"Allowance" for the week at WDW

[olik8smom]

I am thinking of giving my 3 kids a set amount of money that they are free to spend throughout our week at WDW. I'm hoping to avoid over spending on things the "just have to have". I think that if it was "their" money, they'll be more careful about how it is spent. How much do you think would be realistic? We haven't been there before, so I'm not sure what it's like.

 

[sharonabe]

In some ways it may depend on the ages of your children.

We usually give ours a $25 cut off. They can have whatever they want up to $25, but they only get one thing. If they choose something cheaper, they don't get to keep the extra money. That may be something you want to think about....if they don't spend all their "allowance," do they get to keep what's left?

A dollar amount is very subjective. How much can you afford for each child? How much are you willing to let them "waste" on things that really aren't worth the money they may pay for it? Will this "allowance" include extra snacks they may want?

I think it's a great idea for kids that are at least tweens. It will be a great lesson on budgeting and choosing wisely before you buy.

By the way, we have DS11 and DS8, and we do this with their weekly allowance. We don't buy them any toys, video games, DVDs....they have to use their allowance. So if there's a high dollar item they want, they save for it. The youngest one has a harder time saving as he wants to use his every week, and sometimes he does. But he's beginning to understand the value of a dollar.

 

[jacksmomma]

I have siblings that are quite a bit younger then me and my DH and I took them to WDW. They were early to mid-elementary age. We gave each of them a prepaid visa and told them that if they had any money left at the end of the week it would be ours. They youngest waited till the last couple days to spend his money, the middle child spent it all very quickly, and the oldest balanced her spending. It was a GREAT system because they were not constantly begging for things and they ended up buying (for the most part) things they really wanted.

 

[EvangelineG]

My sons have been saving their weekly allowance for months, so that they can have spending money on our trip. They will each have saved about $200 by the time we go. I am really proud of them!

 

[mindyd]

Last year I used two envelopes and started them off with 120.00 I told them I would buy their ears and two pins. Every time they would buy something I would write it on the envelope like a check ledger and subtract it to get their new total. Most of the time I would do it at the hotel at the end of the night. I could not believe the difference and how they actually thought of things before they bought it. This was there 5th trip in five years and they got so much stuff and are 12 and 10 that it really helped cut down on the junk. If they really wanted something I would have bought it but we have ended up with so much expensive things over the years like the castle they used once or R2D2 that is in the back of their closet. We are going in October and I am doing the same thing. I did not want to use a gift card or put cash in the envelope did not want to worry about losing it or anything.

 

[crisi]

What would you expect them to get - that tells you what is reasonable.

Some parents think that A princess dress is reasonable. Some think that A princess dress with ALL the accessories is reasonable. Some think that TWO is reasonable. And some think that $70 for a dressup dress is ridiculous and think that their kids getting Mickey Head Suckers or a pin for less than $10 is reasonable.

Some think that light up spinny things are reasonable, some don't. Some think candy is reasonable, some don't. Some think that pin trading is past reasonable and falls into a necessity for a trip - others have never bought a pin in their lives.

What do you think is reasonable per day - do you think that every day your kids should be able to buy something - that's reasonable. Or do you think that your kids should get one or maybe two souvieniers for the whole trip. That is also reasonable.

What are you planning on providing? Some people fund the autograph books, the Mickey Ears, and the Princess dress - but give their kids $20 for pencils, pins, and junk.

Tell us what you'll imagine they will buy, and how long your patience will last (my son will buy a ballcap every day on vacation if we let him) - we can give you an idea of Disney World pricing.

 

[Nancyg56]

My DGD gets an envelope with $20.00 per day. She can spend it or save it for the next day. She then has $40 to use. She never uses all of her money.

 

[clintswifeymomof4]

I have 5 kids and each of them are getting a $50 gift card from to use on our first Februrary trip.

I am funding the ears, 2 pins, and supplies/coins for pressed pennies.

 

[mrsbornkuntry]

I try to figure out what kinds of things the kids are going to want to buy (and what we can afford, of course) then go from there. For instance, one our first trip to Disneyland we planned on getting Build a Bears in DTD so we gave them $100 each so it would cover that as well as other things. On one trip to WDW we did $50 because the boys wanted to make their own lightsabers ($20 I think) and Dd wanted to fill a Mr. Potato Head box.

 

[olik8smom]

Thank you all for the feedback.

My kids are young, 7,4 & 2, so only the 7yo will get the idea of spending "his" money. Although if we explain it to the 4yo each time he wants something, he may get the idea to a point too. In all honesty, this is as much about me not overspending for them as it is for them. We have the means to buy them what they want, but I don't want to add to the stuff they never play with.

I'd say we're "reasonably reasonable" when it comes to buying what our kids ask for, lol! I wouldn't buy two princess dresses with all of the accessories, I wouldn't even want to buy one if it were $70 because it seems like a huge waste of $$, but I plan to give them more than $70 for the whole week, if that's how they spend it so be it, they'll have less $$ for other things. I'll let them get a small amount of candy as a treat. Light up spinny things are fine with me as all 3 of them love stuff like that. I have 2 boys with very opposite taste when it comes to buying things, and a little girl, so it's hard to generalize what they might want. We will buy them snacks without them spending their $$. I already bought their autograph books and some pins/lanyards (disneystore.com was having 25% off official park merch). I'll also buy them their ears.

Last year I used two envelopes and started them off with 120.00 I told them I would buy their ears and two pins. Every time they would buy something I would write it on the envelope like a check ledger and subtract it to get their new total. Most of the time I would do it at the hotel at the end of the night. I could not believe the difference and how they actually thought of things before they bought it. This was there 5th trip in five years and they got so much stuff and are 12 and 10 that it really helped cut down on the junk. If they really wanted something I would have bought it but we have ended up with so much expensive things over the years like the castle they used once or R2D2 that is in the back of their closet. We are going in October and I am doing the same thing. I did not want to use a gift card or put cash in the envelope did not want to worry about losing it or anything.

Great! I love this idea!

 

[kokotg]

We let our kids roll whatever change we have and split the money. This year it will about $30 each. The two older ones have a good bit of money saved from allowance, birthdays, etc., and they are, of course, welcome to spend that at Disney as well if they want to.

 

[bekkiz]

I think for the 4 year old, money is a tough concept. But I think limits are good. So they get 1 snack/treat per day and one gift/toy or whatwver for the week. (although, I'm a sucker and would probably say 2 )

 

[mikeweider1]

Our kids are small, but we often attach a special experience at WDW (BBBoutique, Castle) to a milestone for school. For one it was reading, another for math completion, etc. It is such a motivator.

This last time we gave a blanket 20 dollar limit, but that didn't do much. Our kids are 8, 6, and 4.

HTH!

 

[mouse2mouse]

When we booked our trip we put money jars out. I think it was almost 9mths the kids saved their money in the Disney Jars. They got to spend their money on whatever they wanted. We were on the dining plan so that ment any extra snacks...food..ice cream, as well as trinkets. It worked out sooo good. No constant asking for things and its great how they dont like to spend their money as much as they like to spend ours

 

[araes2102]

My DS, who is 10, is really pretty good with money. Of his allowance, he gets half to spend and half goes directly into his savings account. Same for any birthday or Christmas money. Good grades money he gets to spend if he wants, though he usually puts some in his account as well. Any spending money he gets to use at his discretion. Money in his account is to be used towards things he needs to save up for like video games. Currently he is working on saving up for a laptop and is half way there

DD, who is 4, is just beginning to understand the concept of money and spending her own money. She gets $1 a week to put in her purse. The first time she bought a toy at Walmart with her dollars, she had a little breakdown when she had to hand over her money! She said she would never be able to get them back! She is getting better at getting the concept of her oney going toward something she wants, and once she really understands she will get her own savings account as well.

As for in the park, we are planning to give them each a $50 Disney card (most likely from in their stockings) to spend for the 4 days we are there on whatever they want. I plan to buy their ears and snacks, so the money on the cards is just for toys/souvenirs.

 

[Nancyg56]

I think that the 4 YO is old enough to understand the concept of money. My DGD has had her own money since she was a toddler, She loved pocketbooks and always saved money to put on them. Her Mom and Dad helped her to spend so that she could see if she used some or all of her hard saved cash. By the time she was 6 she was saving her money for pin trading, which she loved to do. She had also consolidated all of her money that she had stored in all of her purses to offer to pay her Pa's fare to Disney.

If you start to hepl the little one you may be very surprised.

 

[QVCshopper]

We go a lot, and my kids are 5 & 6. For a few trips now, we give them a $25 gift card to spend as they wish. It works out great and they know they are done spending when it's gone. My MIL also gave them $5 each in cash.

So, my kids each got a Pooh/Piglet chubby stuffed animal, a Pook-a-Looz, and then they each picked out something small with the leftover. Wasn't thrilled with more stuffed animals, but they were happy with their purchases.

 

[crisi]

At seven we gave our kids ten dollars a day, if they spent it it was gone, if they didn't spend it, they got ten more the next day (so they could save up) and whatever they had left at the end of the week we doubled at home. We also kept the cash for them and just tracked it. (Come to think of it, this wasn't a Disney trip, but something else, but it worked well). It gave them an amount of money to work with each day that they could comprehend, the thought that if they wanted something big, they could save, and that if they didn't buy anything at all, that was even better.

(There isn't much $10 buys at Disney though).

 

[5stljayhawks]

We did a $50 gift card, since we were there for xmas, santa brought the cards the first or second day we were there. You could also give before you go.

 

[pookie10]

We are giving each of the kids 50.00 per day...for the whole 8 day vacation...this is the only vacation they ever had, and probably ever will have..for a while at least...