To let ds (5) spend some of his christmas money?

[Whowillsaveyoursoul]

Ds was lucky enough to receive £700 in money this christmas. He does most Christmases and birthdays so consequently has a lot of money saved.
He had some playmobil pirates for christmas and wants to buy as island for them. It's £50. Dh says ds has had loads for christmas and doesn't need anything else...which is true. However I think if he pays in £650 to his savings £50 isn't too much to spend on something he'd really like. His birthday isn't until June so he's a while to wait otherwise.
Aibu to think it would be ok for him to have the £50?

This is one of the reasons I no longer give cash to children, so many see it as fair game for the parent to spend or lock the money away in savings so tjhe child doesn't get a present and it's worth far less when they get to adulthood.

A doll isn't a 'great lot for £50' but the ones kids want are around that price. Loads of toys are expensive these days.

Someone gave him the money as a gift, he should be allowed to spend a sum on a toy he can enjoy now.

I think they learn a valuable lesson either way. My elder DS (14) saves up and always has done - then he splurges on something big that he wants but never more than half of what he has in his day to day account. Money burns a hole in younger DSs pocket but at 13 he has started to realise that when older DS goes out and buys himself a new TV, he can't becasue he has spent it all on computer games. He has started saving as he can see the benefits. Older DS didn't spend anything for a long time and it became an anchor round his neck as he could see the total rising and didn't want to touch it but was really getting no pleasure from his gifts. I think they have reached a happy medium.

brokenhearted55a It may not be a "great lot" to you but it may be to the OP's child. My DS(4) recently wanted to buy two boxes of Lego at £90 each and I allowed him to because it was his money. £50 deducted from his money is NOT going to put a strain on his savings.

Yes it's that one - it actually retails at £99 but our local garden centre currently has heavily discounted playmobil because they're ceasing to sell it!
I didn't think £50 was too bad for it given the general cost of playmobil. It comes with quite a lot and is a big set. Ds could put it on his play table.

I guess if each of the givers had specifically said ' this is for his savings account' then your husband would have a point. But probably at least some of the givers had in kind that it would be for your son to spend on a toy of his choosing. Maybe next year say to him in advance that he may want to buy something up to £50 after Christmas and to think about what he would really like.

Part of learning to be responsible with money is making your own choices (hopefully guided ones at 5 yo). It is Christmas money given instead of gifts then surely he has the right to buy one or two toys he wants with it - as long as the bulk of the money is untouched.

If it doesn't get played with much or he wants something more in two months time, then he will learn a lesson about spending vs saving/waiting, if he plays with it everyday then money well spent.

Agree that if it is not played with much then it can be resold - I have done that with a lot of my DCs toys that were not popular and 50 pounds for a large playmobil set is well priced.

I think you should let him spend some of it too. My 2 got money at Christmas and clubbed together to buy skylanders swap force just after Christmas. They have also bought some characters. Teaches them about the value of money and making choices.

I know my mum did for me when I was young. The baby born my god daughter got with clothes was £44. Things like sylvanian families and stuff cost a fortune! A lot of children's toys are expensive. Look at those bloody furbies. It doesn't matter what the price is anyway, it's a small fraction of money the child has been given and he has chosen that one thing.

buying him something to complement what he already has would make him play with the toys more. He will still have plenty money left afterwards too.

Some people just like to suck the joy out of everything. You could ask PIL or your parents if they would object to him spending it if you like but at the end of the day, once the money is given it's none of their business what DS does with it. Yes it is your business and your role as parents to guide him to make sensible decisions or to let him make his own mistakes in a controlled way. At the end of the day the value of the money in the account is meaningless to a five your old and there would seem to be a lot of play pleasure to be gained and it's exciting getting to pick your very own thing.

As he gets older i'd get him involved with the money and deciding how much gets saved long term, how much gets saved short term and how much is for spending "just because".

Our rule of thumb when they were younger was that a minimum of a third went to save for the future and a minimum of half the remainder went into the piggy bank to save for the shorter term e.g. a big toy/bike/gadget and the remainder was for buying whatever they wanted i.e. sweets/comics/cinema/smaller toys.

Ds had a slightly smaller version of that & loves it.

I always used to give vouchers as I knew they had to be spent on the child rather than parents forcing it all to be saved I now give money as the children I buy for have specifically requested It.

My children have always been allowed to spend some but encouraged to save some of their money. The only real refusal I've made us not allowing ds to buy £50 of FIFA game points!

It's a good lesson. He is currently saving for a sports trip but has still spent some Christmas money.

brokenhearted55a You sound very bitter and adamant to convince the OP not to let her DS get the toy, in regards to who spends £50 on dolls, a lot of people do, there are many selling for that price in the Disney Store as well as Hamleys. I don't really see what business it is of yours if the £50 gets wasted it's not your money, anyone here would think it's coming out of your pocket.

ds ended up with around 80 pound from leftover birthday savings,christmas and pocket money he has bought an Xbox game and two skylanders so around 50 pound I've told him the other thirty he can save as he has had such a lot recently with christmas, I agree with you that it's perfectly fine for ds to buy the island he wants and then save some.

If he's going to get a significant amount of cash twice a year, what about saying that 90% needs to go into savings, and he can spend the rest?

DS1 won £100 in a drawing competition. He wanted a power ranger, so he got one. The rest went into the bank account - and I make them come to the bank with me.

Jesus wept, your 5 yr old got £700 Christmas money? Am blown away quite frankly.

When i was a child I'd have been hard pushed to clear 70p much less £700 at Christmas.....but would I hate my parents for allowing me to spend money rather than save it? hell no, that's a bit ridiculous tbh.

My DB had lots of playmobil growing up... When he got to 18 he sold it on EBay and made about £2000 abs bought a car!

Go for it!

PlayMobil is fabulous and there's nothing more enjoyable for a child than to add to their collection and extend their play, £50 is nothing if the funds are available.

Yes south. Pil are millionaires. They choose to give him a significant amount of money. He's very lucky. Consequently he has well over £10,000 in savings. I don't see the issue really, it's not like he's allowed access to the savings at the moment. He will be able to use it for a house / car / university when he's much much older. He's very fortunate I appreciate.