Limiting ability to charge on a seapass

[mjkacmom]

10 hours ago, iuki said:

No matter how responsible teenagers are, mistakes happen.  Even adults can forget how much they have spent.f

How could a teenager accidentally buy something? This isn’t the same as an adult having too much wine and shopping on Amazon while watching TV.

[rudeney]

If your child would be with you for all shore excursions, but they just need the SeaPass card to access the room, you could keep their cards with you, and get an extra room key from GS - it won't work as ID or charging, but will open the door.

 

[iuki]

3 hours ago, mjkacmom said:

How could a teenager accidentally buy something? This isn’t the same as an adult having too much wine and shopping on Amazon while watching TV.

To clarify what I meant - if you told a teenager they’re allowed so much spending per day, they could forget about an earlier purchase that day and go over the limit.  

[bayportkat]

When we have cruised with our kids (and at Disney where you can purchase with  your room key) and now with their credit cards attached to our accounts, they were told that any purchase that was not pre approved would be paid back to us at 3x the cost (so if they made a $25 unapproved charge, they would have to pay $75).  I do have very responsible teens, so it works with them (though may have issues with my youngest - haven't tried this yet).  If they were going off without us with others, we would sometimes pre-approve items, like snacks, etc.  Otherwise, they would text us asking permission or on a cruise, come find us/leave a message in the room since most things on a cruise are included.  

[mjkacmom]

3 hours ago, iuki said:

To clarify what I meant - if you told a teenager they’re allowed so much spending per day, they could forget about an earlier purchase that day and go over the limit.  

I’d never give a limit, just say yes or no purchases like I do when they use my credit card. If I give a limit they’re apt to spend money to reach it. However if someone wants a latte they can just ask if they can get one. 

[gluecksbaer]

33 minutes ago, mjkacmom said:

I’d never give a limit, just say yes or no purchases like I do when they use my credit card. If I give a limit they’re apt to spend money to reach it. However if someone wants a latte they can just ask if they can get one. 

 

I've found the opposite to be true.  If you give kids a limit of the total amount you are willing to spend on extras/souvenirs/etc then they make careful choices because they think of it as "their" money.  If you are the Bank of Mom then they ask all the time for whatever strikes their fancy.

[rudeney]

47 minutes ago, gluecksbaer said:

 

I've found the opposite to be true.  If you give kids a limit of the total amount you are willing to spend on extras/souvenirs/etc then they make careful choices because they think of it as "their" money.  If you are the Bank of Mom then they ask all the time for whatever strikes their fancy.

 

Back in the good old days, we did this at WDW - gave them Disney Dollars to spend and you should have seen the justifications for buy/no-buy of each and every purchase!  Now with it being on a card and not in "cash" it makes it much harder for kids to understand.  

[gluecksbaer]

49 minutes ago, rudeney said:

 

Back in the good old days, we did this at WDW - gave them Disney Dollars to spend and you should have seen the justifications for buy/no-buy of each and every purchase!  Now with it being on a card and not in "cash" it makes it much harder for kids to understand.  

 

It worked well for us with gift cards at Disney at 4 years old except for the fact that Grandpa came with us and my kids have always had him wrapped around their little fingers.  We kept track of things they had looked at and talked about how much they had left and what that meant.  They turned down several things until their money was spent and they started in on Grandpa instead.  

[Mum2Mercury]

20 hours ago, iuki said:

No matter how responsible teenagers are, mistakes happen.  Even adults can forget how much they have spent.

Exactly.  Cruise ships use the card-system for a very good reason:  People tend to spend more when they're "spending plastic".  I read somewhere that people tend to spend 30% more when they're paying with a credit card.  Why?  Because they don't have to add up what they're purchasing, so it's just easier to go overboard without realizing it.  

 

If adults are prone to spending more than they intended, how much more likely are teens to do it?  

 

Changing the subject slightly: When my kids were teens I always bought them the soda package.  That allowed them to get the only thing they really "needed" to buy -- and at that point the soda package also provided milk shakes and mocktails, so they felt they were living high on the hog.  Because I have girls, I also felt good about them being able to "walk away from" any drink that'd been out of their sight for even a moment; I did lecture them pretty strongly on that.