Per day allowance for a 6 year old

[Michguy04]

We are going on our first trip to Disney in April. We are on the dining plan so a snack will be covered. How much would you give a 6 year old boy per day for"spending money".

We are thinking somewhere between 5-10.00. Their birthday is before we leave and are thinking money would be a great idea from grandparents.

Thanks!!!

 

[woodkins]

When dd was 6 we did not do a per day, we gave her $50 disney dollars (you can purchase them in the parks) and that was her spending money. We bought all food/snacks and also told her we would buy one shirt/sweatshirt. The disney dollars were great because she could physically see how much money she had.

 

[okeydokey]

Our kids had a pot for the whole trip. They could save it for a big thing or spend a little each day. I think they had maybe 40 or 50 each.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

We give our kids a sum of money (which is basically their saved up allowance for a few months) when we get there and tell them to spend it on what they wanted and when. But we were on the DDP, so they didn't need to pay for their own snacks.

Our second trip, our DS had spent his money already and on one of the last days found something he really wanted and couldn't get because he already spent his money. But at least he learned.

This past trip, I think both of our kids ended up with half their money left over when we came back and spent it on video games (DS) and clothes (DD).

 

[RachChamb]

I was thinking $50 per kid for our trip, maybe $100. Ours will be 6 and 8 at that time and it's their first trip.

 

[humboldthny]

We give our dd an amount for the entire week to spend as she likes...she's not a big spender so we've settled on $30-35 for her ($20 was too little, $45 too much).

 

[Kat&Dom]

My son is 4 1/2 and his budget for our trip next month is $40. I gave him 8 $5 bills in monopoly money to carry and he has to exchange with me when he wants to buy something. I figured that this trip is an excellent learning opportunity for him.

 

[susykt4]

I've never done a "per day" thing because I think it places too much importance on daily shopping for junk. My kids have always been happy to mainly shop at the resort gift shop or at the big toy store or Lego store at DTD. If you do decide on money per day, $5 won't really be enough to buy anything other than maybe candy or a pen or something. I'd recommend a lump sum and then encouraging your child to wait and be sure that the toy monorail (or whatever) is what he wants most. Most of the stuff is relatively common and can be found in pretty much any shop on property. However, if he falls in love with a Test Track toy in the shop at the end of the ride, that could be tough to find elsewhere. Have fun!

 

[patchchild]

Giving the money in one dollar bills can really help. When they want something, show them how many of their bills it costs, and how many it leaves. Very visual for the younger kids.

 

[ancestry]

We took our six year olds (twins) last year. I did not give them a per diem. Rather they got to pick ONE item for the entire trip that was within a set dollar amount. I believe it was $30 or less. In our case there wasn't any reason why a six year old needed a daily spending amount.

 

[mollybug2]

Love the idea to use Monopoly money... my 6 year old will be making her first trip in November and it is her birthday present. I have told a few family members about the trip and they will give money for the trip. My sister wants to give her a Cinderella carriage charm to put a pearl in and then the money to go pearl diving in Epcot, which is a fun idea. I am thinking $50 for our five day trip.

 

[TikiGoddess07]

We took our six year olds (twins) last year. I did not give them a per diem. Rather they got to pick ONE item for the entire trip that was within a set dollar amount. I believe it was $30 or less. In our case there wasn't any reason why a six year old needed a daily spending amount.

This is what we did last year for our 4 and 6 yr olds. We've always had the rule that they are allowed to pick out ONE thing, usually around $30. We might buy them a shirt (last year we bought Mickey ears) on our own.

Kathy

 

[Zeebs]

We used Mickey Tokens that the kids earned on the lead up to the trip. Each token was worth $1.00 and at the end of the trip they were allowed to spend them.

They enjoyed earning the tokens as much as spending them at the end.

Kirsten

 

[ncmickeyluvr]

I've never done a "per day" thing because I think it places too much importance on daily shopping for junk. My kids have always been happy to mainly shop at the resort gift shop or at the big toy store or Lego store at DTD. If you do decide on money per day, $5 won't really be enough to buy anything other than maybe candy or a pen or something. I'd recommend a lump sum and then encouraging your child to wait and be sure that the toy monorail (or whatever) is what he wants most. Most of the stuff is relatively common and can be found in pretty much any shop on property. However, if he falls in love with a Test Track toy in the shop at the end of the ride, that could be tough to find elsewhere. Have fun!

I completely agree. We encourage our children to buy one or two souveniers that they LOVE instead of something inexpensive every day just to say they got something.

 

[crisi]

We have a hard time finding things the kids want quite honestly. There is a lot of junk, but my kids aren't that interested in junk.

We've traditionally bought my daughter a princess dress. My son - he doesn't want anything from Disney - we can't even find him a t-shirt he wants (he'll take candy).

 

[Manda]

I don't give my 6 year old anything. I let him keep the $5 return from the locker once and we ended up spending hours in the gift shop as he sorted through every possible item he could buy. It was like he just had to spend the money because he had it. I don't want to spend my time in gift shops. I do buy him stuff - I just don't let him think he actually has his own money that he needs to spend.

 

[clutter]

Only you know your kids and how they would function with a 'per day.' I used to give my dd one ($5/ for long trips and $7/ for shorter ones). Then I would buy her one 'big thing' at the end of the trip. It worked great for her. If she'd gotten $50 up front, she would have spent it early (and she's not really a spender, lol). But, especially since she was already good at saving, the $5/day worked great. After the first day you realize that you will see the same stuff every day, pretty much. So she could think over a purchase and buy it the next day.

Of course, now that she's big, there isn't as much that she wants to bring home. Our last trip, 5 days in January, we only bought one souveneir -- a blanket at DHS after freezing our bums off at Lights, Motorcars, Action!!!

p.s. I found the daily allowance to work to control MY spending. Every day we'd see something cute for only a few bucks, and I'd pick it up for her. We bought much less when she controlled it!

 

[Britgirlus]

We're on vacation, so all budgeting goes out the window. My 6 year old doesn't get to carry any money - if he spots somehting he would like, he asks, and we say yay or nay. Last year, "he" bought a bunch of the small stuffed Mickey Mouses (Safari Mickey, Star Wars Mickey, German Mickey etc etc). He knows that he can't buy anything too big to fit in the suitcase, and is pretty sensible all round, so really didn't want much stuff. I can't imagine how painful it would be waiting for him to make a decision on what he should spend his set amount on. Plus - we're on vacation, so have money to spend

 

[Mandychelle79]

My parents save their change for the grandkids to use for the trip.

My kids each had about 175 dollars for the week we were there. We limit them to one gift per day, until the last day and then they can spend get what they want.