Making your children pay for their part of a vacation?

[disneynewbee]

I agree with alot of the other posters. I have my kids save for spending money but not for the cost of the trip itself.

 

[renessa]

I'll say upfront that I didn't read past page 1, but if you look at it like this:

The parents gave them $$ for allowance. They aren't using birthday $$ or "their" money. My parents didn't believe in allowance (they couldn't have afforded it anyway), but paid for our vacation trips. It all works out the same in the end. Did they say how much the allowance was??? Maybe their allowance is pretty good...thus allowing for vacation expenses in their savings.

 

[renessa]

Ok, I felt bad and went back to read it all...I don't think that many people "get" that while you may give your child $3 a week or $10 or whatever...they live in a 700K house and maybe they give more each week. Maybe they give them $20 or $30...knowing that part of that is the family vacation budget. There may be more to the story that we don't know.

Also...I was really looking forward to reading disneysteve's reply, and was suprised to see none. He has some interesting ideas (in a positive way) in regards to raising his daughter and I love to read his opinions!

 

[patsal]

It is a family vacation for us and as head fo the family DH and I pay for the vacation. The kids have the option of saving and spending their allowance as they choose, we do not purchase souvineers and expect them to pay for things like that with their allowance--it really cuts down on the useless stuff! If they want an extra snack that is beyond what we are providing that is something that they pay for as well. I don't pay well enough for them to fund their share of a vacation!

 

[Lizziejane]

At first glance, I totally disagreed with having the kids pay for their vacation. But when I looked at it again, they paid $100 for a ski vacation. Which means the bulk of the expenses were paid by the parents. The parents obviously had the kids chip-in what probably amounted to a minimal payment simply to demonstrate that there's a cost to everything. They were not asking their kids to pay the whole thing. Who knows - perhaps the rest of the trip included lavish spending that the parents covered 100% - no way to really tell. I don't have a problem with the 9 year old as much as the 4 year old. To me, thats just way to young to appreciate the lesson that's being taught.
Never mind the vacation costs - the 4 minute showers would drive me insane - barely enough time to get my hair wet, let alone rinsed properly!

 

[WeluvDisney2]

We pay for the trip (airfare, hotel, food, tickets) but my daughter saves her babysitting money and my son saved his birthday money (their choice) to bring to Disney for spending. Since it is their money, we also let them spend it on pretty much what they want while they are there.
HOWEVER, When they are older and have jobs I think it is a good idea for them to contribute to their trips. It teaches them responsibility and to save for things they really want. They will not be forced to contribute, but they will know that if they do contribute, we will have more money to go on trips more often.

 

[disykat]

NO, he did not pay for the hotel , tickets or meals! Nor will he pay for treats. I asked him to save part of his money this year for that extra special something, just like alot of other poster have said they did with their children. He is my only child and really doesn't want for much. To teach him responsiblility , I have him save his own money for souveniors. Most of the change in his bank is from me, it is however his to do as he wishes.

Again I see no problems in parents asking this of their children.

Sorry to pick on you, but I'm still not understanding your answer. I think everyone here agrees it's good for the kids to buy their own special things. I didn't think that was what was being discussed. I thought we were talking about having the child turn over part of their money to pay basic vacation bills.

Are you still saying you think it's okay for parents to ask their children to chip in on hotel, etc.? Or do you consider him saving for souveniers having him "chip in"?

 

[nbodyhome]

How much do the kids get for an allowance? If they both receive $20 a week, then paying $100 towards a costly ski vacation is very little. If they receive $2.00 a week, that is a years worth of wages for them - which I think would be very unfair.

I think better would be the parents to foot the whole bill with hotel and skis, food, etc., and the kids to buy any small souvenirs or extras out of their own money. I don't think 4 years old is too early for that.

On the other hand, if they were taking a trip to somewhere the kids asked for, perhaps the kids could do extra chores for the trip.

I was handed everything as a kid, and it didn't help me at all.

 

[blondimom]

I didn't read the whole thread, maybe becauase I'm lazy, maybe because I'm not that interested, but here's my take. My kids are really little, so this doesn't affect us yet. When they are older, I will pay for their vacation, pay for their souvies and if they bring a little cash to spend as they like, that's fine, too. They are gonna spend too much time paying their way as adults-it's my pleasure to pay their way now. Flame on.

 

[sameyeyam]

I make my kids "work" for the Disney vacation each year. They are involved in the planning process and know that it costs a lot of money for this vacation. We go each year during Spring Break.

We live on 2 acres in the Pacific NW and have lots of trees. I make the kids pick up branches & pinecones, help clear brush & burn it, stack firewood, etc... This is their way of earning their Disney vacation. I tell them if they don't do it, we will have to hire someone to help and then we won't have the extra money for that expensive vacation. Not to mention that it's wonderful exercise!

This year I allowed my daughter (14) to bring along her best friend, all expenses paid. The two of them spent several winter weekends doing outdoor work in exchange.

Now I can also understand the mother that times the kids showers. If we lived in the city it would be fine to take long showers, but when you live in the country like us, you have a septic & drainfield system and it simply cannot handle long showers. I would rather yell at the kids to take a 5 minute shower than pay $20,000 to install a new drainfield every 5 years. We love our country living, but there is always a tradeoff and restricting water useage, not being able to have a garbage disposal, etc. is the price we pay.