11 year old allowance

[lady_bug_888]

We started DS on an allowance when he was 4. He gets $7/week ($1/day) and it's been the same since he was 4. He turns 8 at the end of the month and his allowance will be going up to $8/wk and we will stick with the $1/year/week advice we have received. I would have stuck with that advice since he was 4 but my thinking was, we could afford the $7/week and we wanted him to save so we decided to do $1/day until he turns 8 at which time we would increase his allowance yearly by $1/week. We make him save a portion of his allowance every week but he gets to decide how much to save. We encourage him to save a minimum of 10%, however he usually saves 50% or more (although there is the odd week that he really wants to spend all of it!). We opened a bank account for DS when he was 4 1/2 and we put all his savings in there. He has purchased some savings bonds with his money and has also been allowed to take money out for vacations and whatnot.

I still buy DS treats sometimes, but not if he's asking...I sort of use my discretion. If he wants to go to a movie, the fair, the dollar store etc... he has to use his own money. He currently has a savings fund for an ipod touch as well as the amount he puts in the bank although those savings have dwindled slightly.

DD is 1 and when she turns 4 we will also start giving her an allowance of $7/week until she is 8 and then it will go up accordingly. We currently put spare change/bills in her piggy bank which we will empty out when she is 4 1/2 and we open her bank account.

I personally do not believe allowance should be tied to chores. Everyone in a family needs money and should be given a suitable amount IMHO.

 

[cam&phoebsmom]

We do something completely different. My kids earn marbles for helping around the house, cooperating, etc. Conversely, when they do not listen, argue, etc. they can lose marbles. Every two weeks the marbles are collected and each marble is worth a quarter.

I know many people give allowance just because, but we feel that in the real world nobody is going to give you money just for being you and that to earn money you have to work for it. Sometimes my kids get over $14, and sometimes less than $5 depending on how cooperative they are being. They are in control f how much they learn.

They also give roughly 20% of their allowance into our "Disney money" jar to help us save for our trip.

 

[scootch]

We do something completely different. My kids earn marbles for helping around the house, cooperating, etc. Conversely, when they do not listen, argue, etc. they can lose marbles. Every two weeks the marbles are collected and each marble is worth a quarter.

I know many people give allowance just because, but we feel that in the real world nobody is going to give you money just for being you and that to earn money you have to work for it. Sometimes my kids get over $14, and sometimes less than $5 depending on how cooperative they are being. They are in control f how much they learn.

They also give roughly 20% of their allowance into our "Disney money" jar to help us save for our trip.

hmmm... maybe this might help with the fussing between sisters.

 

[bonjoe07]

My two older sons aged 13 and 11 get $20 each every 2 weeks (so $10 a week), however my youngest son aged 5 does not get an allowence yet!

 

[cam&phoebsmom]

hmmm... maybe this might help with the fussing between sisters.

and to add to the cooperation aspect if one person is purposefully mean or unkind to their sibling, then one of their marbles goes into the jar of the person who was "wronged". It seems like it is quite sad to the kid who has to give up the marble but the warnings to them about making better choices do seem to have more attention paid to them.

 

[Tink-aholic]

I don't like the idea of an allowance. I don't think it's a good practice to give kids any kind of idea that you get money just because you exist. Don't flame me, I'm not saying anyone else is awful. I'm just saying that I wouldn't raise kids with an allowance.

On the other hand, what I would do is make a list of things I want done and assign a monetary value to each one. The child can do all, some, or none, and collect the pay when the job is done to everyone's satisfaction.

You can even put things that are good for them but that they're resistant to doing every day, like flossing, if you care about it getting done.

Now, I have the totally opposite opinion. I refuse to tie money to everyday chores because I never wanted my boys to choose not to take the money because they would rather not do a chore. If they live in the house, they have to do their part in cleaning it up. *I* certainly don't get paid to do it!

With my boys, I gave them an allowance at a very early age. Part was to save, part was to invest, and part was just for them to do whatever they wanted with it. I feel that it is the best way to teach kids about money in the long run.

 

[2disneyboys]

We sort of do a mix up of all the systems..

there are chores they do just because they are part of the family (taking out trash, picking up after themselves, putting away laundry(their's), helping mom or dad when things need to be carried in or something). These just happen and if they don't have, we now have a discpline problem and they lose privilages (like losing tv or computer or game time etc) The various basic chores have changed and evolved as they have gotten older and will continue to change and envole to age appropiate expectations (they are now 8 and 11)

we have a list of "jobs" or tasks that are available to be worked with a monatary value assigned to each (most are between .25-.50 as they can be performed daily if wanted - some of the harder ones are usually assigned 1.oo or so) and not all of the jobs are cleaning related (though most are). My favorate noncleaning tasks is read a book - 1.00 write a report about the book 1.00. right now, we are not talking huge books..around 50-100 pages for my older son and around 25 or so for my younger son. My oldest loves to read, but my youngest does not, so this is primarly to encourage my youngest.. so far since June, my youngest has read 8 magic tree house books and written 5 reports on them (very short basic) he is THRILLEd with the $8.00 he has earned doing this & I am thrilled to see him voluntarly reading a book & /or writing a report. They are "paid" weekly and are required to save at least 50%, give to charity or church at least 10% and then the other 40% they can spend how they want without asking. They are not required to do anything, but if they chose not to, then "THEY" don't have any money to buy stuff they want and we don't.

Beside the list of Jobs/Tasks, there is a list of penalties and the value assigned to them... Smart mouth/sassing 1.00 Hitting/bullying 1.00 Lying 1.00, not doing your regular chores) stuff like this...tell you what, those boys don't like getting pentalities and the other day when my 11 year old was frustrated and very much toeing the line in being sassy, I heard the 8 year old tell him, you'd better stop, if mom has to say something its going to cost you 1.00 and think how many other jobs you have to work to make that up! lol...

We do require that they do at least $5.00 worth of work a week in order to get paid. its not a perfect system, but it works for us. My boys usually end up making around $7-8 dollars each, each week. but I also notice them helping out more with just general chores (not jobs they would get paid for, other stuff) as they are firguing out that the sooner the regular household chores get done, the sooner we can do something enjoyable as a family.

In general life @ home & on vacation, we pay for the basics... Shelter, Transportation, Food, Clothing (basic), and family entertainment (things we do as a family such as movies, or stuff) & of course, Bday & Christmas gifts Anything outside of that they have to pay for. As parents we have the right to "treat" them everynow & then & we do, but we don't get nagged at in stores to buy this candy or that drink or this toy or or or... they know in general if they want something extra, they have to pay for it.

I realise as they get older, we'll have to continue to adjust the jobs available and the monetary value of those jobs but I look at this as a work in progress, the same as parenting... you have a "core" value and you constantly adjust stuff to keep as close to your core value as possible and hope in the end you have independent well adjusted adult!

 

[vitalogy]

My kids are almost this age

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

My kids gEt their age per month.

They don't do the mall with friends yet. I really encountered that in my circle, yet. Kids their age (11 and 8) are still into "playdates".

My kids have to do chores b/c I tell them to. The pocket change is just so they can satisfy their temptations to buy something. If they want it, they can use their money. I still get them what they need and if they wanted, they could earn more. I pay my 11 year old a dollar if she watches her baby sister while I walk on the treadmill. But that is only when dad is out of town and I cannot go to the gym.

During the school year, I pay 25 cents per 100% on their tests. This is more an incentive for them to not make careless mistakes, especially in math. Stinks to get a 3 digit mutliplication problem wrong because you added 1 + 2 wrong. So I started the quarter bonuses.

When we have a trip coming up, they have opportunities to earn extra spending money.

This coming school year, they will earn money for an education supply store based on the number of books they read.

 

[cam&phoebsmom]

The other day my DS said something I thought was cute. He has been saving his allowance money and wanted to buy some Pokemon cards which I agreed to. He checked out the different sets, saw what the differences were in the sets, etc. When we got back in the car he said, "It feels good to buy things with money I earned myself..." and started opening the packs. I was happy to see that he is starting to understand why someone works hard and that you have to work to get what you want.

 

[Peace Mickey Lovers]

My daughter gets $5 a week during the school year and $10 during the summer. I have set up a list of chores for her to do and when she does them she gets her allowance. During the summer I expect more from her that is why she gets a larger allowance. By the way she is 10 years old.

 

[amyngary]

I should have mentioned this in my last post, but I wasn't considering it allowance. We also do something I read about in Disney's Family Fun magazine a few years ago. It's called Daddy Dollars. We went to a website (I'm sure you could google it) where you upload a photo that gets put in the center of a dollar bill. You can even choose a bill from another country (we chose Trinidad and Tobaggo). Then you print out the dollar bills so they become similar to monopoly money. We created a list of behaviors and tasks that can earn each child Daddy Dollars, and we change the list based on what they need to work on then (ie staying at the table during a meal, or getting ready for school on time, etc). Each day, we give out the earned Dollars.

Then we have a list of experiences you can buy with your Daddy Dollars - we call this the Mommy Mart. Things like a trip to the zoo (our zoo is free), a family movie night, a late bedtime, a playdate, a sleepover, etc. The Mommy Mart usually only has experiential items since we don't want them to actually get paid to be good citizens. My kids love earning Daddy Dollars. We do have periodic "specials" at the Mommy Mart when we have something special going on or I want them to redeem a large stash of Dollars because the 'bank' is running low. Last fall, they got to redeem their Dollars for a Disney Gift card just before our trip to Disney World.

I really love this incentive-based way to modify behavior. The kids love it too. I had forgotten that Disney gave me the idea until I was reading the latest posts on this thread

 

[crazy4mm]

We have given our kids an allowance for chores for a few years now.

DH and I feel we should pay our kids to do chores/work (esp because we don't want to do all the housework ourselves, so it's well worth paying them to help! LOL!)

This past Sept., we decided to overhaul our allowance/chore plans. We used a book I read (written by a famous frugal family) as our inspiration. We wanted our kids to learn to appreciate hard work, money management, and the feeling of accomplishment.

We now use a chore chart in our house so our children have the ability to "earn" as much money as they are willing to work for.

Of course there are the basic "daily chores" that they are expected to do Monday thru Saturday (Sunday is payday). Each chore is worth $.10 - @ 5 chores daily x 6 days = $3 week. After that, they have the opportunity to earn more money by doing "extra" chores, and even the opportunity to DOUBLE their allowance. (Trying to be brief, so I'll skip the details.)

DD13 is the exception to this rule - because she has a pay-as-you-go cell phone that she has to "earn" each month (just calls and texts, no need for internet, etc). She has to do several extras each week in order to keep her phone. Of course, @ $.10 each, her extras don't cover the full cost, but again it's worth it to have help with all the housework.

In all, my kids earn $3-$6 per week. Their birthday and other holiday money they receive goes into the bank. We do not buy extra toys and such - they must save for it. (Plus there are already a ton of toys and stuff around here.) And DH and I must agree on the item they want to buy before we are willing to take them to the store to buy it. (Helps curb impulse buying!)

Plus, as part of their money management, they each have a list of souveniers they want to buy and a "budget" for WDW spending. I will buy them each a WDW t-shirt, DH will buy each of them a refillable mug - after that, the bank of Mom and Dad is closed. The rest is up to them! (I'm just hoping I can save as much $ as they have for the trip! LOL!)

 

[Gr8dan2]

We started using threejars.com a few months ago and its really been great for the kids (DS11, DS8) to learn about the allowance and money in general. It *does* cost $2.50/month ($30/yr) but has been well worth it for us!

 

[bigmama67]

We just re-evaluated our system. For awhile, DS had a behavior magnet chart and earned 25 cents per magnet each day (up to $7 per week). Now we have mixed it up a little and we're just getting started on this but I think it's a good system. He will get $8 per year each week (raise on his birthday in December!) He has to save $1, donate $1 (the kids are saving to sponsor a penguin at our zoo) and put $1 into his "college account". The rest he can do with as he wishes, but when it's gone, it's gone. (I did advance him some $ recently to get a new Lego set but he's been asking for his allowance ever since and not grasping that it's spent till this Sunday so that's not happening again).

Separately, he has a chart with tasks he needs to do (no payment for these, it's his contribution to the family). There are extra tasks he can do to earn points (5 points per task), and a few behaviors we're trying to nip in the bud which can lose him points. When he gets 50 points he can "buy" an extra half hour of electronics time, and if he banks 100 points he can get a special one-on-one outing with one of us (ice cream, mini golf, that sort of thing).

We just started this system and I bought a box of different color poker chips which will go into a jar at the end of each day. It worked with my nephew who had a lot of challenging behaviors so I'm interested (and hopeful) to see how it works for DS.

We probably should have started him on an allowance sooner so he could get the hang of managing money. We won't wait as long with DD - we will start her at 5 or 6 but with the same requirements of save/donate/save. Poor oldest kids always get the kinks worked out with 'em.

 

[hsmamato2]

$5 per week.... that's my max,and I've always given the kids their full month upfront on the 1st. That way,they truly learn how to manage what they have. Not tied to chores, it's a part of being in the family.... we all have chores,and work around the house,we do that b/c we're in this family too. Allowance is a means to train them to manage their own needs/wants. Nothing more- no strings. I'm not their boss,and they're not my employees.
There are a select few jobs that are 'paid' in our house,usually something dh or I hate doing,and we offer a small sum for the kids to do it. but those are rare....oh,and no 'advances' on next months allowances either..... we learned that lesson early on...

 

[wishesuponastar]

At age 11, I think I would give $5 a week. I think $20 a month should cover all the things she would need at Walmart, etc. We haven't given our 13yo allowance for 2 years since she got a cell phone with texting. That was her choice instead of getting allowance. We do pay for her dances at school ($5 per) and we buy her things she wants at Walmart like hair mousse and mascara.
We keep her very limited on clothing budget, not too many new things, we just don't have the budget for it anyway.