Show Me The Money
When my son turned eight, we started him on an allowance.
$1 a week. For keeping his room neat, clearing his dishes from the table, feeding the cats, putting away his clothes, and a few other chores.
We promised him an increase as he grew older and added more responsibilities to his chore list.
After a year and a half, though, he seems rather content with just the dollar each Friday. He has yet to see the value of a raise.
When we started his allowance, it was with the understanding that he would have to come and ask for it. We wouldn't just hand it to him. So, he forgets a lot. I feel bad for him, so I give him hints, like, "Hey, is it Friday already? I think I need to go to the bank today."
He's good at saving his money into a bank account. He'll spend a little here and there, on a pack of gum or a Star Wars figure, but for the most part he wants to store it away for the future.
I'm interested in hearing about how you've handled allowances for your kids. How much is appropriate? And at what age?
$1 a week. For keeping his room neat, clearing his dishes from the table, feeding the cats, putting away his clothes, and a few other chores.
We promised him an increase as he grew older and added more responsibilities to his chore list.
After a year and a half, though, he seems rather content with just the dollar each Friday. He has yet to see the value of a raise.
When we started his allowance, it was with the understanding that he would have to come and ask for it. We wouldn't just hand it to him. So, he forgets a lot. I feel bad for him, so I give him hints, like, "Hey, is it Friday already? I think I need to go to the bank today."
He's good at saving his money into a bank account. He'll spend a little here and there, on a pack of gum or a Star Wars figure, but for the most part he wants to store it away for the future.
I'm interested in hearing about how you've handled allowances for your kids. How much is appropriate? And at what age?
Permalink posted by Idaho Dad at 12:51 AM
16 Comments:
Since Seth is only 5, I haven't started with an allowance yet. But I do have a plan in mind; an idea I got from an NPR interview I once heard:
I'm going to become the Bank of Dad. I will give my kids an allowance. They can spend it as they want, but if they invest in the Bank, they will earn interest. We will then do the math to see how the money grows.
I figure it's a good way to learn the value of saving and the power of compounding interest. I figure my kids will be way better off than myself on that front.
I also plan to give the kids a budget when shopping for school, etc. They will have to figure out how much things cost, what they need to buy versus what they want to buy. I'm sure there will be some pain in the beginning, but that's part of learning the value of money I suppose.
When mine were 8 I think we were giving them $3 a week in exchange for keeping their rooms clean, help with the laundry, etc. Now, at 11 and 13, they are up to $5 a week, my son started getting $10 a week last summer when I introduced him to Mr. Lawnmower.
We JUST started Katie on an allowance about a month ago. She'll be nine in a few weeks. She gets $4 a week, and is encouraged to put aside a part of it for God (to put in the collection plate on Sunday) which she does very readily. Before we give it to her on Saturdays, we talk over the week and how she's handling her responsibilities (homework, household chores, wise decision-making, etc.) Before we started her on allowance, we made it clear that receiving an allowance would be a function of her accepting increased responsibility for herself, and she worked hard at it, even coming up with a chart to show us how she'd improved in key areas. It was so cute! She usually saves it up for a few weeks before finding something else she wants and draining her bank...lol!
When my kids were little (they're teens now with their own jobs) we tried different versions of the allowance thing too, but eventually found out that they would only become "inspired" to do their chores when they wanted some money for something. This of course left the door open for them to NOT help out with chores when they didn't need the money.
We eventually decided that it is all of our family member's responsibility to help out with the day-to-day chores such as keeping your room clean, bringing dirty clothes to the laundry, taking out the garbage, doing dishes etc and those things shouldn't have to be the result of some reward system. After that we simply required that they do these things and then bought them the items they wanted if we felt they deserved them.
We believe this reinforces a more basic moral responsibility to make sure everyone in the family shares the success of the household equally - which hopefully they will carry with them when they are adults and have to do these things for themselves later.
There are of course a lot of different ways to approach this topic, but since you asked, this is how we did it - right or wrong.
Oh love the Bank of Dad, interest ,good one. Haven't started yet but when I was a kid(8) there was a big chart with all of the chores and how much money each chore was worth like: dusting(.25) ,laundry (.50) I liked it because I could pick what I wanted to do everyday and not have to do the same thing everyday.(guess mom figured I'd have to do that enough as an adult)
We've kept allowance separate from chores, and have tried to teach our kids that they have to help around the house just because they are part of the family -- not for money. But we have offered our older son (7) extra money beyond his weekly allowance for doing special "big" jobs like helping to bag leaves.
We give our 7-year-old $5 a week, and he saves most of it. Lately I've been terrible about remembering to give it to him though.
When I was a kid my dad would pay me interest on the money I'd saved. We'd sit down each Friday, count the money in my piggy bank, and I'd earn 25cents for each dollar I had saved. Even as a kid I realized that this was a good deal, and it gave me real incentive to save up for things instead of spending all my money on candy.
If only I could get that kind of interest rate now.
my kids don't get allowances. The younger two will get a quarter a job for above and beyond their assigned "zone" so they have money for the arcade at bowling league. Kind of for us being part of the family is a responsiblity not a paid job. JMO they learn budgeting from money on birthdays and christmas
We use the "3 Jars Method"
http://www.legacydad.com/2007/03/the_3_jars.html
It has worked great for our kids and they are learning budgeting, spending, charity and investing all at the same time.
Lance
We keep allowance and chores separate like mrs. davis said. Our kids have been getting an allowance for years and we have always done the 50 cents for every year old. so the 10 year old is up to $5 and the 14 year old gets $7.....they've never asked to change the system but they ALWAYS ask for it earlier than Sunday! Maybe Friday is a better 'pay day'!
My kids are too young still, but right now it feels like I'm the one that needs the allowance. I do all the chores and they seem to get all the money. I fear I'm being taken advantage of.
I let LA Toddler have my change. She doesn't spend it. She now has more money in the bank than me...
I wonder if she'll give me an allowance when I'm older.
I hope so.
We give them half their age in money. So my 8 year old gets 4 and 7 year old 3.50. We do not tie it to chores. They receive money to learn how to be responsible with money and so they can buy candy if they want :) They do chores because they are part of the family and that is not optional.
Occasionaly we offer extra money for their chores. I pay 10 cents per pair of matched socks because I hate that job - matching for a family of 5 and the kids will do it and that is money well invested for me.
However our kids earn money (allowance, gifts, extra chores, etc) they have to give away 10% and save 10% - Typically though to be easier since they are under 5.00 we have them save .50 and give away .50 each week.
I found to solve the remembering problem - I keep petty cash on hand - a roll of quarters and a group of singles.
Allowance?
ummm...I am not all to certain what to do yet. I keep hoping the $$ tree will spring to full growth in my backyard before this decision becomes crucial!
A few years back we decided to give the tweens pocket money. They earned $10 each per fortnight. When they are not doing chores (eg. making beds, keeping rooms neat, helping with dishes or garbage) or are mean to each other or disrespectful to parents, we say "ok, that's $1 off from your money" etc. and wrote it up on the white board.
We have found too that once they are cashed up they just don't care and let chores go.
So we decided they can have $6 each for chores, but the amount can and will go down (as explained before) and if they do extras they can earn more eg. 50c or $1 here or there, depending on the size of the job. If they got asked to help out it pays less but if they use initiative it pays more.
So far we are testing this new system out.
They are never allowed to borrow or get paid in advance so my daughter's cell go for weeks with out credit.
Like a few others who have commented, we're not quite at that allowance phase just yet, but my daughter is almost seven so we're getting close. I don't necessarily plan on tying it to housework, since that can backfire when they don't want/need the cash. But there are certain "bonus" chores that would probably lend themselves to "bonus" allowance.
I like some of the ideas that others have posted about trying to teach your kids the value of saving money and budgeting. The best example is probably to live by example in that case. When we shop, we go for bargains and specials, and our kids now know what "generic" foods look like compared to name brands (although they're still suckers for characters like Shrek when placed on cereal boxes).
When I was a kid, my parents always put my money into a bank account whether I wanted them to or not. This includes most of the money that I received from relatives for Xmas and birthdays. At the time I was pretty upset. But when I turned 15 and there was enough in there to buy me a neat old car, I was glad that they helped me to save.
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