Spending money for a 5 year old

[cfwallen]

I am planning to give DD who is 5 a few dollars every day to spend on whatever she wants. Knowing my DD she will want candy. My question is how much are small packs of candy or small trinkets in shops in the parks? Would $5 per day be reasonable? Any thoughts?
Thanks in advance
Carol W. in SC

 

[jellybeans0607]

its really up to you, i dont think 5.00 would be enough for my children. but we also dont do daily amounts. we set am amount for the trip as to what they can spend. my 8yo will have $200, my 4yo will have $100 and the 3yo will have $100.
and that includes all trinkets and souveniers. plus any extra snack items they want that arent something we are buying for everyone.

if you are sure she will only be buying candy, then yes it should be enough. but some cany items will be closer to $10.

 

[Maggie'sMom]

I'm letting my daughter earn Disney Dollars. She can earn them if she gets 5 days of good behavior reports from her teachers at daycare. (We'd been having some issues with her not following directions and yelling at friends and teachers so we instituted a sticker chart to keep track of her behavior.) She can also earn them by helping me with chores that are above and beyond what she's normally expected to do. So she won't get them for picking up her toys, but she could earn them for helping me wash the car, water the gardens or fold laundry. I just started the Disney Dollar rewards last week so she'll have about 3 months to save up before our September trip.

ETA: My DD is 4 now and will be turning 5 during our WDW trip.

 

[iheartdisney]

I think 10 is more realistic for a daily allowance for WDW. $5 won't buy her a soda and a Mickey bar! I think $10 is a better limit, especially if you are talking about treats AND trinkets.

 

[racheyk]

I agree 10 is more realistic. We were last in WDW in Jan and I let my 5 year old buy a pin every day for good behavior in the parks, and that cost any where from 7-13 dollars a day. The pins were her idea; she saw everyone walking around with the trading ribbons. But as far as candy went, I brought my own. I packed my bag with candy that I never allow them to have and gave it to the kids when we were in the lines. You will be suprised how much candy costs in the parks. I wanted them to spend their money on things they could bring home.

 

[kohlby]

You could explain to her that $5 isn't enough for all the types of candy, but will be for some. If she wants a more expensive candy, then she needs to save her money up from one day so she has enough. Though I don't give my kids money for the parks, my son understands about saving up money quite well and he just turned 5. We pay for any treats in the park - which also makes it easier to say no to too much candy and spend less time in the shops! We did buy him a t-shirt on our last trip and a matchbox car on the trip before. So, he gets one thing to take home with him. Last time, we bought a bunch of lolypops and it lasted 3 days! (We couldn't find just one to buy except for the huge ones that get super sticky) So some candies can last longer.

 

[Diehl2229]

its really up to you, i dont think 5.00 would be enough for my children. but we also dont do daily amounts. we set am amount for the trip as to what they can spend. my 8yo will have $200, my 4yo will have $100 and the 3yo will have $100.
and that includes all trinkets and souveniers. plus any extra snack items they want that arent something we are buying for everyone.

if you are sure she will only be buying candy, then yes it should be enough. but some cany items will be closer to $10.

I agree I would give $10 for your 5 y/O. My son is going on 12 so I told him he can have $300 for the week and My DD 14 really never ask for anything so I will let her get what ever she wants if she wants it. Me and my DS are the big spenders

 

[EthansMom]

I think $5-10/day would be good.

On past trips, we've paid for all edible treats and then let each child pick one reasonbly-priced toy and a t-shirt/sweatshirt during the trip.

This upcoming trip, we've told DS6 and DD4 that we will give them each a set amount of spending money (probably $75 each) that they can spend as they wish.

However, we'll still buy most edible treats... when we get candy, icecream, etc... the whole family gets it, so we pay for us and the kids to have reasonable portions of sugary/fatty treats. I don't think I'd encourage our kids to buy even more edible items than we already buy for them.

We also tend to stay out of the shops in the parks, making one or two trips to Downtown Disney for our souvenir shopping. So, for my kids a small amount to spend each day wouldn't work as well as a set amount to spend for the trip. DH and I encourage the kids to think about their purchases and would prefer that they spend their money on one or two higher-value items than on a lot of "junk".

 

[mommyof2princesses]

My dd who will be 5 three days before we go to WDW is earning her Disney Dollars right now. she usually has bout $100 to spend for the week, but that is because her Aunt and my mom and MIL give her money every year for her b-day because we go around it.

She will probably have about $5 saved up for each day for her pocket. The other money we hold onto until the last day or so and find the perfect things she really liked. Two years ago she got Cinderella's castle and she still plays with it. Last year she got my little pony stuff and a few other things.

 

[mommy-on-the-move]

My kids have been saving all year towards going- my 10yr old is enterprising LOL She'll have around $450 to take (we'll be there 14 days) but she plans to buy a DS outside the parks whilst there (they're half the price than we pay in England) my 4 & 5 yr olds have saved around $200 each respectively and so we saved for the baby (18months ) and have around $100 put aside for souveniers for him- we don't get much Handy Manny merchandise in the UK and he loves that show!

 

[cuppycake]

WOW! My kids would think many of your kids are lucky

My DD's (5 and 3) will each have $25-$30 to spend for the 5 days that we are there. This is typical of a trip for us, and what it really means is that they get to pick out one decent thing that they want to buy for themselves. Usually they'll pick a stuffed animal, novelty hat, cute shirt or some such like that.

We will usually buy them one or two other small things (a shirt or towel) with "mom and dad's money". If we buy candy or something like that, it is for all of us (we don't usually let them buy FOOD stuff with their own money).

In general, though, as a family, we don't really spend all that much on souveniers. We stay out of the shops, really. So, I guess it depends on how you tend to be that way.....I don't think that $5 is unreasonable if you just want her to get something small each day.

 

[wishtdream]

My 5yo DD is allowed to take $100 per vacation out of her piggy. This is money that she has saved. We pay for snacks and anything we want her to have she pays for any "junk" or "silly" things out of her own pocket. Last trip to WDW she spent $46 over 9 days. Mom always gets final say on all purchases.

 

[Renee845]

My dd is earning disney dollars too - right now they are just paper ones that I made, but I am going to buy some before we leave. I am planning on 10.00 a day (she will be 5 that week). I am also going to try to bring candy and stupid little things with me so as to limit some of that unnecessary stuff she HAS to have.

 

[caroline1851]

You might want to up that to $10/day or give her a total for the week...$50 or whatnot.

Dh has to save his own spending money, he's 6. So far he has $80 saved. He'll have more than that by the time he goes-probaly $150-200.

 

[scouthawkk]

I am going with 3 kids this year. My DS5, and my DH's little sisters (11 & 14). They have each had to earn/save spending money for the trip. We are, obviously, providing all meals, and snacks...we are on DDP, and will buy extra snacks to take each day. Beyond that, they have to pay for anything else they want/"need." The girls each currently have $123 and $150 respectively, and will have another opportunity coming up to earn some more. DS5 has $150 so far. But that includes a $25 gift card from grandma, so he has actually only "earned" $125. But it is all theirs...and, I will add, they have all been saving for 3 years now. I am not actually going to limit them to an amount each day. The girls will carry their own money (mostly on gift cards at this point) and I or DH will hang on to DS's so he doesn't drop it somewhere. But they all know, when the money is gone, there is no more. We'll see what happens...we leave Aug. 1st!!!!!!!

 

[tigergirl]

I'm leaving in 8 weeks for our vacation with DH and DS (almost 4). DS is receiving $5/week until our trip, leaving him with $40 for 6 days. We are on the DDP and if needed, will purchase an extra snack each day for the family to share. The $40 is for him to purchase whatever he wants, although we will 'strongly encourage' him that it not be used on sweets.

We typically don't buy much in the way of souveniers anyway, so the idea was to let him have one or two nice things (T-shirt and small toy), and perhaps one other 'trinket' type item.

I think it would be best if you gave your daughter a lump sum at the beggining of the trip equivalent to the $5/day amount you would otherwise give her. It might make her choose to spend the money differently, knowing that she could spend $20-25 on a single item rather than feeling like she 'should' to spend the $5 each and every day.

 

[santa's surpriz]

Funny story about a child's spending money...Santa Claus sent us last year and left little notes + $25.00 to spend each day. As soon as it was time to pay she would tell me I should that she wanted to save her money I can spend mine! She came home with $125! Given the fact it was her first trip, I of course bought things she wanted and was able to talk her into $30 of her own, but that little smarty pants!! It straight into Disney Fund!

 

[twinspluscade]

WOW! My kids would think many of your kids are lucky

My DD's (5 and 3) will each have $25-$30 to spend for the 5 days that we are there. This is typical of a trip for us, and what it really means is that they get to pick out one decent thing that they want to buy for themselves. Usually they'll pick a stuffed animal, novelty hat, cute shirt or some such like that.

We will usually buy them one or two other small things (a shirt or towel) with "mom and dad's money". If we buy candy or something like that, it is for all of us (we don't usually let them buy FOOD stuff with their own money).

In general, though, as a family, we don't really spend all that much on souveniers. We stay out of the shops, really. So, I guess it depends on how you tend to be that way.....I don't think that $5 is unreasonable if you just want her to get something small each day.

LOL! Same here. We're not shoppers, either---in fact, I'm the rare female that HATES any type of shopping. So, we really don't even go in the stores that much. We did hit the World of Disney toy store at DTD last trip, and the kids each got to pick out one thing. Also, we bought them each a pair of crocs in the resort gift shop. . That was more than enough shopping for me!

 

[kaypee]

Seems to me like going to Disney should be a big enough treat.
My children will be bringing some of their own (birthday) money that they have saved. They can spend their money on junky overpriced treasures if they wish (my daughter will, my son won't.)
I will buy them one shirt or hat that we agree on. . .

 

[DLtorgo]

One thing my DD loves to get are the pressed pennies. She collects them from the different lands and since they are only 51 cents they are a great way to save some money! They have machines all over the place and they are really cute. You can get a little holder for them too.