Allowances for kids! Help!

[jeankeri]

OK- this is not entirely a Disney question, but I need some advice! My DS6 & DS8 are clamoring for an allowance. What do you guys do? I figure with so many money management experts on the Budget Board there must be some good opinions out there! Passing on an appreciation for $ and how to save/ spend wisely is my goal. We have tried a few variations over the last year- set amount of $ each week, earning $ for chores. None seems to last long before my guys balk at the amount of money they get or the chores they have to do! Of course I remember doing the same as a kid, and who wouldn't try to get a better deal. I just want to know that I'm not out of line with my expectations, or miserly with the reward. Please share what you have done that has worked for you! My DSs also know that they will be buying their souvineers next trip- I thought this was a good incentive !

 

[chadfromdallas]

Never got an allowance here....lol

My parents usually just handed me some money as I walked out the door and of course, I did anything they pretty much asked.

Give them each $20 or so a week....that would make any kid happy under the age of 17 im sure

 

[disneysnowflake]

My boys are 14 and 10. They have to do chores each week.

We worked our allowances this way..
Under the age of 13 you get 1/2 of your age, but you had to save $1 a week to donate. So, my 10 year old would get $5 a week then minus the $1 donating money.

Once you turn 13 since teenagers do more things you get your actual age in dollars. My 14 year old gets $14 a week.

Now, they have assigned chores to do. If they decide not to do their chores, and if I have to do the chores for them, I pay myself for doing the job out of their allowance. We've only had to do that twice.

Also, if they want to earn extra money for something special we give them extra jobs to do.

This works for our family, even though others will say what we do is stupid.

 

[jeankeri]

disneysnowflake- I love your idea of donating! We were doing $5/week and they were expected to clean their rooms (bedroom, playroom and cellar/Lego space). Well, my feeling was no griping allowed if you expect $ (I could not give them $ and get the griping for free ). So- this latest revolt has me questioning the whole system, I guess. Like chadfromdallas- my DH & I received no allowance as kids!
Anyone else want to share their systems? Promise they will all be brilliant compared to mine .

 

[mad4themouse]

My children got the choice of either allowing Mom & Dad to continue handling the money and paying for things "as we go" or getting $10 per week each and buying their own "I wants".

Naturally, being naive about money, they chose the $10. It didn't take long for them to realize that the "I wants" add up to more than $10 per week. No more allowances in this house.

 

[disneymom3]

Holy moley--maybe I am cheap but those kids get way more allowance than my 7 year old.

The deal in our house is that everyone has certain jobs because that is what it means to be part of a family. My two and three year olds even have jobs. (I like that word better than chores.) When any complaining starts I point out that perhaps I would like to stop doing the grocery shopping or washing the clothes. They are not my favorite things to do, but I have to do them anyway.

Along with the responsibility of being in a family comes the priveledges of being in a family. One of those is the family income. So, my DD gets a dollar a week. She is expected to save 1 quarter, give 1 quarter to church (though she often chooses to give more) And she has 50cents to spend as she chooses. She also gets money from relatives for birthdays and Christmas. The cash she can have and spend, the checks she has to put into her savings account.

 

[ceecee]

I have always had the thought that being part of a family means you help out. Cleaning room, making beds, picking up clothes should be done without expecting payment. My daughter gets her share of treats and surprises. We tried giving her .25 for each morning she remembered without being told to make the bed...didn't seem to work. Not turning the TV on unless the bed was made however worked like a charm. So that is now just part of her daily chores.

 

[Jana49]

We gave our kids an allowance that matched their ages. One half was to spend however they wanted, 1/4 went to a long-term savings (a car, etc.) and 1/4 went to a short term savings (money for Dis, etc.). They had to do chores for this money. We did not pay them to clean their own rooms - that was something they had to do for the privledge of having it. So - your eight year old would get $8 and the six y/o would get six. But they could only spent 4 and 3, respectively.

Whichever method you choose, deciding it together as a family is the important thing.

Jana

 

[mbelec]

Bonus Bucks - my own idea, but I use them for any upcoming vacation, and they work well.

The kids (13, 11 & 7) do chores when requested (empty dishwasher, water plants, shovel snow , dust, etc.) and earn (by my discretion), bonus bucks, which are actually check marks on a piece of paper on the fridge. They can also earn (or lose) bonus bucks for behavior. If the 7-year-old, on his own, is nice to his sister, shares, etc., I'll call out "one bonus buck for you, Ian" or whatever and he proudly puts a check on his list. This encourages "caught in the act" good behavior. On the reverse, if you're mean, you might be docked bonus bucks. You'll be surprised how nice they'll be if they're behind a sibling in the count.

I usually have a set amount in mind that I plan for them to earn before a trip and make sure the opportunities are there for them to earn them. And when the vacation money is gone, they seem to understand that there isn't any more. This teaches them to spend it wisely while on vacation and they don't beg for more money.

Upcoming Disney trip: I plan for each to earn $20 spending for each day there. They will be encouraged to save a day's worth if they want something bigger, of course.

No regular chore/allowances in my house. I point out that I give money for dances at school, valentines/Christmas/birthday gifts for friends, ample amounts for class trips, sporting trips/events, etc., etc., and that I expect some help around the house occasionally for this. I also suggest that they can certainly pay for the above instead, while getting an allowance, but haven't been taken up on it yet.

 

[HookdonWDW]

My kids have jobs and allowances. One is not tied to the other. They have jobs, because it's everyone's responsibility to keep the household running. No one gets out of their jobs. Their allowances are because everyone in the family is valued for the contributions, and we share what we have.

Their allowance is based upon their age. They get a $1 raise on each birthday. So, my 9 y/o gets $9.00/week. 10% gets put in the basket at church (he usually just puts in a dollar). 50% goes into his savings account for long-term savings (car, college, etc...), 20% is for a goal purchase (video/computer game, toy, etc...) and 30% is his to spend as he chooses.

If they need extra money, they can ask to do extra chores around the house, and they are paid a negotiated amount for those chores. It works well for us, and the kids know the difference between the jobs they are expected to do, and chores that they can get paid to do.

 

[MelessaG]

My 6 year-old and I have a deal that at the end of each day if her room is clean she gets $0.25 in her bank. By Sat., if she has earned the quarter everyday, she gets $1.00 too. If not, she just keeps whatever she earned for the week. (this tops out at $2.50 per week, which I feel is enough for a 6 year-old) She is still expected to put away her laundry and set the table as she has been doing since she was 4. When she gets a little taller, we will introduce dish duty and a raise in the allowance. She is our oldest, so this is our 'practice system.'

 

[SamSam]

My children are now 28 & 23 and doing very well on thier own. When they were children, this is what we did. Chores; cleaning their room, helping keep the house clean and then as they got older (teens) doing their own laundry and cooking one meal a week, was considered being part of a family and learning how to 'be own your own as an adult'. Allowance started out at age 5 and was $1, they had complete control over it. In their teen years, allowance was enough to pay for their school lunches (yes, we wanted them to learn to budget) and to cover a movie nite. We also did clothing budgets starting at their 9th grade year. For their clothing budgets, I would figure out what I felt I would spend if I went out to replenish thier wardrobe and told them this is the amount they had to spend on clothes for the season. Now mind you, I'm not into 'name brands', so my figures came from Penny's or similar prices. So my kids had to decide "do I want 2 pair of $50 jeans (this was a few years ago), or do I want 5 pair of 'no-name' jeans. Amazingly, neither of my children have ever gotten into credit card debt and they both are very good at managing their money.

 

[BuzzLightYear3]

My kids get $1/week/age. My husband wanted to do this after reading some book.....Rich Dad's Guide to <something>. I thought it was excessive but the idea was that they need to have enough money to work with to really get used to managing it. They each maintain about $100+ in their 'accounts', but it's amazing how well it works. They need to pay for any 'wants' with their own money, and they really choose wisely......if they indicate they want something, I remind them that they'd need to buy it with their own money, and 90% of the time they decide they don't want it that much afterall. They've each made some bad purchases and regretted it, and seemed to learn a lot from it.

We don't have specific guidelines on charity, etc., but we provide plenty of opportunities for them to choose to give, and they've been very charitable.

As many of the other posters have indicated, chores are considered family responsibilities and aren't tied to the allowance (because we don't want to get in a situation where they can decide they have enough money and therefore can opt out of the chores.)

They've become much more 'price aware' since we started this a few years ago....e.g., they'll see something they want at the mall, but they know it will cost them less if they wait and get it at Target when we're there some other day.

I guess we'll know in 20 years if these money management lessons paid off!

 

[HappyLawyer]

Well my dtr will be 8 and at first i was giving her a chance to earn her own money for disney but i had to stop, she got smart and started saving birthday and x mas money now she has 300.00 which is a lot and she wants to use it for disney, so of course i will have to help her spend it wisely but she will have majority say, it is our deal but i am going to have her tip the bell man for her luggage, she likes to tip for some reason, we will be out and she will say "mommy give me tip money" --after i left the tip already, ok off track here, but thanks to the wonderful school system she can track her money, she is not big on chores, and she does not need to clean her room, cuz she spends all her time in mine-lol