Advice on money for the kids

[WDW2002]

So many of the posters on this thread talking in terms of giving their children $X per day. I have never even thought in terms of $X per day it has always been $X for the trip. I am one of those who don't like to buy or have my kids waste their money on "junk" they will never even care about when they got home. So I do limit the amount they get to spend on suveniors and such. Like I said in a previous post my kids will likely have $50 for the entire 12 day trip for extra snacks and suveniors. They will have this money on day one and if by day 7 they have no money left, then they are out of money for the trip.

So can someone explain to me the idea of giving $x per day instead of $x for the trip??

 

[Jordan's MOM]

Hi WDW2002,

We too are a 2002 (January) trip and are getting excited. I am one who will give my son an amount per day rather than the whole amount per trip. My reason for this is to help him budget his money. He has never had this much money to spend and I feel he still needs that help in controling the flow of it. For older children or teens I would budget the amount for the whole trip to give them more responability for their spending. Many families budget their food the same way.For example they give themselves 100.00 per day and then plan their meal around that amount. We don't realy do that but it works for many couples.As I said in another post,whatever works best for your family is what that family should do. Have a wonderful trip!

Jordan'sMom

 

[curlyjbs]

DH and I decided that we will buy each of our 3 dds ONE souvie of their choice, and of course all their meals, snacks etc. They have pooled their disney dollars and are paying for their pirate cruise and one chef mickey charactor meal. The rest they divided equally among themselves. Each should have about $10/day to spend as they wish. We have all saved long and hard for this trip and my girls are proud of their $10! Mom and dad are proud too!



curly

6 MORE DAYS!! YES, WE ARE STILL GOING!!!!!!

 

[aprincessmom]

I gave my DD a $50 limit over the course of the vacation (8 days -- 5 at WDW and 3 at the beach) and she can spend it on what ever she wishes to buy. This past Feb. she bought a Socerer Mickey spinning light thing-a-ma-jiggy **not the technical name** and did a bunch of pressed pennies. As a result, she spent a grand total of $17.59 of her $50. I asked her several times if she wanted a tshirt, sweatshirt, etc. Nothing doing.

I don't count snacks or food into the total for her as I would normally feed her whether we are at WDW or at home . This money is for spending on whatever she wishes.

Having said that, I have to say she is not the kind of kid that asks for much or spends lots at home either. Her spending habits and purchases were in line with what she normally wants at home -- not much. She noted that a lot of the stuff could easily be gotten at home at the Disney store and she was more interested in seeing the sights and riding rides than shopping in a gift shop.

 

[ktkcsmom]

We have set aside $50 for each child for souveniers but will definately be vetoing any useless purchase. Whatever they buy must be memorable -- after all this is their first (and probably only) big vacation as a family (oldest will be leaving home soon).

 

[gingajane]

My two older kids got very smart in the last couple of years. They asked relatives for Disney$ instead of gifts for birthdays and Christmas. They knew a Disney trip was coming and have had two birthdays come and go to collect. My 10yo has about $200, my 7 yo has about $100 (my 2 yo even has a few!!). They had to do without a bunch of gifts on special occasions, but I believe that they feel the sacrifice was worth it (or they will come November). Hey, to become smart consumers they have to have a bit of practice with their money don't ya think?? I will probably only allow them to buy during the last two days of our four day trip. Other than that, if they can carry it, they can buy it. It is their money. MJ

 

[mam]

My son is like aprincessmom's daughter. He wasn't interested in t shirts and disney stuff, EXCEPT for that light up spinning thing too. He had 30 dollars - his own $$ - to spend and we let him charge on his card. He loved that. I don't give him money for grades - I don't think kids should be rewarded for what is expected of them - his was b-day money he saved. He bought some snacks too. I'm not sure I spent the kind of money some of these other kids seem to have spent!

 

[disneefamily]

Disnee Dad Says................................................ My God, most of you are turning out our next generation of over spend/want to haves. Thank god it will help our economy! Lucky for me my daughter has a great sense of value, and my biggest problem is when she goes into a shop and says "that's way expensive" (acceptable) or " No one is that stupid to pay that much!" ( not acceptable). Her budget is ten dollars a day of which we will provide maybe 30 %. But she is smart enough to know that it really means more like $25 a day for four days and zero on the other days. She doesn't buy junk and looks for sales!! So smart for 11, but she was like that in 1999 when she was 9!

 

[AKASnowWhite]

I agree with you Disnee Dad 100%.......and I think I offended a whole lot of people with my previous post. That wasn't my intention, just expressing my personal opinion. And in MY OPINION, my kids will be better off for it 20 years from now!

 

[mam]

Too many parents are confused about being able to provide so much for their kids and whether they really need to provide that much. They will have a lot of trouble in a few years because kids are never going to want less than before and now they will have reason to expect it.

 

[gingajane]

We, doubtless, are avid consumers. Hey, just taking them to Disney is a spoiler and we are all guilty of that. I just enjoy the knowlege that so many parents spend precious moments with their children(regardless of lavishness or conservativeness). MJ

 

[cboudre1]

My son gets $100 for the whole trip. Anything over that and he has to use his allowance money. I buy him a shirt or a hat if I think he will wear it when we leave WDW. I also give him money for video games everyday.

 

[Owl]

It seems like a few of the responses are getting too judgmental. This is a forum to share ideas on how to have a great time at WDW. It isn't a parenting forum. No one should be made to feel guilty for how they plan to make their trip special for their children. For some people this may be the only time they get to take their children to WDW while they still live at home. Others may go every year. Regardless, financial skills, are something children learn based upon what they are taught every day of the year. No trip to WDW is going to succeed as the sole teacher of financial skills nor will a relaxing of rules for a few days cause children to unlearn skills that they have been learning on a consistent basis. So just stick to the original question and share ideas.

 

[kristikae]

Well said Owl!