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Here's what we do:
We drive to Disney from NJ. That saves us about $1,000 between airfare, parking and rental car.

I'll put you in my car with my boys (10 and 4) for 20 hours and you'll think the $1000 is the best money you ever spent.

We stay offsite, usually in a rented condo or house. Using a site like vrbo.com or skyauction.com, you can find a 2-bedroom condo for $40/nite or less.

That's cool to know - do you lose park time with offsite travel though?

We eat breakfast in our room.

My wife and I had a long discussion on this and the Disney Vacation Club. They keep saying, "Our timeshares have a kitchenette so you can eat breakfast." To which she says, "I'm not cooking on vacation."

What does a husband say to that?

We stick mostly to the nicer counter service restaurants onsite which have very good food and are much cheaper than the table service places. We also have some meals offsite to trim costs (and escape the hustle and bustle for a while). We mainly drink tap water rather than paying for bottled water or soda. We sometimes share meals or parts of meals (like one order of fries for the 3 of us). We also carry in some snacks like granola bars to lessen buying overpriced snacks in the parks.

A snack bag and water bottle is the best advice for cutting your food bill. I imagine you could shave $100-300 on snacks.

I personally am not sure the offsite lodging is worth it - the Disney eco. properties are pretty cheap - around $99/night. But if you are saying you can get lodging for $40/night, I guess that's pretty good (and have it be 2 BDR's to boot!!!).