Spending money for kids

[MissMaryEli]

I have a 7 year old and an 11 year old. They have been earning money for the last 4 months or so with the intent to take and use as spending money while they're at Disney. So far my 7 yo has about $100 (with the generous help of grandpa) and my 11 year old has almost $200 from cutting lots of grass. We are going to have about 5.5 days in the park. I don't think my older son needs the entire $200 while he's there. I'm thinking of setting up a daily amount for them with the understanding that they get, say, $20 per day. When their $20 is gone, they don't get anything else. But, if they don't spend all their money one day, they can save to buy something even better another day.

So my question is, what do you think is a reasonable amount of money per day for children this age?We have the dining plan, so I don't expect them to use it to buy drinks or snacks, we'll take care of that. I think the magic number is between $20-$25 since they've earned it themselves, but I would like another opinion. We haven't been to Disney since my oldest son was 3, so it's been a while.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Hakunamatata]

I have a 7 year old and an 11 year old. They have been earning money for the last 4 months or so with the intent to take and use as spending money while they're at Disney. So far my 7 yo has about $100 (with the generous help of grandpa) and my 11 year old has almost $200 from cutting lots of grass. We are going to have about 5.5 days in the park. I don't think my older son needs the entire $200 while he's there. I'm thinking of setting up a daily amount for them with the understanding that they get, say, $20 per day. When their $20 is gone, they don't get anything else. But, if they don't spend all their money one day, they can save to buy something even better another day.

So my question is, what do you think is a reasonable amount of money per day for children this age?We have the dining plan, so I don't expect them to use it to buy drinks or snacks, we'll take care of that. I think the magic number is between $20-$25 since they've earned it themselves, but I would like another opinion. We haven't been to Disney since my oldest son was 3, so it's been a while.

Thanks in advance.

I would recommend thinking about what it is they are likely to want to purchase, pricing that out then dividing by number of days. Talk with them about some of the things and those prices. If a tshirt costs $35 then that's almost two days. We do something similar with our kids but then end up picking up the tab on the small stuff here and there.

 

[21stamps]

I have a 7 year old and an 11 year old. They have been earning money for the last 4 months or so with the intent to take and use as spending money while they're at Disney. So far my 7 yo has about $100 (with the generous help of grandpa) and my 11 year old has almost $200 from cutting lots of grass. We are going to have about 5.5 days in the park. I don't think my older son needs the entire $200 while he's there. I'm thinking of setting up a daily amount for them with the understanding that they get, say, $20 per day. When their $20 is gone, they don't get anything else. But, if they don't spend all their money one day, they can save to buy something even better another day.

So my question is, what do you think is a reasonable amount of money per day for children this age?We have the dining plan, so I don't expect them to use it to buy drinks or snacks, we'll take care of that. I think the magic number is between $20-$25 since they've earned it themselves, but I would like another opinion. We haven't been to Disney since my oldest son was 3, so it's been a while.

Thanks in advance.

I gave my 5 year old a Disney Gift Card with either $100 or $200 on it, can't remember which. I didn't do a 'per day' amount. Just would ask him if he "was very sure that he wanted (whatever) item?" Then we would discuss how much he had left.
I also had certain items that I was buying for him.. Such as Mickey ears, a light saber and an electronic monorail..those are too much to take from his money. Also christmas ornaments came from mine... We discussed that beforehand, so he knew that those were the "only" things that I would be buying for him. Anything else he had to budget appropriately for. He ended up getting a Mr Potato Head, Mickey hands, some light up spinning thing, and a few items from the Pirate's store..basically things that he's used maybe once since.lol

 

[Weather_Lady]

We let each of our kids pick out a single souvenir in the $25-$30 range (for the trip, not per day), and set aside part of our last day in the parks (or the day before, if that works better) for souvenir purchasing. We have parkhopper tickets, so it's okay if what they want is in different places. Then they can spend the week poring over their options and deciding which item is really their favorite, and we don't run the risk that they'll spend their money on something on day 1, and then see things they like even better and wish they'd bought instead, as the trip continues... We are supplying the $25-$30 souvenir "budget," but the kids are free to add to it from their allowance/birthday monies if they wish, but they've usually got something they're saving up for at home, so they haven't kicked in any extra on past trips.

So far, their souvenirs of choice have all been stuffed animals or hats. (We purchase things for the kids like autograph books and T-shirts ahead of time, when the Disney Store website has them on clearance -- we don't count those items as souvenirs, though.)

 

[Much-Pixie-Dust]

We give our 11 year old a preset limit. When it is gone, it's gone. We buy autograph book, pen, and a beaded animal from AKL. Her room is African themed and she collects the beaded animals. The preset limit forces her to be choosy. She normally waits until the end of the trip to purchase and she loves to go to every gift shop and look theoughout the trip.