Who does this money belong to ?

[BurpeesAreTheWorkOfTheDevil]

You give a child (9) £10 for spending money on school trip.
Child spends £6.

Who does the £4 belong to?

The parent or the child?

If affordable, I would prefer it to be the child's. Because that teaches a valuable lesson about how it can be worth not spending every penny on crap.

Definitely child, otherwise you're teaching them to spend everything or lose it. Bad life lesson

This unless they were given say £10 because you had no change and were explicitly told they could only spend x amount.

Child. You don't want to teach them to spend all the money they get as soon as they get it. You want them to learn self restraint and to save up.

I agree with the majority, the child can keep their change.

So which parent are you, OP?

I think the child should be commended for not spending it all just for the sake of spending it....then encouraged to save it up.

I found my teenager does this. She will go out for the day with friends and I’ll give money for lunch. She will just get a bag of crisps and a drink and keep the change. Or I’ll give her spending money for snacks at the cinema and they will see a discounted show and not buy snacks. She saves it all up and buys clothes.

If it was to spend on something specific ("Buy an ice cream.", "Get a present for your brother while you're there.", "Pick up a mug with the name of attraction on.", etc.) then I think the change belongs to the parent.

But if it was general spending money then it doesn't matter whether it's spent on the trip or saved and spent 4 weeks later. As others have said - a use it or lose it policy instills poor financial habits.

I've never asked for the change back.

Boom who does that though? If you give a child spending money for a day out, it's up to them what they spend it on.

Child and well done them for not spending it all just because they could.

What was said to child when the money was given? If parent said they wanted the change, then it's the parent's money. If they just said "Here's a tenner" then technically it was just given and so it's the child's.

With dd, if I didn't specify, then she was free to spend it all or only spend some and save the rest. She generally bought something cheap on school trips so she could put the rest towards something she actually wanted.

Child.

Ajas my mum used to.

Technically, it's the parent's, as the money was given for a purpose, but I'm not that tight that I would take £4 off a child to make a point.

"For spending money on school trip"
In this instance then the parent.

I always give mine over the amount I think they'll need for emergencies but tell them I expect the change back. As you didn't say you wanted change beforehand I think it belongs to your child.

As pp's have said, depends how it was given. Also maybe a difference between whether it was given for a few days' residential, or more of a 'just in case' on a day trip?

I've given my kids decent pocket money since they were quite young and so they would never now expect me to fund their gift shop tat habit, lol. So they would have taken their own money too, and they'd probably automatically give mine back.

Thinking of their last trips, I gave them money in euros, so they definitely gave what was left back.

Child. I always tell DS he can keep the change as it encourages him to not buy crap and actually save his money for something he really wants.

My DCs would give me the change but I would have intended for them to have the whole amount.

I'd say the parent.

However, if DC returned with change and offered it to me I'd probably let them keep it.

Parent

The parent, it’s change! If I give my son £1 to spend in the tuck shop in a daily basis he automatically gives me the change when he next goes in his bag. I sometimes get 5p I sometimes get 50p but it’s what was not spent on the day.

Child. If they spent the £10, you wouldn't ask for it back.

Have you ever noticed at the end of the financial year companies and government have a burst of spending - that's in case someone audits and decides their budget can be cut because they didn't spend it all.

Don't teach this to your child.

As a child my parents would have expected it back but I'd let DS keep it.

Child.