Kids spending money for WDW

[goingtowdwwithkiddos]

Ok so I am letting te boys 14and 10 at time we go have 140 each (the oldest has lost 5 already tho) if they are good between now and our trip ie clean each day without fighting and complaingin about it. if they complain they lose $5 but anyways this is the first time on a trip I have given them their own money. Is 100ish enough? and what should I expect them to buy with it?? Also DD3 should she have her own or not I am pretty sure she will not understand money yet

 

[megsoro]

That's what my parents did. Bad behavior took money away. In our family though, we could earn it back by going above and beyond(extra chores mostly). As for the younger one, you just keep track of her spending money. She probably doesn't get money- but it's an awesome time to teach value. So you really need this? Or are you sure you want this? Kinda thing

 

[Kellydelly]

I do it differently with my kids (four of them). I just let them each pick a souvenir during the trip (up to $50). I don't see a need to hand them each $100+ when we are already spending thousands on the vacation . If they want to bring their own allowance money and spend it that is their decision.

 

[goingtowdwwithkiddos]

I do it differently with my kids (four of them). I just let them each pick a souvenir during the trip (up to $50). I don't see a need to hand them each $100+ when we are already spending thousands on the vacation . If they want to bring their own allowance money and spend it that is their decision.

This is what we have done in the past too I am not positive I will "hand" the money over for sake of getting lost but we are doing this as kinda an allowance $20 aweek till we go - $5 if you complain about what I ask you to do (as they normally do not get an allowance) to not fight all summer over everytime I ask them to clean (which normally they have to just because they live here) . DS13 is pretty bad about the attitude right now.

 

[darthbrazen]

When we took our son to Disney World eons ago, we didn't think about him wanting everything under the son, however, when you exit EVERY ride right into a store, it is very difficult to deal with constantly telling him NO. After Day one, we told him he could get 1 item each day, smart kid... he tried for a $2000 Vader Statue at the Tattoine Outpost, anyway you can see how this becomes nightmarish when you aren't prepared.

On our first Disney trip for our daughter, we gave her gift cards each day. We had her friend with us on the trip as well and did the same for her. Each girl got a $25 gift card each day (some think this is crazy, but when you are only at the mouses house once every 5 years, it really isn't that bad). It was interesting to watch them both. One spent her card up before lunch the first 3 days. The other spent $10 on her first card at the end of day one, and saved everything till day 6 when we went shopping at Downtown Disney.

The one thing that worked, even though one of them learned a lesson the hard way, was that neither ever asked me for money during the trip.

 

[chrystalc77]

When we went in November 2012 we had one set of grandparents give each of our boys a $50 gift card. They were surprisingly very responsible and didn't blow it all the first couple of days. But of course we bought them a few things also!!!

 

[gorkt]

We are going in 5 months, so I gave my kids the heads up to start saving their allowance and also give them the option from time to time of earning extra money by helping with other chores. My son hoards his allowance so he has over $150 already. My dd is a spender so she has less than $100 but she is starting to save more.

 

[pklein09]

From the time the kids were 3, 5, 6, and 7, they decided how they would spend their money at WDW. When they were younger, I held their envelopes with the cash (each one marked with their name). When they wanted something, I assisted with the transaction. When oldest DD was 8, she spent all her money the first day on jewelry. Her choice, and I told her she was using all her money early on. She said that's what she wanted to do, so okay. On the next to last day, she saw something she really wanted and asked to buy it. I asked how much money she had left. She thought about it and put the item back, saying "Maybe next year." Excellent money lesson taught right then and there. As they've gotten older, they carry their money with them. If they lose any of it, it's their problem not mine. It's been interesting to watch my two DDs who are low on funds pull their money to buy a toy to share. They've learned how to negotiate, which continued when they got home on who would play with the toy when.

I have always let them buy whatever they want with their own money. Hard to keep my mouth shut sometimes, but it's satisfying to see them learn what is "junk" and what is a "better buy." Again, a good money lesson learned at a low price point and safe learning environment.


As for how much money, it has always varied due to when birthdays fall and what has been earned doing chores.

I would hold the 3 year old's money, but let her pick what she wants...within reason!

Have a great trip!

 

[Sandi]

When DD was younger, I would let her know she could have $X (usually about $100) for souveniers, etc. at WDW. If she did not spend it all, she could have the cash once we got home. She would typically spend about 60-75% and have some left over. Occasionally, she would want a big item and need to supplement purchases with her own money.

Her spending would cover such things as T-shirts, visors, plush animals, paper products, etc. I didn't make her buy her own snacks and the like.

 

[jennyjinx3]

On this past trip, the girls went to pick out what kind of Disney Gift Card they wanted and we loaded it with $50 per child. They knew they had to budget that card, and each were able to make it last. They each got 3 - 4 items for themselves with the cards. And they knew when it was gone, it was gone.
Worked well for us.

 

[nugov2]

Instead of money I am doing coupons(though mine are much younger). They each get to bring some money from their piggy banks(we cashed in all the change they have been saving all year and are taking half with). They know the coupons are all they get so no asking for anything extra.

 

[LovesTimone]

I have a friend who has her 3 - his 3 - and their 2 - so eight kiddos.
No allowance given here, they all work together. So when they did make the trip to see Mickey all of them. They saved for 5 years, room, tickets, dinning plan.

They knew spending money was going to be and issue, they ask the grandparents and other family members for Disney gift cards for birthdays, Christmas and such. Which worked out really great for them. So much so I stole the idea and have used it a lot. She said that each kid ended up with 100.00 worth of GC for spending. Then made it clear that when it was gone... that was it.

They also could earn extra money for extra things that needed to be done around the house.
She has a Board up at home, to keep track of everything, who's doing what, when, how, for activities, school work, sports, dance etc... She also puts up who's doing what chore. She would put up other chores ( extra) and how much they where worth.

 

[pigletto]

My kids don't get regular allowance for helping out. But if they are saving for something special they can do extra jobs. We always build $100 each into the trip budget for them to spend and they can exchange and bring whatever money they save on their own from birthdays/Christmas/odd jobs. They usually have around $150 each. Ds (9)will spend it all on Legos and a few other things. DD (16) always buys something for each of her friends and maybe one small thing for herself and comes home with money.
I've put it on gift cards or just handed it to them as they needed it and kept a running tally.

ETA) The first few trips were a tighter budget and they had $50 each. It didn't make a difference at all. They could easily go with nothing and still have a blast.

 

[luvmy3]

For vacations we usually cash in our change jar and split that among the kids for souvenirs. Its usually $100 + for each of them. I'll probably limit them to $100 though. I'll buy GCs at Target (to save that 5% )

 

[texasroni75]

I guess I'm a mean mom, but my kids don't really get any allotted spending money when we go to WDW. I do let them purchase an item or two while we are there, typically on our last day in the parks using whatever money we have left over. But it's usually small (under $20), and at MY discretion. I try to have them choose something useful like an item of clothing they can wear once we get back home, and say something like "which do you like better, the Minnie shirt or the Daisy shirt?". When we had fewer kids I did let my oldest have a little of her own spending money and she didn't spend it very wisely, and it hurt to watch her spend my hard-earned dollars on plastic throw-away trinkets, or small items she lost before we even left for home.

I do like the Gift-card idea though. I think $50 is a really generous amount for any kid to pick and choose what they want. Yes, I want to teach them to be responsible with money and learn the value of money, but honestly we've spent so much just for them to BE there, that I feel we've given them enough just to have the WDW experience!

 

[4HppyCamprs]

We do 50.00 per child. I don't make them wait until the last day since not all merchandise seems to be available in all parks.

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[tigger51276]

Ever since my DD's were 2 I've given them, their own money to spend at Disney. It's birthday money and gift cards that they receive thoughout the year, plus money for "chores". It would usually work out to $20 a day that we were there (expect the year my mom came and they each had close to $40 a day....that is too much).
I wanted to avoid the "I want everything" fights. My rules are that they can spend her money anyway they want (although when it comes to the giant sized lollipops and giant pixie stixs I put my foot down) however, they have to window shop for a few days to see what each shop/parks offers.
DD9 is really good about wanting everything but also wants to get the most bang for her buck. Even as little as 3 she would see something she wanted, ask how much, and then want to know how much she'd have left if she buys it. DD4 if she wants it, she wants it and doesn't care what she has left! I also rarely buy us each snacks at the parks. Once in a while I'll get a big snack with my spending money and share with them, but often I'll let them know that they have money too and if they want a snack that is what their money is for also!
So far this approach has worked well for us. 2 years back when my mom came, she did the envelop thing for my girls and put $30 a day for each girl and my niece who was there. Plus they both had gift cards from other sources. To say the souvinears were endless would be putting it lightly.... Last year my mom did envelops for them again (she didn't come with us) and this time it was $6 a day and then some tattoos, stickers, and little trinkets. They acutally loved those ones more!

 

[Dayton Flyer]

If you are giving them allowance, I am not sure why they need extra money... just tell them that whatever they want to save up and take, they can take, and that'll be there souvenir money. That's worked well for us the last few trips to WDW and to Myrtle Beach, etc. It teaches them how to save and budget a little bit.

 

[ambiancetc]

We don't do allowances but we have "family chores" ie stuff we do because we're a family and "pay jobs". They save their own money for Disney and we also give them $25 each as a special gift. We load a gift card when we get there. They are not allowed to buy anything for the first couple days but we take pictures and note the prices of what they liked. When it's time to actually shop we total it up and they can decide what they want to give up and what they want to get to stay in budget. We do guide their decisions and not allow them to buy perishables or trinkets. Some times it's hard to determine what DS actually wants so during the first few days we take note of what he points at or wants to hold and then go back to get the things he's "asked" for at least 3 different times.

We supplement the lower spending limit with gifts purchased on sale from the Disneystore.com that are left in our room every few days by the gift fairy The kids get some of the items I know are on their wish list, they are totally convinced WBC is in Disney World and they don't get the impression Mom & Dad are all of a sudden turning into these strange people that just randomly buy them stuff. (At home everything is earned in one way or another or is Birthday/Christmas)

This has worked well for us as they have all come home with nice items they use/play with a lot. With the gift fairy presents it averages to about $50 a kid.

 

[Egdisney]

This is our first trip to Disney. My mom is giving each kid a $50 card for their birthday(she is doing the same for my husband and I, lol). I think this is enough for each kid to have for our trip to buy what they choose. I will probably buy a couple of things for them as well. For example, I will be buying everyone mouse ears. I think that is more than enough. The hard part is going to be getting my mom not to buy them anything