allowance question

[Chaoster]

At what age did you start giving your child an allowance and how much?

 

[SCHBR'smom]

We have a chart with different chores listed on it and how much they get paid for each chore. Any age is able to help for our chart. DD2 likes to pull out the swiffer to "cleany, cleany." She doesn't do the best job, but she is paid for her efforts. Usually a quarter. We go up to mowing the lawn, but only the oldest is able to do that. How much they make, depends on them. The more they do, the more they make. Right before a disney trip, the house stays pretty clean because they are trying to earn more spending money. Once they hit 5, they are expected to help, even if it is only taking dishes off the table.

 

[drcmk]

We started at age four and our children get one dollar for each year of their age. They don't earn the money, since my goal was to teach them to manage and understand the value of money, not to motivate them to do chores. I do sometimes "fine" my children for serious misbehavior (bad language once or twice, that kind of thing).

At this point, my kids are old enough that we are giving out $100 per month for the both of them, BUT, I don't give them snack money or souvenir money or buy them things that they want but don't need and I require them to put half of their allowance in savings.

 

[relcx4]

We have a chart with different chores listed on it and how much they get paid for each chore. Any age is able to help for our chart. DD2 likes to pull out the swiffer to "cleany, cleany." She doesn't do the best job, but she is paid for her efforts. Usually a quarter. We go up to mowing the lawn, but only the oldest is able to do that. How much they make, depends on them. The more they do, the more they make. Right before a disney trip, the house stays pretty clean because they are trying to earn more spending money. Once they hit 5, they are expected to help, even if it is only taking dishes off the table.

That's exactly what we do but I take it one step further. On the opposite side of the chart is a list of expenses for unbecoming behavior. I.e. screaming, hitting, fighting with siblings, not going to bed on time, etc. Each of these has a monetary value assigned. However, the kids don't pay these fines, they have to work them off by doing one of the chores on the payment side. We love the way this works for our family. The list of chore has some high reaching ones for the older kids (yard work) and some lower level ones like feeding the pets. Its win/win for everyone.

PS I forgot to add that when the kids do the chores they get immediate payment. On the converse of that, bad behavior means immediate chore work...its important not to delay the reward or punishment as it were

 

[SCHBR'smom]

That's exactly what we do but I take it one step further. On the opposite side of the chart is a list of expenses for unbecoming behavior. I.e. screaming, hitting, fighting with siblings, not going to bed on time, etc. Each of these has a monetary value assigned. However, the kids don't pay these fines, they have to work them off by doing one of the chores on the payment side. We love the way this works for our family. The list of chore has some high reaching ones for the older kids (yard work) and some lower level ones like feeding the pets. Its win/win for everyone.

PS I forgot to add that when the kids do the chores they get immediate payment. On the converse of that, bad behavior means immediate chore work...its important not to delay the reward or punishment as it were

We've talked about the poor behavior side, but we haven't actually implemented it. We probably should.

 

[drcmk]

PS I forgot to add that when the kids do the chores they get immediate payment. On the converse of that, bad behavior means immediate chore work...its important not to delay the reward or punishment as it were

What would you do if one of your children decided that he or she didn't really need any money and wasn't motivated to do any chores (and was well behaved enough not to have punishment chores)? Would it be okay for someone to just opt out of chores?

 

[JamesMom]

We started with my oldest this year, first grade.
Allowance is payment for his job--school. If he does his best, completes his assignments and receives no negative conduct remarks in his daily behavior chart, then he receives his weekly allowance of $5.00 which I deposit into his USAA savings account. (A "blue" report means no allowance that week. A "red" means two weeks dedcution).
He can earn additional money through extra chores, but we do not pay to keep house. That is part of living in a family.
School is his current "employment" so we base his "salary" on his performance there.
As he makes purchases, I tranfer the funds out of that account. Right now he is saving up for a Nintendo DSi. The agreement in our house (for big purchases) is you save up half and Mom & Dad will cover the rest. He has $40 saved plus his $20 credit for trading in his old DS. He's almost there!
Over the summer, we will continue to put the $5 in his account weekly, provided his behavior is good as "vacation pay".

Now we do pay for outings (camp & pool snacks, movies) , 1 video game a month (Mario Galaxy 2 this month), books. His allowance to buy additional games (in April he bought an action replay for his DS), toys, and big ticket items.

 

[bjscheel]

We are cheap, it is $1 per year of age, per month. So my 11 year old gets $11/month. It isn't much, but they don't need a lot. It is not tied to chores, it is automatic.

My question is, when they have their own money, what exactly do you pay for, and what do you make them pay for? So far this has just been arbitrary- if I want to buy it for them, I do. If I don't want to, I tell them they have to pay. Of course they never bring their money with, so then it is "I will pay you back, I promise!"

 

[powelweb]

We started giving DD an allowance when she turned 4 (will be 7 in Sept now). We give her her age per week, so currently $6 per week, and it is not tied to chores.

At the same time, we started her doing some chores with no pay, as needs to help with the housework in our family, so she has been feeding our 2 dogs twice a day since she was 4. she also helps sort and fold laundry, and set and clear the table.

When she's older, we'll probably create a list of house jobs that she could do to earn more money, but right now she saves most of her money- maybe spends $10 for a t-shirt when we go on vacation. Oh, and occasionally she'll buy clothes if I feel they are wants not needs (e.g. $25 pair of jeans).

 

[TULIPS1726]

What would you do if one of your children decided that he or she didn't really need any money and wasn't motivated to do any chores (and was well behaved enough not to have punishment chores)? Would it be okay for someone to just opt out of chores?

well my teenage son did that a few years back...he threw the "I have enough money" card...well if I have to do his chores b/c he doesn't feel like it, then he has to pay me to do them...he never said that again after he had to pay me!

 

[Lear]

Great ? my oldest is just getting to that age

 

[tinkermom23]

We started giving DS allowance when he was about 8 because he was always begging to buy something. We do an allowance to teach the value of money since DH & I never got allowance as kids and had to learn the hard way. Right now DS10 gets $10 every two weeks. Of that, 10% goes into saving and 10% goes into giving. He can choose if the giving goes to church or some other charity that he feels is important. Last November he gave his "giving" & "spending" to a family for Christmas gifts and it was his choice.
The allowance is not tied to chores since that is a responsibility as member of the family. We do not do advance at all, if he doesn't have enough money he needs to figure out a way to earn more or wait, but no advance in allowance.
We pay for some things and he pays for some. If we go to the movie as a family we pay for everything. If it's just him and a parent, we pay for his ticket and he pays for his snacks. He ordered some pretty expensive books at school this spring ($22 a piece) and we paid for 1/2 and he had to pay for 1/2. He buys his own toys.

 

[mommycrawford]

We started at age four and our children get one dollar for each year of their age. They don't earn the money, since my goal was to teach them to manage and understand the value of money, not to motivate them to do chores. I do sometimes "fine" my children for serious misbehavior (bad language once or twice, that kind of thing).

At this point, my kids are old enough that we are giving out $100 per month for the both of them, BUT, I don't give them snack money or souvenir money or buy them things that they want but don't need and I require them to put half of their allowance in savings.

I started at 3, but the same thing!...MY DD likes when her birthday is coming, and makes plans for thr extra 4.3 dollars per month!

Money management is such a crucial skill, and it is sooooo much better to practice saving for what you really want, or getting hit hard with what you can't afford as a child than as an adult! DH STILL cant do it

 

[Kate and Pete]

I never got an allowance as a kid - chores were what we did because we were part of the family. We just did what we were told to do. And when I needed money for a movie or pizza, or other small things like that, I knew that if I asked my parents, they would give me a bit of cash. My parents also gave me a budget for clothes and such, so I needed to make choices there, too. When I was old enough, I got a job at good ol' McDonald's. I used that money to supplement what they would give me - as I got older, my tastes got more expensive, but the money my parents gave me didn't increase!

I really appreciate them doing this for/to me. DH and I don't have children, but if we did, we'd do it this way too. For now, I just remind DH every once in a while that he does the dishes at night because "he's part of the family."

 

[ZephyrHawk]

I got allowance, but it was never tied to chores. Chores were what you did because mom and dad told you to. Allowance was what you got because mom and dad thought you needed to learn how to budget money. I'm not 100% certain how it went but it was something along the lines of:

5- $2 per week
8- $5 per week
11- $10 per week
15- $20 per week

After that no increases, but I did get a gas card. I was made to understand from a young age that I was not to be given money for souveniers on trips and that if I wanted to buy something I had better save up. I got the saving idea down pretty good. My grandma found $75 in ones stashed in my sock drawer when I was 7.

 

[SaraJayne]

I got allowance, but it was never tied to chores. Chores were what you did because mom and dad told you to. Allowance was what you got because mom and dad thought you needed to learn how to budget money.

This is how we do it, too.

Our kids are 13 and 9. They get half their age per week.

 

[aprilgail2]

I started my daughters allowance around 3- 1.00 per year of age per week. She LOVES saving her money and watching it add up - once she was old enough she opened a bank account and now it grows in there! She buys gifts for christmas , mothers day, my birthday and grams birthday out of her own money. Sometimes she will say "come on mom lets go out to dinner, my treat". She is 10 now so she gets 10.00 a week but its not tied to chores, she helps out with things around the house because she lives there, not because she is paid to. She recently wanted an ipod touch and I was not buying it just because so she could either wait for her birthday or buy it herself, she bought it herself!

 

[PrincessBelle09]

My parents never gave me an allowance. I got money for doing extra chores around the house and then babysitting my little sister. Once I was fifteen, I started working for my dad's company to pay for my portion of the car I was getting and some of my own expenses.
Although I do not believe that all chores should equal money, I think it's important for children to learn that they have to earn money. In the real world, you're not just handed money to budget. I personally think that giving an allowance to manage without work sets children up with a false idea of the future. Not trying to upset anyone, that's just how I feel about it.
I have several friends who are my age that are still just given money by their parents and have never had to work. They are in their early twenties and still do not know or appreciate the actual value of a dollar.

 

[drcmk]

My question is, when they have their own money, what exactly do you pay for, and what do you make them pay for? So far this has just been arbitrary- if I want to buy it for them, I do. If I don't want to, I tell them they have to pay. Of course they never bring their money with, so then it is "I will pay you back, I promise!"

If I see a game or outfit that I want to buy for my kids, I buy it. I buy most of their clothing. But if they ask for something that I don't want to buy, they have to use their allowance. I still have veto power, though, if I don't approve of their choice. I don't hand my kids spending money. If they go on a class trip, want to buy extra snacks from the cafeteria or spend the afternoon at the mall with a friend, they use allowance money. I buy each member of my family one tee shirt on vacation and any other purchase is an allowance purchase. My kids also buy gifts for each other with their allowance (birthdays and Christmas).

 

[drcmk]

I started at 3, but the same thing!...MY DD likes when her birthday is coming, and makes plans for thr extra 4.3 dollars per month!

I forgot to mention that. It is kind of fun to give them a "raise" on week of the birthdays. My MIL always jokes about coming to live with us when she gets older so she can get her age in allowance every week!