Money for kids?

[IAMFIGMENT]

I have boys 8 and 12 and just wondering how much spending money to give them to buy their souveniers(sp) with. We will be down there for a week.

 

[Squidgyness]

My suggestion is not to give them any money at once.

I would parcel it out daily, but vary it. For example, when going to AK, give them only a few dollars. If they complain, tell them it is so that when you go elsewhere you can get more souvenirs.

For example, we spend $20 each on souvenirs at epcot minimum, but hardly any at AK.

It depends on what you spend at each park, portion it to your tastes. Younger kids will spend more money at magic kingdom than AK.

 

[Fam of 4]

We gave our kids a set amount $100 for the whole trip. They knew that was all they were getting, so they budgeted and bought things that they really wanted. And two years later, they still have the things they purchased and they are still used and talked about. Rather than the $10 junk they would buy daily. That is what we plan on doing again this year. I really would rather they spend their money on things they actually want rather than impulse purchases.

 

[cmfranklyn]

We went last summer when my kids were 9 and 5. I gave each of them a $50 Disney giftcard and that was their spending money. All food and snacks and one commorative souvenir we paid for.

They loved choosing and having their "own" money to spend.

 

[Donnie2402]

We will give every kid $20 per week (makes a total of $50 for the vacation) and try to explain that they should think twice before purchasing something. This money is for souvenirs and not for snacks, ice cream or drinks, we will pay for this and also for one special souvenir and some Disney clothes. If they want additional snacks etc. it's their turn. If the money is gone, it's gone and they have to wait until the next thursday to get "new cash". We also try to show them the different prices at the different locations. This works great with our son on the last vacation, the Lightning McQueen Cars were so much cheaper at other stores. So he was able to purchase five cars off-side instead of two at Disney. He ended up with more then twenty new cars and still loves to play with it.

If they want something more expensive than they have to wait to buy it and save the money until it's enough. If they buy some junk and it will broke after one day, there will be no refund or replacement thru us.

My kids also try to save their pocket money for this Disney vacation. They know that we are going to Disney since chrismas and my son's birthday is two weeks before we're leaving. So he wants money (in our case EUROS) and then we will go to the bank together and exchange them into Dollars. I was thinking about gift cards but I think they are not old enough to understand that. After all I think my 8 year old son will end up with something around $150 and my 4 year old daughter with around $100 for 2 1/2 weeks and I think this is a lot of money for the kids.

The other thing is if they will purchase something they have to carry it the whole day by theirselves so it will be clever to shop at the end of the day and not at the beginning ... there is also a size restriction because I'm not willing to buy a new suitcase for all the souvenirs and pay additional $50 at the airport to bring it back to Germany by plane.

 

[CathieArms]

Wow! I'm the world's meanest mom, I think. I didn't give my kids (13 and 4 at the time) any money. I told them well in advance of the trip that we'd be going to Disney World and they needed to save their money. I helped my (then) 4 year old to save his money (I think he ended up taking $30), but my 13 year old ended up saving something like $300 for her spending money.

We're going next June and I've already started telling my kids to start saving money. My 5 year old has about $30 saved already, and I have no idea what my 14 year old will have saved by then.

I guess if I were to give them money, I wouldn't give them more than $50/each. But, that's just me.

Oh. And I should point out that I always buy each person in the family a t-shirt of their choice, so they don't have to worry about buying one out of their own money.

 

[bearchele]

We are going in 2 days. My daughter (almost 6) has saved her allowance of 2 dollars a week and any money she gets from family and the tooth fairy. She has saved $50 so far in a year. Also her birthday is at the end of July and I told family to give her gift cards instead of a present so she can get something she wants from disney.

 

[seelyt2]

Although our kids (13 and 9) are currently saving up their own money, DH gives them each a $100 gift card to use on anything they want - clothes, candy, stuffed animals, etc. They know that they are not to ask us for any money during the trip, and they have learned to budget their money, and to make wise choices. Often enough they scramble to use up the gift card by the end of the trip and still have their own money left over. They enjoy the gift card and we enjoy not being nickle and dimed to death!

Enjoy!

 

[kifuller4]

My two girls have known since January that we are going in August. They told the Easter Bunny they wanted a Disney gift card, and we told everyone to get them gift cards or money for their birthday's (which I have then turned into a gift card). My 6 year old has $320... my 7 year old's birthday is in August (right before we go) so hopefully she will have just as much. The only thing I am paying for is their BBB surprise! If they want something, it will have to come out of their money.

 

[metsno1]

We're going for two weeks in August, and we're giving each of our DD's (12 and 10) $100. We already purchased pins and lanyards on eBay for them, and we're on the dining plan, so nobody has to pay OOP for snacks, etc., unless they want something extra (which we never seem to when we're on the DDP!). This will be their third trip, and they know that once the money's gone, it's gone.

Our younger daughter will likely ask to go to the Disney Store at DD as soon as we arrive. She'll blow through the money quickly and will wear her tshirts or whatever she buys during the trip. Our older daughter will spend most of the two weeks thinking about what to do with the $$ before she makes up her mind!!

 

[kshattuck]

Our DD5 earned Disney Dollars each week before our trip last September. We made it so she could earn $100. I have to say that the amount was meaningless to her until she got to WDW. It was great to watch her make choices with her spending money and put things back that weren't really her heart's desire.

Outside of what she bought, we let her choose a t-shirt that we purchased for her, and then DH and I selected a Christmas ornament that we surprised her with under the tree in December.

We are surprising her with a trip to WDW this October for her birthday and will probably give her the same amount to spend.

When my parents took us to Disney each year when my siblings and I were little, we were not allowed a souvenir, unless we saved our own money. Our parents told us the trip was special and our pictures and memories would be a souvenir. I definitely see the wisdom in that and understand their reasoning behind it (now ). I think souvenir money has more to do with how your family has decided to teach your kids about money and budgeting.

Have a wonderful trip!

 

[Sugar Jones]

We have started a "Disney Fund" for spending money. As soon as I booked the trip I took an old coffee can and printed off pictures of Minnie, Mickey, Tinkerbell etc.. and put them all over the can, I hot glue gunned the lid on and put a slit in the top. I left the can on the coffee table just waiting for someone to ask me what it was for That's how I told them about Disney


Everytime they have money they put it in the fund. Toothfairy money, birthday money and whenever Papa comes over they make him empty his change pocket into the Disney fund

I opened it the other day and we have about $100.00 in there so far. I put all my spare change in there everyday. With loonies & toonies it adds up pretty quickly.

I'm hoping that each of them will have around $75-100.00 to spend for the week.

 

[pixarmom]

Wow! I'm the world's meanest mom, I think. I didn't give my kids (13 and 4 at the time) any money. I told them well in advance of the trip that we'd be going to Disney World and they needed to save their money. I helped my (then) 4 year old to save his money (I think he ended up taking $30), but my 13 year old ended up saving something like $300 for her spending money.

We're going next June and I've already started telling my kids to start saving money. My 5 year old has about $30 saved already, and I have no idea what my 14 year old will have saved by then.

I guess if I were to give them money, I wouldn't give them more than $50/each. But, that's just me.

Oh. And I should point out that I always buy each person in the family a t-shirt of their choice, so they don't have to worry about buying one out of their own money.

I'm with you! Our boys (ages pre-school to pre-teens) can save and bring their own money, and they can ask for Disney gift cards for their birthdays or Christmas. But we manage the Christmas/birthday gift card giving to make sure they do not end up with more than $30 in gift cards each. They usually aren't focused on buying things, but one year they received $50 each in gift cards for the Christmas before our trip. It made them a little too focused on shopping instead of doing, so we try to keep it at $30.

We buy them a t-shirt and snacks (when/if they need a snack and it won't mess with the next meal.)

 

[speairson]

My kids (6 and 5) have known since January that we are going to Disney in Aug. Their birthdays are in Jan and Feb. We made a deal with them that they could either have a birthday party at one of the local kid birthday party venues and invite all of their friends OR we could have a low key family/close friends birthday party at home and we would give them $100 for Disney. They chose the Disney money. It really was a win win deal because those birthday party places cost so much because we can't do a park or outside birthday party in the winter. So, we saved money and they get a pretty good chunk of change for the trip. They've also been saving money they get from grandparents, toothfairy, etc. The plan is to get them each a gift card with their total amount and they can use it for whatever they want (souvenirs, snacks, pins, etc.), but they won't be given any additional money so when it's gone, it's gone.