Kids & Spending Money

[Shrimp332]

I have been having my kids (7,5,3) earn their spending money for Disney... Normally on trips we don't do much for souvenirs but normally a little something. I go to a Farmer's Market weekly and I have been having them make thing and sell beside me and it will be split 3 ways before vacation.

SO my question is how much money do your kids get to spend at Disney?

 

[deakam]

Currently they can spend whatever they want----my kids are 24 and 26 years old. When they were younger they got $50.00 each and they did have to earn it. I also made them earn some of the money to pay for the vacation. It was a family vacation and the entire family should work to pay for it.

This trip I am taking my great niece Grace. She tells me she is bringing all of her money which is $212.46. She has been saving all year. There is no way I am letting her spend that much. Then again she is a big Anna fan so there may need to be a costume purchase.

 

[CdnCarrie]

I don't have a set amount. As we normally go after Christmas my kids will sometimes get U.S. currency from their grandparents as a gift.

When we are down there I just charge everything to the room and they pay me back basically. I usually buy them a shirt or two. Besides that they both pick up a few things. Perhaps $75 or so each but that may include a tshirt.

I pay for the clothes. They just pay me for the toys. And I do veto stuff which I thing will not be used after day one or is too big for the suitcase.

 

[suffieldhockeymom]

I allow my boys to have $10 a day for souvenirs and snacks beyond what's on the dining plan. I put it on a gift card and when it's gone, it's gone. They have learned to budget and share snacks. They also have learned that QS receipts usually have a coupon at the bottom.

 

[Altoqueenkelly]

Our trip in September is actually a surprise. Since my daughter got a large amount of cash and giftcards for her birthday, I secretly put the cash away to give to her to spend on our trip. She is seven so she wasn't fully aware of how much cash she actually got. We had her spend her giftcards though. She got around $200 from family for her birthday, I was thinking I might put $50 towards a giftcard for her to spend how she wants to on the trip. I dont want her spending $200 on toys, lol, so I might put the rest in her savings account. $50 seems like a good number for a seven year old to spend on vacation.

 

[Altoqueenkelly]

I allow my boys to have $10 a day for souvenirs and snacks beyond what's on the dining plan. I put it on a gift card and when it's gone, it's gone. They have learned to budget and share snacks. They also have learned that QS receipts usually have a coupon at the bottom.

This is a great idea! I might steal it from you at some point

 

[wench]

My son normally has $400-600 for the trip. We'll divide that by the number of days we're there & that's his daily budget. If he wants to spend more 1 day, then he gets less the remaining days.

The majority of the money he takes is his own money that he saves all year long to get to spend on vacation. And then normally his grandmother will give him a bit right before we go.

 

[mousefan73]

Mine are 8 and 9. 9 year old havs a 100 bill from first communion he is saving. DD has her piggy bank vacation fund. Guessing 50 there.

Plus I am very generous if we see a big ticket item. I spoil my kids as I live my disney dream through them!! DD got disney castle and Ds got the monorail was my idea. Told them christmas is coming partially early!!

 

[Jenn55]

My personal opinion, and it's just that, my opinion is it depends on ur kid and ur budget. My son and I went January 2014 and I paid for it all he didn't have any savings time as he found out Xmas day and it was his Xmas present. He was almost 8 at the time. He earns some money but not enough to do much with. I took down 25$ a day for him, but our rule was for the parks we only visited once (HS, AK, UNIVERSAL AND IOA) you could spend the money that day., but EPCOT and magic kingdom u had to wait till day 2 of park touring so you weren't buying things randomly. I also made it clear he wasn't gonna buy things he could get anywhere, that I'd prefer hi to buy things that were indicative of being there. This was his first trip and it was meant to be his only trip... Although he did buy a lot of candy at the harry potter section at IOA, and he bought a wand. He used his money very wisely.

 

[Saimaeve]

My daughter gets $50 a day to spend on things other than food and special events. (BBB etc)

It works out very well and that way she usually has enough to get a few things each day and enough to get something big on her last day.

 

[SpringSprite]

But we've told them, we'll buy you one thing, grandmothers will buy you one thing, and you can buy one thing with the money you've earned. Exceptions being if they pick out something ridiculously expensive, which I doubt they will since they will be 5 & 4.

We are also gifting (bribing) with little Tinker Bell gifts to try and keep the good behavior going, so they'll be lots of glow stick, inexpensive type things. I did get the plush Elsa for my 5 year old (he LOVES plush) when it was available on the Disney Store site for like 4 hours. So he'll have a brand new plush to "huggle" on after his first night. I'm really excited about that! He's been asking for Elsa for months and months.

 

[nat8199]

This is a great idea! I might steal it from you at some point

This is the idea that I am stealing! I have budgeted $10 a day for souvenirs and candy/junk. I will buy them some healthy snacks myself, since they are always hungry. I am thinking of sticking just to cash, though, so that they can see exactly how much they have. They will only be 4, 4, and turning 6 when we go.

 

[nat8199]

I am a bit concerned, though, if $10 will actually buy them anything? Are there a lot of souvenirs under $10? I know they will be able to save the money for a few days, which they already understand, but I don't want to be stingy so that they cannot really buy anything the first day.

Last trip they were too young for souvenirs, really, but I do remember things being expensive.

Maybe I will start them with a $20 the first day, and then do $10 a day after that?

I am totally over-thinking this.

 

[LitasTravelBuddy]

We've been twice with our granddaughter and we gave her $30 a day in Disney dollars. We thought it worked really well... some days she spent it all and other days she saved it for the next day so she could buy a bigger ticket item (backpack, sweatshirt, etc).
Every morning we gave her a new envelope, and we much preferred the dollars over gift cards because she could see how much she had left.

We're going again in the fall, with 2 GDs and a niece and a nephew. We'll be doing the same thing again - already have the daily envelopes decorated

 

[prisjoyce]

My kids are 11 & 8, and we let them pick out 1 new pin & one other item, under $50. They enjoy walking through the gift shops & looking for their "thing." Last trip DD found a girly ball cap, that she has been wearing all summer. DS chose an outfit for his Duffy bear, which he got the previous trip & sleeps with nightly. I think the answer is highly dependent on your funds & your attitude toward souvenirs. Enjoy your trip!

 

[TISHLOVESDISNEY]

I was just coming on to Dis today to research gift cards for my kids for spending money and saw this thread.

I have ages at time of our trip: 13, 11 and 2 (he'll be 3, 2 months after)

I don't want my kids carrying around cash, too risky. I like the idea of gift cards, bu want to make sure they also are keeping track.

I plan on a 50.00 gift card for each for the week. We are doing 5 days.

We've been enough that we have plenty of souvenirs, and my older kids will just want a simple souvenir. They'll be more interested in treats!
I am just wondering the best way to help them keep track of their spending so they are cautious. Keep receipts? Keep a small notebook? Want them to learn budgeting etc...

Oh, also, I plan on bringing snacks/drinks too, so 10.00 a day is plenty I think for an "extra" snack if needed.

 

[JosieMouse]

We've been twice with our granddaughter and we gave her $30 a day in Disney dollars. We thought it worked really well... some days she spent it all and other days she saved it for the next day so she could buy a bigger ticket item (backpack, sweatshirt, etc).
Every morning we gave her a new envelope, and we much preferred the dollars over gift cards because she could see how much she had left.

We're going again in the fall, with 2 GDs and a niece and a nephew. We'll be doing the same thing again - already have the daily envelopes decorated

I like the idea of Disney bucks. Where do you get them?

 

[Princess_Nikki]

I have been having my kids (7,5,3) earn their spending money for Disney... Normally on trips we don't do much for souvenirs but normally a little something. I go to a Farmer's Market weekly and I have been having them make thing and sell beside me and it will be split 3 ways before vacation. SO my question is how much money do your kids get to spend at Disney?

We do farmers markets too!!

I buy Disney Gift cards nearly every time we go to the grocery store. Our Publix sells them. I buy them $25 a time. The kids still have to earn their gift cards. I will give them each so many gift cards , an arcade card (I've learned it is smarter to load that one each day with a certain amount!), and we also do Disney Dollars.

You can call WDW & purchase Disney dollars over the phone, and you can also buy them at the WDW resorts. My son loves to collect any new Disney dollars he gets!

 

[OB1]

As long as the kids are at least 8-9 yrs old, I like the idea of letting them have a set amount of money on a gift card to spend. Their choice. BUT - when they spend it all, it is gone, Always neat to see who the spenders are, and who the savers are. It never fails that one will have almost all their money on the last day, and one is out by day 2 or 3. This lets them learn some money skills and they can mostly buy whatever they want (some snacks need approval). Usually $75-$100, depending on the length of trip.

 

[teetee830]

My DS, 6 on our last trip, saves his allowance to go, our last trip he had $70 which I put on a gift card. I also purchase him one thing, my only rule on what I buy him is it can't be something we can buy at home and my price limit is less than $50. I don't include snacks or food in his budget, but we aren't big snackers at the parks. I also don't expect him to buy a t-shirt or clothes with his money or his special thing from me. He can spend his money however he wants but after its gone its gone. He did a really nice job of making sure what he bought was what he wanted and didn't regret buying anything. He ended up with a Gaston Archery Set and a Duffy bear. His special thing from me was a Duffy outfit and since that was less expensive a small stuffed Yeti for riding wtih Mommy, lol.

Our next trip we are doing a split stay with Universal so I may split his money in half so he has money for both places. I may even surprise him with two things from me, altough at Universal I'm pretty sure its going to be a wand.