed pictures are being packed, but we will be bringing all the non-digital photographs with us, as they are totally irreplaceable.  Life before digital cameras:  the horror of it all!  :=)  Looking back, I don’t think we would have altered our decision, as it is important to us that the kids finish out their school year in Wisconsin, which they have.  We also wanted to make sure that we move in the summer months, as moving in the dead of winter, which we have done, is certainly not an ideal situation, and one to be avoided if at all possible due to the potential for delays and detours due to the weather conditions.

We wish everyone a magical and happy weekend!

 

 

 


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Great News!

If you follow us on Facebook, you already know our great news:  our apartment application was approved, and we will be living at The Gardens at Citrus Tower.  Doesn’t the name just sound like someplace you want to live?  Of course that’s not the reason we chose it!  We feel very blessed to have completed the process so quickly, and we are relieved that we have a permanent address to call home once we arrive in Clermont.  This will allow us to provide forwarding addresses before we leave, as well as set up the kids in school before school ends for the summer.  It’s hard to believe the end of the school year is fast approaching, though we certainly are looking forward to what the summer brings us!

Tonight we attended an awards ceremony at Catie’s school for high grade point average achievement, and realized this would possibly be the last time we would see the inside of her school.  At the elementary school where Ben attends, this will be our eighth (and final) year there.  It’s hard to walk away from an institution that you have been going to regularly for eight years!    We would have this feeling with or without the move, as Ben is in his last year, but it somehow seems amplified given the fact we are walking away from everything.

We’ve been experiencing a lot of “lasts”.  We have tossed around the idea of composing a list of the things we want to do before we leave Wisconsin, similar to the Top 100 List we published for our Florida to-dos, but it possibly will not happen. It may be too depressing to see the things we never got a chance to do, and given the rising price of gas, it is very likely our summer entertainment budget will be minimal.  Ben will have his camp trip at the end of May, and Catie will be going to Six Flags (Great America) before school ends, so the children will at least get a fun trip in each before our move.   And of course, there’s Walt Disney World on the horizon! It is just going to be so AWESOME to be able to go there whenever we want.

We are slowly paring down our furniture.  Our oldest son, Nick, will be staying in Wisconsin and renting an apartment, so he will be taking some pieces, but others we are putting on Craigslist and/or Freecycle.  Right now our goal is to do one box each in the younger kids’ rooms, and they are doing a great job of donating a lot of their personal belongings.  We are very proud.  We started the decluttering process with the idea of keeping only the things we absolutely wanted, motivated primarily by the cost of the move.  Now that we are locked into our price, we have found that our focus has not changed.  We are still going through every item and deciding whether to keep or toss.  We will get a small refund if we go under our estimated weight, but we really like the idea of being able to start over, and we want to do that with as little items as possible.  We will have 2 walk-in closets, as well as other closets, but we are losing approximately 600 square feet than what we currently live in.  It’s all good, we will be one less person with Nick staying in Wisconsin, so I don’t anticipate that we’ll feel crowded in.

Thanks for following along!  Please feel free to friend either one of us on Facebook if you have not already.  We will only keep our Wishes and Pixie Dust profile on Facebook through our move (and settling in period), though our website will stay up indefinitely.


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50 Ways to Finance Your Dream

Dreams….. we all have them.  Whether your dream follows our path (relocation to Florida) or a completely different road (such as investing in a small business), there is one common denominator necessary to see our dreams through.  Of course we are referring to the financial backing….money….. needed to reach our goals.   You may be at a point in your life where you feel you will never attain your dream, short of a miracle or winning the lottery.

Disneyland and Walt Disney World are the result of one man’s dreams. As Walt Disney himself stated:  “All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.”   You will find reference to hopes and dreams in most (if not all) Disney movies, from Snow White and Cinderella to The Princess and The Frog and Tangled.

One of the reasons we made the decision to relocate to Florida  is to have the opportunity to live within close proximity of Walt Disney World, and be able to experience the magic and dreams that exist wholly throughout the parks.  When you visit Walt Disney World, it truly is a magical and unique experience, one that we feel shouldn’t be relegated to occurring on an infrequent basis, such as once a year.  We want to be immersed in the Disney magic on a weekly basis.

In order to make our dream a reality, we need to financially be able to afford it.  We have come across several ways of saving money in the past five or so years that we’ve dreamed about our dream, and we want to share them here with you.  We haven’t utilized all of these ideas, but wanted to include them, because what works for us may not work for you, and vice versa. It includes ideas for direct savings, as well as ways to reduce your everyday expenses.   We hope this provides a way for you to jump start your dream.  Please remember that it is never too early to start saving to make your dream a reality.

1.  Start purging your items now if you are planning a long-distance move.  Trust us, it is never too early to start this!

2.  Think about how often you use an item.  Unless it is an heirloom piece or something that holds sentimental value, consider tossing it. Only keep things you love or you know you will use on a regular basis.  The less things you have to move, the easier and cheaper your move will be.

3.  Donate your unwanted items to Goodwill or other thrift stores and take the charitable donation deduction.  The IRS puts out Publication 561, which helps you to determine the value of your donated property.  http://www.irs.gov/publications/p561/index.html

4.  Sell your unwanted items on Craigslist.  We have had limited success with this avenue.  We do recommend that you start early with this process, and not wait until a week before you move.  It tends to be a slow process, because people have a tendency not to show up.

5.  Sell your unwanted items on Ebay.   This is a great way to sell certain items, but we recommend searching the site before you list to ensure there is a demand for what you want to sell.

6.  Have a piggy bank and put all your spare change, and Craigslist/Ebay sales into it.  Target has some cute piggy banks available in their stores, but it can be as simple as a decorated coffee can.  (We did this for our last trip to the World).  It doesn’t matter what you use, as long as you apply the concept.

7.  If you primarily use debit/credit cards, make a special trip to the bank to get a roll of quarters (or bills) to put into your piggy bank.

8.  Set up automatic transfers to a separate savings or checking account designated primarily for your goal.    You can either do this through your bank, or through your employer.  We recommend setting this up through your employer, because you will not miss the money if it comes directly out of your paycheck.

9.  All raises should go to your goal.

10.  All bonuses and tax refunds should go to your goal.

11.  All unexpected money should go to your goal.

12.  Use coupons at the grocery store and Walmart, and put the savings into your piggy bank or separate account.

13.  Use cash only.  It’s harder to overspend when you run out of cash.

14.  Consider opening up a Disney Rewards Visa account or other rewards type account that offers you cash back on your purchases.  We currently have $150 in Disney Dream Dollars that we will be able to use at Walt Disney World.

15.  Eliminate a “want” from your budget and stash the savings into your account.  An example would be cutting your soda consumption: if you currently drink one-12pk of soda each week, try reducing it to 2 12 pks per month.  This is a savings of 2 12pk of soda each month:  2 x $4 x 12 = $96 yearly.

16.  Bring your lunch to work.

17.  Limit the amount of times you eat out.  With few exceptions, it is much cheaper and healthier to eat your meals at home.

18.  Stop wasting food.  All leftovers should be eaten, and only buy enough fresh vegetables that you will eat before they spoil.

19.  Utilize your library:   *rent* videos for free.  check out audiobooks, and read new releases.

20.  Use less detergent in the dishwasher.  Try a couple of tablespoons per load; you can always add more the next time.  Too much detergent can damage dishes.

21.  Use the least recommended amount of laundry detergent.  I use liquid detergent and I never fill the cap past the “1” line, even for heavy loads.  Using a full cap of detergent is primarily a marketing technique to make you use more product faster.

22.  Invest in reusable microfiber cloths instead of using massive amounts of paper towels.

23.  On every ATM withdrawal, take $10 and stash it away.  At the end of the month, deposit these stashes into your separate savings/checking account.

24.  If your company offers work at home alternatives, consider utilizing this option:  you will save money on commuting costs, wardrobe costs and lunch costs.  This will also allow you to relocate a lot easier, as you will not need to find a new job.

25.  Reevaluate your automatic withdrawals.   If you have $50 a month removed from your checking account for membership fees to a health club you never go to,  cancel the membership and divert the money into your goal.

26.  Reevaluate your car and home insurance.  Can you raise the deductible and reduce payments?  Do you have full coverage on older vehicles?  Contact your insurance agent to see if there are any savings you are not taking advantage of.

27.  To reduce heat costs, apply weatherstripping to drafts and turn down the thermostat.  For every degree you set back your thermostat for 8 hours, you can save about 2% on your bill.  Install a programmable thermostat, which automatically turns the heat down at night or during periods when you’re not home.

28.  Electricity:  About 20% of your electricity bill goes for lighting, but only 1/10th of that amount actually produces the light.   The rest is wasted on the heat that incandescent lightbulbs produce.   Switch to CFL’s (compact fluorescent bulbs) and you can save significantly on your bill.

29.  Unplug devices you do not use on a regular basis.  Even if not used, these items are still using power.  Items to unplug include the microwave, shredder, toaster oven, and extra TVs.

30.  When planning to save for a relocation or other dream, be sure your savings goals are specific, realistic and measurable.    To say: “I’m going to save $100 this month by transferring $25 a week into my savings account” is much better than saying “I’m going to save $1200 this year”.

31.  Check out http://www.freecycle.org for a local Freecycle group in your city or area.  This is a great way to acquire items you need at very little cost to you (only your time and gas required to pick the item up).   It is also a great way to dispose of other items you no longer need.

32.  Once you pay off your car loan or credit card bill, continue making those payments to your savings account.

33.  Consider downsizing your vehicles.  Do you really need a second car, or is it more of a convenience?    We recently sold our second car, and we were able to pay off the loan on our first car, plus reduce our insurance costs.

34.  Move.  If you live in a high-cost area, consider moving to a low-cost area if possible.  We expect our utilities to be cut in half once we move to Florida.

35.  Shop the thrift stores.  Name brand clothes can be acquired for a fraction of the cost.

36.  Consider taking on a part-time job to vamp up your savings goals.

37.  If you subscribe to cable, drop the movie channels and rent new releases.  We were able to secure a copy of Tangled at a Redbox and only paid .53 cents to see it.

38.  Give up one luxury item for one month.

39.  When writing a check, write it over so you receive change and put it in your piggy bank.

40.  Before ordering online, do a search first to see if there are online coupon codes that will save you money.

41.  Check out the “free” listings on Craigslist

42.  Use social media to gain free items:  “Like” pages on Facebook and “Follow” on Twitter to enter giveaways and contests.

43.  Pay your credit card bills on time to avoid late charges.  Set up an online account to monitor your charges.

44.  If your supermarket offers mobile coupons sent to your cell phone, take advantage of them.

45.  Sign up for a Target Redcard.   Every purchase made with your Redcard will give you a 5% savings.

46.  Transfer your prescriptions to Target.  For every five prescriptions filled, you will receive a coupon in the mail for an additional 5% off your next purchase.    That’s 10% off your purchase using your Redcard.

47.  Have a rummage or yard sale.

48.  Only use ATMs that do not charge you a fee.

49.  Buy a Sunday newspaper for the coupons.  And then use the coupons.  :=)  Our Sunday paper costs $1.50, and we typically get $4-$5 each week worth of coupons that we use.

50.  Go paperless as much as possible with bill payment.  It saves on the cost of stamps, checks and envelopes.

We’d love to hear if you have any money saving tips not mentioned here.    Thanks for following along!