Strategies for kids spending money

[3girls4me05]

I used to do that for my DD but it got too hard to monitor what she was spending. With the gift card, the "remaining balance" is shown after each purchase.

True! But my DD did lose her KTTW card. It was no fault of her own. I picked her up to see a show better at MK. She was wearing her card on a lanyard around her neck. The holder ripped off the lanyard! She realized it was missing pretty quickly and we searched but it was gone. I was able to go to Guest Services and cancel the old card and get a new one immediatly. If that had been a gift card she would have been out of luck (and money). So I feel better going with the KTTW card than with a gift card or cash.

 

[MareSINY]

Wow, I wish I could get Disney Dollars for going #2!!!

(Sorry, I couldn't resist saying that! )

LOL I know, I told her all the time that I'd be rich if I had the same deal. LOL

Now that we're back she gets one sticker every time she goes and for every 10 stickers she gets $5. So I've cut the cost to 50 cents a poop. Cost of living just keeps dropping! LOL

 

[shyjade]

Now that we're back she gets one sticker every time she goes and for every 10 stickers she gets $5. So I've cut the cost to 50 cents a poop. Cost of living just keeps dropping! LOL

One could almost say the economy is in the crapper...

 

[stm61]

If the money is for WDW only, why not get a Disney Gift card, and load it up with the amount you want.

Unfortunately, the closest Disney store is over an hour away. They do survey's online for cash, I save their pts and trade them in right before we go. The only option for that is a check or I'd have gotten their payments on a visa check card or something.

 

[mom2taylorandemily]

Both of my DDs go with money from home from their savings account, then DH and I get them Disney Gift Cards once we get there, but we only do it in $25 - $50 increments, depending on how much money they have.

 

[irene_dsc]

We give our kids a limit that they can spend throughout the week, but we hold the money. I like the idea of Disney Dollars, but I'd be afraid that they'd lose the money (they are 7 & 9).

We did that, too - and they only spent about half of what I had budgeted, so I'm glad it wasn't in Disney Dollars! But then, this was basically our money allotted for souvenirs, not money they had earned as allowance or chore money.

Oh, and I have to admit, we let them buy stuff when we found it, rather than trying to go back to find it later. And since the two best things we only saw once, that was the right strategy for us. (Dinosaur skeleton baseball cap and a particular Cinderella pin, both found at a kiosk in AK)

 

[Maridw]

When my DDwas in younger, she took a friend with us to DW. Her parents had gotten her a prepaid visa (Visa Buxx). When we got back from our trip, we got one for my DD. We put her allowance on that and she always had it with her. It was great when she went on her 8th grade trip. I didn't have to worry about her losing money while on her trip.

Since we didn't take too many trips when she was really young, we usually held her money for her and then let her know how much she had to spend and what her balance was.

My DD still has her Visa Buxx (she is now 21) but we don't put anything on it anymore. But she knows that if she wants to put money on it have in case of emergency she can.

 

[HonnyDipp]

I went to the Disney store in my city and bought 3 gift cards about 6 months ago. I have been adding to them for my 3 kids. My goal is $75 each, once they spend that, thats it!

 

[TLinden16]

I'm going to move this over to the family board. I'm sure the folks over there will have great tips!

 

[shyjade]

Unfortunately, the closest Disney store is over an hour away. They do survey's online for cash, I save their pts and trade them in right before we go. The only option for that is a check or I'd have gotten their payments on a visa check card or something.

I ordered DD's Disney Gift Card online (through Disneyland's website, but Disney World's site has them available too). No need to make it to a Disney Store to do this!

 

[ChristusG]

I have a four year old.....and I've been wondering what to do for her. We're going at the end of October. We've been collecting money for her in a jug. Any change from me or DH goes into there.....also, any chore money, cash from grandparents, etc, goes into that jug. I've also been giving her "Disney Dollars" (I found some images online, printed them on my computer) and I give them to her if I "catch" her doing something good. I'll exchange those fake dollars for real dollars right before the trip. And we're having a yard sale at the beginning of Oct.....so she can choose some toys to sell at that and we'll put the money in her Disney Jug.

I cant decide whether or not to just keep the cash, seperate from my trip money. Or put all of hers on a Disney Visa. She LOVES the idea of using a credit card.....she always wants to use mine at the check outs....so she would LOVE having her own. But I would still hold on to it and not her.

 

[shyjade]

I cant decide whether or not to just keep the cash, seperate from my trip money. Or put all of hers on a Disney Visa. She LOVES the idea of using a credit card.....she always wants to use mine at the check outs....so she would LOVE having her own. But I would still hold on to it and not her.

That's part of the reason I bought DD10 the Disney Gift Card for our upcoming trip. Last year she LOVED using the KTTW card to pay for meals, purchases, etc. I let "her" pay for everything with "her" card, but used the experience to educate her on credit cards, debit cards, etc. (I don't use credit cards in the "real world", only my bank debit/check card) She also learned that this was something special exclusive to Disney; she's not allowed to "charge" anything back at home, and she's fine with that. It was just fun for her to do at Disney.

Since we are traveling with my parents this year and I'm on a strict budget this time (I'm paying all expenses for my parents too), I decided to give her the gift card so she can still "charge", keep to a set spending limit and not lose or spend a lot of time handling cash.