Burning Question: Do You Buy Souvenirs?
August 21, 2007 by Karen Weideman
Filed under financial matters, frugal living, travel
My friend and I were having a discussion the other day and I disagreed with her. When she takes her kids places she always buys them a souvenir.
Last year she took the family to Disney on Ice. The tickets alone cost her more than $100. Then she bought each child a souvenir and I think she also bought them a drink that came in a special Disney cup or something like that.
When it was all said and done, with tickets, souvenirs, drinks, food, gas, etc., she had probably spent $200 on the outing. To me, that’s money that could be put towards a pretty nice vacation.
Last week, I took my children to the N.C. Aquarium, then to lunch at McDonald’s, and then afterwards I took them to the beach at Emerald Isle. I never mentioned a word about buying them anything. We took some extra snacks and drinks with us. Including my parent’s lunch and entry fee, our day trip cost less than $50.
I’m not some kind of Scrooge that never buys my kids anything and I’m not saying I’ve never or never will buy my kids a souvenir. My kids would be just as happy with a $2 pack of stickers from the aquarium as they would with a $20 stuffed animal.
I just don’t see the need in giving into the bait of buying my kids some over priced crap that they will never play with. I think their treat should be getting the chance to go places and the learning experiences from that. Plus, I don’t want to teach my kids to expect something. That would be the worst part to me.
What do you think? Do you buy your kids something every time you go somewhere? Is it an occasional purchase? Do you spend a lot? I’d love to read your comments and please vote in the poll. Thanks!
Heck No they don’t get souvenirs. They get the experience and the time – which is what a daytrip is all about.
If we spend $200 on every day trip then we get way fewer daytrips. I might take my kids on some cool adventure, but it’s not about the t-shirt of stuffed animal.
Things – especially with small children, they have such a 5 minute value. Will it thrill them for 5 minutes? Sure, anything will. But, will it be as cool next week? No. Will it be ruined and under the bed? Probably. Was it a waste of money – totally.
No. We’ll be using coupons or the first free Tuesday special and pay for gas. The souvenir isn’t likely and neither is the special food treat or overpriced cup I’ll throw away in 3 months.
BTW, I’ve nominated you for an Inspirational Blogger Award, because you are. Keep up the good work telling people to focus their money on more important things than the souvenir.
Tracee Sioux
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Forget the kids. I buy MYSELF a souvenir wherever we go. LOL!
I actually started a shot glass collection when I was a kid (just thought they were cute mini glasses) but now I’ve started on magnets. They’re cheaper and more useful. My kids really aren’t old enough yet to have asked for somethingf to remind them of every trip but I think when it occurs I’d like to tell them they can buy one inexpensive memento from places we go. Like a magnet, or key chain. Then when they start getting an allowance, I’ll give them extra chores to do before a vacation and they can use that money to spend on what they will. But that could definitely change.
Occasionally I buy my kids souvenirs. More often than not, I make them spend their own money. And most of the time, they don’t even buy themselves souvenirs. We take lots of pictures. That’s enough of a souvenir for us.
I agree with making them use their own money. I hadn’t thought of that one, I guess because my kids are so young. Maybe I can change the poll.
Thanks Tracee. The nomination means so much! I hope I am inspiring other people.
It depends on the place. Sometimes we do buy trinkets, other times, not. When we went to the NC Aquarium, it was also a trip to the beach, so they could get a plastic animal–shark, sea turtle, and alligator–from the gift shop. They didn’t get anything else though. With the NC Zoo membership, we didn’t pay for admission to the Aquarium, so we “splurged” with the toys ($0.99). Haha. If I were to spend $100 on tickets to an event, no trinkets or they use their own money.
We usually get souvenirs. When we go to something like on ice, we usually get a program & a stuffed animal. A lot of times my parents will each give the kids $10 to spend. When we go places like the zoo, they usually get one stuff animal a year, so if we go several times they only get 1 present. I never spend more then $10 per kid & usually less. I guess I have a thing for the stuffed animals, I used to collect them when we went places so I let my kids. I do tell the kids not to expect anything & the trip itself is the thing they are getting. Then if we have the money we will get something. I won’t let them buy those silly souvenirs like the plastic animal heads at the zoo or something that will be lost or broken right away.
Here’s a fun idea… take photos at the outing and then when you get home make frames that fit the theme. Big popsicle sticks are good for homemade frames then paint and embellish with stickers, buttons, trinkets, etc.
As for snacks, besides being cheaper, if you bring your own you also can have your kids favorites (hopefully healthier) snacks and don’t have to wait in line forever!
Besides doing what Angela does, we used to let the kids buy/find/make something for the Christmas tree that would remind them of a really fun outing. Now that they are in their 30’s, they can still recount where and why they have these ornaments on the tree. They have souvenir spoons, decorated shells, seed pods & pine cones, mini ceramic bells, a couple of die-cast cars, etc. It makes for an interesting Christmas tree and one that all visitors always ask about. ” Why do you have this big piece of mica on the tree? Mined it in NH when I was 10″
Doubt if we spent more than $2 on anything. At today’s prices, maybe it would be double.
I like to buy a postcard (even if I’m not going to mail it) so that we’re guaranteed of one really good shot. Even if the digital camera shows a good picture, the image could be deleted or the memory card corrupted or something. I do mail one postcard home per trip so that we have an image, the date (based on the cancellation stamp) and a hint of where our minds were. When I do purchase or collect souvenirs, I try for Christmas ornaments also and then there is less to store, dust and keep track of.