How much is your kid’s allowance?

[Suz D]

I agree that chores are part of being a family member and contributing to the overall well being of the family. I also agree with kids need to have $$ to learn to manage $$. So we DO give an allowance. Our 7 year old gets $4/week and our 17 (almost 18 ) gets $10/week. They tithe 10% to the church and we will implement a savings percentage as well. Our oldest is very tight fisted with any $$ she has so saving really isn't an issue for her. Our youngest probably does need to have a savings rule so we'll make the rule for both of them. We just started this 2 weeks ago and it was kind of spur of the moment so it wasn't thought through very well. We are still working on coming up with a specific "chore chart" with possible bonus chores to help earn additional $$ if they are saving for something big.

 

[wendow]

I agree that chores are part of being a family member and contributing to the overall well being of the family. I also agree with kids need to have $$ to learn to manage $$. So we DO give an allowance.

Same for us. We do not give allowance based on the kids doing chores. They do those too and it has nothing to do with their allowance.

 

[Surfinpiratee]

Same for us. We do not give allowance based on the kids doing chores. They do those too and it has nothing to do with their allowance.

That's how it was with me. I didn't get paid for doing chores. I had the things I just kinda had to do, example, keep my room and bathroom tidy, and when I got around 14 I cleaned my cats litter box

 

[VroomFam]

Like others, I don't believe in entitlement allowances. So we have chores, grades, and paid tasks. The chores they have to do anyway, and they get paid a stipend or set wage. They have to do it to get paid, but they usually do it with some grumbling and poor attitude. The grades I reward well. That is a BONUS for hard work, and natural ability/talent. The extra paid tasks are things above and beyond, and they can do work without asking and we negotiate value. They do better on these, and I pay well.

So they have learned to work a job for a wage and grumble, use their talents to get rewards, and use entrepreneurial skills to reap a harvest.

Then of course we ruin it all by taking them to WDW and buying everything in sight!

 

[lisaross]

interesting....so how much do u give them in 7th grade? and then do you raise it again per year?

We do the 1 dollars per year of age per week paid every Monday. More money for things that mom doesn't really want to do. More money for A's double for 100's.

Here where it changes around 7th grade I give child the money I would normally spend on clothes shoes, lunch money. Plus allowance and grade money. This is when real budgeting comes in to play.

By 16 if you want to drive you have to have a job and pay a percentage of car insurance and car up keep. Still get all allowances pays.

 

[lisaross]

so do you wait for there report card and then give out the $$. I was paying per test - next year my son goes to highschool - maybe i will do money based on report card..

No allowance. Chores are part of a family member's duty. My kids have a lot less chores during their school year due to homework and activities. Summer, they do almost everything.

School is their job, so I pay for grades. $10/A, $5/B, $20 bonus for all A's and B's, and $50 bonus for straight A's.

If we are taking a big trip, I will hold onto their money until the trip.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Interesting discussion .

For the parents that pay for chores/household duties and grades, I am curious......

- how do keep track of the household duties they complete, so you know exactly how much you "owe" them on payday? Do you write down each time they do the dishes, feed the cat, etc., or do they keep a running total for you? I am just wondering how, if you have multiple kids especially, you keep it all straight....I could envision that becoming an administrative nightmare. Also, how do you avoid the "how much are you going to pay me? How much is that worth?" when you add a new expectation to the mix? How do you differentiate between an expectation and a paid chore? (I am guessing there must be SOME things that they don't get paid to do)

- for the grade payers, are your kids all academically inclined? This is another one that I am curious how the balance is found, simply because natural ability plays a big role here. My son can pull off an A without cracking a book, but some of his friends work harder for their high C or low B than he does (by a long shot). Do any of the parents who pay for marks have kids with special needs or learning challenges, and if so, does their payment schedule differ from your more academically blessed children?

Not asking to start a debate, I am just genuinely curious. Its interesting to see how other families make their different systems work.

We have always found the lump-sum, once-a-week allowance to work best for our family. There's never been any negotiating for payment when its time to do a chore around the house, and its easy to keep track of. Our DS has always known that certain household expectations are just that...expected. As a member of the home, he's part of the functioning of the home. Ditto for good grades.

Because he's always had a little bit of cash allotted to him, he knows how to handle money better than most young men I know. He's abided by the "pay yourself first" philosophy right since his first paycheque, and a portion of his pay goes to his education savings without me even having to remind him. Assuming all goes as planned, he *should* graduate debt-free from college (he starts his first year in September 2014). He has learned to budget for larger purchases (and trips, and Christmas shopping) well in advance, and always retains a healthy emergency fund. I can only hope he finds a wife some day who is as smart about saving as he is .

 

[auralia]

Dd gets rated at school on a color system for behavior. If she gets a purple she gets 2$ and a green 1$. If she gets a whole week of purple she Gets a 5$ bonus at the end of the week. So the most she can get is 15$ per week, but usually she earns less than 10$ and if she is very bad she has to pay me.

 

[lauradis]

interesting....so how much do u give them in 7th grade? and then do you raise it again per year?

First year we tried it with our oldest. Which was eons ago was around extra 50 bi weekly for clothes lunches where 12 week. No didn't raise it. By about 9th grade my oldest two girls stop growing. Don't think it would work for boys as well. Plus she had a fully stocked closet to start with. And grandma always buys them winter gear every year, her mother did it for her kids and she really enjoys it.

She had the hardest time adjusting. She was big glam girl. It did make her a better shopper.

Getting a job made her really understand hard work for little money.

By the 11th grade she got good with saving spend balance. And thought all her peer where "dumb with the $20 parents handed them" lol

Also make them get saving accts checking accts start retirement acct etc etc

I did cheat when she changed bra sizes going into one of her high school years, hey I'm her mom I get to step in and help when I can.

 

[lisaross]

I give them the money for grades when i see the test and sign it! or if i don't have the $ we write it down.

I agree it has to be geared towards the kids ability. I have 2 kids - both do pretty well in school - but my older son is in honors and its a bit harder and my younger does not care as much about school but will do well if he studies hard.

If they are not that good - then i would give for grades over an amount that u know that could get - or for more simple things like not having to be ased to clean something up etc.

Interesting discussion .

For the parents that pay for chores/household duties and grades, I am curious......

- how do keep track of the household duties they complete, so you know exactly how much you "owe" them on payday? Do you write down each time they do the dishes, feed the cat, etc., or do they keep a running total for you? I am just wondering how, if you have multiple kids especially, you keep it all straight....I could envision that becoming an administrative nightmare. Also, how do you avoid the "how much are you going to pay me? How much is that worth?" when you add a new expectation to the mix? How do you differentiate between an expectation and a paid chore? (I am guessing there must be SOME things that they don't get paid to do)

- for the grade payers, are your kids all academically inclined? This is another one that I am curious how the balance is found, simply because natural ability plays a big role here. My son can pull off an A without cracking a book, but some of his friends work harder for their high C or low B than he does (by a long shot). Do any of the parents who pay for marks have kids with special needs or learning challenges, and if so, does their payment schedule differ from your more academically blessed children?

Not asking to start a debate, I am just genuinely curious. Its interesting to see how other families make their different systems work.

We have always found the lump-sum, once-a-week allowance to work best for our family. There's never been any negotiating for payment when its time to do a chore around the house, and its easy to keep track of. Our DS has always known that certain household expectations are just that...expected. As a member of the home, he's part of the functioning of the home. Ditto for good grades.

Because he's always had a little bit of cash allotted to him, he knows how to handle money better than most young men I know. He's abided by the "pay yourself first" philosophy right since his first paycheque, and a portion of his pay goes to his education savings without me even having to remind him. Assuming all goes as planned, he *should* graduate debt-free from college (he starts his first year in September 2014). He has learned to budget for larger purchases (and trips, and Christmas shopping) well in advance, and always retains a healthy emergency fund. I can only hope he finds a wife some day who is as smart about saving as he is .

 

[hsmamato2]

funny.... lots of ways to do this thing.... for my 1st kid, we gave an allowance from about 5 years old onward.... started at about 1.00 per week, by the time he aged out (grew up got a job) it was about 5-6.00 per week....our theory was...' give him enough to work with,save for stuff,learn how to budget it' but not enough to buy big ridiculous unneeded items.....it was never tied to anything, chores were done b/c they needed doing,and family works together...
2nd kid, we have regular chore stuff that just is part of family life,and then certain jobs that earn between 1-5.00 per job daily. (the big one,mowing the yard of 1 acre,is 5.00) almost everything else is a straight up 1.00 per job,big or small)
personally I like our 2nd choice better..... he still learned to handle his own money, but b/c it was tied to a job, it feels more like a 'paycheck' for hard work.
With both kids, it's not a daily handout,or even weekly- for the allowance, we gave ds1 ALL of it once a month upfront,and when he ran out,he was done. Seemed to work fine,teaching him how to budget carefully.(and we didn't give random handouts either)
ds2 writes his jobs on a daily list and checks them off as he does them,approx. once a month or so he brings me the list,and we square up.
Both ways worked fine, they both know how to budget their funds pretty well.

 

[hsmamato2]

I think there are various ways to get your kids to learn responsibility...not all work for every family..... Both my kids have learned to 'make the pennies scream' extremely well....so I can vouch for the whole 'different kids/different ways' thing....
what one of mine needed was a way to have/use funds on his own, while doing chores as part of his natural life came easier vs. a list of 'jobs'....the other LOVES a good list and LOVES to check things off that list so paying 'per job' and keeping track of his own income works better for him.
I think it's key,that whatever you choose to do, you try to be consistent... saying one thing and practicing another can cause problems down the road, my kids had friends who still don't know how to budget money b/c they never really had the opportunity to be flat out broke, or to utilize money in a real way...(their parents just gave them extra whenever they ran short) We never did that... we stuck to the concept 'it's yours to do with what you like, but it isn't an infinite supply'

 

[msmama]

My son is only 5, but he can't stand to have a dime in his pocket without spending it!! Plus, in K, he's just starting to really learn math and stuff so I don't expect too much.

Also, I rarely have cash (nor do I trust him with it) so we do a "chart" system. Everyday he has set chores (take his dish to the dishwasher, clean up toys, easy things that I expect him to do). If he does all that, he gets to check off a square.

There are also additional, above and beyond things that he can earn squares for - helping with laundry, groceries, etc. Also can earn squares for trying new things at dinner and whatever behavior issues we may be having.

I recently started threatening squares but I'm not sure if that's a good idea.

Each square is worth 50 cents, so $3 a week if he does everything he's supposed to (he spends one day a week with his dad).

Part of the reason I do the square thing is because if he does buy something, it's most likely at Target, so I'd rather him save the 5% with my red card instead of paying cash, lol!

 

[Jaime4004]

My kids are 5,8 and 10. They each start out with $5/month, then earn (or lose) quarters depending on chores, behavior, etc. They earn quarters when they bring home A's on tests, I catch them doing nice things for each other, doing chores that I ask them, etc. More quarters for things I really don't want to do. Lose quarters for bad behavior. They usually end up with between $10-$20/month. They don't really need much money, only for toys and crap that they want. I keep track of how much money they have on a dry erase board and at the end of the month, they "cash out" whatever they have written. They keep 50% and 50% goes into the bank. They enjoy seeing the bank statements grow, and having money in their wallets.
I definitely have to get better with having them do chores regularly. They have to pick up after themselves but I tend to do most everything else. Something I keep thinking about but not implementing, I know it's not doing them any favors in the long run...

 

[pjlla]

FWIW, my high school sophomore gets $20/month. It is direct deposited into a savings account. He is free to withdraw whatever he wants to buy extras (usually that involves using my credit card and then paying me back when he gets to the bank). He isn't a big "spender" and has accumulated a tidy sum in the bank. If he wants to buy a car while in high school, I expect that he will use a large portion of his savings for that.

We switched to this "direct deposit" system because I was so bad about remembering to pay the kids their allowance in cash. I kept having to write IOUs for the piggy banks! When they were younger they had a triple bank savings plan with their allowance.... one bank for long-term savings (10% went in there), one for tithing (10% automatically went in there) and then one other for the rest. It worked okay (when I remembered to pay them) and they were allowed to either give their tithe to church or to a charitable organization. Again, the biggest problem came with ME trying to remember to have cash in the house to pay them weekly. The direct deposit is working MUCH better, but it is up to him (now that he is older) to make the right choices with the money (like remembering to tithe and saving long term).

DD is in college now. She never ended up with a direct deposit situation like her brother, but I deposit regularly onto her school card now and give her cash whenever I see her, so for now I just consider that her "allowance" money. This will, of course, stop when she graduates and gets a job!

This was all done with the understanding that SCHOOL was their primary job and they are expected to do their very best. And of course, help around the house whenever possible. They know what is expected and will do what I ask (most of the time ). We never really set it up as "these are your chores and these are my chores". We just reminded them that as a family we work as a TEAM to make life run smoothly and if you have time to help and are asked, you are expected to help.

HTH...................P

 

[lurkernj]

DS15 gets $10/week. However, if he goes out with his friends I will also give him money, since $10 doesn't get him far (he's not that social, so it doesn't happen every week lol). He really doesn't do much around the house since he's not home much (doesn't get home til 6:30/7pm due to sports), but he will do whatever I ask of him when he is home (and usually not complain).

 

[Kitzka]

DD 15 gets $40 a month. She doesn't do much at home because she is busy with activities but if she wants extra money she has to do extra work. the amounts vary.

This money only covers her own spending as well as going out with her friends. food out is her expense unless it's related to a school or activity (like if she has rehearsal all day on a saturday. i will give her a few dollars to cover lunch).

 

[NYCDiane]

My kids do get $10 a week if they do all of their chores. If they miss one, they get nothing. Ds12 mows the grass, takes out the trash and put the laundry on. Dd9 takes care of the pets, vacuums, loads/runs/empties the dishwasher and takes the laundry out of the washer and starts the dryer.

You're the parent but I completely disagree with this!!! If you miss a day at work, does your boss not give you your full weeks salary??? If you forget to do one thing at work, does your boss withhold all your pay?? No.

My daughter (15) has a list of chores to do. Her allowance is $15/week. I divide $15 by the number of chores. If she misses a chore, that will be deducted from her allowance. If she does every single thing (and a little more) without being reminded or asked, she gets a bonus.

 

[littleelf]

Interesting discussion .

For the parents that pay for chores/household duties and grades, I am curious......

- how do keep track of the household duties they complete, so you know exactly how much you "owe" them on payday? Do you write down each time they do the dishes, feed the cat, etc., or do they keep a running total for you? I am just wondering how, if you have multiple kids especially, you keep it all straight....I could envision that becoming an administrative nightmare. Also, how do you avoid the "how much are you going to pay me? How much is that worth?" when you add a new expectation to the mix? How do you differentiate between an expectation and a paid chore? (I am guessing there must be SOME things that they don't get paid to do)

.

We made the payment linked to chores that are easy to keep track of. If the cat doesn't get fed, the clothes start piling up and the dishwasher never gets unloaded, I notice. This is why we switched to one payment once a week. We used to give quarters for small household chores but I never remembered to pay. If all of the things they are supposed to do this week aren't done, they don't get their $5 this week. We've always expected them to help out around the house, but with two girls it definitely tends to be that one will be more helpful/do what she is supposed to do more. So paying them gives them an incentive to both do it, plus lessens the begging when we go shopping. They both basically have the same chores--being responsible for their own stuff, mostly. The alternating chores (cat/dishwasher) are easy to keep track of/see if they are done. Then on Saturdays I tend to say, "Hey, if you want to get paid tomorrow someone needs to go clean the toilet and someone needs to vacuum." It works out so far.

We don't pay for grades. Both of my kids get mostly A's without trying too hard. I wouldn't feel right paying for something that comes naturally, and if they start struggling with a particular subject I wouldn't want to penalize them. Maybe if they started slacking off I would consider it, but they both want to do well in school and it's not an issue. I always had better grades than my sister in some subjects like math, and it wouldn't have been fair to pay me more than her, imo.

 

[4HppyCamprs]

My children never really got an allowance however; I have become sick of them thinking that if they ask they will receive. I want my children to understand they need to earn the money for the extras like video games, and iTunes. I talked with DH about doing a chore/allowance for our children, we have DS8 and DD13 he said “sounds good whatever you think honey”.

I picked out chores nothing over taxing, then sat them down and said if you do these chores you will get an allowance. First thing they wanted to know is how much, I said 20.00 a month apparently this is low for my DH so he breaks out with 40.00 a month, needless to say the kids pounce on that quickly. Maybe I am just behind in the times when I was kid I got a dollar a week or something, alight it was most likely more than a dollar, but I can assure you it was not 40.00 a month. So I am interested in seeing what other people decided on for allowances?

I got 40.00 a month back in the early 90s as a teenager (14-17). Costs were less then as well as 5.00 would give me plenty of gas.

My children are small they get a dollar a week. My son just turned 9 and since he does chores We will likely increase his to 2.00. He uses it to buy toys so that is plenty to teach the lessons I want him to learn.

Eta: they get paid in dimes as we take away dimes for poor behavior. My oldest has had teachers that did the same with marbles and Monopoly money so we adapted it for home. We also count it weekly to reinforce both the saving/growing aspect and for my ds4 counting

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