How much spending $ for kids?

[tanyaewa]

My oldest son has taken $150 of his own saved money on 2 trips and has bought ..... Nothing! When it's his own $ he's very frugal.

We do allow the boys to have one eat treat every day. They can have it morning noon or night but once it's chosen it's done.

 

[mouseymommy]

We usually give the kids about $15 each to spend. This last trip was their Christmas gift from Santa and Mom and Dad. They each got a set of ears, and a $30 gift. The last day is when we buy our souvenirs. Every trip we pick out 1 pin for the family. This past trip I also bought a picture of the castle. Normally though, we don't buy much "stuff" at the parks.

 

[pennyring]

We think it's important to teach our nieces about budgeting money, how far it goes, etc, so they each get a $100 gift card to spend as they please on our upcoming trip. The rule is that they have to wait until the last day to spend it, so they have time to check everything out, take notes on what they like, compare and contrast, and finally make their purchases.

Additionally, they have the opportunity to "earn" Disney Dollars for snacks by working together to answer 1 trivia question per day. The Disney Dollar trivia will be easy enough to figure out, so they will for sure get it. We're paying them $5 each per correct answer.

We're also planning to get them the following:

* Set of Mouse Ears
* Pressed Penny Books
* Autograph Books
* Either a t-shirt or sweatshirt of their choice from the Park
* A balloon, light-up rose, sword or spinny-thingy of their choice

We're planning to take with us:

* Cute Le Sport Sac shoulder bags
* Roll of Quarters and buncha Pennies for pressed pennies
* Pre-purchased Disney shirts
* Pre-purchased Disney beach towels for the pool
* A multitude of daily surprises for the room (toys, make-up, coloring books, fruit snacks, etc)

I'm very "Type A" about this planning stuff. Can you tell?

 

[GenGen22]

When we first took our kids they were 8, 10 & 13 we gave them $80 each. We told them this was for souvaniers. We bought all the snacks micky pretzels, ice cream etc. It worked out quite well because it teaches them to manage their money and to look around before buying something. This was for a 5 day trip. This also stops the I want this and I want that because we tell them when your money is gone it's gone...

This time around we are giving them $100 each.

 

[lana772]

The amount we allow our DDs to spend changes with what holiday is near or if we are celebrating something. It has varied from $25 (regular trip) to $150 (Christmas time). Most trips we make them wait until the last day to make their purchases. That way they cannot see something new and say that they wish they had gotten that instead.


I should add that they go to DL several times a year so the need for big souvenirs is not there anymore.
Lana

 

[mamaCta]

I'm planning on giving DS6 and DD15 $100 each.

I have already told DS that he is to pick one hat and one shirt or costume item. The rest he can spend on random knick knacks or extra treats. I have also explained to him that there are a lot of stores with different things, so he should look at 4 or 5 stores before starting to decide what he wants to buy.
DD has been to the park several times in the past, so she can spend hers any way she wants.

 

[sherilaine]

Their GM gave me $50 each so I will buy them gift cards when we get there. I will give them extra cash as well as gift cards are not good for everywhere, but the reality is depending on how many days, having their own limited amount is a great learning lesson for them to learn to manage. Our DD returned from DLR last year with $40, and was very happy to save for her next visit. A great lesson is learning to not spend money unless there really is something you truly want.

 

[Kiwigirls]

I am planning on $100 each for my daughter and niece when we go in October - enough to get something decent or a few smaller things. We are from NZ so it is a big trip for us, and not one that gets repeated often!! Daughter is planning on selling some of her old toys before she goes, so that will be at least some of her spending money, and if she manages to make more than $100, then she will have more to spend! Of course, it is probably me and my Mum that need the limit on our spending!!!

 

[Amommy21]

DS always gets a 40-50 $ gift card. THere were all those years he just had to go to the magic shop and things there are generally $25. He also likes to buy the different themed stuffed mickeys. DS also has a ton of different ears.

I act like we don't buy many souvineers... but we do go a lot and I always make sure he has a mickey t-shirt and sweatshirt in his current size. And I always find something extra like the matching aloha shirts I got DS and DH in the fall or the mickey watch DS bought last month. In reality I bet we spend closer to $75-$100

 

[cpalmer7]

We give each of our kids a $50 gift card (they earn it by weeding the yard). However, if they choose to buy clothing (shirt, hoodie, etc) we agree to pay for 1/2 of it.

 

[zoeandjacks]

I don't really set a $$ amount, but they can get one ears of their choice, one clothing item, one nicer toy and one less $$ toy like a light spinner or something, even though I despise those things, for some reason kids just love them! and one candy to go home with. probably comes to about $100 each or so.

 

[awdsmama]

I don't really set a $$ amount, but they can get one ears of their choice, one clothing item, one nicer toy and one less $$ toy like a light spinner or something, even though I despise those things, for some reason kids just love them! and one candy to go home with. probably comes to about $100 each or so.

Thats a great way to do it!

 

[wallawallakids]

I guess I am the mean mom. We do not give our kids any money. I figure the gift is their trip! Of course we will occasionally buy them an extra snack but we do not buy toys/stickers/candy/t-shirts. I do pay for character meals/ tours/ fantasmic tickets or whatever else we decide to do as a family on that trip that I think the kids would like.

They are free to save their money that they get through the year from birthdays/ Easter/ Christmas. My mom and grandmother send them all $5 every holiday. When they get it they always have the option to spend it or save it. If we have a trip planed I always try to encourage them to save it for the trip. I guess we are pretty lucky because my kids do not ask us to buy stuff. (Probably because they know the answer). I am not a gift buyer in general though. I would never just buy them something because they are in a store and want it. If it is a needed item (like shoes) that is different. Everything else they have to buy on their own or wait for a birthday/holiday.

Also we are not really shoppers. So we do not go into the stores much at the parks. We are too busy riding rides!

They are good little savers. My 5 year olds already have $25 saved each and they know it is for their trip. They talk about it a lot.

If I was going for a birthday or Christmas or for some other special reason I would probably think about giving them $50 each but that would certainly count as that holiday's gift. I am probably just cheap.

 

[mamaCta]

I use the limited funds as a way to keep DS from constantly bugging me to buy things. If I didn't give him parameters he would expect that he could have one of everything.

 

[cptmemo]

I don't think I've given it enough thought yet. DS turns 12 2 weeks before we leave, and DD turns 10 on our trip. They will have the option to bring any money they get. I'll remind them that if anyone asks for gift ideas, they are welcome to say Disney giftcards

I hope to end up with about $200 for spending money for all of us for the 3 days that we'll be in the parks, which will include treats/sweets.

 

[DisneyJewel]

We've never had a set amount before, but because we have splurged on experiences (Fantasmic! dessert tickets, Goofy's Kitchen) we don't usually let the kids buy a lot of stuff. Plus I don't need more in my house! Once, DD2 did REALLY want to be Minnie Mouse for Halloween, so we did buy her a costume there. DH might get a hat. Oh, and I have a Minnie Mouse watch, that I wear every day! They got ears when they were little, but we don't typically get Tshirts, plush, etc.

This time though, my kids are 11 and 14 and I want to let them make their own decisions. They are each getting a $50 gift card in their Easter baskets. We pay for meals, but if they want something extra they will pay for it, along with any extras they want. We will see how it goes!

 

[luulu1999]

My DS5 and DD4 I told them they had $50 each and once they spent the $50 that was it....I also told them they didn't need to just buy up the first things they saw....I was quiet surprised that it went over as well as it did....when it got close to their limit I warned them they were getting close to their limit and when I told them they had spent their money they didn't throw a fit or anything when they wanted something and I told them they had spent their money

 

[E&Cmom]

We just got back home yesterday. My girls each got a pair of Minnie Ears and a stuffed animal each. We got the ears earlier in the trip so they could wear them but didn't get the stuffed animals until closer to the end after they saw lots of things to decide what they really wanted. I did discourage them them (mostly YDD) from the plastic toys (Spinny things, bubble machines) that I don't think will last. We also went to Goofy's kitchen.