SCHOOL TOUR

lip

My 14 year old is going on a european tourto Spain with school and I'm not sure how much spending money I should give him. I was thinking E20 a day,but my husband thinks he would need more. All his meals are included so its just for snacks and a few pressies. What do ye think? There is a meeting soon to discuss it so I am hoping they might put a limit on it. Would hate to think of him not having the same as his friends.

January

I'm sure some kids will have more than others but it will probably be discussed at the meeting as I'm sure teachers don't want the kids turning up with hundreds and then losing it too...

Daisy M

Has he not been saving anything himself? I would agree with your hubby if you could afford it. Does he have a bank account with a atm card, you could always lodge extra money in there if he was struggling.

lip

Hi,thanks for replies.I'm hoping it will be on the agenda at the meeting. He has paid for most of the trip so we'll be giving him his spending money.No,he doesn't have a bank account. Do kids of that age have bank accounts? Am I living in the dark ages? I suppose I'm wondering if anyone has had this dilemma and what they did.Thanks again.

LegacyUser

Firstly, who is DH?

Secondly, do you not have a relationship with any of the other parents whereby you could ask them what their children are bringing?

January

unregistered wrote: »

Firstly, who is DH?

Secondly, do you not have a relationship with any of the other parents whereby you could ask them what their children are bringing?

DH - husband, I've corrected that now.

Lip, the charter states that you shouldn't use abbreviations or short codes that other forums use. Sorry I missed it the first time around. Just a reminder

January

Daisy M

lip wrote: »

Hi,thanks for replies.I'm hoping it will be on the agenda at the meeting. He has paid for most of the trip so we'll be giving him his spending money.No,he doesn't have a bank account. Do kids of that age have bank accounts? Am I living in the dark ages? I suppose I'm wondering if anyone has had this dilemma and what they did.Thanks again.

Fair play to him! I have a 13yr old and he doesnt have an account. He hasnt gone on any of these trips yet but my understanding from my friends whos kids go is they bring a lot of money, however times are very changed in the last few years. If it was my lad I would either set him up with an account or give him a card for an account I had, I wouldnt be putting lots of cash in it but it would be a way of helping him out if you felt it was justified. How much would he normally bring when he goes away with yourselves? Wait and see what the school say they will probably give you a good indication.

cbyrd

I remember when we went on the away trip with the school it was the same amount for everyone. think it worked out about £120 at the time,(1990) and the school did the sums. you weren't allowed to bring anymore than that.
we went for 7 days to france germany and belgium . .
It's something, i would imagine, that would be top of the list to be discussed at the meeting. . time that are in it and all

lip

Thanks everyone. I have asked a few of his friend's parents,but they're in the same boat as myself. I will bring it up at the meeting and hopefully there will be a limit.
I am a bit iffy giving him his own ATM card,he is a typical lad and would have it lost.

The Lovely Muffin

I've never been on a school trip abroad, but I remember when I was in school and we were given letters about it, the maximum (each) students was allowed to bring was €350, for the entire week.

That said, the spending money had to cover everything out, there, food, shopping, etc and then the travel costs incurred out there. The school had organised transport obviously, but it was extra.

The flights and accommodation were nearly €1,500k (plus spending money) (back in 2006/2007), so not many students went, parents weren't willing to spend such amounts of money.

Then there was a skiing trip, was nearly double the price tbh.

Out of curiosity, how much is this school trip? Have they come down in price since then I wonder?

lip

Purple_Bobbin wrote: »

I've never been on a school trip abroad, but I remember when I was in school and we were given letters about it, the maximum (each) students was allowed to bring was €350, for the entire week.

That said, the spending money had to cover everything out, there, food, shopping, etc and then the travel costs incurred out there. The school had organised transport obviously, but it was extra.

The flights and accommodation were nearly €1,500k (plus spending money) (back in 2006/2007), so not many students went, parents weren't willing to spend such amounts of money.

Then there was a skiing trip, was nearly double the price tbh.

Out of curiosity, how much is this school trip? Have they come down in price since then I wonder?

HI,its costing E1000 for 5 nights to Barcelona. It includes all meals and trips to different attractions,so its not too bad,compared to the trip in your school. We have also been paying it off for the past year and half,therefore no big lumpsum to hand out.
Hopefully I won't be the only one who would prefer a limit on spending money.

Smashhits

Hi Lips, my son has been going away each year with his scout troop to camp each summer and they always set the limit each child is allowed to bring. He's been to London, Switzerland and this year it's isle of Man. If they're food, accomodation etc is covered they'll end up spending the money on sweets/junk food. The question i'd ask is would you allow him to spend €20 a day on that here?

LittleBook

lip wrote: »

I'm hoping it will be on the agenda at the meeting.

I'm fairly sure it will be on the agenda at the school meeting. My daughter went to the US recently with the school and they were very specific about this kind of thing and they will take no responsibility for the money. All the parents will be advised to provide the same amount.

Of course some will provide more or less, but you'll have a general "official" guideline.

lip wrote: »

Do kids of that age have bank accounts? Am I living in the dark ages?

lip wrote: »

I am a bit iffy giving him his own ATM card,he is a typical lad and would have it lost.

Off topic because I wouldn't recommend it in this context of the trip abroad but I have an account in my name and my (14-year-old) daughter has the ATM card. Every month a certain amount is lodged and she's free to do whatever she wants with it. And she never comes to me looking for money

RedXIV

From my experience of being a student on these trips, we would bring around the 300 mark for the 5 days. We went on two trips abroad and for the first one this was LOADS of money and I brought about 100 home but on the second trip, whatever happened with the booking, nothing was paid for on the trip except accommodation which ended up leaving some of my classmates wit NO spending money as we had to pay for all the things we had been told had been paid for already. If you can do the ATM card thing, I'd stick with that but it should be worth informing the child that
1) they might not always have access to an ATM so keep an emergency 20-30 on them and
2) the ATM's might not be in English

Aoifums

I went to Berlin a couple of years ago with my school and I think I brought €350. I ended up using almost all of it between;

• Water - Most of us bought several litres of water a day because it was roasting and there was nowhere to refill our water bottles.
• Food - The food (breakfast and dinner) the school organised was muck and not enough to keep us from going hungry. They also seemed to budget for McDonalds for half our lunches but often there was nowhere cheap in the area we had to stay in.
• Clothes - It was easter, we were told it would be fairly cold and kinda rainy. There was a heat wave when we went over and most people bought new clothes.
• Presents

I know that is my experience but we ended up needed a lot more money than expected. Thankfully my parents gave me extra money. I hope your son's trip is better organised than mine