How do you handle $ for kids souvenirs?

[aliceindisneyland]

I am a big fan of letting Alison control her own money - this is a great way to learn to save and make good choices. For trips that she knew about far enough in advance, she was encouraged to save. For the others, she was given a set amount, depending on my budget for the trip.

When DD was 8, I came up with the "brilliant" idea to double any money she saved before the trip. I expected her to save $50 or something like that. Silly kid managed to save $225. So, that's what NOT to do.

Yes, my kids get rich amazingly fast too!

Thanks all, you've given me some good ideas. It seems like a gift card with a set amount would work for our kids. Do you get your GC's before you go to Disney? If so, where is the best place to buy them?

Keeping track of 4 kids' little gift cards sounds like a nightmare! Kids know how much they've spent, and most things at DL cost at least $14, so with 2 small items you've hit the limit (if the limit is approx $25); it's not like you'll have to keep track of a ton of cheap purchases!

Tight budget to me would mean collect a lot of the pressed pennies for a family souvenir, and buy each kid a sweatshirt.

Disney sweatshirts are a wonderful souvenir IMO. We bought DS an XXS adult Pirates of the Caribbean sweatshirt when he was 2 years old as that was the one he wanted! He had to roll the sleeves up about 4 times but he loved it! He wore it pretty much every time it was cold out ( that's "California cold"!) until he grew out of it at age 9. Now DD7 wears it and it still looks practically new after at least 700 wearings! He bought a Jack Skellington sweatshirt last year with bday money his grandparents earmarked for a new sweatshirt - just 1 size too big this time, but here's to another 700 times to think of Disney when he gets dressed!

Don't get me wrong, you could pretty much shop Disneyland from my house [if I knew then what I know now!], but lately we've been vacationing locally and getting them just a pressed penny and a postcard as souvenirs, and they have been completely satisfied with that; despite each of them having enough personal cash on hand to buy whatever they might want from the gift shops, they haven't spent a dime on trips!

 

[Meldev]

We are giving each $50 gift card and that will be their souvenir money. They will be getting 2 new shirts and new personalized blankets and a plush as part of our trip surprise (not to mention the fun, trending cross body bags I got my DDs for their carry ons) so I think $50 more is just fine!

 

[SEA333]

$50 disney gift card with a few guidelines:

1. The whole $50 has to be spent during the trip.
2. We will not redeem for cash
3. We will buy all meals and a snack a day. And all drinks, unless its an expensive specialty drink. Anything else they can use their giftcard.
4. If they wait to use it and don't use all of it by the end of the trip, they are out of luck...we do not give them the difference back.

These rules came out of neccessity. Our kids would take the cash, then negotiate what we would pay for and what they would, or save it all so they could buy something else at home later like a video game or itunes. Oldest DS would accuse us of mishandling his funds, lol, and debate how much things cost and what we said we would pay for vs what he actually bought, etc. DD would save her cash till the last minute then spring on ua that she just HAD to have the rare item only found at such and such place, and DS8 would not have a clue what or how he spent his and we wanted to teach him a little bit about money management. So, giftcards worked great!!

 

[MrsPete]

Zero. Yes, zero.
No saving of allowance, no earning money for the trip, nothing.

When our girls were small, we started out with the typical, foolish ideas about souveniers -- kids need a memory from the trip, etc. -- but we quickly realized that they come with some pretty hefty negatives:

When shopping /toys, etc. are included in the mix, suddenly the atmosphere of the trip changes. It becomes about consuming /acquiring an item rather than having an experience. Yes, you can try to compartmentalize it to a short period of time (i.e., this much money or only on the last day), but that doesn't remove the issue. And the upshot is that the items never become favorite childhood toys; rather, they are played with for a short time, then they clutter up the floor for a while and are put in the next yard sale for an 80-90% loss.

When our kids were in elementary/high school, we took 4-6 vacations per year (Disney and other places), so the cost of these trinkets could've really added up. Our kids were still in elementary school when we told them NO MORE. They didn't even blink an eye. They didn't care. They realized that they took more trips than their friends and that the experiences were worth more than a trinket.

Over the years I've chaperoned a number of youth trips, and I've seen the effects: The last trip I chaperoned was a scout trip to an aquarium at the beach. The girls all LOVED the aquarium and were slowly winding their way through the exhibits, reading the plaques and talking about the things they were seeing -- they were having a great time. Then as we reached the lower level and were near the exit, the girls realized they could see A GIFT SHOP at the end of the aquarium. 2/3 of the girls skipped the remaining exhibits so they could zoom on down to the gift shop. Most of the remaining girls sped up, not giving the last exhibits the time they'd spent on the earlier ones. All of a sudden, it was just me and my daughter -- and she was disappointed that her friends had run off and left her. She was still enjoying the museum. This screw-the-experience-I-wanna-shop thing is what I wanted to avoid . . . and I have no regrets about it.

 

[PeanutButterMom]

Each kid had a gift card with $50 that they could spend on anything they wanted, souvenir wise. We took pics on my phone I things they saw, and then they made "final choices" the last couple days (the exception was a Dino that Jelly saw after Dinosaur! at AK, because we weren't sure if we could find it anywhere else).

ETA: PB (7.5) had extra money from her "rainbow loom stand" too.

 

[tnd]

I buy my kids each a stuffed animal on every trip, and my son has his allowance to spend too. We are also going on his birthday this year, so he may get money as gifts to spend. I may buy a few small things along the way as well, but not much. We don't need more stuff in our house.

 

[boltfan]

My kids are all teens now, but when they were younger, they would save their own money and we would give them each $25, so it usually ended up where the "saver" had more money than the other two. The "saver" saved everything that came her way...birthday money, money for doing extra chores, etc. Usually ended up where she had about $100 and the other two had about $50. We then kept it all in separate envelopes with their names on them. We talked about putting the money on separate gift cards, but it was just too much of a pain to track their balances.

 

[TravelMommy]

I try to limit it to $25 or less each, but it depends. Last Disney trip I don't think we bought anything other than some lollipops and candy to bring home. I used to bring stuffed animals with us from Walmart when the kiddos were real small. I once spent $4 on a Winnie The Pooh that I swear looked exactly like one they were selling for $20!! We would set out the presents at night and they awoke to special toys/stuffed animals "from Mickey". Also, if your family is into the light sticks and light up toys, we saved a bundle buying before the trip and bringing with us! Have a great trip

 

[supergoofy]

Its going to be tough this time around with twins 10 year olds and a 16 year old.

We are buying each kid a set of ears and giving them cash plus they can spend some of their birthday money. We will be keeping a diary of the twins money as I don't want them losing there money. They can buy what they want when they want. I am not going to try and debate them out of it.

Now the issue is the 16 year old she will carry her own money and spend it as freely as she wishes. I am not going tracking her spending so if she goes over then that's that. She has a summer job so she could take more. I am kinda okay with that as long as its a little over.

 

[disney*mom*82]

I too have 4 kids, with varying ages (5-16). We give each child a WDW gift card of $25-50 and they can spend it however they want, we prefer them to get a tshirt and 1 other item, but they choose. I just write their name on their gift card and when we are out and about they can use it. I agree that it must be spent while we are there or they are just out of luck until next time.

 

[mrsabbott]

My kids got gift cards for Christmas. They also had an option to save money from birthdays, allowance, etc.. for vacation. When the money was gone, it was gone. They spent the bulk of it on some stuffed animals and a couple of small things. But we didn't have any issues and they had fun picking out their own stuff.

Well, there was one brief issue.. my one DD saved more while the other spent more so, when it was vacation time, one had more spending money then the other. There was one "it's not fair!" but I explained to her that it was HER CHOICE to not save her birthday/allowance money and that she could save more next time. To me, it is a good life lesson.

That said, for birthday and Christmas throughout the year, I am getting the kids gift cards to the parks. They already get so much for the holidays and, this way, they can pick what they want when we go..

As for a budget souvenir.. we collect pressed pennies! The kids absolutely adore it! We just use change that we save up throughout the year to do it.

 

[dpswift]

$50 disney gift card with a few guidelines:

1. The whole $50 has to be spent during the trip.
2. We will not redeem for cash
3. We will buy all meals and a snack a day. And all drinks, unless its an expensive specialty drink. Anything else they can use their giftcard.
4. If they wait to use it and don't use all of it by the end of the trip, they are out of luck...we do not give them the difference back.

These rules came out of neccessity. Our kids would take the cash, then negotiate what we would pay for and what they would, or save it all so they could buy something else at home later like a video game or itunes. Oldest DS would accuse us of mishandling his funds, lol, and debate how much things cost and what we said we would pay for vs what he actually bought, etc. DD would save her cash till the last minute then spring on ua that she just HAD to have the rare item only found at such and such place, and DS8 would not have a clue what or how he spent his and we wanted to teach him a little bit about money management. So, giftcards worked great!!

I like your thinking. At first I was about to give you the bad mommy award until you explained it out. I remember my kids pulling the same types of things. In fact just the other day DD 19 tried to pull it on me. She used our card to buy a Disney figure on the internet. When it got to be her payday suddenly it was $10 insted of the $20 I remembered. The joke was on her turns out it was $24.

 

[StitchBuddy]

We've done this a couple of ways. We use to always buy her a shirt and then give her $20-$25 to spend on something of her choice, Then, we started the pin trading. We bought cheap sets at the Disney Outlet Store. Then, she would trade them at the parks. She loved it and it made a nice keepsake. We just looked at her pins this weeks, as we are planning another trip to Disney.

 

[JanBlessed]

After reading all responses , I must say that this is a topic that I hadn't thought about. My son was 4 yrs old the last time we visited WDW. It is definitely something to consider....

Great post! I learned some great strategies!

I'll add that my son only 'really' wanted a Buzz Lightyear light spin toy $15. He did play with it at home for a few months later, so it was worth it to me. My parents would tell my siblings and I "yes" "no" or "don't ask anymore" when we wanted souvenirs. They would pay - but usually 2-3 items per park. Truth is : most of the items weren't worth it. Most souvenirs that I have purchased throughout my travels have not been worth it......

Good luck & Enjoy your vacation !

 

[Aliceacc]

I think that "worth it" is in the eye of the beholder.

My daughter's most favorite, cherished purchase from our 2008 trip was a big pair of Mickey gloves. Initially I tried to talk her out of it... I mean, really??? THAT'S what you want from Disney World?? I wasn't about the money-- they were pretty cheap. But she persisted for a few days, asking when we could get them. So I gave in; if that's what she wanted, then that's what she wanted.

To this day, she still loves those gloves!!! I have no idea why, but for her, it epitomized Disney World. So, while I still don't get it, it was money very well spent for a 5 year old at that point in time.

 

[SEA333]

I like your thinking. At first I was about to give you the bad mommy award until you explained it out. I remember my kids pulling the same types of things. In fact just the other day DD 19 tried to pull it on me. She used our card to buy a Disney figure on the internet. When it got to be her payday suddenly it was $10 insted of the $20 I remembered. The joke was on her turns out it was $24.

That's funny!

We learned our lesson the first trip - we told the kids (11, 7, and 6 at the time) that they each had $25 to spend however they wanted and that was it - no "rules". I held the cash. It got to be such a pain keeping track of who spent what, and what was bought as part of the $25 vs what DH and I would normally buy for the kids. DS14 (11 at the time) is such a debater that we would have 20-minute conversations - and by conversations I mean me ultimately losing it and grounding him for life LOL - over whether the $9.00 gigantic lollipop was part of the $25 because he thought that since it was food, we would pay for it, and if he *knew* that it counted against his $25 he never would have bought it with his OWN money, and it's not fair because the only thing he wants is legos or a new video game so why can't I just give him the money so he can save it for when he gets home, etc, etc, etc....ugh. NEVER again.

That's basically where the gift card and rules came from. $50 to spend IN WDW any way they wish, we buy the food and drinks, they buy whatever else they want. It worked.

 

[gryfoxmama]

I was on a cruise with our three kids and kept accidentally meeting up with another family who had 6-7 kids from 3-18 app.
Her kids were so helpful to each other and to our kids. I finally asked the mom what she did to raise such nice kids.
She just smiled and pulled out a small spiral notebook. She had a page for each kid and it showed the spending money (their only money) they had earned for vacation.
Starting about a month before vacation
- she awarded a pt every time she caught each child doing positive, kind, helpful....
- Each time she caught a child doing something negative she took two pts away.
She had a dollar amount for the pts. She said after they understood it, she backed off and didn't say a word. She kept her notebook handy and wrote it.
- She also continued it through the vacation also.

- I have tried a version of this on long car trips and it works great!!
I have small numbers they I duck tape to the car ceiling. Every 1/2 hr I take a number down and any child (had 6 last time) that hasn't been counted down (1,2,3) gets a ticket. We duct tape the tickets (can buy rolls at office supply) earned over each child's head so they have a visual reminder. i have a small box with stuff for one tickets (sm gums, etc), lg basket for end of day ($ store finds) and for teenagers they can save up for Wal-mart. I bought a lot of one ticket items and they didn't want to cash them in...but wanted to wait for something bigger. Even the youngest (3) who couldn't count got into this. I would turn around and see all these fingers pointing to the ceiling trying to count them.
First time I did it we used hour intervals and that was to long for the kids.
Try it and let me know if you find any tweaks that work better.

 

[SEA333]

I was on a cruise with our three kids and kept accidentally meeting up with another family who had 6-7 kids from 3-18 app.
Her kids were so helpful to each other and to our kids. I finally asked the mom what she did to raise such nice kids.
She just smiled and pulled out a small spiral notebook. She had a page for each kid and it showed the spending money (their only money) they had earned for vacation.
Starting about a month before vacation
- she awarded a pt every time she caught each child doing positive, kind, helpful....
- Each time she caught a child doing something negative she took two pts away.
She had a dollar amount for the pts. She said after they understood it, she backed off and didn't say a word. She kept her notebook handy and wrote it.
- She also continued it through the vacation also.

- I have tried a version of this on long car trips and it works great!!
I have small numbers they I duck tape to the car ceiling. Every 1/2 hr I take a number down and any child (had 6 last time) that hasn't been counted down (1,2,3) gets a ticket. We duct tape the tickets (can buy rolls at office supply) earned over each child's head so they have a visual reminder. i have a small box with stuff for one tickets (sm gums, etc), lg basket for end of day ($ store finds) and for teenagers they can save up for Wal-mart. I bought a lot of one ticket items and they didn't want to cash them in...but wanted to wait for something bigger. Even the youngest (3) who couldn't count got into this. I would turn around and see all these fingers pointing to the ceiling trying to count them.
First time I did it we used hour intervals and that was to long for the kids.
Try it and let me know if you find any tweaks that work better.

That sounds like a lot of work.....I'd lose track and DS14 would argue until he was blue in the face about how i didnt explain the rules clearly and how was he supposed to know that saying his sister was *acting* like an idiot really means the same as actually saying she really *was* an idiot?, not to mention that my kids would probably give up once I took enough points away and decide it is just more fun to put their feet in each others faces and torture each other instead.

This reminds me of the time I spent hours creating a cute soccer field chore chart with velcro soccer balls with chores written on them for DS to move toward the "goal". It was all fun and games till he decided it was going to be impossible to get all the balls to the goal fast enough and said he was fine without getting a prize.

Or the time I made a sign about the "putting their games and phones and toys they left laying around in the box till they did a chore to earn them back" thing that was floating around pinterest a while ago...my kids thanked me for keeping their junk in a safe place and were not con erned at all about getting their belongings back since I was taking such good care of their stuff.

I've found that the best thing that works for my kids is good old fashioned expectations and logical rules. The cutesy creative discipline tactics just dont work in my house!!

Good tip though, for anyone who might want to try it!

 

[LovesTimone]

When DD was little, we did the gift card route. She knew that we would buy her a t-shirt or plush character, or as she got older she like beach towels or a dated frame from the trip, other than that it was her money she could spend. Worked really well.

One trick I learn, was I would go to the dollar store for glow necklaces, bracelets, At the Disney outlet I picked up some of the spinny, light thingies.. for about 2 or 3 dollars. So that we did not spend money on that kind of stuff at WDW. It just seem like a waste to spend money on something there that I know I could get at the dollar store.

 

[Jack&Ryan'smom]

We save all our loose change in our "Disney jar" between trips. When it's time to go on our next trip the boys get to split the money as their spending money. They usually have about $100 to spend. They like to pin trade so the money doesn't last too long!