Is this a cute idea or a stupid one?

[Deleted]

One caution, if you routinely buy your kids whatever they want at DD anyway, they might not consider a gift card there a present? I generally let the kids buy music they want. One year I got them iTunes cards (before they went android) and they were really not impressed... It wasn't like they were paying for music anyway... Now I think they were older than your kids, and it might not be the same for everyone...

[whoisjohngalt]

I think they will get a kick out of having their "own" cards to use there.

We shall see.....I will update if you guys are interested. 

[NancysSummerSip]

I like it; frankly, DD coffee is awesome! I cannot eat donuts (or any form of fried dough) but the coffee rocks! And it's a nice little money management tool in the bargain.

Are you going to give the kids the whole "coffee stunts your growth" lecture like we got when we were kids?

[whoisjohngalt]

Dec 29, 2015 10:14:16 GMT -5 NancysSummerSip said:

I like it; frankly, DD coffee is awesome! I cannot eat donuts (or any form of fried dough) but the coffee rocks! And it's a nice little money management tool in the bargain.

Are you going to give the kids the whole "coffee stunts your growth" lecture like we got when we were kids?

Only one kid so far is interested in coffee.  I am old school, I can not imagine such young kids being  anywhere near coffee.

But they love donuts and croissants and chocolate milk. 

I might or might not point out to them that there is about 1000% mark up on chocolate milk in DD.  Depending on how evil I feel that day

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

I often give my kids gift cards: 
iTunes, the local coffee stand, manicures. 

For Christmas, I gave DD#1 a $40 "certificate" for an iPhone case. (She has an iPhone 4 and gets an iPhone 6S for her Jan 3 birthday.)
I thought she would get one high quality case, but she got five low quality cases instead. 

My mother has given them a gift card to the non-WalMart store the last few years in August for back-to-school stuff. 

I think it works well in the sense of both kids getting to choose their own stuff, a gift that doesn't create clutter, and learning how to spend money. 

[NancysSummerSip]

Dec 29, 2015 11:15:22 GMT -5 whoisjohngalt said:

Dec 29, 2015 10:14:16 GMT -5 NancysSummerSip said:

I like it; frankly, DD coffee is awesome! I cannot eat donuts (or any form of fried dough) but the coffee rocks! And it's a nice little money management tool in the bargain.

Are you going to give the kids the whole "coffee stunts your growth" lecture like we got when we were kids?

I might or might not point out to them that there is about 1000% mark up on chocolate milk in DD.  Depending on how evil I feel that day

I think that could be another aspect of the money management thing. No reason not to point it out. They can get more of something they don't get at home (the donuts) if they pass on something they can make cheaper at home (the chocolate milk), even though making it is a bit inconvenient. It's a good wants vs. needs lesson, in a way. Or maybe a wants vs. really-really-wants lesson, in this case.

And I've given my DH coffee cards in the past, including the i-Bar at our local Nordstrom's, where they make excellent coffee drinks.

[GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl]

Since DD is a regular stop in your routine, and until now you've paid for everyone and everything, will you still pay if someone's card runs out before the others'?

Because, if not, you should be really, really clear about the change in procedure ahead of time, multiple times.

I used to give my kids their spending money for our annual beach vacation ahead of time with clear instructions that it was for use at the general store and conversations about how to make the money last through the week (or two). It's kind of fun to watch their little minds churning as they decide if they need a candy bar or boogie board and to listen to their plans at breakfast to ride up at a certain time and only bring $x so they won't be tempted to buy more.  

[tloonya]

Dec 28, 2015 19:26:33 GMT -5 whoisjohngalt said:

For certain reasons (and I can tell you if you are interested) I wanted to do little gifts to my kids and husband for New Years.

For other certain reasons (again, I can tell you, just didn't want to make this post 10 pgs long) I don't want it to be toys of any kind.

So, I came up with the idea of giving them Dunkin Donuts gift cards.  $10 for each kid.  More for husband.

They all love DD and I thought it would be a cool budgeting experiment to see how they do. 

So, what do ya think?

Do you want to see them in diabetic coma?

[whoisjohngalt]

Dec 29, 2015 13:00:50 GMT -5 tloonya said:

Dec 28, 2015 19:26:33 GMT -5 whoisjohngalt said:

For certain reasons (and I can tell you if you are interested) I wanted to do little gifts to my kids and husband for New Years.

For other certain reasons (again, I can tell you, just didn't want to make this post 10 pgs long) I don't want it to be toys of any kind.

So, I came up with the idea of giving them Dunkin Donuts gift cards.  $10 for each kid.  More for husband.

They all love DD and I thought it would be a cool budgeting experiment to see how they do. 

So, what do ya think?

Do you want to see them in diabetic coma?

Yep!  that's my goal!

[tloonya]

Dec 29, 2015 13:12:42 GMT -5 whoisjohngalt said:

Dec 29, 2015 13:00:50 GMT -5 tloonya said:

Do you want to see them in diabetic coma?

Yep!  that's my goal!

How cute is that?

[cronewitch]

When we were kids we ate a lot of ice cream a half gallon for 5 people so 1/6th each and two for who ever finished first(dad). So we always ate ice cream as fast as we could.
Once dad bought each of us a quart of ice cream we could eat whenever we wanted. My brothers had theirs gone in a couple of days mine lasted forever it seemed. I would eat a tiny serving in front of them while they didn't have any left. I really enjoyed mine mostly since they didn't have any.

[tloonya]

Dec 29, 2015 12:09:45 GMT -5 GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl said:

Since DD is a regular stop in your routine, and until now you've paid for everyone and everything, will you still pay if someone's card runs out before the others'?

Because, if not, you should be really, really clear about the change in procedure ahead of time, multiple times.

I used to give my kids their spending money for our annual beach vacation ahead of time with clear instructions that it was for use at the general store and conversations about how to make the money last through the week (or two). It's kind of fun to watch their little minds churning as they decide if they need a candy bar or boogie board and to listen to their plans at breakfast to ride up at a certain time and only bring $x so they won't be tempted to buy more.  

Once neighbor with 2 kids and me with my DD went to a Wildwood for a few days and kids of course were unstoppable with wants.
So next day we had decided to give them $20 to spend on their own wants.

We are still laughing about how all of a sudden $4.00 lemonade became not really needed (too
expensive, but when we were pying it was 'just a $4 )
and all the games weren't 'must play'...just a few favorite ones.
And looking at the shoes prices at shoe store they were looking for sale tags.
Finally they spent their money but they made practical purchases like sandals and umbrellas etc.
Youngest boy even got some change left in his pocket.

Why had we had never done this again Idk

[whoisjohngalt]

Well.....I was at DD at 10am this morning with 2 older kids. 

So far no one lost the card and all is well.

[tloonya]

Dec 30, 2015 1:20:11 GMT -5 cronewitch said:

When we were kids we ate a lot of ice cream a half gallon for 5 people so 1/6th each and two for who ever finished first(dad). So we always ate ice cream as fast as we could.
Once dad bought each of us a quart of ice cream we could eat whenever we wanted. My brothers had theirs gone in a couple of days mine lasted forever it seemed. I would eat a tiny serving in front of them while they didn't have any left. I really enjoyed mine mostly since they didn't have any.

1. Does sibling cruelty runs in your family?

2. This s exactly why I am having one child.

3. I would love to see your face if they stole it from you and ate it!