Let me start by saying my son usually has more money than me. This year we are going to allow him to bring his own spending money to Disney for his "gimmie" purchases. He really doesn't ask for a lot, but may want some things. We will be there for 13 days. What do you all feel is the appropriate amount of money for a 7 year old to take with him to Disney? I just want to see what other people are doing. Thanks!!
Have you thought about doing the "Mom bank" concept. Count his money before you leave home and write down the amount (his "starting balance") and leave it at home. Then if he wants something at the park you pay for it from your card/cash and write it down as a "deduction" from his account. It gives him a chance to practice his math, and doesn't risk losing his money. When you get home, he pays you for what he used at Disney. Just an idea!
For my 6yo twins, I was thinking $25 each but I am now thinking of going with $50 each. That will be in addition to their savings, $20-30 each.
That is a good idea, but my concern is that he will spend the money and won't have an idea of how much money he is actually using because he won't physically see it leaving. That and honestly, when we get home, I won't take the money out of his bank. Because, I have said that I will before and never do. However, I plan on being the "keeper of the funds." It is a "mom bank" in the sense that he has to come to me to make a withdrawal. There is no way that I am going to give my newly 7 year old ANY money over $1-$2 and expect him to keep up with it.
My husband said he could bring $50 of his own money and we would likely give him an extra $25. I just didn't know if we were giving him too much or not enough. We have been there 3 times, I just never really pay that much attention to what we spend of souvenirs because he never really wants that much stuff. What he does want isn't expensive individually. I should probably pay attention to how much we are spending over the course of an entire trip though!!
We took a two week trip to Disney over DS's 7th birthday. He had been saving for over 2 years to have his own spending money. By the time we went he had about 150.00. He took his own wallet and carried it in a backpack along with a water bottle, snacks, etc. He was responsible for his own money and he did great. When we would go in a store, he would walk around himself and if he wanted something, he just went up and bought it. Give your DS a chance to prove himself, it really makes them feel confident and capable
I am going to be allowing my two daughters to have $100 each. I have been to Disney at least 7 times and I know that I've spent well over that amount on souvenirs for my two DDs on each trip that they went. I am all about budgeting and want to pass that on to my DDs. I told my DD 5 why buy one item (the Cinderella Castle play set $100) when you can get a lot more things for that amount of money.
I plan to give each of my kids $25. I understand that most likely that's just one souvenir for them. We are also doing pressed pennies. I've already picked up clearance Disney and Star Wars shirts for them, stuffed orcas for SeaWorld, space ice cream for KSC, etc. My DD is really good about not wanting everything in sight, but DS is another story...he's one of those where the gift shop is the best part of the museum.
We normally give our kids (10, 9 & 7) $25 gift cards - this year we will give them $50 because we want them to purchase a Christmas present for their siblings.
Our kids had $100.00 each to spend on our trip. They were 3,6&8 at the time. It was a combination of their own money and what we gave them.
This past trip I budgeted $100 for each kid, my kids are 5 and 7. They each came home with a few things that they really wanted and we only spent around $100 for both. I always over budget because I would rather be safe than sorry.
We're planning our first trip and I'm still figuring out the details, but my plan is to buy them each a t-shirt and a set of mouse ears, plus potato head parts and a Christmas tree ornament for the family and then give them each maybe $50 to pick out something by themselves. That sounds like a lot of money to me but I know it doesn't go very far in Disney. What worries me is the possibility that they'll find something they "have" to have the first day and spend all their money before they find out what else is out there and then find something they "have" to have even more later.
We have split the contents of the big change jar between the kids and given them each a pre-paid card with their share. I think that was over $100 each, plus the Easter Bunny put a $25 Disney gift card in their baskets that year. (We hadn't known how much was in the change jar.). It was great because when dd6 wanted her face painted, it was her money to spend.
We are doing 50 per child. We're there for ten days. We may go a little over, but hope to stay close we leave on Wedsnesday y'all!
My girls ages 10 & 12 will both have: $25 disney gift card (from their birthdays) $25 that we 'gift' them at the beginning of each trip and additional money earned by doing extras around the house. Right now, dd10 has about $25 beyond that and dd12 has about $7 (guess who isn't motivated by money! ) My 6 year old son will have $25 that we have gifted him and $25 he has earned in 'extras'. Our policy with them is as follows: They get their one snack credit (ddp)each day to spend on a snack any way they see fit, their meals (and usually another snack) are covered and we usually buy a family type gift each trip (hats, usually....we love hats for some reason!) Beyond that, the kids must use their spending money for additional snacks/treats and any souvenirs they want. We don't allow purchasing on day 1 because we find they are so excited they impulse buy and have buyers remorse later on. We have found that it's better for them to see the variety of what is there and save their purchasing for later on. Three trips running that dd12 has come back with money to spare and dd10 is tapped out. The 6 year old spends all his money in the pirate store and the star wars store in about 12.2 seconds.
we have 2 DD's. one 9 and the other is 17. the 17 year old has a job, her own bank account so she is pretty much in charge of her own $$ and what she purchases. but she is good at her spending. the 9 year old will go on our trip in november with a $100 disney gift card. she saved over $65 as of right now from chores, money from report cards and change she finds and puts in her jar. we will round it to $100 a few days before our trip. the 9 year old really doesnt buy souvenirs but "snacks/treats" that we usually do not allow or purchase ourselves so she saves for each trip just to do that herself. Like ice cream, cotton candy, etc. then she will usually buy a blanket.
I would also say about $100 for a child. My 4yr old grandson picked out one set of Disney cars about $40, another car $20, a balloon, and my daughter picked him out a t-shirt and a hat. I bought my daughter and her family Disney gift cards for Birthdays, Halloween, Christmas, Valentines, Easter for Disney vacation 2011. They have asked that I do that again this year for the 2013 disney trip. My daughter took some things from home for him like the light up necklaces etc., that she found alot cheaper than at disney.
Ditto for DD, 8 yrs old this trip. We'll be there for 6 days. She's great about weighing out her options & figuring our what she'll be happiest with long-term. She may decide to buy 50 little $2 things, or one big ticket item.
When we went last time my kids got about $100 total from my parents, my inlaws and my grandmother. they each bought a hat at south of the boarder ( my dd9's hat broke on the way down) they both got a stuffed animal at seaworld, they both got a stuffed animal at DHS ( goofy and perry) and a few other treats (pins, lanyards and my dd got a halloween shirt, my ds got a pirate treasure box). we bought them each a autograph book and a pen and they still came home with $$
