Yeah, that's generally my attitude- use miles/vouchers that don't accrue mileage for the family members who DON'T have elite status, use cash for the person (me) who DOES (and accrues EQM/RDM at the better rates).

Or you could upgrade flights- for pleasure or mileage runs to keep elite status.

For instance, a TATL mileage run/quasi-vacation where it's 25,000 miles + a copay one-way to upgrade... if you're flying from the West Coast and have top elite status on the airline, and you're willing to tolerate Y during daylight hours and spend the mileage for sleeping, you basically end up mileage-neutral on the RDM (with the right set of stops, you'll get ~6,000 flight miles each way, so you'll be at around 25K EQM, assuming 100% bonuses), but you now have 12,000 shiny new EQM for next year's status (even more if you're in DEQM season).