Holliday spending money

[clairedins]

We are off camping to Cornwall next week for 10 nights with our four boys (10, 9, 8 and 5), two are mine and two are my partners. We've been together for two years but do not live together. We were having a discussion last night which became ever so slightly heated, it was to do with giving the children spending money on holiday. The two opinions are:

a) Give them a set amount of money per day and once it's gone it's gone.

b) If they'd like an ice cream or a game of pool then we give them the money at the time if they ask. Within reason.

What happened 18 months ago when we went away was that we gave them a set amount of money which they proceeded to spend on sweets (I'd never done this before but this is how he works on holidays) and I don't particularly want mine being able to buy sweets every single day? We can of course say no to sweets. It's not a camp site with lots of activities that you have to spend money on eg rides, arcades etc so they don't actually need money to buy anything.

My preference would be give them nothing but if they'd like something to ask us and if it's reasonable then we say yes? my partner's argument with that is, where's the limit on how much you give them?

Am I living in the dark ages?

I give my 8 year old a fixed amount on days out, which varies depending on what the needs might be.
If just on the campsite, I think I'd give them a small amount to play pool at the time they went off to play

Surely the answer Is then that they have a budget in mind and you'll give them money for things if asked for? I'd have two budgets in mind, 1 for everyday things and 1 for souvenirs. Tell them they have x amount for souvenirs so they can keep it in mind on trips. Just say no to everyday to things like ice cream If they get to their daily limit.

I don't give out a set amount each day because it just burns a hole in their pocket and they're on a mission to just spend for the sake of it. It's easy to limit how much you give them you just keep a tally in your head so if they've had an ice cream and a game of pool then no more money that day for sweets.

The only time I give mine set amounts is when we go to the arcade and when it's spent we leave otherwise I do get sucked into spending too much.

Plus your age range is quite broad I wouldn't expect a five year old to spend wisely!