Kids Birthday Money

[Alwaysabridesmaidf]

Question. Do you let your kids spend their birthday money or put it in the bank?

[shamrockshake]

Depends on the kid and if they know they got money. My younger ones don't understand how much they got so I usually let them pick out something at $5 below and put the money in the bank. That's good enough for them

The older ones now want to spend it when they get it, but my mom or MIL will sometimes slip me a check so they're not aware and that goes in the bank

[rosiebear]

We let them spend it, because it was a gift given in lieu of a present. Essentially we let them pick their own present.

I guess an exception would be if, say, grandparents gave a large amount that was intended to go toward college fund or something. Then we'd probably let them spend $30-40 toward a present of their choice.

[eddy]

We let them spend it or save for a bigger item they have their eye on. It is their $.

[Deleted]

He said only turning 2. So no - it goes into his college savings account.

When he gets a little older, he will be allowed to pick out something and the rest will go into the account.

[Deleted]

I also HATE the clutter of a million toys all over. I keep 1/2 his stuff packed away and rotate toys when he seems to be bored with them.

[sarahbear]

I let him decide. Sometimes he saves a little, sometimes he spends all of it.

[whitemerlot]

My kids rarely get money, but they don’t seem to want to spend it. My 7 year old has $170 from allowance and gifts for the last almost 2 years and he hasn’t bought anything. Sometimes when he wants to buy a toy, I tell him I’ll pay half, and that makes him decide not to get it.

[IrishBelle]

For us, it depended on how old they were. For my 6 yo, I still put everything into her account. My 12 yo keeps some of hers for spending money and the rest goes into her account.

[textbookcase]

I usually let them spend it.

[formerlyak]

DS is 11 and eyeing some pretty pricey colleges, so he puts a lot of his gift money into his 529. He doesn’t need a lot of stuff, so he tends to put most gift money from family there. For his birthday, friends tend to do gift cards (last year a group of them all gave him Guitar Center gift cards to help his get to his goal for his new guitar!), so we generally do gift cards = spend, cash or check = college fund.

[Deleted]

My mom gives them $100 in addition to other gifts so it goes in their savings. Any other smaller amount I usually let my oldest spend (the other two are still too young to know).

[eb777888]

Definitely spend!! It’s funny though. David is a saver. I don’t understand it, lol.

[abs]

Spend! DD has never been given more than about $10 at a time though. She will usually save that and combine it with tooth fairy/reward money to buy something she really wants.

[FastHands]

Oct 22, 2017 10:06:59 GMT -5 formerlyak said:

DS is 11 and eyeing some pretty pricey colleges, so he puts a lot of his gift money into his 529. He doesn’t need a lot of stuff, so he tends to put most gift money from family there. For his birthday, friends tend to do gift cards (last year a group of them all gave him Guitar Center gift cards to help his get to his goal for his new guitar!), so we generally do gift cards = spend, cash or check = college fund.

Damn. I'm not sure I even had a real concept of college at 11 and certainly not what it cost, let alone the willpower to save for it on my own.

[wambam]

I don’t have a parenting opinion, but my mom incentivized my niece to save by creating “the bank of Mimi.” If my niece hands over her Christmas and birthday money, my mom doubles it at the end of the year.

[FastHands]

Oct 22, 2017 19:06:10 GMT -5 wambam said:

I don’t have a parenting opinion, but my mom incentivized my niece to save by creating “the bank of Mimi.” If my niece hands over her Christmas and birthday money, my mom doubles it at the end of the year.

That's adorable!
Boy will she be disappointed by banks' actual interest rates!

DS is still a bit too young and has way too many damn toys, so we put any cash in 529 for now. But probably xmas or his next bday we will let him decide. We'll make sure to instill financial lessons (maybe through allowance/chore $?) as he gets older, but I think if someone gives him cash as a gift, they want him to decide how to use it. I'd be bummed if I found out my gift to family kids was put away without their choosing -- I give cash specifically because it's so hard to keep up with what's cool, and I want them to get exactly what they want. I'd give savings bonds (and do for some occasions) if the intent was to stash it away.

[pooh8402]

College account. He's only 2 right now, so he doesn't care. Maybe as he gets older I might let him spend some, but probably not. Growing up, all of my birthday and Christmas money were placed in my college account, not spent, and I definitely appreciated it later.

My assumption is that cash/checks are supposed to go to the college account; as in, that's what the giver intended. That's why I give cash to my nieces and nephews. I give gift cards if I just don't know what to get them.

[formerlyak]

Oct 22, 2017 16:05:44 GMT -5 farmvillelover said:

Oct 22, 2017 14:01:04 GMT -5 FastHands said:

Damn. I'm not sure I even had a real concept of college at 11 and certainly not what it cost, let alone the willpower to save for it on my own.

11 is pretty mature, you'd be surprised. My kid is 5 and we have had real conversations about how hard we work to save for him so he can go to college one day, etc, that his grandma and grandpa have worked really hard to help put money away for college too. He knows when he gets money from family for whatever occasion, that most if not all of it will be put away.  Just recently, he will usually say something along the lines of "can I have a little bit to buy a lego set first, then you can save the rest?" 
I really need and want my kids to understand money concepts from a young age, I wish my parents did it with me actually.

This exactly.

As for “eyeing pricey colleges” - he fell in love with Stanford when I brought him there to show him where I used to work. He looked up how much it cost and I explained this is why we are saving now for college.

[formerlyak]

Oct 22, 2017 22:06:41 GMT -5 farmvillelover said:

Oct 22, 2017 22:03:39 GMT -5 formerlyak said:

This exactly.

As for “eyeing pricey colleges” - he fell in love with Stanford when I brought him there to show him where I used to work. He looked up how much it cost and I explained this is why we are saving now for college.

I like him already! Stanford was my #1 choice but they waitlisted me. And, I couldn't have afforded it anyway lol.

PS - were you previously an LA Nestie and did we go to dinner together at one point with a group of MM'ers, and I sat next to you? And you were the one who tallied our group check lol?  miso

Sadly, it wasn’t me. I am an LA girl, but I’ve never been able to make the GTG. Though I am usually the “banker” at group dinners so that part would have totally fit me had I been there!

As for Stanford, he other parents joke if any of our kids are getting in there it’s my kid, but they only admit like 2% of applicants. I tell him to keep doing his best so he can be eligible for a school like that, but to learn about other options he likes, too. And I keep saving just in case! And I remind him that if he goes there, it will have to be financed through the savings, a student job, scholarship and loans. No way I can afford that one 100%. Lol!

[formerlyak]

farmvillelover that wasn't me. I do remember that Nestie though. My old Nest name was AK.... (and a bunch of numbers that represented the day my ex and I got married. So when I changed it, it became FormerlyAK to keep a part of my old screen name.

[glitzy07]

For us in depends on the age of the kid and how much money.

The little ones (4yo and 22mo), we've just put it right into their piggy bank if it's cash or deposited into our accounts if it's a check. They don't really understand money yet. We use YNAB and have budgeted amounts for each kid, so we know how much money is theirs.

But my older (11yo) stepson obviously has more of a concept of money so depending on the amount we'll give it to him. If it's a larger amount, we'll make him save at least some of it and let him have the rest to spend.

[jlt19]

My 7 year old wants to save her money in her mutual fund for a car when she's 16. She has lofty goals, lol.

My 5 year old wants to buy blind bags. Lucky for him he usually gets cash and a gift card (different grandparents) so I let him buy his blind bags with the gift card and I put the cash in his mf. He'll thank me when he's 16 too

[insominac]

Does anyone have one of those adorable piggy banks that have separate sections for save, donate, and spend? I always thought they seemed like a great idea to encourage beneficial money habits...

[formerlyak]

Oct 23, 2017 14:28:05 GMT -5 insominac said:

Does anyone have one of those adorable piggy banks that have separate sections for save, donate, and spend? I always thought they seemed like a great idea to encourage beneficial money habits...

There's a kit that Home Depot has where kids can make one. It was the kid's workshop project earlier this month, but I think you can buy the kit either online or in store.

[onomatopoeia]

Oct 23, 2017 14:28:05 GMT -5 insominac said:

Does anyone have one of those adorable piggy banks that have separate sections for save, donate, and spend? I always thought they seemed like a great idea to encourage beneficial money habits...

We do this, my kids love it. I just made them out of old mason jars (cut slots in the kids) and had the kids decorate them with stickers. Each kid has 3 jars.