Allowance

[pianogirl73]

I have a 6 year old who is VERY interested in buying things with her own money. Unfortunately, she doesn't understand that the money in her piggybank is not enough for everything she wants to buy. So, my DH and I are thinking about giving her an allowance to try to teach her the value of money. The questions we have are:

1. What types of chores are appropriate to assign a 6 year old in order for her to earn an allowance?

2. How much is money is appropriate to give her each week?

Thanks!

 

[llori7]

My son turned 6 yesterday, and I am wondering the same thing. I told him once he was 6, he could do more chores around the house and earn some money b/c he always wants something!!! I am not sure how much he should do or how much I should give him!

 

[loonytoony]

Usaully about 50 cents per year of age so $3.00 per week in your case.

 

[christyhud]

Usaully about 50 cents per year of age so $3.00 per week in your case.

This is what we do and we also keep a ledger for them: 10% tithe, 20%savings, and 70% spending. They give the 10% to the church and then they can spend the 70%. The 20% is savings, not really saving for anything in particular, just saving to learn the value in saving and to see it grow. This money has to be approved by Mom and Dad before it can be spent. At first, my older two wanted to spend their 70%right away bu it didn't take long for them to want to save for something bigger. It's been a great learning process for my kiddos.

 

[mrsklamc]

I like the idea of 'commission' vs. allowance. Certain chores = certain amount of $$. It teaches that just like in the real world, the amount of money you get is tied to work.

 

[delmar411]

$5 per week should be sufficient to start with.

We do allowances but they are for learning how to manage money. Chores are part of being in a family and are not negotiable for pay. Extra work does earn them money though and I'm considering paying for grades as DD11 is really slacking at school and needs some form of motivation.

Our kids have to save half (auto deposited into their savings) and then they get the other half deposited into allowance accts that have a Mastercard branded debit card.

I choose to do their money this way because we don't deal in cash (in our household) and I really don't think when they are grown that cash will be how people handle transactions and I want them fully able to handle online accts and debit cards.

Anyway, they buy gifts for friends/siblings and any extras out of their allowance but we hold full veto power over purchases just because they are impulsive and I really don't like to see them waste money.

 

[dawnn12]

i have 2 dds ones 10 and ones 5 my older dd gets about 10-15 a week depending if she does everything and if she helps with extra stuff now my 5 yr old helps clean off the kitchen table/sets the table and picks up trash and cleans up their bathroom(they both love to throw the clothes on the floor) now we usally give her 5 a week ssome weeks she does get more for helping out but she is now realising how much things cost we hold her money for her but when she wants something we give it to her the other day she had 20 that she wanted to bring with us ....she wanted a new baby doll(to add to the collection ) and she bought herself earrings when i showed her what she had left she decided not to get the second pair of earrings she said she wanted to save the money left for later im proud of her for that hth alittle

 

[tinkermom23]

$5 per week should be sufficient to start with.

We do allowances but they are for learning how to manage money. Chores are part of being in a family and are not negotiable for pay. Extra work does earn them money though and I'm considering paying for grades as DD11 is really slacking at school and needs some form of motivation.

This similiar to what we do for DS9. He gets $5 per week but 10% (50 cents) goes into his savings, 10% goes to church (or a charity if he chooses), and 80% goes into his wallet. He can choose what to spend that on but we do have veto power. We started his allowance at about age 6 but he didn't really get the hang of it until about a year ago. At age 6 his allowance was $2.50 since it was easy to to sort 10%, 10% and 80%. I really, really hate math!!!!

We also feel that chores are not tied to allowance since he needs to contribute as part of the family, but he can earn extra money by doing extra jobs. The allowance is more for understanding money and saving... spending....

Sometimes if I ask him to do a task, he'll ask what he will get for it... we say "You get to eat, sleep, and live in this house for another day." He hates it when we say that!!

 

[clh2]

I absolutely agree that an allowance is important - and at that age - it is very easy for them to the value of a buck. Spend it on something stupid and the money is gone forever. Buy some junky little trinket that breaks in a half hour...the money is gone forever. Lose your money...and it is gone forever.

Money skills are a forever skill that is one of the best things you can teach your kids. And - as they get older, the lessons can get more "real-life" i.e. checking accounts, debit cards etc.

These are really great lessons to learn when you are six.

We started gaving our DD an allowance when she was six, and overall, it was the best thing we ever did. Our only condition on the allowance was no snacks before dinner.

The only thing we did different than some of the other posters...chores are required because you are a member of our family. If you want extra money - there are additional chores that can be done above and beyond basic chores. But -the basic chores are just a plain requirement, and there are non-monetary consequences for not helping out.

 

[Dancemom03]

We started giving allowances for the first time in March. We expect certain chores to be a family responsibility so I won't pay for them. DD8's school principal gets a huge kick out of our arrangement and friends laugh that a 19 yr old with a job would get what they think of as an allowance. We're very honest though - we call it "hush" money - and I expect my money's worth or I take it back!

The girls were driving me crazy tattling and bickering. With twelve years between them, you'd think they'd either learn to get along or ignore each other, but, like me, you'd be wrong. So, when it all got to be too much for me one day I sat them down and told them my version of an idea I'd seen on Super Nanny.

I'd polled the parents at dance, lacrosse, school, nearly everywhere I went, to see how much the other kids in our area who received allowances were getting. In elementary school, most kids get $10 a week. $15 for middle, and $20 for high school and beyond so that's what I decided on. Every time I need to referree a fight though, or there's too much tattling, the offender loses a dollar - sort of like the nanny took back the glass beads in each child's jar for misbehavior.

Oh, there were major protests as I explained the plan. I wasn't even sure it'd work and it was my idea, so you can imagine my surprise when I saw a visible effort to get along happening around here. Of course I knew they were faking it for the money but, hey, my life was more peaceful so I was okay with that. At one point, I even told them to fake it if they had to. After several months now, life is much less stressful and the kids manage to keep their hush money. Getting along is still a chore some days but it's becoming a habit. We were even able to all sit in the same minivan and drive 16 hours to wdw this month without incident or nastiness - now that's what I call a true value...

 

[lbgraves]

I don't tie allowance to chores. I feel that they should help around the house because that is part of being a family. The kids started getting $4 per week a few years ago when they were 5 and 7. I got tired of them asking for things on vacation or whenever we went to the store. They receive $1 of that for their bank, $1 goes into their vacation fund and $2 goes into their bank account. They didn't like the idea of a building getting any of their money at first but now they look forward to getting their bank statement and know that they are earning interest on money there...even though it is a very small amount right now. At first they had to pay for half of what they wanted to buy but now they pay the full amount. My goal with starting an allowance was to teach them how to budget and start a habit of saving money for the future. They have also stopped nagging us at WDW and Target for everything they see. They are also more careful about what they decide to buy since it is their money being spent.

 

[mamalle]

we give the kids $5.00 per week for the chores.

 

[Dancemom03]

They have also stopped nagging us at WDW and Target for everything they see. They are also more careful about what they decide to buy since it is their money being spent.

It is enlightening when you point out that it's coming out of their money and they decide they don't 'need' to buy whatever it was anymore. I can't help but hope I'm helping to raise more educated consumers in the process too...

 

[MiniGirl]

I have a 6 year old who is VERY interested in buying things with her own money. Unfortunately, she doesn't understand that the money in her piggybank is not enough for everything she wants to buy. So, my DH and I are thinking about giving her an allowance to try to teach her the value of money. The questions we have are:

1. What types of chores are appropriate to assign a 6 year old in order for her to earn an allowance?

2. How much is money is appropriate to give her each week?

Thanks!

I think 6 is a perfect age to begin with an allowance. Before you can determine how much though, you have to determine what you want her to pay for and how much you can afford. For example, we give our children $1/week for every year in age. I know it seems like a lot, but we tell them 10% goes to church and we have them put 30% into savings. Because we have them put such a large amount into savings, we no longer put money aside for them in a separate account like we did when they were younger. They know this is seed money and not to be touched. The rest they can spend as they want. (However, I still have veto power over purchases. I haven't had to outright veto anything, but I have asked them to wait one more week before buying it just to be sure it is what they really want.) If we go to a movie, I may pay for the ticket, but if they want a snack, they have to pay for it. Sometimes I'll tell them a soda will be my treat, and it is always a nice surprise for them. If we go somewhere, we will tell them they have "X" amount of money. If they want something more expensive, they need to make up the difference. This is just what works for us. You have to determine what your family's needs are.

As for chores, we do not tie them to an allowance. My dh and I have chores to do and nobody pays us for them. Chores are their way of contributing to the good of the family. If they are saving for something special, I will consider giving them extra chores to do for money. However, these only come if the regular chores are getting done. If they aren't, there is no opportunity to do extra chores.

 

[Liberty Belle]

Our sixteen year old gets sixteen dollars a week. We do not make him save any, but that's because he saves most of it. He's bought himself a laptop (from allowance combined with birthday/holiday money).

My six year old gets six dollars a week. If he gets on red or yellow at school (it's a behavior system for all the kids - blue is best, then green, then yellow, then red), we deduct a dollar. He has to put one dollar away in savings.

 

[Cloud9]

My 7 year old we give her $7 per week. She has 4 chores that she has to do every day. Make her bed, get the mail (learing how to cross the street w/ me watching), brush the cat (practice skip counting, etc), and cleaning-up her stuff up that she took out that day. These chores are not to hard for her and she is learning responsibility. However, she also helps with anything that I asked including folding clothes & unloading the dish washer.

She does not keep all of the money. $2 bank, $1 vacation fund, 50 cents for charity & she keeps $3.50 per week. We have veto power and I try not too use it. But it is hard to let her make money mistakes or buy junk, but that is how she will learn.

She must be learning something. A few weeks ago she asked if she can have our house when she turns 18. When I asked why she said so she doesn't have to buy one!

 

[shortbun]

We do not attach chores with allowance around here. They are separate. Allowance is for expenses and there are still expenses even if chores are not done. We don't have too much trouble with chores being done because our son is pretty focused on our household. When he was your daughter's age, his chores were to empty the waste cans, feed the cat and keep his room picked up. He needed to be reminded but he always did them happily. Don't overwhelm her with too much. Now the chores include things like helping to paint a room, mowing the lawn, cooking a meal, weekly cleaning, helping with the grocery shopping, doing homework/summer work, still the trash, still the cat and still his room.

 

[kellia]

For those of you with older kids who are getting $15 or so a week, do you make them pay if they are going to the movies or somewhere with friends, or do you still give them additional money for that?

My 14 yo dd only gets $20/month in actual allowance, but can earn extra for chores, babysitting her younger brothers, etc, which can add up to quite a bit, expecially in the summer when she watches them all day a couple days a week. But still seems like she thinks I'm an ATM when it comes to her "activities". We're trying to figure out how to resolve this and make it more her responsibility for budgeting where she is going out, etc. That kid goes out more than dh and I do!

 

[bootleg89]

My daughter is 5 and I started it when she was 4. Back then it was to encourage her to be more self sufficient and independent. It included brushint teeth and getting dressed w/o being told to. It really help to get her excited about doing those things, and it made my life easier in the mornings. She didn't get money, instead after so many stickers on her chart she got a candy/ treat, then an outing to get an icecream cone, then a small toy.

Now, we still use the same chore chart but she has actual chore- feed the dog, clean kit. table, help with laundry (take laundry down to laundry room and help mom sort it by colors) keep bed room and toy room clean, help clean up after lil sis. She gets $1 per chore but only if she has done every chore all week. As she doesn't play in her toy room every day she doesn't get a sticker for that day and thus it sometimes takes her 2 weeks to get all 7 stickers, this also applies to the others that are not done daily. She ultimately gets between between $2 and $3 a week. Lately she lets the chart fill up completely and ask for $7 after about 3 weeks.

Good luck implementing it with your DD- it should sound exciting and help teach her the value of money.

 

[dijid]

Wow! You all are much more generous than I am. I give my kids $1/grade level. So my soon to be 6yo only earned 50 cents/week last year and will earn $1/week this year. I can only imagine all the additional dentists bills I would have if she had $5/week to spend on candy!

I do tie allowance to chores. Or job performance if you want to call it that. Here's a breakdown of what my 3 kids are required to do with grade levels they're going in to:

all 3 kids: make bed daily, dust bedroom weekly, fold and put away own laundry, pick up bedroom for weekly vacuuming, participate in weekly downstairs decluttering

In addition:
1st grader - clean sliding glass door & dust living room weekly

3rd grader - clean bathroom sinks weekly, take out trash in own room, assist in changing sheets on his bed weekly

5th grader - sweep kitchen floor daily, dust family room weekly, take out trash in bedroom, change own sheets (I wash) weekly.