Spending $ for kids.. How much is too much?

[disneydreamerinny]

My DD's 11 & 8 have been saving right along with me for this trip for almost 2 years.
With Birthdays, holidays and Christmas, they have saved almost $300.00 each.

We will be in the world for 9 full days. Do you think I should have a cut off as to how much they bring? Or just keep letting them save their butts off and have a ball when they get there?

Their eyes are glowing right now.. The 8 year old has her eye on a 4 foot mickey doll

Any experiences? Suggestions?

 

[crusoe2]

We usually have the same dilemma - by the time all the grandparents are done giving our DS a "little something for the trip" he goes down there with more cash than we do. I like for him to have plenty of money in case he comes across something really special but I don't want him to come home with several hundred dollar's worth of junk. Our solution is to let him use whatever is left after the trip to buy something special when he gets home, too. We did this last trip and he was much more thoughtful about how he spent his money. When we got home he bought himself a Nintendo 64 and several games. This might not work for everyone but we were so pleased with how it worked last time that we are using the same approach for next trip.

 

[Suedrews]

My 12 year old son had a ton of money, too, when we went last August......before we got to WDW, we sat down together with 5 envelopes (1 for each day).....he split the money himself into the envelopes & we kept them in the safe in the room......each day he would take an envelope out.....I couldn't believe how disciplined he was.....because he was in charge, not us....I was very proud of his choices.....

 

[WDW2002]

It is there money, let them spend it. They have "sacrificed" on birthdays and christmas so now it is time for them to " go wild." I do like the idea of splitting it up by # of days and let them carry forwarded any $$ they did not spend on the previous days.

You know your kids spending habits better then anyone. I have one who like to buy a bunch of junk with her allowance and the other who saves it. But ironically the one who saves will spend her $$ faster on "big" stuff when we are at Disney.

 

[momm2four]

I agree that it's their money to spend, but I would do the same thing with them as adults should do. I would sit with them, and help them create some sort of budget. So much for souvineirs, so much for snacks, etc. That way they learn that even though they have "lots" of money, they should still spend it wisely.

Sounds like you have a couple of smart girls! My two oldest (6 & about to turn 5) aren't really into saving for Oct. Seems so abstract to them at this age, I guess. They have done a few extra chores in order to earn Disney Dollars, but it's not a huge incentive for them yet.

Lori P.

 

[pooh2001]

I was going to give our 10 yr old and 7 yr old $50 for the 10 days,
to spend as they wish.
I will buy them their food - including snacks. I never deny food - along
as it is healthy.

I will also buy the autograph books and a hat (got to keep the sun off
the head !)

I have bought Disney t-shirts (on sale) to give to them.

I am also provide my kids with a "welcome bag".
So far my son will get a toy-story candy gift bag (toy'r'us), a Mickey sorceror
beenie, a mickey soccer pin, and a Disney magnetic checker board.
My daughter will get a mickey candy gift bag (toy'r'us), a Minnie red poka dot
beenie, a minnie head pin and a Disney magnetic tic-tac-toe board.
I will try to add a few more items - maybe disney key chains,or smomething.

So hopefully, on our first trip to WDW, the gimmies will subside.

On one of our last days, we will go to the World of Disney, Mickey Sports,
Pooh's store, in Downtown Disney. Each of my kids will get $100 to spend.
We will ship home what ever they select. So, if they pick a 4 foot Minnie or
a basketball hoop - we do not have to deal with it on the plane.


I know $50 for 10 days or $5/day may not be much - but we are at WDW to
enjoy, have fun, swim, and see the Parks. We are not there for shopping.

 

[carone0318]

We will be going down for 9 days in June. I am thinking no more than $30. We buy Disney Dollars, which make it more fun for her. This is for the junk stuff, like that light up thing that spins around and the kids have them going full force at the parades and stuff. Well, I don't want to spend $10 on that, but if she wants to with her money, she can. I plan to give her $5 Disney dollars in her Easter basket and I know that she is going to get Disney Dollars for her kindergarten graduation. I really want to instill some sense of responsibility in her. Now understand that this isn't money that she has saved up, but it is what I am willing to allocate to the junk

 

[Magic2000]

I find that letting the kids spend their "own" money works best for us - they are much more careful spending their own money than when its Mom & Dad's money. I don't always like what they buy - one time my 14 yr old DD bought one of those huge Mexican sombreros. I thought she had lost her mind, but it was something she said she had always wanted. I had to laugh as she tried to store it on the plane for the trip home! My girls have never been able to save more than about $125.00 or so for the trips, but they love having their own spending money. (We always pay for food.) Even my 5 yr old stops to think when she realizes if she buys something for like $10 or so, then she'll only have so much left. She's even put a few things back to make sure she would have enough money at the end of the trip. Depending on the length of the trip, usually about $100 or so is more than enough for my girls.

 

[jennymouse]

I gotta share this little story. I took my 6yr old DGD last April....it was just her and I and we had a blast. Anyway, I picked her up from school everyday at the time and on the way home I talked to her about making a Disney jar to save money in for the trip. I told her we'd color some pictures of characters and glue them on the jar, etc, etc. She said "Nana, I need a BIG jar because I've already got alot of money." Well, this was new to me and I see this kid every day.....and I'm thinking she's got a few pennies in a bank or something, so I said, we'll start out with a small jar and if you fill that up we'll get a bigger one. Frustrated with me, she said, "But Nana, I've got alot of money already." We talked like this off and on the way home. At home I got a mason jar and we started with the project....all the while she's saying her money wouldn't fit in that jar, I'm saying it's the biggest jar I have, etc.

Well, that evening when I took her to her house, the first thing she did was ask her mother to go get her money. My DD didn't know what had taken place of course but she got up and walked back into DGD's room........she came out with this HUGE Easter basket FULL OF CHANGE!! I about died! Most of it was pennies, but when they took it to cash it in it came to almost $60.

She ended up with $100 for our FOUR DAY TRIP. I got her to split it up to spend $25 a day, which is alot....but it was hers and she wanted to spend it at WDW.

Here's the problem I ran into with her. Little did I know that she was a closet shopaholic! She wasn't interested in any rides, shows, character breakfasts or anything until every penny of that $25 each day was spent. I'm serious, I had to practically force her to Cinderella's Royal Table for breakfast before shopping!

I had read the Unoffical Guide and was ready for some commando touring! I ended up just having a blast watching her shop! Fortunately in our case, WDW prices or high or Nana would have never got to ride any rides!

 

[disneydreamerinny]

LOL Jennymouse, that is cute. But that is alot like my DD's. They save every penny. But watch out when they get there. They deserve it. Our very first stop will be Downtown Disney right after we check out our hotel.

Like everyone else here, I will be buying all the meals and snacks etc etc...

This money is just for the things that they want. Like the snow globes and pins and things like that.

It is going to save me a bunch of $$.

I just finnished wrapping my husbands and my coins that we have been throwing in a 5 gallon water jug.
Grand total (just silver, no pennies) is $874.00
That will be a good portion of our meals and souvies.

I like the envelope idea. I think I will try that. Maybe print some disney characters on them with the days of the week with their names on them.

 

[jennymouse]

Cha Ching$$$$$$$$$$$$ That's a whole lot of change!!!! Way to go!

 

[Spirit Feather]

I usually give the kids $20 each a day for theme parks. They can use that to purchase drinks, snacks and souvies. It really cuts back on the soda and junk consumption--they tend to eat more of their meals this way also.

My kids NEVER save any money. They very seldom have any! If they did manage to save $300 I would strongly advise them to split it up over the course of their stay in the envelope-type system mentioned above.

Oh, how long did it take to save over $800 in change?! We just started throwing our change into a 5 gallon bottle and we haven't even covered the bottom yet!

 

[TRAPPED-PARENT]

We tend to take one big trip a year (usually 10 days at WDW) ... in the past I have given my kids about $30-$40 for the entire trip. I will only allow them to take $20-50 of their own money in addition. If they choose to purchase a hat or t-shirt (clothing), I will pay half. I have found that they are very selective with how they spend their money; we tend not to have a lot of "junk" items that are tossed on the floor when we get home. Additionally, this means that we don't have to spend hours in the park gift shops; since the park admission price is so much, this is the last place I want to spend my time!

I, myself, only get a shirt or a small item -- the lasting memories of our trip are the good times and photos that we take.

 

[LADYnTRAMP]

Just wanted to praise the kids for saving up for so long. That's not an easy thing for a kid to do. Way to go everyone!!!
Susan

 

[kidzmom3]

We have run into trouble with spending own money on things like drinks. We are a family that drink a lot of beverages. I personally like to have a drink on me at all times. So, when a drink is bought, everyone drinks it. This was especially hard with my f-i-l who probably hadn't shared a drink in 20 years (executive at big corp.) So when we go this year, he plans to give the kids $10 a day for snacks and drinks, only rule (no sharing). This has less to do with budget and more to do with him being grossed out by kids always wanting part of his (drink, fries, popcorn, icecream) But I like a lot of the suggestions, especailly the envelopes that can carry balance forward.

 

[crisi]

LOL - Envelopes that carry forward....when I was single and broke and well into my twenties this is how I managed my own "allowance." $50 a week in money to play with - $10 in each of 5 envelopes - all the extra cash for the weekend.

Worked really well. Basic budgeting.