My kids saved there own money.

[kinlaw6450]

My DD and DS have saved nearly $70 by literally nickel and diming. They are 6 and 4 and now have there own souvenier money.

Anyway, I was proud of them. They saved every penny they earned, found, or squirmed out of daddy.

I am taking their money to the Disney Store before we leave and exchanging it for Disney dollars for an extra treat.

 

[Humpbacks1962]

Yes, it is the way to do it...
Mine save their money from graduations, tooth fairy, etc. Whenever they feel like spending it, I remind them about how they'll feel when they are able to buy whatever they want at the parks with their own money..


Wanda

 

[horseshowmom]

We used to go to Disney at least once a year (sometimes twice), and the kids (3 of them) always saved their own money. One year my SIL's family went with us, so my MIL gave all the grandkids "gift certificates" (printed out on her computer) for Christmas for a certain amount of money (redeemable just before we left). We have also given them the parkhoppers as part of their Christmas gifts (be honest, how fast does the "new toy" excitement really last! LOL). Then they can look forward to the trip and our financial burden was lessened (which resulted in more yearly trips).

 

[bashful4]

My six year old DD has managed to saved almost $150.00 over the past year. I would give her allowance to her in cash and Disney dollars. When grandparents found out she was saving her own money, they would give her a couple of $$ here and there to put in her Disney bank. She also earned extra money for extra chores.

 

[DDM]

Our kids saved their own money for our trip last September and it worked out wonderfully. They also asked for extra chores around the house and saved every penny! They were able to make their own decisions on how to spend their money. It was a great learning experience for them and they didn't make any impulse buys. This year we will do the same thing. They have been saving like crazy!

 

[lmmollohan]

We are doing essentially the same thing only we are saving for the entire trip as a family. We covered a coffee can with pictures from a WDW brocure and we put in any "extra" money we get. Any money saved at the grocery store, gifts from Grandparents, OT from Daddy's job, etc. The best part is when they ask for drinks at the local theme park or to go out for pizza I just tell them they can do that or we can take the money we would have earned and put it in the Disney can...they almost always say Disney and we are saving pain free.

To make this seem a little more real to them we figured out how much money we wanted to save for the trip. Then we made four different paper chains, you know the kind you used to make for the Christmas tree. We made one each for $1, $5, $10, and $20...a different color for each dollar amount. We strung them all around the walls in their room and it took all four walls. Now whenever we put money in the can they cut off the correct amount of links, and when the links are gone we will have reached our goal.

It is fun and it is teaching them about money and what plus what equals what!

 

[koswalt]

But I told them they can't start spending their excess money until their fund reaches $50. One of them is already there and we aren't even going until August.

 

[LisaT]

My son , 7yrs, raised his own $ (50+) However, he is not that careful about carrying that kind of cash. So, he will deposit that $ in Mom and Dad's account and we are making a bank book to keep track of his spending. That way, he is still making his own choices, but with supervision AND cash or disney dollars will not be lost!

Mom and Dad can just charge it and pay the bill.

DS will be responsible for writing down how much was spent and the new balance. IF ( I doubt) there is anything left, we will return the balance to him when we get home.

Lisa

 

[mikenlisa1]

I love reading about how families save and how they use it as a teaching tool. Our DS is 2 will be 3 dec our next trip as well. and we even have him putting money in Pooh Bear Bank for WDW. Yes he has been 4 times and after the last trip in Feb 01 he really understands. He also sees DH and I doing the same with our change and then we make a trip to the bank then to the Disney store to buy DD. yesterday he told the banker Mouse December when he was giving us our dollars.

 

[imgoingtodisney]

My son will be adding another $5 Disney dollars to his accumulating amount tomorrow. He'll be getting this at school awards day for perfect attendance this year. Mon he'll be getting another $5 for his report card. He's been getting disney dollars for birthday, report cards, tooth fairy, valentines day, easter bunny. He'll have more than either husband or myself.

 

[beansmom]

My DD had almost $400 when we went last November..she took half her allowance in DD, and DH made a sucker bet with her...$10 for every A, $5 for every B...

This time, she is opening this Saturday a regular savings account at the bank..I hope that this will help her learn how to save in a more 'realistic' way since she couldn't spend DD anywhere but Disney. It should help her learn more about how money works.

 

[Pink Flamingo]

My son recently opened his first savings account with USAA Federal Savings Bank to save his money for Disney.

This is a great place for kids to open a savings account. It is free (no fees) and only takes $1.00 to open. You have to mail your deposits in, but you get a debit card and your first 10 ATM transactions are free. They also send frequent newsletters to the kids and all the information is aimed at the child and is written in kid friendly terms.

Their web site is www.usaa.com or you can call 1-800-235-8377. You do not have to be a member of the military to join this bank (unlike some of the other USAA organizations).

Let the Disney saving begin!

 

[becca33]

My DS is 14 and he has always saved his money. (saveing for a car eventually) He is helping a friend mowing lawns this summer and has over $1000 in the bank and $100 in cash for our cruise comeing up in Oct. His goals are to earn enough to take $500 on the cruise. He puts half of everything he earns in the bank and keeps 90% of everything else in a piggy bank and spends the rest. He is very resourcefull. He has bought 5 new shirts and a pair of shoes for the cruise to date. This works out well since he thinks his mother has "no taste" at all.......lol I figure by the time school starts all I will need to buy is socks.....HeHe

As far as Myself a DH saveing money... We are on a fixed income so we totally rely on doing freebies online. We paid for a 17 day vacation last June and It has paid for a 7 day Disney Cruise comeing up in Oct. We also save our chnge and an occassional dollar or 2

 

[nanns]

inkbounc inkbounc inkbounc My kids are saving all their toothfairy money and all their birthday money too!! We even had a garage sale and dd #1 came up with the idea to sell lemonade to earn money for Disney.....I also got her some small candy bars to sell for 25 cents each. She made $6.50 each time (we had 2 garage sales) and once in a while all the grandma's give them 1 or 2 dollars for their fund.. Dd #1 has over $100 and dd#2 is having her birthday next month, so i am hoping she will come close to that amount too (otherwise we will have to get it close, I guess!) even my son whose only 14 mos soon has his own fund started with a few bucks in it!!!
It teaches them to save, we started saving last year and are going in 4 months.inkbounc inkbounc inkbounc