Kids giving up things

[la79al]

My stepdaughter and stepson are already begging for a trip back to Disney. They have both agreed to give up family vacations this summer and next as well as Christmas presents this year and next, in order to go back to Disney in 2010 (when the baby is a little older). How can I make this work so they don't feel like they are giving these things up, but rather working towards their larger goal? I have vowed that I am not going to buy little surprises for them for the next trip or a million tshirts, bathing suits, whatever with Disney stuff on them so they have them for the trip. Their spending money will be from whatever surveys they do between now and then. We will most likely be getting a package through AAA so we can't even give them bits and pieces for Christmas. The only thing I can think is if we make a big production of taking the money we would spend on vacation and putting it into a jar or account or something and letting the kids help keep track of how much we have. Other ideas or suggestions?
The other problem I have is actually giving them very little for Christmas so most of the money can go towards the trip. I know they have agreed to it but it still seems strange. Summer vacation is not so hard because even if we don't go somewhere totally cool for a week, we still do weekend trips and I will be home all summer having a (baby) child directed summer. It's just going to be hard watching them open a few little things at Christmas and saying oh but we have x amount to put towards Disney and expecting that to be the same.

 

[DevilDuckie]

Make Christmas gifts smaller and more practical. Books, clothes... things you might not normally save for gifting occasions are better under the tree than nothing to unwrap.

How about a fundraising type poster- you know, like the ones with the thermometer that get filled in as the savings pile up? You could do a Mickey head with each circle divided into pie slices to be filled in (in lime green, of course!) so they can see the money set aside growing.

 

[Mouse House Mama]

I think in theory it sounds great but a 6 year old will most likely not be thrilled with nothing for Christmas. Kids agree to all sorts of things without fully understanding the impact of it. Maybe there is some other way to cut corners?

 

[jenseib]

I think they are too young to give up x-mas gifts. If htey were teens, I would say get them a few small things and they will understand, but they are really young yet. I know they will most likely get stuff from other people too though.
but you can find smaller, cheaper stuff too to give them.

But keep in mind two years is a long ways away. Especially for kids. And Christmas number 1 is relly far off, let alone x-mas number two. Kids change there mind alot. I would try to save money in other ways. Just me persoanlly, but unless you are going at the Christmas they are giving up gifts, then I don't think that should fit into the equasion.

 

[Thats_for_Shore]

Kids say things today that they forget about tomorrow.

I would never expect them to keep their word about not getting this, or not wanting that.

What I did, I told my DS that Disney was expensive, and we had to save money to go. So we got this huge plastic tub, and we decorated it with drawings and stickers and stuff. This was our Disney Fund.

Whenever he got birthday money, he put it in there. Whenever he visited grandma and got $5, he put it in there. When we left a store, and I had 37 cents left over, I gave it to him, and he'd put it in there.

This taught him an important lesson about the value of a dollar, as well as being something that he could see on a daily basis as it grew.

The difference is, our Disney Fund tub was tangible, something he could see and touch. Getting a minimal Christmas is not tangible, and therefore lacking and disappointing.

 

[brymolmom]

My main question is - About how much do you usually spend on vacations and Xmas?

If you usually spend $500 per kid on Christmas then the answer is easy - WAY cut back. Find one or two or three reasonalby-priced things that they will like and watch for them to be on a great sale - you could easily keep this to $50 or $100 per kid (keep in mind - they asked for the WDW trip for xmas - so they KNOW they aren't going to get a ton). Of course, if you already spend about $100 or so per kid then this won't save you much.

And for vacations - if you usually go all out and spend a bunch, here too - you can just scale way back. How about an overnight camping trip or even a few day trips to somewhere close by to still get a 'summer vacation' feel without breaking the bank. Most of us do not utilize all the fun things there are to do right in our own areas/cities becasue we've always been here - explore new state parks, find a museum you haven't seen in the next city over from you.

 

[Darcy03231]

My kids love to travel so we've been doing this for years. Birthdays I spend no more than $50 per child and Christmas I spend no more than $100 per child - including stocking stuffers. I buy all year when things are on sale. They get DVDs (I go out the day after Thanksgiving and get them for $3-$5 each), books, games, clothing, etc. I've actually got quite a bit of a stash put away for next Christmas.

 

[LadyShea]

I would definitely have some kind of visual with a clearly marked goal amount, and tell them you cannot go to WDW until the goal is reached. Then, leave it up to them to choose what gets spent on other things vs what gets put into the fund.

For example, if they ask for something at the store, that you would normally buy without question, you can ask "Would you like this item now, or would you like the cost of this item put into the WDW fund?"

When Christmas comes, and they start their wish lists, simply remind them again that they have a choice "Do you want item X for Christmas, or do you want that amount to go towards the trip?"

That way, they know can go to WDW, but the trip may be sooner, or much later, depending on the choices they make.

 

[jacobsmom]

We created a Disney savings Jar in DS8's room. He decorated it will disney stickers. He also desperately wants to go back to disney... We put money that we used to put towards pullups towards his Jar in the form of Disney Dollars (only useable at Disney stores and disney world), when he is asking for a new car we talk about putting that money towards his jar for the trip, he counts the money in his jar as well as the change jar and single jar. I save my singles.... It is easy for me to spend $1 on junk or a candybar, but I think twice when it's a $5 or more. It's amazing how fast they add up. You can buy your kids disney books at walmart for $13 that have MULTIPLE Disney stories in them and save them as Christmas gifts. Have the kids Easter Egg hunt with disney dollars. This should be a fun lesson. There have to be other ways than taking away Christmas. Weekend getaways are a great thing in the summer. There are just a lot of other options.

 

[fortheluvofpooh]

you don't have to pay alot to get alot at Christmas. THe true meaning of Christmas is the birth of Jesus. You can get great gifts for kids without going overboard. I love the idea of books and clothes. Theese are things you can pick up all year long at bargain prices. Good Luck.

 

[DisneyAprilFool]

My two kids, who were 7 and 11 at the time, gave up large birthdays and a large Christmas for Walt Disney World last year. They willingly did it- and all I did was cut back on our spending. For birthdays- it was a cake and a few smaller presents. For Christmas, it was just significantly a lot less loot.

And you know- I LIKED it that way, actually. I am feeling a lot less... huh. I just know it aggravates me around this time (February) to see Christmas presents lying around that were barely used because the kids got too much junk. This year- I don't have that problem because they didn't get a million and one toys! I even cut back on the littlest one's stuff- but he's easy- I can buy him 20 $0.99 Matchbox cars and he'd think he won the lottery!

 

[joepic]

It's funny that I read this thread now..


Just yesterday I created a Disney Savings box, and put it on top of the refrigerator.

Since my mom said Disney is much more expensive than it used to be, I decided to start saving up. I dumped my entire change bank into it, and whenever we have loose change, we'll contribute to the fun. I will, at least.

When we go this year (in July) we'll empty it out, count it and use it for Disney. Use it for the things we couldn't have gotten because we wouldn't have had the money. I'm already looking forward to it.