How much allowance....

[MiniGirl]

do you give your children? How do you detrmine the amount?

When I was a kid, my parents gave us a nickel for each year in our age. Ex.... when we were 8, we received $.40 a week. At 10, we received $.50. Now, this was quite a few years ago, and I know that wouldn't do now. I do like basing the amount on age though. My dh want to do $1/year, but I think $8/week is too much for my 8 year old. (I know. We should've started already, and we tried several times. We just haven't been consistent with it.) However, he wants them to tithe and save out of that amount, too. It would still leave a good amount of money though each week. I guess I want her to have to save her money a little longer before being able to buy something. (The savings part of the allowance is set aside for long term savings.)

Anyway, what are your thoughts. My girls are 8 and 5. I like the idea of a set amount per year. Yes, my older dd would get more each week, but my youngest would be receiving it for 2 years after my oldest no longer gets one. I also like them setting aside money to tithe and save from the allowance money they get. I guess my problem is just how much should they get.

What are your thoughts on the subject?

 

[allboyz]

Years ago there was an Oprah show where they said it was a good idea to give half a child's age in allowance per week. Personally, I give half of my sons' ages every two weeks. My husband said I really need to give my oldest son (13) that amt every week so we will probably start doing that. I think I will keep giving my 8 yr old and 6 yr half of their age every two weeks though.

 

[earthfaries]

I give my 11 year old $10.00 and my two five year olds $5.00 each per week. If they don't do good by doing their chores without being asked or if I have to keep asking for them (I'm mainly talking about my 11 year old~the 5 year olds like to do chores for now ) they don't get it.

I keep some of it for savings. It depends on it there is anything he is saving for at the time.

Sometimes I give my 11 year old more, if he has really helped me out that week, or even a particular day~I babysit in my home and he is homeschooled, so if he helps out a lot with chores and with other things~he could get another $10.00 which is like payment for working That is when he plays with the kids, helps get their snacks, cleans up after the two year old, etc.

If I don't have it a certain week, or we spend a lot on something for the family~they don't get it and they understand

 

[MinnesotaChill]

I think it depends a lot on what you expect your kids to pay for. Work backwards. Some families have their kids pay for school lunch, so have them pay for birthday presents, etc. When we first started, we read something that was $1 per year per week. That was way too much, since we started when the kids were 5! Even after taking some out for saving and sharing (charity) they still had too much, so we started making them pay for more things as they gained responsibility.

There is a great website: sharesavespend.com that talks about the idea that kids need to get used to the fact at an early age that everything they make doesn't necessarily belong to them. I know some people who even take out for taxes so the kids realize when they get their first job that $12/hr isn't really $12/hour.

Another allowance/chore philosophy is on loveandlogic.com. Look under articles...

 

[I'mNoPrince]

We do the $1 per year .DD14

But she has to pay 1/2 her Cell bill and Text mess out of it.

 

[tink2]

I have a dd8 and ds6. We give them $1/ day- excluding weekends ($5/ week) if they do their chores each day. To get the $1/day, they must make their bed, clean the toothpaste out of the sink in the morning when they are done, and help with laundry. If they don't do one of these, they loose the $1 for the day. It has really helped! They also have to put $1 in the vacation jar each week and pay $2 per month tithing. They don't pay for lunches and stuff like that- but if they want a toy they pay for it. If they want to go to the movies, they usually pay for their ticket and the food they eat there. So far, this has worked really well for my family...

 

[GOOFY4DONALD]

I have kids that nothing would get them to claen their rooms and notfight with each other. NOt even the promise of an allowance would work. Finally I found something that worked. I gave them fake dollars and quarters. A total of 5.00 at the beginning of each week. Everytime they fough or talked bac or refused to do something that I asked I had them pay me with their fake money (the amount depended on the 'crime'). At the end of the week they cashed out whatever they had left. Sometimes it was nothing sometimes it was 5.00. But having something tangible in their hands really seemed to work.

 

[Nicolepa]

We do 1/2 their age. I started w/their age and that was too much money. So my 5 yo gets $2.50 and my 7 yo $3.50. Works out well. I make them pay for any things that they want toys or whatever they see when we are shopping. It totally stopped the I wants when we are out shopping. I simply tell them they can use their money. 99% of the time they decide against it.

My 5 yo has been saving for a DS for 6 months. He has $115 saved up. I think he has bought 1 or 2 things in that 6 months.

 

[EnchantedPrincess]

My dd is 4 and dh and I have just decided on allowance for her next year, and we decided that we will start our ds (who is 2) early. DD will get $2 a week, and ds will get $1 a week...and we are going to get each one of them three small jars/piggy bank...one for savings, one for spending, and one for charity.

 

[reelmom]

DS5 and DS4 get $5.00/week. They get to decide how much of it goes into three envelopes-tithe, savings and spending.
We are trying to teach them that out of their earnings, you give 10% to church, 10% to savings and spend the other amount wisely.

 

[brooklynheights]

my 8yr DN gets $5 a week and 50cents an hour when he works for his dads company he saves 90% of his money his choice when he works for his dad he keeps track of his pay he started investing his money at 5 had a savings account as a baby switched to stocks bonds etc before school he watches the asian stock market at night the americian markets he told me "it lets me know how my day will be "strange kid he's always had an allowance always saved and has big goals 7 million before he is 60 in todays money Dave Clark tells you if you give kids an allowance part should be saved later invest the money

 

[MiniGirl]

I really want to thank all of you for your comments and the websites to check out. We did order banks for the girls from Crown Financial. They are 3 separate banks (tithing [or charity if you prefer], long term savings, and spending). Dh really thinks we should go with $1/year, so the compromise was that they pay for more things themselves.

I know many people tie allowance in with chores, but I don't think I feel comfortable with that. Not saying it is wrong. I just would prefer to take away priviledges if chores aren't done in a timely manner. I'm trying to teach my kids that part of being a family is contributing the the comfort and well-being of the family as a whole. As a mom, I have many chores that I must do each day, and I receive no compensation for doing them, so I don't think the kids should either. However, I have no problem paying them to do chores that are above and beyond what is on their list. Like I said, I have no roblem with those of you who tie the 2 together. It just isn't right for our family.

I know my kids though, and I know they will want to spend that money as soon as they get it. I hate the thought of them wasting their money on these $4 or $5 toys that that will end up all over the house. I guess that is the main reason I don't want to give them what I see as a big allowance, but they have to learn sometime to chose quality over quantity. Better they learn all that now. After all, that is part of the reason for giving an allowance, right?

Thanks again for you imput.

 

[ConnieB]

As soon as we announced that we were going to DisneyLAND 2 1/2 years ago, I started paying the girls half of their allowance in Disney Dollars. Forced them to save and also meant that they'd have their own spending money when we went.....and kinda evil on my part I got double bang for my (Disney) bucks, because I didn't spend a penny on their souveniors.

Started doing the same thing in April of this year for our trip to WDW....but because I started so much earlier I only did $100 in Disney bucks....I don't really think they need that much, but figured they could splurge or save it for use next year at the Disney store.