Allowance

[tiggerlover]

Do your kids get an allowance? If so, when did you start giving it to them and how much do you give? Also, is the allowance tied to chores or do they just get an allowance "because". I was talking to a friend today and she said that a child should get an allowance equivilent to their grade (ie: A second grader should get $2 a week, a third grader $3 etc.). I also have heard that an allowance should not be tied to chores, so I would love to hear your comments on this subject.

I remember getting an allowance when I was a kid, but I don't remember when it started or how much. I remember getting $5 for a while and then $10 a week, but that was when I was in HS. I also remember that not many of my friends received allowance either. My DS is in first grade and they will start learning about money this year, so I wondered if this was the time to start giving him one or if he was too young.

 

[Lars624]

I've heard that some people say an allowance shouldn't be tied to chores but I really don't understand why that is. I think that they don't learn anything from it that way, nobody pays me or DH for doing nothing and I think that kids need to learn how to earn money. My 13 y/o twins get about 5.00 a week if they keep their rooms picked up & do one other chore, DS empties & takes out the trash & DD is suposed to unload the dishwasher. They have friends who do way more chores for the same amount of money & they have friends who get the same amount just for existing. It depends on the parents. My DS 6 gets 2.50 a week if he keeps his toys picked up & makes sure the dog has water & food.

 

[mamamia]

My kids are 11, 9 and 7. They were getting $1 per week for about 1 1/2 years and then about 6 months ago my oldest decided they should get a raise, so what I do now is they get $1 and a $1 Disney dollar since we have a trip planned for Nov. 2002. After the trip is over it'll go to 2 regular dollars. The allowance is not tied into chores, good grades, or behavior. My kids don't have set chores to do. But they do help out around the house whenever they are asked to - which isn't often. There are times when they actually ask to help with the laundry or vacuuming and stuff like that. They do have to use their own money when they want to buy a gift for each other. At the holiday time I will give them an extra $25 just because they always want to buy for mom, dad, 2 sets of grandparents and each other and it makes it easier. When it comes to friends' birthdays, I will pay for the gift. Last year my daughter and friend wanted to do a holiday gift exchange and they both decided to use their own money. They always get money for their birthdays from relatives and that they can do whatever they want with. They also have to use their money for toys or music that they want. I buy all their clothes, school supplies, I do their donation to church, etc. Its amazing how easily they change their mind over an item when its their money they are using. When they get money for a big occasion (like their Communion and Confirmation) they do have to put that in their bank account. It was nice because my daughter saved $135 and bought her own 35 mm camera. Two of my children like to save their money for a special item and then my 9 yr. old will spend $10 on an action figure or something every chance he gets (he always insists that he really, really needs it! LOL). For us this works. My DH doesn't understand why they get an allowance and thinks its silly. But I am hoping that they are learning how to save and how to budget for what they want.

 

[Kermit]

I think the best advice I've ever heard concerning allowances (and what I plan to do) is to give it to children monthly as soon as they're old enough to budget. When in college, I saw so many people who couldn't handle it when they got their first jobs and had huge amounts of money on pay day. They felt like they should be living large, and then they'd run out before the next pay day every time.

I got that advice from Focus on the Family. Dr. Dobson also thinks that allowance shouldn't be tied to regular chores since kids should know that you do what you have to do to help your family out, money or not. He does say that you can pay for extra jobs above and beyond regular chores.

 

[WDW2002]

My kids get $5 a week but every other week, the weekends they are with their dad, that $5 goes into their savings. This $5 is for whatever they want to buy with it, with the exception of Candy and Food.

The idea of the allowance not being tied to chores, is that children should do chores because they are part of a family not for money. That children should be given allowance to learn about money, savings, value etc.

 

[disykat]

In my family, allowance starts at age 8. My 9 yr old son gets $5 a month -3 to spend, 1 for church, and 1 for savings. It is not tied to anything. Every once in a while I'll let them do some "above and beyond" chores for money, but I'm always sorry. They start thinking they should get paid for everything and begging me for jobs. We pay for all their necessities.

I decided on age 8 mainly because I've found that unless your child has a particular interest in money, it's pretty much a toy/novelty until them. My seven year old still loses money because he just carries it around. Sometimes I get it on laundry day. I'm hoping that he'll see allowance as a real big kid thing and start acting more responsibly with his money! (My older son, however, has carefully saved all his pennies from age two!)

 

[tiggerlover]

Thanks for your responses.....keep 'em coming!!

 

[supercarrie]

My "allowance" really is just part of a big budget my mom has me on. I get $170 a month during the school year. It sounds like a lot, but I am expected to pay for everything except meals with the family. Clothes, school lunches (which is $70 of it), supplies, books, etc. We all have it broken down so that the money does cover everything, with enough left over to save a little bit. Of that, only $20 of it is actual "allowance." It isn't specifically tied to my chores. I am expected to help around the house, and always have. We have never discussed whether the money would be taken away if I didn't.

I sometimes wish I wasn't on the budget - my friends whose parents give them money whenever they need it/want it always end up spending more money than me it seems. Like for back-to-school clothes - if I want them, I have to save up for them, rather than spending $200 or $300 of my mom and dad's money at once.

 

[Princess_Aurora]

Well, I think an allowance should definatly be related with the chores. When I was growing up I didn't get any money unless I did some cleaning. It's a good way to teach your kids how money is made. Or as my mom put it to me, "Money doesn't grow on trees, you have to earn it." Which makes since to me. It seems that if you just give a kid money for no reason that it could, in a way, spoil them.

My DD is only 4 (almost 5 now) so she doesn't get a money allowence yet. However, we do work on a system. Any time she does a chore, she recieves a "ticket". If she has 10 tickets at the end of the week she can trade them in for something she wants. However, if she does something bad she loses a ticket and has to try to earn it back. Eventually, when she's old enough, the tickets will turn into dollar bills, but right now she can't be trusted with money (I found that out the hard way) because she's always dumping out the money in her piggy bank for some reason and some of it usually ends up lost.

 

[Charleneluvsdisney]

My ds who is 6 asked for an allowance a few weeks ago. He decided what chores he would like to do to receive it. He only asked for $1 a week, but we decided to give him $2. One for the piggy bank and the other to spend. He keeps his room clean, makes the bed, and feeds the fish. He also started volunteering to bring in the trash cans! So far, he really hasn't spent anything and has just saved it.

 

[PandyPaws]

I do something a little different....My kids each get $1 per year of age ($10/10 yr old, $5/5 yr old)I bought allowance banks for them that have 3 sections (red, yellow and green). Each section, like a traffic light, signifies what to do with the money...1/3 goes into each section. Red (stop) is "NO spending", it's saved for periodically depositing into a real bank account. Yellow (wait) is for saving for a pricey item the child covets, and green (go) is for spending at will.

Currently DS 10 practices the splitting into 3 measure....DS 5 is still too young to fully understand the concept, so together we split the money into just two....the red and the yellow. He's not spent any of the "yellow" yet...but enjoys speculating on what he might be saving for, changing his mind on what it is quite often


Their allowance is not related to chores. If they do not do what is expected of them then they lose priveleges like TV, playing video games or an outing, etc

 

[LuvTigger]

I don't have children, so I don't have any firsthand experience with this, but I used to work at a bank and was quite fascinated in seeing the ways parents would handle money with their children.

Two of them really stand out in my mind, because the way the children treated money was defined early in their lives and just became a part of their habits, rather than something they felt they were forced to do.

One dad brought her little girl in and their rule for ANY money she received (even gifts, etc.) was save at least half, and the other half was spending money.

An even better one, I thought, was the 10-year old son of one of our investment specialists. Their rule was, 1/3 in the savings, 1/3 into an investment account, and 1/3 for spending money. (I like one poster's idea of giving some to charity/church though, I think that's an important lesson to teach.)

When they get older, like in the teenage years, I like the idea of giving them either monthly or twice a month allowances, like a salary. My BF's teenage cousin wants EVERYTHING, and thinks her single mother is made of money...she wants designer clothes, etc. So someone suggested to her mother that she just give her say, $200 a month, and let her figure out how to pay for everything, from her soccer dues, to her prom dress and school lunches. Of course, that's a thought for WAY later on down the road for you since your child is so young!

I think it's great that you're thinking about this, I really wished that someone had taught me the value of money when I was younger. Unfortunately, it's something I had to learn myself at a much older age. I don't think it's too early to start, esp. if they're going to learn about it. I think it's important to give them a wallet or coin purse and teach them to keep the money in a secure place. I just cringe at my BF's niece and nephew who are 2 and 5...their parents give them money like it's a toy, rather than something to be valued, so they just leave it (we're talking a $20 bill!) around the house!!!

 

[babybelle]

My three (ages 7,4,2) all get £3 each paid directly into a bank account for their holiday spending money. They also have 'loose change' banks which we add money to 2-3 times per week.

My 7 year old sometimes gets £2 at weekends but this is not tied to chores. They often get treats such as McDonalds or some candies but if they have been naughty they miss out on this.

because they dont really understand how much is in the bank yet I explain what they could buy (eg its sitting at £X aka X Happy Meals just now).

 

[Towncrier]

We do something similar to PandyPaws as far as allowance amounts. Except our kids only get 50 cents instead of a $1 per year of age. Both of my kids put 100% of their allowance away until they were around 10yo. Then they discovered that you could spend money, not just save it.

Our 12yo gets $6 a week. Our 14yo son gets $7 a week. In the summertime he mows the lawn and still gets the same allowance. In the autumn, he doesn't have to help with yardwork because he has schoolwork that we feel is more important.

Be very careful if you tie allowance to chores. That empowers your child to say "no thanks" when it comes to helping around the house. They learn that if they don't need the money, they don't have to help. I think that's why Dr. Dobson suggested not associating an allowance with chores.

 

[BuzznBelle'smom]

I'm almost afraid to post, this is going to sound weird, BUT...

Each child gets a weekly allowance--for Belle last year, it was enough for one hot lunch weekly (her choice which, or none at all, whatever), $1 for savings, and enough for snack milk (again, her choice to take it or not). Also an additional $.50. Buzz starts K next week, so he'll go on this also. Any left over money is hers, if she wants extra (2 hot lunches, ice cream) she pays.

Both children do chores, and are docked a quarter for missing them. they can also do additional chores for a quarter or more, depending.

Here's where it gets weird--Belle also handles her own e-trade account. She has since age 5. She doesn't have a ton of stock--just a few shares of 2 companies that SHE chose. Our rules are, the stocks are held for a long time (no day trading!), and we must approve them. Right now she has Wal-Mart (because she likes going there, they have lots of stuff at reasonable prices) and Disney (that's my girl!). Buzz has Caterpillar stock in his account. It was so cute to see him, 3 years old and not yet reading, riding around in his car seat, studying the annual report! Of course, he was just enjoying the glossy photos of the equipment, but our philosophy is, anything that holds his interest is a good thing. Our reasoning on these accounts is, at some point in their lives, they will have to deal with much larger sums of money than allowances or even 10 shares of Disney, let them start learning now.

 

[Spinning]

You read my mind! I was just getting ready to start a similar post!

My DD will be starting first grade next week. I really don't understand the whole allowance thing. I never had one as a child but I can't remember not having money. DH grew up the same way.
We have always given our kids money. As soon as they could physically drop money in a slot we started. She understands saving for the bigger item and that we can't get everything we want.
I really feel chores should be done with out a money incentive but will give her money if she does something extra. (her chores are just make her bed, pick up her toys and clothes in the hamper)
So I still don't know what I want to do. So I love hearing what everyone else does and why!

 

[AF Brenda]

Our kids get a small allowance, since we pay for all of their needs. We don't mandate that they save a certain amount, but they know that if they don't, then they can't buy the little extras that they want. DS (now 6) decided a few months ago that he wanted a Lego set that cost $39. He saved his allowance ($2/week) until he had $30, then he got $20 from my in-laws for his birthday. He spent the the $39, and saved the rest for the next "big" (for him!) thing that he wants.

 

[Kallison]

My kids are 12, 9 and 8. The 9 year old spends every dollar as soon as he gets it. The 12 year old just bought a Nikon camera with the money he has saved for over a year and he gets no allowance, just money for helping at special times or for gifts. I did tell them this summer if they helped me without arguing or whining I would pay them. Unbeknownst to the other two he has been getting $5 per week, since he is the only one who does the job without complaint. The 9 year old says he really wants allowance, and I'm going back to work after 12 years as a SAHM. I told him if he does his chores without constant nagging he will get $5 per week. We'll see how that goes. Some of his friends get there age, but I think that is a bit much.