Making your children pay for their part of a vacation?

[meloneyb21]

We were watching Wifeswap on Monday and they had this one mother who obsessed about her finances. She cut her bills and spending so well that her and her husband have already paid off their $700,000 home. Everyone is only allowed to take showers for the length of two songs, but the songs she was playing were only about 2-3 minutes long collectively. I know that her credit rating is through the roof excellent but she only finances for big things like her house and car, so she doesn't bother with credit cards. Everything was so good, I wish I had the discipline she has. My only issue....

Her children get a weekly allowance that she teaches them how to save with, but when they take family vacations she makes her children pay for their portion of the trip. Her son is 4 and I think her daughter 9. At one point the kids gave up $100 that they saved from allowance so that they could take a ski trip. Obviously, it is the parents choice to take a vacation, so shouldn't they pay for the whole thing? Especially for their own children? Is this harsh or do other parents do the same thing?

 

[PaulaSue]

I personally don't have the girls pay for their part of our vacation but they do pay for some little extras they want. I bought them a lot of stuff before hand (DS sale) so it is not like they didn't get anything. They saved their money and I think they value what they (older 2) bought more, IMO.

For example the oldest 2 bought a few pieces of play jewerly at Disney and every time they wear them they are very proud to say they bought the charms/earrings/ring.

 

[kandeebunny]

If your kids are college aged its one thing, but kids that young shouldn't be expected to pay for their vacations, if they chose not to go would they have to pay for their own babysitting?

 

[CMKN]

We don't "tell" the kids to pay towards their vacations to Disney, but collectively we do suggest that if they would like to use their birthday, Christmas monies, etc at Disney then they are welcome to. I have two kids that will literally pinch pennies to use at Disney and the other two that will spend their last few cents as if their lives depended on it!

 

[crisi]

If you give or pay your kids money, they get to choose how to spend it. Eventually, they will say no.

Now, there is the concept of a family tax - which I don't think is bad. Which is you give your kids money, but only a certain amount is theirs. Some goes into the family tax pool - and the family uses that for vacations or something else which benefits the whole family on which everyone gets a vote (its everyone's money). I've always found that idea intriging, and I'm currently using a variation to pay my kids to read this summer. They get $1 for every 15 minutes, but after they make $100 in this fashion, the tax kicks in and I only give them $1 for ever half an hour, with the other $1 going to the bank for longer term goodies.

 

[bbangel]

Okay, I'm coming at this from a kid who had to pay for everything. We got a monthly allowance (a Canadian government family grant thing) and sometimes money at holidays and birthdays from relatives. All money went into our bank accounts. Then we paid for our school fees (grade 2 onwards), our school clothes and anything else we wanted (junk food, music, gifts for friends). I can say that it has taught me the value of a dollar. Suddenly that $15 t-shirt isn't so necessary when you know that it is coming out of your money! I am still very thrifty and owned my first house at 19. In whatever way you want to do it, teach your kids about money and how to manage it. They will thank you for it in the long run. I may have whined a little as a kid about the stuff I couldn't have, but I thank my parents all the time for teaching me good money habits.

 

[T. Lynn]

I saw that episode before and thought it was insane. I'm responsible for taking care of my child and that includes vacations. I do have her save money for souveniers and I purchase her one snack a day. If she wants more, then she has to use her money.

No way would I make my child pay for her share of the vacation. She is my responsibility till the age of 18. If they didn't pay, it's not like you could take them to court...

I'm surprised the mother didn't make them pay part of the household utilites. Guess I shouldn't suggest it.

 

[disykat]

Adults yes, kids no! We don't give our kids enough allowance to expect them to pay for anything.

I can see deciding to give your kids a larger allowance and have them pay for some of their own things as a way of teaching them to spend wisely. I've known people that do this with lunch money, clothing allowances, etc. However, having them contribute $ for a hotel room, etc. is weird - weird enough to put on wife swap!

 

[meloneyb21]

I figured that if my child has extra money that she wants to spend on food or a souvenir, then by all means, go for it. But I don't think having her pay for her part of the vacation at such a young age is a good idea. I might change my mind when she gets to be a teenager and has her first job though. She will definitely pay for something.

 

[summerrluvv]

I saw that episode previously and think those parents were insane. Having your children pay for their vacation?! Give me a break. The family tax thing was absurd too. They are children, not adults. A lot of the families on these shows are wacky.

 

[tiggerluver12]

I can certainly understand her trying to instill the value of money in her kids. Our family vacation is paid for in full this year for WDW in November, including room, airfare, tickets and food (on dining plan). Therefore, my children have been told that if they want anything else, food or souviners(sp), they will have to pay for it themselves. So far, they have collected aluminum cans and have a total of about $20 a piece from that. They also have a savings account that has almost $200 in it, which they will split when we are in the world. So, making kids pay is a good thing and they will learn how to spend wisely when its their own money they are spending.

p.s. My kids don't get an allowance. Chores are chores, not ways to earn money. I'm a stay at home mom and I don't get paid for what I do, other than with love.

 

[MiknMinMouse]

We give out kids spending money for the parks and certain extras come out of that. My DS gets a very good weekly allowance so we make him pay for any Lego's he buys as Disney World.

This year we're going to WDW 2 times so we bought AP's. For our 2nd trip it's a large family thing. For one day of the trip some of our family is going to Universal. I told my DS that if he wanted to go, he needed to pay for the ticket. He's 15 has more money in savings than I do and like I told him, we're paying for every aspect of the vacation from tickets to rooms, food, souveniers (my kids are incredibly spoiled when it comes to souveniers) etc. So I felt like it was fair to have him pay for that if he wanted to go. His decision, not to go. I think in some situations it's good for kids to have to use their own money. Then they really have to think about how important something is to them.

 

[Charleyann]

I am a single parent taking my son to disney. I have had him save most of his money for our November trip. He got around $120 Canadian for his birthday....half of which went into his saving for disney. He has also been saving change (my change) in his disney bank. He has collected cans thoughout the year. He will probably have a couple of hundred dollars for disney. I will get him travellers cheques.....I see nothing wrong in having your children help save for vacation, especially for that extra something they may wish to purchase. It teaches him the value of money. I hope he will purchase wisely. Last year we went, he spend it on junky items. When we came home, he realized that he wasted his money and vowed to spend wisely the next time. It is working too. He recently went into an ice cream store. They were asking 2.50 for a SMALL cone of ice cream. He came out of the store with nothing and stated " the ice cream was way too much money". He didn't want to waste!

I personally see nothing wrong with this. He is given all that I can give. He also needs to be taught responsibility!

Charleyann

 

[MrsPete]

Overall I don't think having children pay for a portion of the family vacation is a good idea. At some point they're going to face a very ugly consequence: "Gee, Mom and Dad, I'd rather stay home alone this summer. I just won't pay my portion of the trip." For me, having the children stay home (prior to high school graduation) would not be acceptable, so I would never make it a choice.

On the other hand . . . since the children are young and the parents are GIVING the money to the children, it's really not like they're being forced to go out and earn it. It's really just semantics.

I think the bottom line is that they're trying to teach their children the value of a dollar -- something that most children today just aren't learning. While I don't like the specific route they've chosen, I think it's better than being an ATM machine so that children never learn anything about budgeting.

I'm working with my kids on budgeting in different ways: For example, they get X amount for back-to-school clothes. They get X amount for school supplies. We do a few other things too. However -- just like the kids in this example -- they don't have to earn the money; I'm giving it to them. They are in no way "paying for their own school clothes". The amount of money I'm willing to spend is simply passing through their hands.

 

[babiesX2]

Oldest DD has to use her own spending money. We give her a set amount of money and she can do extra around the house to earn more spending money. We pay for meals, one snack per day, beverages, and one nice souvenir. Souvenirs and junk like that she has to buy with her own money. She also has to pay for junk food with her own money. But as far as making her pay to go on vacation, no we don't do that. It sounds a bit harsh, but then again, some people think we are harsh for making her spend her own money on junk! Befor we started this our trips would be awful because she was constantly begging for junk and we'd get upset because we didn't want to spend the money. Since we put her on her own budget it is much nicer and we haven't had any problems since. The twins will be on the same system when they are old enough.

 

[leight]

My kids have always been pretty spoiled when it comes to gifts/xmas. So for our next trip to WDW we are all saving change/pitching in money to our Disney savings. We decorated a jar with Disney princesses and discussed that we wanted to go to disney around christmas- and it would be part of all of our Christmas presents. We also told our girls that to go to a nice hotel we would All try to save towards the trip. They both have cd accounts that we started with their bday money and they contribute $2 of their $7 allowance each week towards their savings. $2 goes into their piggy banks for special things-anything they want- and the last $3 goes towards special snacks they want to buy at the grocery store. That way they know that their extra snacks are bonus items, not staples. Also they are seeing that their money is going towards them picking a hotel for our trip- and the more they save the more the better their choices. We have about $250 saved so far. (tickets, and food will be on us of course.) They also got $10 each Disney dollars in their easter baskets and will get some more that they can spend at Disney so they can see how their money is spent.

 

[disneysnowflake]

In 1982 my parents took my sister and I to WDW. They paid for admission, but we had to sell our bicycles to come up with money for food or anything we wanted to buy to bring home. I was 13. I can remember trying sharing a personal pizza with my sister because that's all the money we had left.

Looking back I thought it was weird we had to pay for our own food in the parks. I guess my parents were thrifty or something.

When we went to Busch Gardens in Williamsburg and then Epcot the following year same thing. We had to save our own money for food and souveniers in the parks.

My kids save 50 cents from their weekly allowance for spending money at WDW. They use it to buy souveniers. We pay for everything else. Yes, even food.

In 2007 we're taking my parents to WDW. We're paying for everything for them.. including food.

 

[shades]

If I required my 14yr old dd to pay for her portion of a family trip to WDW or DL, we would never go again because she doesn't care to go. She can learn budgeting lessons elsewhere, like how we pay for the vacations without credit cards. We give each kid extra "vacation" spending money and how they choose to spend it while on vacation is totally up to them. They can spend it all on souveniers or save it - we don't care.

I also do not believe in requiring my kids to pay for their own food - including snacks. If they are hungry, I provide food - including at Disney parks.

 

[T. Lynn]

I don't agree for having them pay for food. I don't have them help pay for groceries at home so why would I do that on vacation?

 

[taximomfor4]

I don't agree for having them pay for food. I don't have them help pay for groceries at home so why would I do that on vacation?

Ah, but some of us don't buy all the treats kids may want, even at home. For example: my daughter (13 TODAY!!) wants to go up to Dairy Queen to visit her friend that works there. While there, she may (or may not) want a soda or an ice cream treat. If she's HUNGRY, she'll have a banana or an apple before going. If she just wants a treat while visiting her friend, she will pay for it herself.

We keep healthier snacks in the house for the kids, when they are hungry. If they are at a fair, and the elephant ear smells irresistable, they decide if they want it bad enough to pay for it. (Usually, they do NOT!) For our family, it is the same at WDW. We bring healthier snacks to WDW with us. If the kids are hungry, they KNOW we won't make them stay that way. But if they just WANT a box of popcorn while waiting for the parade, they can buy it themselves. We're not mean, we just don't buy a lot. Souvenirs, snacks, even birthday/christmas presents -- we are not big buyers.