Spending money for school trips

[Newnamefor2021]

My eldest is doing one night in London next year. Leaving 6am and coming back 11pm the next day. Only meal that's listed as included is breakfast the second day.

So wondering how many to send and should I get him a bank card or go Henry or something similar? He has ALN so hasn't had a card before or had any interest in one but he's nearly 13 so probably should.

Is £200 enough? It feels a lot for someone who barely eats but I don't want him to have too little, but equally he has no concept of money and if it was too much he could likely spend it on something like a mega Lego set!

£200 is way too much. £50 would cover food and a souvenir

Oh ok. See this is why I thought I should ask. I have no idea where they will choose to eat but if he had an adult meal and drink then that's around £20. Even a sandwich meal deal is like £3-4. Pringles are like £3 a tub.

Glad £200 is way too much though.

Go Henry works brilliantly for my 13 year old. You can set it to pre ent cash withdraw als or online use. It can be frozen on the app if it's lost like most cards. I would get him one now and start practising. I know other cards are available and cheaper but the basic premise of what is essentially a gift card works really well for my kids and they love it

The school will likely tell you nearer the time what their plans are and how much they’re allowed (school trips here always have a maximum amount allowed)

Ask the teacher leading the trip how much they recommend and what meals need to be paid for. I did this when DS went to Iceland recently, mind you he ended up using the money to rent an escooter and buy an Iceland football top , so I'd recommend not being too generous.

I very much doubt that the school will be expecting a large group of young teens to find their own food for 2 days. I suspect, at this stage, "included" means "included in this upfront price". I feel like they might organise or suggest something nearer the time. Go Henry is excellent though, as you can set spending limits in shops, ATMs or online or suspend the card temporarily altogether, and transfer money in an emergency too.

I can't imagine they'll go somewhere that's more than wasabi or itsu. They won't want to waste time sitting down for ages to eat, so I wouldn't factor in more than £20 for food. Bring a small packed lunch for the journey with snacks. £100 if you want to be very generous, would be plenty.

I think I’d do £150 and teach him the price of meals out, eg. Lunches are about £10 and dinners are £20. Also remind him to ask for water with meals and buy drinks during the day, they can forget to drink at that age.
I expect there will be a meeting or letter nearer the time with a suggestion for spending money.

I would have thought that the most expensive food they'd get would be a five guys. Does he usually have pocket money? How is he with managing money, having been on lots of trips there are definitely kids that are determined to spend every penny they have and others that will just get the minimum

The school will advise you nearer the time but I'd give him £20 cash and a card. Then if he loses the card you can stop it and if he loses the cash, it's not the end of the world.

My autistic teenager spends every penny I give him on school trips so if I gave him £200, he would spend £20 on food and the rest on random tat from gift shops.

Sounds perfect! Thank you. Will get one.

Fabulous! Thank you. That's really helpful. As he's my eldest it's the first time I've experienced a school trip and really wasn't sure how it worked. That's a relief they give guidance.

Haha. Yeah that's helpful too. He's also likely to be taken advantage of. People will often prey on his nature. If he wastes it he wastes it but I don't want to make him a target.

Yes I think they will take them to each place, they have so much fitted in that they will have to, which is great, i just want to make sure he has enough.

Will definitely order a go Henry card for him. Sounds ideal.

So he has to buy
Day 1 breakfast, lunch and dinner
Day 2 lunch and dinner

Snacks, drinks, bearing in mind a bottle of Fanta in London when i went to touristy places was over £2

Id do 200, maybe 50 cash in a money belt? And a card kept maybe in backpack so its seperate if loses money belt.

Id sooner my dcs have more than not enough. Id hate they were hungry or thirsty and didnt have enough left.
Or see their mate buy a nice £30 souvenir and not be able to.

Ive always given my eldest more than he needs

And ill do the same with others when time arises

Great. Thanks. I was going to do snacks for the bus too, as it's 4 hours ish so will be awhile on the bus.

Yeah I don't know what he will eat or drink but it's just one night so I assume he will cope. He often doesn't want. It's a source of contention as be often skips lunch and he only eats one thing of he does.

I suppose this is a bit of a extra info but we have some concerns he possibly is developing an eating disorder so if be pretty happy if he spent a small fortune on food. Also he can think on extremes so if I mention the price of food he will think we can't afford food and he will be more likely to not eat. Although I think that's perfect advice for most, I'd do the same with his sibling.

Please don't get your teenager a go Henry card.

Just open a bank account.

Due to his ALNs and covid he's not had a lot of opportunities to spend without supervision. The occasional time he tends to get taken advantage of and pay for others. He will often come home for things for others. But he does spend most of it.

He's autistic too. I am not sure what he will do but he does tend to buy for others and sometimes get taken advantage of.

@Newnamefor2021 I think it's worth talking to the teachers going about the fact that he could end up paying for others. They can monitor the situation and hopefully give you a realistic budget for one.

Also you could drip feed the money to him. I don't know about Go Henry but with DSs bank account we can do instant money transfer, so you could give him it in increments rather than all in one go.

Yes that was absolutely by thought. He's doing a show one night and snacks would likely be pricey there. And other touristy things which tend to have higher costs.

I think because he can tend to just not eat, I want to make sure he has lots of opportunities to get food if he wants something. Even service stations aren't cheap.

Yes, I will do this, school can give me a better idea and he can text me for more money if he needs it. I'll get him a card ordered this week.