Spending Money?

[Amyleem]

Last time we went to WDW we gave our then 4 year old a set amount of his own spending money that was his alone and we had no say over. It worked out INCREDIBLY well...the only problem is we don't remember how much that was.

Any guesses on spending money amounts for kids? He's 6 now and DD is 4 (we left her with grandma last time we went) and we want to be fair and reasonable, but not break the bank.

Thanks,
Amy
5 days!

 

[wishtdream]

We do this with our DD now 4 we usually budget $5-$10 per day depending on the destination and opportunities for the gimmies. We find that having her own money to spend completely cuts out the "I want that" that being everything she see's. we just came back from vacation and she spent $54 over the course of 7 days of her money. the remainder went in her piggy.

 

[seawitch0313]

Well I'm still in planning stages so I can't speak from experience, but I was planning on either $100 total or $20 per day for each of my boys (will be 9 and 7) and we'll be staying a week. Its alot, but I'm figuring Disney is expensive so anything they'll want will probably be pricey too. Mostly likely they'll come home with some extra money. If they want mouse ears the first set is on me

Oh and not to thread jack, but it is related. Anyone got any info on 'Disney Dollars'? From what I've heard I can put the kids money on that and they can use the card rather than carrying around their money? At first I was against it because cards don't 'teach them the value of money', but they will have to keep up on how much is left on it. Plus in this day and age of debit cards, when they get old enough to handle money they'll need to know about handling cards anyways. Heck, even at school they have 'lunch' accounts and rather than using money to pay they spout off their 'pin number' to the cashier. Experience with using 'disney dollars' for kids would be welcome!

 

[DisneyGuess]

Well I'm still in planning stages so I can't speak from experience, but I was planning on either $100 total or $20 per day for each of my boys (will be 9 and 7) and we'll be staying a week. Its alot, but I'm figuring Disney is expensive so anything they'll want will probably be pricey too. Mostly likely they'll come home with some extra money. If they want mouse ears the first set is on me

Oh and not to thread jack, but it is related. Anyone got any info on 'Disney Dollars'? From what I've heard I can put the kids money on that and they can use the card rather than carrying around their money? At first I was against it because cards don't 'teach them the value of money', but they will have to keep up on how much is left on it. Plus in this day and age of debit cards, when they get old enough to handle money they'll need to know about handling cards anyways. Heck, even at school they have 'lunch' accounts and rather than using money to pay they spout off their 'pin number' to the cashier. Experience with using 'disney dollars' for kids would be welcome!

Disney Dollars are actually paper money that comes in demonations of $1, $5 and $10. Each has a different character on it, I think the '07 disney dollars are the princesses, and some POTC on the $1 if oyu can find them.
The Disney GiftCard is the CC type way to do it. You load money onto the giftcard and keep track of the balance as you spend.
My family is actually going to do a bit of both.
DS6 has a reward chart and for every week he gets all his stickers, he gets $5 to go on his Giftcard or for Disney Dollars.
So, some will go onto the card and some will go for Disney Dollars. This way he gets the experience of paper money and card usage. We're also getting people to give him Disney Dollars for his bday in July rather than toys or cash.
As someone else said, 1st set of mouse ears are on me and probably a t-shirt!

 

[DisneyGuess]

Last time we went to WDW we gave our then 4 year old a set amount of his own spending money that was his alone and we had no say over. It worked out INCREDIBLY well...the only problem is we don't remember how much that was.

Any guesses on spending money amounts for kids? He's 6 now and DD is 4 (we left her with grandma last time we went) and we want to be fair and reasonable, but not break the bank.

Thanks,
Amy
5 days!

My DS6 is saving his own money from his reward chart. He gets $5 per week that he gets all his stars.
For us, if he gets $5 every week until we leave, he'll have $100 of his own for the entire trip. He's very excited about spending his own money to do the "Build Your Own Lightsaber" at DTD.

 

[Elmo888]

I think that it just depends on how much you want to give them/can afford. DD was 6 in January, and she had $35 Disney Dollars. It was plenty of money for her to get what she wants. I think that she bought about 3 different things. I think that it helped that we talked about what she might want before going. $100 seems like a lot.

There were a few things that I wanted to get her, and we talked about this ahead of time, too. I wanted to get her ears, a stuffed animal, and something of her choice (originally, I wanted to get her a tee, but as we shopped, she didn't seem interested. I adjusted). This didn't come out of her money.

 

[hollyb]

We did not set an amount for stuff for the kids to buy, wheres the fun in that. 51 weeks out of the year I have to be the mom, on vacation lets have fun. DD spent maybe $50-$60 a day. DS only spent $75 the entire week. (of course he got a Nintendo DS when we got home. LOL)

We are going 2 weeks next year and will spend money again. Our kids are not spolied brats and do not beg for everything in stores.

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

For both of our Disney trips we had the boys start saving their money as soon as we knew we were going. This way they saved their allowance and birthday and holiday money and so on. On our first trip they were 4 & 6, they each had $110 to spend and they spent about $100 each. On our second trip (just last month) they were 5 1/2 & 8 and they each had $120. They came home with only $5 apiece! Both times we were there for a week. Over $100 might sound like a lot, but it really doesn't go far at Disney! That was all spent on toys & trinkets and whatever they wanted. I bought their shirts with my money.
Look at it as a way to motivate your children to do chores and things around the house. And it really does cut down on the "I wants" at Disney. I just tell them how much it is and how much they will have left and they make the decision as to if they think it is worth it or not!

 

[trennr]

We told the kids that we were going back in early Febuary...since then my kids have saved a substantial bundle.

DS11: has about $350

DS7: has about $200

They had 3 report cards (all A's)...plus they got a bonus from everyone for making A's all year. (Grandparents and 1 Aunt pay them...We take them to the Movies or something each 6-week period.)

Now we will not let them blow this $$$ on junk...we make them be responsible. Plus we won't let them carry the whole wad either. Probably $20 a day.

Anyway our kids will have more money than I will on our trip...but that's OK I don't buy anything...but maybe something yummy every once an a while.

 

[webshark3]

I never set a limit. We have general idea of what we can spend on the whole, and only go over if we find something special. My DS4 doesn't grasp the concept of money yet other than "daddy has it" and "If daddy says he doesn't have it, then I know grandpa does."

I know when we'll go, I'll want HM souveniers, but I have no idea what they'll cost. It wouldn't be fair for me to put a limit on my sons when I have no intention of limiting myself (within reason).

If DD wants a Lilo doll for $ and DS wants a pirate ship for $$, does it mean DD still has $? Not if she's happy.

I try not to look at the cost* as much as how my kids will look at the souviner when they get home.

*Disney Art Galleries excluded. lol

 

[Beth E. (NJ)]

I can't remember how much my kids had to spend on their own. I think the first time just the older child went and she had about $100. the second time (with both kids) they had about $80 each, but I could be wrong.

The money came from their behavior chart. I had a chart with 4 spaces for each day. They filled up the spots with good behavior. At the end of the week they got money for all the filled in spots. The most they got was $1 a day/$7 a week but I don't think they ever got the full amount. Even still it added up. They loved "pay day" each kid had their own envelop and I would pay them in Disney Dollars. They loved counting their loot and seeing it add up. when they had a lot of singles I would take some back and replace it with $5 and $10.

It really did get rid of the "buy me's"

 

[*KeepMovingForward*]

We don't set a limit really on what the kids spend, although they get a couple hundred each between Disney gift cards, our Visa reward cards and now Disney Dollars. As they get older, it seems they have more $ at their disposal, I guess that is because our finances have eased considerably over the years. They spend wisely and actually, we have to spur DS on to buy much of anything in the way of souvenirs. DD used to have the "I wants" but we cured that one finally, so now she is pretty good about how she uses her money and neither one feels like they have to spend it all because there is always another Disney trip around the corner. When mine were much younger though, I think I did limit them to one big souvenir for the trip-only cause we were just lucky to be at Disney at all, so $ was a huge issue. I think on the first trip DS got the monorail to go around our Christmas tree and DD got Disney's version of an AG doll and some outfits.

 

[Diamondintheruff]

Wow, something else to think about. The kids have $50 each already from xmas and birthday money they were given especially for disney. I figured I would spring for ears but hadn't given much else thought. I can totally see the benefit of working this all out beforehand with the kids. Guess my family has some talking to do.

 

[Helene]

DD, 9 & DS, 8, will each be getting $50 for the week. We've been lucky to get there 2X/year, so overall the "I wants" have diminished greatly.

 

[kldmom2000]

Our DD's had approx. $120 EACH in Disney gift cards/Disney $$$ to spend on our last trip due to their bdays being just prior to our vacation and that's what a lot of people gave as gifts It worked out fabulous as they were more cautious about what they were going to spend "their" money on