Do you Budget the Kids?

[MALE*RN*777]

Do you set money limits on your kids or do you buy them what they ask for such as ice cream, soda, candy, toys, etc? We usually will give the kids choices like, if you get ice cream now you can't have it later or set a limit on the toys such as you have $25 to spend on a toy or toys and you should wait to see all your choices and buy near the end of the week. They are pretty good with this. I know that some can afford to spend lots more than and others can. For us its just great to be able to get to WDW once in a while. This is not a debated question but just a question.

 

[stacy6552]

Oh no. I milk the month before our trip for everything its worth....The kids earn their spending money. If I have to take them to the mall, they earn money (usually $.25-1 per store) for each store they behave in, and I mean behave. If I need someone to do something around the house, its all abut the Disney dollars.......They usually earn about $35 each trip to spend any way they want to.

 

[homedad]

no, we have a 4 and 6 year old with no real concept of money, we just moniter and make sure nothing is too crazy

 

[minnierocks]

My kids usually have their own spending $$ to do with it as they choose. Some they have saved, and some is usually given to them (by grandma or grandpa) before they leave. They know that we will buy them a shirt or some sort of souvenir while we are there. It helps them really think about what they want to purchase.

As for snacks, each one of us has their own small bag (backpack or purse) which we load in our room before going to the parks. They can munch at their leisure-it really cuts down on purchasing snacks. They know that we will get one Mickey ice cream during our stay, usually the day that we are at AK.

 

[luvmy2sams]

Nope. Our motto is "but we're on bacation" (DD said this at grandma's when she was 2, and it stuck with us). We just make sure purchases are within reason.

 

[Jenna45]

My son got Disney Dollars for his birthday from everyone, he is 11, other than the 1 dinner he has offered to buy ( we are on dining but have a few oop breakfasts) I will divide it up by the amount of days there and he is free to do as he pleases... I like for him to eat he is underweight, so I wouldn't charge him for his snacks, I will pay for them if they aren't covered on dining, because he just wouldn't have them if he had to use his own money....I figure it's not something we do regularly and he is really good at home about not asking for money so I guess I will spoil him just a little at Disney... He will probably end up with about 35-40 dollars a day....

 

[susykt4]

We give each child a preset amount they can spend on souvies. Our trip last week it was $40 each. DD6 understands and really is choosy about what she buys. DS4 has no concept but also rarely really wants anything. He did want the matchbox bus 3 pack and a stuffed Pluto. Then, on the 2nd to last day of our trip he saw the monorail playset and Fell In Love!!! I've never seen him want something so much and he kept talking and talking about it. We finally gave in and bought it as a family souvie the day we left. (The stupid thing was $70!) He slept with the boxed set at home that night and then was up at 5:30am begging me to set it up. We set it up Sunday morning and are on our 3rd set of batteries. I guess it was worth the $$$.

As for treats we'll buy an occasional ice cream. It wouldn't be a Disney trip for me without a Citrus Swirl and a Mickey Bar but that's about it.

 

[momto2girls]

My kids are 3 and 6, so we don't budget for them. As for snacks, we just buy them anything that they are interested in. We figure it is vacation, so they should get whatever they want. We will also buy them any toys/souvenirs they want within reason.

 

[Lightyear]

Mine get $20.00 a day. They can save it for something big at end if the trip. They can buy Ice Cream or whatever trinkets they want. If we all are having a treat we pay though. It cuts out the whining for us. If they have money they can have Mickey bars all day. lol Thankfully they are wise enough not to do that.

 

[momof5boys]

We budget the kids. With 5 of them we have to! Right now we are saving change. We'll total that up by our Oct. trip and divide it up. Of course the kids can save their own money too. I will buy them a snack a day and probably a tshirt, but other than that they're on their own!

 

[TheDizMom]

We did it where they were allowed one item a day. We did try to keep it to a minimum, and really they only asked for a few expensive things. I was determined to get my daughter a princess dress regardless, which we did. It was expensive but she wore it a lot and it was her costume for Halloween. Our son got $50 from my aunt when she came to visit because she hadn't bought him a gift. He took pretty much the whole trip to spend it. He bought a beach towel, rubber bracelet, and a hat for his cousin and still never spent it all. He just couldn't seem to find a lot he wanted. It's kind of like when you have the money you can't find anything when you don't you can find a ton of things. He ended up donating the rest to Hurricane Katrina relief!

As for the snacks we brought our own, although just a few small things. I found however that none of us was really hungry because we had larger meals and we were so busy we just weren't interested

 

[MomofKatie]

My DD earns her own money throughout the year for spending during vacation. She saves up allowances, birthday and Christmas money, and she earns some by filling out surveys on a kids' website.

Last month, she had $40 to spend during our weeklong trip. We go to the Disney store and get Disney Dollars or a Disney Gift Card for her. She can spend the $$ on anything she wants- Mom usually gives her some advice, though . We account for snacks in the food portion of the budget, so she doesn't have to spend her own money on them. Candy at Goofy's Candy Co, however, is up to her to pay for!

 

[MSSANDRA]

We have an only child and he is NOT a give me kid. Most trips he only ask for one or two things so we just get them for him. This trip he got a cap and then really liked a watch he saw so we got that too. Both are nice things he can use. At 14 we really no longer have to regulate snacks but when he was little we tried to space snacks to avoid meals but pretty much got him what he wanted if it was not too close to meals. Love the DDP approach to snacks!!

 

[Grendalynn]

We do within reason. They cannot eat endlessly and be wasteful.

When it comes to souvineers they usually get something if they ask nicely, really want it, and have shown good manners and behaviour. However, if I am going to the store to pick up a few things for the family and friends, i try to leave the kids with dad at the hotel room.

They do have their own "credit cards" (the ones witha Visa symbol) that their grandparents gave them for Xmas. As they recieve money for birthdays and such, we deposit into their savings and or onto the cards. And we tellthem they can earn Disney Money by doing things for us and being on good behavior. They really have no concept of value either, well DSs 4 and 4 months don't, but DS8 does. They wont learn if we dont start teaching them sometime. What a better reward for good behaviour, then for Disney $$?

 

[swillis]

My kids are older (11 and 12) so for our last trip I had them earn, and save for their own spending money for souveniers. They each brought down $50 for an 8 day stay. I bought them snacks if we were hungry, I don't make them spend their own money on snacks, but I also don't buy them something every time they ask.

This trip will be different because it is a surprise. I'm trying to get them to earn some extra money without telling them specifically why. I made them bank half of any money that they got for xmas gifts. I will probably withdraw the same amount form their bank accounts for this trip, because I know they really like having their own money to buy souveniers for friends, or silly things that I wouldn't spend money on.

 

[rmjkharrisfam]

Our kids are 4 & 2 so they really have no concept of money. We are making the older one ear his "mouse ears". A good day of listening earns him a mickey mouse sticker. When he fills up his paper he will earn a shopping spree at the Star Wars store at MGM. (He's a star wars nut!) Amazing how well it is working!

 

[pooksma]

This will be our third trip. Trip #1 DS was just about to turn 3 so money didn't mean a whole lot and he was in such awe he didn't really ask. Last trip he was 4 and wanted EVERYTHING! We agreed to buy him a new shirt and the lightspinner. He bought, with his spending money, a stuffed stitch and a new hat. The hat he had decided before we left that he would get.

He gets money from my aunt for birthdays, Christmas etc. We bank it and take a portion with us for his spending. This trip, he has said he wants to check things out and pick something. He knows he only has XX$ to spend and when its gone, its gone.

We do buy him a few extras but really try to limit how much. By using his own money he is much more stingy!

 

[jenseib]

I think it depends o nthe kkids age, and how many are i nthe family as well.
I took my older two when they were younger. They got Disney dollars for Easter and other occasions. I bought all snacks ,but they didn't really ask ,unless they were truely hungry. And I would buy one thing per trip, as well as a t-shirt or 2, and the rest they bought with there own money. Some really stupid stuff,and some nice stuff, but it was there money.
This time I am taking my DD that is 2. She will have no clue about money. I will buy her a few things like a t-shirt, maybe some ears, and if she seems to really want something, we'll consider it.
I may buy her a pal Mickey before I go as well.

 

[starbox]

This may sound bizarre - but to encourage our kids to wash their hands before eating snack or lunch and after using the restroom at school (kids just don't do this!), we offered to give them what we would have paid in a Doctor's office visit co-pay for each month of the school year that we don't have to visit the doctor's office.

We had a terrible year with strep throat last year - it kept running through the family and all those co-pays and prescriptions add up fast!

This year, we made it through August, September, October, Novemeber, December and January without visiting the doctor. And this is despite several notes home about rampant step throat or some other illness in the classroom.

It did not end up "saving" money to give them the money we would have spent on doctors/prescriptions - but I'd much rather spend that money on Disney than on being sick!!

 

[aroyer]

When we went in August, we had DD (6) do chores around the house (she loves to do chores) to earn money. We also told family that she was trying to earn money so she went and helped fold laundry, sweep, dust, etc. for more spending money. All in all, she took a chunk of change to WDW. We did buy her some things because we were on vacation.