Spending Money For Kids?

[RainbowsMist]

When we first decided we would go to Disney (10 months ago) DH and I explained to our DD's they were responsible for saving their own spending money. It would be great if they each could save $300 USD. Through birthdays, Christmas, Easter, passing gifts etc. they have managed to do it.

The question now is, how should they take it? I don't think letting a 10 & 12 year old carry that much cash around is a good idea. I looked into one of those visa gift cards for each of them but they can't do it.

The other idea I had was to give them "fake disney money - like monopoly money" they could keep in their wallets and when they wanted to buy something they had to give me their money and I would pay for it for them.

What does everyone else do?

 

[CrazyDisneyMommy1]

When we have gone, we let them have a little bit each day and I carry the rest. It is funny as we were just talking about what the rules will be for the money this trip . Sometimes it burns a whole in their or my pocket and they want to spend it all as soon as we get there. We decided that they can have $10.00 or so for each of the first three days and then buy something bigger after we have looked and then do it again and again as we are there for 15 days so we will need to spread it out. We also gave them some Disney dollars and that thought that was cool. DD is 8 1/2 and DS is 6 1/2 .

 

[drag n' fly]

The kids each got 50 US dollars from Grandma for Chrstmas. We then gave them each 100 US dollars. Now this is the deal. We provide food, shelter and any Disney clothing. They are responsible for using their money for any toys, candy and souveniers etc. Eack kid has their own envelope. Our kids are 12, 10 and 4. We carry the envelopes in ziplocs and when they want something they have to ask for it. At the end of each day we will keep a running list of what we purchased and may be bringing back for customs sake. At Disney...we haven't been since 2004, we just gave them 10 dollars a day and that worked but we always felt like we were asking to supplement a purchase. So this time since they are older we are going to try it this way and that is it that is your money and when it is gone it is gone so they need to shop carefully. Obviously for the 4 year old he will require much more assistance. Cannot say if it is the best way but that is how we are doing it. We could do it the easy way and put everything on the cc and have them pay us at the end of each day but we felt that was not teaching them proper money management...all it was showing them was how to use credit

 

[striker3636]

Our trip of Feb/06 we did a variation of this with our kids then 4,6. We encouraged Disney or US $$ as part of Christmas gifts as they always seem to get a ton of toys. The kids knew how much money they had to spend and we set up a few ground rules. As we were camping, we just took a bit of money with us each day and locked up the extra (you could use the hotel room safe to reduce risks of carrying lots of cash). We told the kids that there was "x" amount of free choice for them - but they couldn't buy stuff on the first day to a park (that trip was for 2 weeks, and we hit every park more than once, so we could do this). The rest had to be discussed with us. If something really special was the purchase for the day and was over the amount they (me in safekeeping) had, they could borrow from us and pay us back at the camper. I kept envelopes with a running tally for each child and receipts to help keep track. We talked a lot about meaningful souvenirs, what would represent the trip for them at home, etc. My kids are big cuddly fans, so we limited purchases to one stuffed item only. They also had to use their money for Mickey bars and other treats (which of course by the then of the trip was all from us). The intention was to get the kids thinking more about what they wanted and why. Since Disney so cleverly ends everything in a gift shop, it helped a bit with the constant "Oh, I want that!" We had our 7 year old neice with us and this really helped with her - she is a major shopper and really came to understand the value of money and meaningful choices.

If your kids are responsible enough for smaller amounts of cash, come up with a system where you pay for larger items and they give you an IOU to pay you back at the end of the day from wherever the bulk of their money is. If my kids had larger amounts (even at your kids age), I would probably want it in a safe place - that is my comfort zone for responsbility and risk - think about yours and what you want to do. You know your kids best and think up a system that will give them some personal choice and responsibility as appropriate that still addresses any concerns you might have over keeping the money secure. Having a system in place where the kids are responsible for their own snacks, (what, how much), per day might help with the constant reaching into your wallet! They think about what they really want to eat, for example, not just 'cause that ice cream back there looked yummy, but because they really wanted to save their own snack money for popcorn during Wishes....

There are lots of ideas on the Dis...I'm sure more will chime in!

 

[CaroleD]

I'm not taking little kids (one twenty three year old daughter who will have to figure out her own spending method) but here is what I'm doing for myself as I tend to be an impulse buyer. I put all my American money in 9 envelopes-equal amounts in each one. I intend to put the envelopes in the room safe and take out one envelope a day. That way on day 9 I should have money for the trip home. Perhaps that would work for your children.
Carole

 

[BitsnBearsMom]

We went for 2 weeks in October and my kids (6.5yo and 12yo) had saved $300 Us as well - I didn't want them having it all at once so what we did was to give them about $20 per day and they were responsible to buy anything for themselves they saw and did the 'I want' that was over and above what we were providing. We had the dining plan so they didn't have to buy themselves any food just souvies. We had one day off site that we went shopping and they got $50 that day and at the end of each day they would put the leftover money into a bag and at the end of the trip they each had about $120 to spend on whatever big things they saw and wanted.

 

[PrincessTrisha]

Are you staying at a Disney Resort?

What I did for my 11 yr old god daughter (and my 20 year old cousin) was let them charge their purchases to the room and only carry about $20 cash around during the day.

At the end of each day we would settle up anything they bought. They would give me their receipts and "pay me".(this was also helpful to keep all the receipts together because we needed them to claim at customs on the way home) At the end of the trip (or when they were getting low on money) I double checked the receipts against my bill to make sure that we were even.

It worked very well and they were both happy with the ease of being able to charge their purchases.

 

[wee-haggis]

We just give them the money when they need it(or pay for it ourselves) and keep a running total subtracting the $ amount from their "kitty fund" as we go along.

 

[SandraC]

During last March's trip I told my kids [dd was 12 and ds was 6] that they each have $100US to spend any way they wanted. I let dd use her room charging privledges, plus I used cash or visa for them. We kept track of the purchased. 10 days and then didn't even make it to $100! ds spent $70 and dd was less than that. I'll do the same for this March trip. S

 

[angel_bright05]

We stayed offsite and their was a safe in the room. Each of the kids took...$10-20 each day and put it into a ziplock. The kids were 10, 13, 16 so they carried their own in bumpacks. The rest of the money..which they all took in cash...was left at the hotel in the safe. It worked perfectly for us. Only $1/day to use the safe and it was worth it.
If you're staying onsite...I'm not sure what to do.

 

[sweetascanbee]

With my kids their money would go in a ziploc baggie and be held either my me or Dad. Would hate for them to drop it or leave it behind somewhere.
If the money is strictly for things at disney you might consider Disney Gift cards. We got one for DS at DL. They are good in all the stores and some of the Restaurants. Use them like any other gift cards.
But I would still be keeping them in my wallet so they wouldnt get lost.

Just my .02

Becky

 

[CrazyDisneyMommy1]

I like the gift card idea. We could just add some to it when needed and then they can keep it as a souvenir.