• My family is planning our annual trip to a Disney park. This year we are changing it up a bit by going to Florida instead of California. Having grown up in Southern California, I am quite partial to Disneyland, but I have to admit that I am beyond excited to visit Disney World for the first time. I might be just as excited as my three kids.

    As you might imagine, planning any sort of vacation (especially one that involves Disney) requires budgeting and planning. I don’t want my kids to miss out on this part of the deal. I want them to be apart of the budgeting and planning, and most importantly saving. This is how we came up with “Mom Bucks.” We don’t deal a ton in cash anymore so planning an allowance is difficult. Instead we deal with our Mom Bucks.

    For every random act of kindness our kids do they get a buck. I’m talking big stuff here though, like giving your brother the last piece of bacon good. Not only does it have to be something amazing like that, it has to be unprompted. If my son helps pick up the toys at the end of the night, for example, he gets a buck. If my daughter agrees to play the game her brother does without complaining, she gets a buck.

    One thing I would like to point out though, is that their normal daily chores don’t count. My daughter is expected to unload the dishwasher in the morning, she does not get a buck for that. That is her chore that she is expected to complete in order to be a part of our family. This has to be big extra stuff, on top of their normal responsibilities.

    Each of their Mom Bucks are redeemable for one Disney Dollar once we reach Disney World. Disney Dollars are each worth one dollar cash. So they have nine months to raise their individual spending money for our vacation.

    I love the responsibility this gives each of my kids. We all know that they will want some toy or another while visiting the parks, and this way they are enabled to control how much they can or cannot buy.

    From the parent perspective, not only am I teaching my kids to work for what they want, they will learn how to handle their own money, make change, and learn what it is like to not be able to afford some things. All are important lessons in my opinion.

    If money is tight for your family, you can put a limit on how much money they can earn as well. They don’t have to be Mom Bucks, but instead Mom Quarters, or even dimes. Do what works best for your family while teaching your kids a good work ethic.

    An added bonus, is that my kids can also lose their Mom Bucks when they display less than stellar behavior. When my son is a pest to his sister, he loses a dollar and it goes into her jar. And vice versa if she is a pest to him.

    At this rate, I have nine more months of amazing kids.