Tired of your kids asking you to buy them everything in sight while on vacation? Learn why we expect our kids to buy their own souvenirs, how they earn money, and how we keep track of it! This vacation souvenir strategy for kids will help ease the stress (and the budget!) of your next trip.
Why we expect our kids to buy their own souvenirs
When we travel, we lay out the expectations of what we are going to pay for before we go. Anything above and beyond that, we expect our kids to pay for other things they want themselves. This expectation has solved SO MANY issues because our kids know what they can ask for and what they can’t.
For example, when we go to Disneyland (see my Disneyland tips!), our rule is that we buy our kids one treat. If they want more than that, they pay for it themselves. Because of this, they are picky about their one treat and make sure it’s the one treat they really want. This really helps them to not just ask for everything they see.
We encourage our kids to earn their own money and save it for our trips. This helps them to truly value the souvenirs they bring home because they’ve really earned them. They pick out things they really want rather than just whatever Mom and Dad will buy them.
Since we have started doing this, I love seeing what my kids choose to spend their money on. I enjoy seeing them calculate in their head if something they see is worth the cost. It’s been so rewarding to have them learn the value of money. I’m loving seeing them start to become financially responsible in their own, age-appropriate way.
How can kids earn money?
In our home, we have implemented a family economy that everyone participates in. We have daily chores that the kids are expected to do—just because they are part of the family. And they receive money each week—just because they are part of the family. The chores are not tied to their allowance, but if they don’t do a chore, they do owe me maid service. 😉
They each receive half their age (in dollars) every week. So if a child is 10, they get $5 a week. We also create opportunities for them to earn additional money by doing extra chores around the house that are not tied to the family economy. They will often ask for money for birthday or Christmas gifts as well. They’ve come up with all sorts of ways to earn extra money!
They even made this fun video about additional ways kids can earn money. I love seeing their creativity! Haha!
How to keep track of kids’ money
We’ve been using Greenlight for over a year now to keep track of the kids’ earnings. I really like it a lot! Greenlight provides a debit card for each kid. We utilize the app to send them their money and organize it. The kids can use their debit cards anywhere—Target, Amazon, Disneyland, the dollar store, wherever!
They can also organize their money into different categories—Spend, Save (which allows them to create different savings goals and even earn interest!), Invest, and Donate. We love the Save feature, and my kids really enjoy creating savings goals. When they’ve reached their goal, they transfer the money from the savings goal to their Spend category and buy whatever it is they were saving for using their debit card. We haven’t really used the Invest feature, but we do use the Donate one to encourage them to give a small percentage of their earnings to charities. You can also program their chores into the app if you want, and they can get paid immediately after finishing them.
Ever since we started using Greenlight, my kids have been more conscientious of money and how much things cost and what it takes to be able to buy something. They don’t ask me to buy them stuff nearly as often, and regularly check on their savings goals to see how far they are from being able to buy whatever it is they want.
When we went to Jamaica and Disneyland earlier this year, we had our kids buy their own souvenirs. They each worked to earn money beforehand, saved it, and bought their own souvenirs from the gift shops. They each had different amounts to spend, but they were all able to buy something that they wanted, and didn’t complain that a sibling got something better or more expensive than they did. Anything that promotes less complaining is a winner in my book!
How much does Greenlight cost?
The service does cost $5 a month per family, but it’s well worth it in my opinion to not have to worry about keeping cash on hand or having your kid lose their cash or whatever. Seeing my kids learn to be financially responsible is so valuable. And the stress and headache that Greenlight saves me is totally worth the $5!
From now until October 31, 2021, Greenlight is offering $30 if you sign up HERE. That’s 6 months free! After your first paid month, they’ll deposit $30 in your Parent Account that you can use to pay your kids. After Oct. 31, I think they do $10 free after your first paid month.
What questions do you have about Greenlight or helping kids earn and keep track of their money?
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