Money matters - spending money for 12 year old?

[jacksgirl]

I've always kept up with the money and just allotted a certain amount for each child. My oldest son (who's 19 now) isn't going with us this time. It always got kind of confusing keeping up with who had spent what, and how much each one had left. This year, I'm thinking about linking a certain amount to my 12 year old's magic band, and letting him keep up with it himself. He's pretty good at managing his money. My question is this: What is a reasonable amount of spending money for a 12 year old for a 10 day trip? We have the DDP, so his money will strictly be spending money for souvies, extra snacks, etc. Thoughts?

 

[paulcav3]

I would say $200/$300 is reasonable for a 10 a day trip. That'll give him $20/$30 a day and maybe make him not spend on foolish stuff.

 

[toasterstrudel]

wowzer! 20/30 a DAY? We don't buy that much on extras.

My kids get $40 each to spend. That doesn't cover food/snack, but souvenirs they want.

 

[paulcav3]

Oh... well in that case you've answered your own question.. That figure was based on what my daughter will have for our upcoming Sept trip, but she has been saving $ and gift cards for the last year on her own so I guess my opinion is a little off base..

 

[kollerbear]

Maybe $10-$15 a day? Does he have any extra money from home (allowance, etc.) he can use to supplement to buy one or two bigger souvenirs? If not, then maybe a little more--a 12 year old might want to save up for one bigger souvenir, so then that $20-30/day suggested by PP might be nice--generous but not crazy. If he does, then the $10-$15 would probably cover one or two snacks a day and a small-medium sized souvenir every 2-3 days.

 

[kollerbear]

Oh... well in that case you've answered your own question.. That figure was based on what my daughter will have for our upcoming Sept trip, but she has been saving $ and gift cards for the last year on her own so I guess my opinion is a little off base..

Yeah I thought that was OP too but it wasn't. I think your estimate is a pretty good one for a 12 year old, depending on how much they have they can spend of their own, especially since it includes snacks for a 12 year old boy.

 

[CookieandOatmeal]

Can you even link a certain amount to his magicband? Giving him a giftcard with a certain amount would probably work best in my opinion. At least he can't run over the amount of what you want him to spend but he still learns to budget and spend wisely!

 

[BlackMagicWoman]

My 14 year old is getting $150 for 8 days and 7 nights. That seems good for 10 days.

 

[gtpoohbear]

For long trips (9-10 days) I've given the kids $100. For shorter trips usually $50. Is there really a way to link a certain amount of $$ to a MB??? That's cool if there is - as far as I knew you could only link it to a CC with no control over the charge limit.

 

[Accident]

What are you ok with them getting? realistically, my daughter gets more then a couple pins, maybe a shirt and sometimes other things. Staying alive (food, drinks and snacks) I would remove from the number. Realistically we probably spend about $30-40 per park a little more in DTD and random other spends in resorts

 

[heywagners]

My kiddos save their own money and then buy a Disney GC to take with them. That way, they have the GC and can just keep spending until that money runs out. They usually have around $50-$75 for a 4 day trip. That's just for their spending. We buy food/snacks.

 

[colagirl]

We give our kids a gift card that they can spend how they like while we are at Disney - we only did $25 though! But we also covered extra snacks.

 

[BLLB]

We give each of our boys (15 and 12), a $50 Disney gift card. Our stays are usually 8 days. They do bring any spending money they have saved from allowance and work.

 

[prisjoyce]

If i think about what my 12 yr old DD usually wants for souvenirs, and tally the cost: 2-3 pins, a shirt or hat, a wallet or scarf or other extra- I'd say around $100 total.

Idk about putting a specific amount on the MagicBand, but if you have the dining plan on the band, be sure to specify whether you want to pay for something or use a snack credit so he doesn't run his souvenir money out accidentally.
Enjoy your trip!

 

[Mamato2cutekiddos]

Well according to this I'm very generous haha. We are spending 4 days in the parks + 1 DTD trip + MNSSHP. I have put $100 on a gift card for each of my kiddos (5 and 7) to buy their own toys. Mom and Dad will pay for pins, ears, shirt & autograph book/pen.

Any toys/souveniers my kids want beyond their allotted amount will be decided upon as a family. But that money is theirs to blow. No input from Mom & Dad needed (we will also have Nana/Grampy/Great-Grandma there with us). That money does not include a trip to the American Girl Store for my daughter.

 

[BuckeyeBama]

We used to give our boys $200, and we told them that we would match any money that they did not spend and add it to their savings account. It made them more carefully consider each purchase.

 

[jacksgirl]

Oh... well in that case you've answered your own question.. That figure was based on what my daughter will have for our upcoming Sept trip, but she has been saving $ and gift cards for the last year on her own so I guess my opinion is a little off base..

This was a different poster. I was the original poster. Your figure sounds reasonable to me.

 

[paulcav3]

Yeah I thought that was OP too but it wasn't. I think your estimate is a pretty good one for a 12 year old, depending on how much they have they can spend of their own, especially since it includes snacks for a 12 year old boy.

son of a... I thought that was OP. Guess I should pay better attention.

 

[paulcav3]

This was a different poster. I was the original poster. Your figure sounds reasonable to me.

Yeah, I just noticed the mistake. We're about a month out from our trip and apparently I'm already on auto pilot.

 

[jacksgirl]

He's a thoughtful spender, and manages his money pretty well. $200 sounds reasonable to me. I just wondered what others did, and what they thought.