Spending Money For Your Kids?

[Madi100]

Do your kids save their money up for vacations or do you just buy everything for them? In the past, they've saved money (the older one anyway). But, I'm thinking this time that we'll just monitor what they get to buy. I'm pretty souvenir geared, so they won't lack for anything. We are having a garage sale, and I'm thinking that anything that they have we will pool together and buy tickets for MVMCP.

 

[Ready to go in Ok]

I do a little of both. I give my girls a set amount of money each, $50, and then they can save allowance or hit the grandparents up for extra money. IMHO, this is a sneaky way to teach them about money and budgeting!

 

[Yensid_MD]

In the months leading up to our trip to WDW we plan on paying their allowance in Disney Dollars. Then when they are there they can spend it on whatever they want, and they realize once it is gone, it is gone. Saves us arguments and grief.

 

[mmeb144]

I would set a limit on how much you give them. I would give them the cash up front, that way, when it's gone, it's gone. You don't have to deal with the nagging kids, AND, you teach them an important financial lesson.

My kids have to save their allowance or earn souvenier money for our trips. I love it. I can almost afford to buy my own souveniers now!

Marie

 

[taximomfor4]

My kids do extra jobs to earn money (like surveys at the mall, online, whatever). They earn about $25 each (we don't do any big souvenirs...) They have all vacation to browse through shops, and then our last day we buy. Bottom line. That way there is less chance of buyers regret when they find "something better" later. And it really made the $25 each be enough.

We are pretty small-fry about most gift/spending/etc type stuff, so lower amount is fine for us. Even Xmas and birthdays we keep pretty non-material (Compared to our general neighborhood and my siblings' families, NOT comparing myself to you or any other DISers, lol).

I say, if you feel like trying a different method this time, go for it! It might work better, or it might not. Never know till ya try!

Beth

 

[TSWJan78]

We gave the kids a small amount of money to spend $50 or so and then they get 1 gift a day from us... My niece was so funny.. she had 5 days worth of gifts picked out by day 2 but kept changing her mind... this worked really well for us but she knew once she picked that was it... (1day she wanted sun glasses and by the time she was ready to have us get them it was dark so she saved them for the next day... taught her to prioritize!!!

 

[goofy4tink]

I have always given my dd, now almost 12, a set amount she can spend each day...started at $5 and is now around $10. It's amazing how she tends to wait until late in the day until deciding on something. and sometimes it's even at the resort gift shop before she buys!! That has done away almost completely with the "I wants". Her dad and I also buy her a big gift at the end of the trip. She chooses something for up to about $50 or so, but that's it for the trip.
And she does save some money of her own and grandparents tend to give her spending money for her trip.

 

[Evil Queen]

I give mine about $100 (which will come to about 18 a day). (if grades are kept up, chores done,etc-he doesn't earn an allowance, since we live on a single income).

He also saves change in his "Disney Fund" jar. Every afternoon he is allowed to have any change I have in my wallet to add to it, he just can't touch the jar for anything else. In 2 days he already had over $4.00. From my wallet, the washer (great way to get him to dry clothes too ), and the couch cushions, found change in the car.

 

[llij]

For our December trip last year, we gave each of the girls $50 in Disney dollars. They also have some allowance money saved up if they want to use it, but we told them that once it was gone then it was gone. My youngest daughter isn't really into spending money (thank goodness!) and she probably spent maybe $15 the whole trip. The funny thing is that we've been back to Disney twice since December and she still has a bunch of Disney dollars. I think my older daughter is eyeballing those Disney dollars.

 

[Harmony]

Good question! Just yesterday DH and I were discussing giving the kids their own spending money. We hope it will cut the urge to buy whatever it is they see.

My 16 y/o is the spender in the family but a good kid so we were thinking $150. Is that too much? We will be doing Universal and Disney and be gone a week and a half.

My 9 y/o is a saver and will probably come home with cash! LOL We were thinking of giving him $75. Again, is that a decent amount?

Too much? Too little?

Thanks for the advice.

 

[hezreck]

My DD 6 at the time sold about $60.00 of her toys at our garage sake last summer. I also signed her up at kidzeyes.com and she made about $20.00 taking their surveys, so she had $80.00 of her own money to spend. Since it was her money, she was more choosey about what she bought. I would really recommend kidzeyes, since we got back from our trip in Dec. she has earned almost $30.00 again. It's very simple to join and the surveys are usually just short 5-10 minute ones. She really enjoys taking the surveys, because we do them together.

 

[Mady/Sophiemom]

We gave our girls, about $100 each, in Disney Dollars between Christmas, Valentines Day, and Easter. Nana, and thier aunt have contributed a bit too. My younger one is a saver and still has Birthday $$ from Oct. So she will have about $175. The older one is a spender, so she will only have about $125. This will be thier only spending $$, for everything from x-tra snacks, to hair wrapping, and anything else.

They have both used some of thier own $$ to buy trading pins from E-bay.

 

[mshrm]

my boys ages 5 and 7 have to save their money for personal wants. Along with their savings and money from aunt and grandma, each will have about $50 for an 8 day stay.

Mom agrees to purchase each boy a hat, t-shirt, mug and autograph book with her money. All other wants come from their own money.

 

[Lizzybee]

I set up a system similar to one at my kids' school. At school they call it "caught being good". Whenever a child was caught going out of their way to help or being extra nice to the other child, they got points on a chart. Since they compete with each other over EVERYTHING (even who gets to sit behind Mom in the car every day...actually we switched to an odd/even day system for that and eliminated that battle) they kept neck and neck at the points. My dad promised to match every dollar, they got money from their other grandparents and my dad also gives them cash for good grades. They ended up having about $140 each for a 7 day trip. When it was close to time for the trip, we told them their totals and my son quickly and gladly (gasp) did the math to figure out how much they should budget for each day. They each made envelopes decorated with different colors to keep their money in. I kept the envelopes in plastic baggies in my purse. For the 70 or so days before the trip, my kids were extra nice to me and to each other and while at Disney, there was no harping about buying this or that. That made their own choices (with size restrictions for the flight back of course).

 

[turnlisa]

Due to the fact that my kids expect something every time we go to the store, we set up a method. Months before the trip (usually 3 or 4), we give each of them a choice each week. If they opt not to get a book, candy or a toy that week, then we set aside $10 for each of them. When the trip comes, they usually have about $140 or more saved up. When we are at the parks, they can buy whatever they want -- but they have to use their money. It makes them stop and think if they really want the object or if they want to save their money for something else. This works out great since I honestly set aside the extra money each week and when the trip arrives the only souvenirs (other than one t-shirt apiece) to pay for are mine. Plus we have discovered that saving $10 a week for each of them actually saves us money. Toys and books are more expensive than you realize! Plus the added bonus of not hearing, "I want that" every time you go to the store. Can't wait to start saving for our next trip!

 

[Bugdozer]

Hi,
My son saves his birthday xmas/holiday money. I save change in my Disney bank from one trip to the next and then roll it 1 week before we go and I let him have it. That ads up fast-last trip we rolled $140 in change

I will also buy him some things. He is not a nag so I don't mind. Last trip he wanted Hummer t-shirts. Got him 4 at Test track and he wears them to shool all the time.

This next trip I am doing a really cool surprise. I am having Feralpeg from these boards make two baskets-1 for my son and 1 for his friend and having them delivered for when we arrive. The baskets will have lots of the new 50th anniversay merchandise like t-shirt, gold ears, truck, lanyard, guest of honor badge etc. less they will have to buy with their own money. THANKS PEGGY!

This next trip is a surprise so it has been hard to get him to save his money. When I tell him to save he says what's the rush we aren't going until October and I can work with dad this summer I just want to blurt out that there is a rush-we will be there in 34 days
Cheryl

 

[GrammieMame]

The first time we went, I spent a small fortune buying 2 grandsons everything in sight. The next time, I told them I would "match" whatever they could save for the trip. This was money they could use for whatever they wanted. I would buy them an additional special something that I would choose. My older grandson saved about $60; so this time I will match up to $20 only, and still get them something special. It's amazing how careful they are with their purchases when it's their own money they are spending.

 

[missypie]

Here's what we did at Disneyland 2 years ago and what we plan to do on our upcoming trip. I will buy everybody a snack or two a day and by the end of the trip, I will buy everyone one or two nice souvineers (a t-shirt, cap or something). Beyond that, each kid gets $10 per day that they can spend on whatever or save.

Here's how it worked out at DL:
DS (then 12) used most of his money for extra churros, ice cream, etc.
DD (then 10) spend every cent and used her allowance, too
DD( then 7) bought a Crocodile Hunter cap at Universal and took the rest of her money home.

It's amazing the things kids learn when it's "their" money. When they asked for ice cream (when I had already bought ice cream a couple hours before), I could say, "Sure, but you'll have to use your money." Some times they went ahead and bought the ice cream and some times they didn't.

It's a bit heartbreaking to see the kids realize that even though they have what seems like a lot of money, it's not enough to buy a sweatshirt and a cap and a t-shirt and a jacket and a toy....But it's good for them to learn to set priorities and budget.

 

[tracy51]

My DD (10) is a saver. I just found out a couple months about she has about $50 in her room left over from Christmas - thats in addition to the money she deposited into her savings account. She keeps saying she's going to use that money and more from her savings account for the trip. Nope, my boyfriend and I already decided this trip is for spoiling her - right down to her spending money. A little bit ago I set up a savings account for her and put $5 every week into it. By the time we leave she'll have well over $100 for the trip. Totally hers to spend how she wants on the trip - but she can't touch her savings account for the trip. We'll also buy her stuff but her money is hers to spend with little to no approval needed.

 

[NewEnglandDisney]

I'm not a parent, but it's great to see people giving kids responsibility.

I always had to manage my own cash as a kid on trips, and it really does teach you the value of things - and how to prioritize. Because of it I'm a pretty good spender as an adult.

So kudos! A surprise gift or other "help" along the way won't hurt - as long as it's not expected of you all the time.

Sounds like you guys are raising some smart kids!

N.E.D.