Spending money for kids

[Disney4me04]

I informed DS (13) today that he needs to start saving money for spending. I was going to give him spending money (and I may give him some) but I think he needs to put a good effort towards saving.

single mom here saving for the trip on one income and trying to get out of debt too.

Do you think I am asking to much? Do you have your kids save their own money.

I told him give me 2.00 out of your allowance and I will change them into DD for you.

He could save over 100 if he started saving 2.00 a month from this week on. I have also mentioned to my parents about giving him DD for birthday and Christmas. We have 1 Christmas and 2 birthdays before then.

 

[disneydebi]

my kids are younger than your's... but I do tell them to save some of their allowance....

we also save all our change in a coffee can, and i usually cash that in prior to the trip and turn it into Disney dollars for them.

I find they are much more responsible about what they want in the parks if they keep track of their money.... Last time they each had only about $30 to spend, and because they had to monitor their own spending, they never even used it all!
otherwise they just end up with a big case of the "gimmies".

 

[aprilgail2]

My daughter is only 4 but she saves her allowance and brings it on trips to spend. She gets 4.00 a week and money on holidays and birthdays that she saves so she has a bit of money saved up. She spent 30 on the Disney cruise and 20 of it was on a mothers day gift for me! Right now she is saving for Disney in a few weeks then she will start on the Disney cruise saving again in April. I'm a single parent so its just her and I and she is a very good saver! She saw a toy she wanted and I said she could spend her own money and buy it if she wanted but she said no she wanted to save it for Disney.

 

[Disney4me04]

April:
Can I ask as a single parent how you afford disney so much? I too am a single parent and I would love some ideas.

I know we are doing 2005 and as soon as I have that paid. I am going to start on our 2007 cruise.

Thanks

 

[pumpkinfish]

When I was younger, my sister and I never had allowances. Our first family trip to Disney, I was around 11 years old. My younger sister and I did A LOT of things in order to earn money. We had our own yard sale. We sold cans of cola along with our yard sale items. We saved all change from around the house and cashed that in. Also, my sis and I collected cans and took them to the recycling center to get extra cash. What needs to be remembered, is the fact that at a young age, I was instilled with valuable life lessons. I learned the value of money and appreciate all my father and mother taught me.

 

[mom2cinderella]

At the 100 day mark, I announced the "100 days of Disney" to my kids (4 & 6). Each day they have an opportunity to earn one Disney Dollar. There isn't a specific checklist, and they don't have to be perfect, they just have to try and be more helpful, cooperative and loving to each other. It has really helped reduce the bickering and fighting. They have also done a better job of following rules and helping keep the house tidy, without the endless reminders and nagging. At WDW, they'll get $10 a day or so to spend, or they can save and buy something bigger at the end of the trip.

I see nothing wrong with making a kid earn their spending money, and I see nothing wrong with giving a kid spending money. Whatever works for your family!

 

[frstimer128]

My DD 4 saves her pennies in her piggy bank. Any loose change she finds around the house is up for grabs too.
I am a single mom too and I am gradually paying off our trip a little at a time. Booking through Disney allows you to pay a deposit and make payments, as long as it is all paid for 45(I think) days in advance. I also held out for super cheap airfare...$39. one way on Spirit.
Another way I have cut back the budget is by purchasing small Disney items like plushes and toys on sale or clearance. My DD has no idea that I have them. I am going to leave on out a day while we are there and really try to just avoid the shops. This way, she will have already started the day with a new Disney item so if she sees anything, I can tell her that she already got her gift for the day.

 

[CanWeGoNOW?]

Originally posted by mom2cinderella
At the 100 day mark, I announced the "100 days of Disney" to my kids (4 & 6). Each day they have an opportunity to earn one Disney Dollar. There isn't a specific checklist, and they don't have to be perfect, they just have to try and be more helpful, cooperative and loving to each other.

ooh, I *love* this!!!

My DD (6) is saving already for next summer's trip....and she asked for disney dollars for her bday and wants more for Christmas. When she went last year, she wanted EVERYTHING, and worked really hard to make her spending money go far (she had $30 last year). Her goal is $100 for the next trip.

 

[aprilgail2]

Originally posted by Disney4me04
April:
Can I ask as a single parent how you afford disney so much? I too am a single parent and I would love some ideas.

I know we are doing 2005 and as soon as I have that paid. I am going to start on our 2007 cruise.

Thanks

I have a pretty decent job that pays well and gives me 6 weeks vacation a year. I also do some work at home at night for a company I used to work in house for and that money pays for a cruise a year, just the cruise, not the spending money. We acutally just threw together the August trip because I was going down for my 82 year old uncles wedding anyway and I figured if I was going to Florida why not go to Disney too. I also try to take others with me. On the last cruise my friend and her daughter came so we split the rental car, and cabin. The Disney World trip my mom is coming down with us so she will split the cost and they had great deals for August. I got 7 days at Port Orleans, length of stay hoppers all for 1600.00 so that only 800.00 fo the week! I bought 10 meal vouchers so thats paid for before I get there too. I sell all my daughter outgrown clothes and toys on ebay and put that towards vacations too. A big thing though is that I claim single zero on my pay so I usually get tax refunds of close to 6,000 and that pays for most of my travel with all that stuff combined! I defer a portion of my pay into 401K and college savings fund and flex spending account so it reduces the taxes I have to pay.

 

[disneyjunkie]

Another single mom checking in. My son will be 13 when we take our next trip. He has to save some of his allowance and birthday money. My parents also gives him money when we go away.

A few months before our trips, I save all of my scratch off lottery
tickets and cash them in the day before we leave. I add that to my son's spending money.

The total amount is divided by the number of days we're there, and that's the amount he has for each day.

He's free to spend as he sees fit. Most of it goes to junk food(fudge,candy, popcorn), pins and arcades.

 

[disneymom2one]

I don't require my nine year old to save. I probably should but that's a story for another day. On trips she gets $10 a day. She can spend or save it but the total for the week is $10 times the number of days. I usually won't buy anything else for her on the trip other than a shirt or two at Belz. That $10 has to cover candy, video games, drinks in the park (we bring bottled water but she pays for sodas, Mickey Bars, etc). The exception is obviously if we're all hungry or thirsty - then it's "family" money and we pay. This does cut down on the "I wants" a lot.

 

[SunFloridaDisney]

I think its great to teach kids to work and save for things. We've done that regularly. My kids get a small allowance, and they can do "extra" jobs to make additional money.

When we went to Disney last year, they knew they would get a bit of spending money, but they were encouraged to save on their own so they'd have more to make their purchases.

One thing I did when the time got closer, was to pay them half their allowance in Disney Dollars, so that was sort of automatically saving for them. They couldn't spend them anywhere else!!

 

[synclair11]

we are going in october and my 3 year old is soo excited, i told her she had to have her own spending money , so she started bringing me toys to sell on ebay! i know it is pretty sad but she sees me do it and i guess she thought it would work for her too! i bought her one of those kool-aid stands and she sets it up and so far in savings for our trip she has $180 for all her goodies! so i think saving is a very good idea! -heather

 

[eeyore kelly]

We are going in Feb. 2006, and we have our kids saving already. I took a coffee can, and decorated it and called it the vacation bucket. It didn't take long for the kids to want one for themselves. I assigned chores, and at the end of the week, they get paid. I might be mean, but they have no choice but to save the money. Their birthdays are both in Feb., so the party before we go, they will get Fanny Packs, Autograph books, lanyards, etc. as their present. The christmas before we go Santa is bringing NB tennis shoes, Brita water bottles etc. (their whole christmas won't be vacation stuff, but including the clothes-about half) Inside of the park they will get $20 a day of their own money, anything more expensive they have to talk it over with us. (a.k.a. give us the chance to talk them out of it). I am also encouraging pressed penny machines, and have a list of every pressed penny machine inside the World.

 

[3ofakind]

My dd (age 12) has about 67 dollars saved (from report cards and allowance and watching the neighbors dog).

It is funny youa sked this casue I announced yesterday they would each get $20 each to use at Disney (three day trip next Monday) and today (cleaning day) they jumped at the chance to earn extra dollars- my 6 yr old vacumed, 5 yr old dusted and oldest windex'd!

Maybe I can get em to wash the car????


No, I think 13 is old enough- how about telling him you will match what he has???

 

[Disney_1derland]

We don't have a set allowance here. We have incentive coins. I bought a roll of quarters and when she is cooperative, helpful, friendly, does what she is supposed to without a fight, she gets a coin. When she gets four, she trades them for a disney dollar. Right now she's earning about $3 a week and has about $100 already saved. Somedays she will go do something 'extra' like clean her room and her sisters room without being asked to do either, let alone both! Those days she gets one disney dollar just because I think she deserves it. She doesn't expect a bonus, but it's nice to give her one occasionally.

She is the sweetest child and has her disney dollars set aside to buy gifts for ME!!! That about makes me cry! We are going in a big group, us, my parents and an aunt. We adults have secretly devised a 'one souvenir a day' rule. We will take turns and each day both kids will get a 'bonus' souvenir. It will be something small but this is probably a once in a lifetime trip for all of us together so we intend to have a LOT of fun and gift giving is almost an obsession in our family

 

[pumpkinfish]

I must say, that reading this post has made me feel very good about the future. Obviously all of you are raising very intelligent children who will no doubt look back on the values being instilled. To all you parents, keep up the hard work and know that you really are encouraging a better future for us all. Thank you!

 

[janie91]

We have always had a money box, it used to be an old baby wipes box, now it's a large peanut container. We have 3 kids and they look around for spare change and deposit it in the money box. They will decide they need to increase their funds and start cleaning out the autos, under the washer and dryer, under furniture. We always divide the money up evenly and that's the money they have to spend on vacation. My oldest daughter asked if they could begin saving cans so they are also doing that for extra funds. They hope to go to Disney in a couple of years. They offered up the extra funds to help with the cost of the trip after they reach their individual spending goals. We plan to tell them the trip has been moved up in a couple of weeks! They think they are saving for a more local vacation next summer and we have convinced them disney is to expensive and will have to wait for at least 3 years. They love to save their money they hang on to it for years before spending it usually on Christmas presents for each other. I think teaching them to earn, save, and give is great!

 

[pandamom]

My four and 6 year old have a coffee can they decorated with disney stickers that they are are using to save disney spending money. Whenever they get $ from relatives, chores, etc. they put almost all of it in the bank. They started off in April and have well over $100 at last count.

 

[The Sweetness]

I told DD(almost12) that she was going to have $50 spending cash durring the 5 days we were on vacation. This worked out well, as she made her choices on how to spend her $ very carefully, including buying a gift for her best friend.

On the last day, we had come in under budget (I always over-estimate), so we each (me, DD + and DH) each got 1 extra souvenier, and we splurged for a nice lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe before the 4 hr drive home.

Over-estimating spending is THE BEST way to give yourselves a littel last moment treat to end a vacation