Kids and allowance?

[HLDisney]

My DD also gets $1 per year of age per week. Right now, $1 of the $8 she receives goes to church, $2 goes to savings and she can spend the remaining $5 as she wishes. We readjust the months yearly. I have veto power over what she spends her money on but I would only use it if the item was really "wrong" in my eyes...I wouldn't say anything if she decided to buy something that I considered frivolous or useless)

Her allowance is not tied to chores. As I read on another thread here a few months ago, when you forget to do something at work or make a mistake, your boss doesn't take money out of your paycheck. You just need to fix your mistake. And that's how I handle it with my DD. If she doesn't do her chores, she needs to go back and do them but I won't deduct from her allowance for that.

However, there are two bad habits of hers that I'm trying to break her of.....leaving her clothes lying around in the living room and leaving food dishes in the living room. For those 2 habits, if I find either clothing or food dishes left in the living room after she goes to bed, I deduct 25 cents for each offense. I consider that her "payment" to me for picking up those things for her.

I've been giving my DD an allowance since she was 4 or 5 and I've found that this has really helped curb the "gimmes" The first year she had an allowance, she felt the need to spend it all every time we were in a store. She ended up buying all sorts of plastic toys that broke easily or didn't work well (for a while, I was starting to think that giving her an allowance was a bad idea) However, by the 2nd year, she was really re-thinking her purchases and learning to save up for bigger items. When she was 6, she saved up half the cost of a Nintendo DS Lite (I told her that I would chip in for the other half if she could save half) She still buys things at times that I don't think is a good idea but I realize that it's all a learning process so I don't say anything beyond an initial "suggestion" that maybe it isn't a good idea. One time, she insisted on buying a certain stuffed animal, even though I suggested that maybe she should wait and think about it some more before buying it. Well, that night, she came up to me on her own and said "You're right. Maybe I should have waited and thought about it a bit more before buying it" She learned that lesson much better than if I had just insisted she not buy it.

All in all, for us, giving my DD an allowance has been a great way for her to learn to manage her own money.

Helen

 

[claytonsmama]

We do a dollar per year every two weeks when they turn 5. (Daddy gets paid then too.) They learn about tithing, saving and spending.

They have a certain amount of chores that are because they contribute to our household. Money is not connected to that.

We have special chores that they can earn "commission" on. They are on an as needed basis.

That is our twist on Dave Ramsey's suggestion.

this is kind of what we do. we do not follow dr, but we do give $1 per year of age every two weeks. my son is 5 so he gets $5 every two weeks when dh gets paid. ds is responsible for for certain chores. if he chooses not to do them, then i choose not to pay him. we try to instill the importance of a work ethic along with saving. ds usually saves for awhile then places 80% in savings and keeps the rest for whatever he wants.

 

[Juliegirl1]

I just wanted to clarify my earlier post. I know that no one mentioned me specifically but I wanted to explain why I do what I do.

Although I give my son $20 a month he is expected to do the few chores as a contribution to the household, just like I do my chores as my contribution. When he doesn't do his chores I told him that he has "hired" me to do them and I withhold money from his allowance, just like if I hired a housekeeper to clean the house and do my "chores" I would have to pay her.

He does have the opportunity to earn money by doing extra chores. Also I give him cash which he keeps in his wallet along with any gift cards he has received and not used.

I like the idea of a virtual bank - is that a program or just a spreadsheet that you made up dismom301930?

 

[herdtoDisney]

In our home, we give allowance, and it is not tied to chores-we tie chores to obedience and stewardship. I give cash, and give $2 to under-10, $5 10-16, and 16-graduate gets $10.

It's actually a little low and I"m thinking of upping it for the New Year. I'm also willing to give them a little extra if needed, say, kid wants to see movie with friend, I'll give them ticket and snack money. But the kids use what they get to get a little extra stuff they want, here and there. The older ones also do lawns, ect to make some $.

So far, my kids have been learning to be pretty good with money. They have learned to plan and save for something they want. It's not a lot of money, but enough to learn some management skills. My youngest one, 7, I have to watch though because she tends to lose money all over the house

 

[AmberHeartsDisney]

I got money and never had to work for it. It didnt turn out well for me. I learned the hard way. but im glad to have found Dave Ramsey.


Giving your kids money for doing nothing isnt treating them anything.I think its great you want to teach them to work for there money.

 

[Disney Hot Mama]

Giving your kids money for doing nothing isnt treating them anything.I think its great you want to teach them to work for there money.

I agree 100%. I know our preschool teacher said to give the kids an allowance of $1.00 per week per year starting at about 4 or 5 but not to tie it into any chores. Why should I give away money to my kids. For me to get money I have to work hard for it. At home I am expected to do chores to keep the house clean and I don't get paid for it. I expect my kids to do the same. Now if they go above and beyond of their basic duties I will pay them an allowance or a per chore 'salary' but they haven't stepped up to do that yet even with the money used as an incentive....

 

[Soarin_04]

We've got two boys. There are some chores they're expected to do because they live here and are part of the family and as such, have to take responsibility for keeping the place in some kind of order. Free chores -- dishes, making their beds, tidying their rooms, setting the table, and other stuff as needed.

Otherwise, they get a weekly chore chart with 20-25 chores per kid per week. Those chores include taking out the trash, emptying the recyclables, emptying stuff into the composting bin, bringing down their hampers, cleaning the bathroom, vacuuming, dusting, etc.

Each chore pays out .50. My younger son is very industrious and kicks out all the chores on his list and therefore he can buy and sell his older brother. My older son is a bit of a slacker, who usually does about 15 of the 25 chores...and his kid brother is more than happy to pick up the slack for the extra cash. Needless to say, older son is less than pleased when he gets paid, but that's not my problem -- my way of looking at it is it's like the real world -- no work = no pay.

Once they get the cash, it's split three ways. A portion goes into pocket money, a portion into their savings and a portion into what we call the Giving Jar, which we use for charitable donations, etc. Sometimes -- if we have a Disney trip coming up or some other event -- they'll opt to start an additional savings fund just for that. Right now they're both saving up for our annual trip to the beach in August.

It works well for us, and they're both very responsible spenders / savers. I never have to give them spending money for trips or money to buy birthday presents for each other or friends. Hopefully, that money sense will continue as they hit their teen years / the working world.

 

[wtrmlnlabs]

I have two boys, 4 and almost 8. I was not sure what to do either, I didn't want to just give money, but I didn't want them to combine doing chores with always getting money either. Plus DS 7 is a great boy, does what he's told/asked, listens well and follows the rules where DS4... well let's say he does not. They are two totally different personalities. Here is what I do for my two boys:

They get 25 pennies a day stacked up. Poor behavior, not doing something asked, whatever we have decided for rules, you lose a penny. At the end of the day the pennies are put in their individual cups. At the end of the week the pennies are added up and I will double whatever they have managed to "save". This has really worked for us. Poor behavior has been reduced quite a bit. They are allowed to spend whatever they want whenever they want, it's their money. Now I do want to start doing the saving and charity thing but since this is really pretty new to them (about 4 months) and DS4 doesn't really understand that, I'm letting that part go for now.

 

[jessp1021]

We do give an allowance to both our children DS(9) and DD (3)..they both understand in order to get money they have to do chores..(our 3yr old initiated this herself bc she wanted to earn dollars!!) Our son told us recently he wanted to get the money but not do the work which makes me all the more reassured that he needs to understand you have to work hard for your money.. After reading what others give for an allowance I think we need to reassess what we are giving them and make sure that their purchases are with their money only!

I did a couple questions for others:
1. Is there any specific reason to give $1 per yr of age?? I think that $36 might be a little steep each month for our son and not quite sure this would be "doable" with our budget!! I am thinking more along the lines of $20 per month for DS and $10 per month for DD??
2. With getting your children to save do you have a specific savings account for them? Also with the giving do you have them donate at the end of the year or how does that work? If I am wanting to have them set aside to save and give should I give the allowance each week and divide it up or pay them bi-weekly and say 50% goes into savings 1 week and 50% goes into the giving account the second week??
3. What is the best approach to go with in revealling to them the new allowance amount along with the new you much save some and you must give some rule?? DS has a concrete list of weekly chores that he keeps in his room so that he has a reminder and knows that if he doesn't do them he doesn't earn all of his money..DD knows that she helps at meal times and is very eager to offer to help with other chores

TIA for the help

 

[hipchickie]

I am sure you will get as many variations as posters, but here is our deal:

My kids get allowance equal to their age, as has been mentioned - 9yo gets $9, 6yo gets $6
They have a job list with something they have to do every day (ie sunday is change bed sheets and bring down dirty clothes to laundry room, Mon. is change all trash bags and help bring out trash, Tues is clean their bathroom, etc etc. My older son also has a cat and a bunny, and he has to scoop and change cat litter and bunny cage)

If they give me a hassle or will not do it, they get docked $1. If they miss a day because of school function, sports, etc they have until payday (Sat) to make it up.

They also have "chores" to do around the house, which is basically whatever I need help with at the moment They need to do stuff like keep the house picked up, set the table, etc

When they get paid, they have 3 jars in which they have to divide their earnings: save, spend, and give away. The %'s are not exact, but generally about 35-45% save, 35-45% spend, 10-20% give away (ie my youngest gets $6, he puts $1 in give away, $3 in save, $2 in spend.

They have to put all the save in the bank, not to be touched until they are 18 or go to college. spend is theirs to do as they want, they have blown it on silly things, or saved for a year to buy his own DSi...it is theirs to decide.

Giveaway has to go to someone else, but it can be anything or anyone. My youngest is from Ethiopia, he prefers to send his money there. They have also bought books for the school library, toys for tots, etc.

I never got allowance, and I really feel it negatively impacted my money management skills. I don't have any great feelings on chores/vs. no chores, but this works very, very well for us.

This year we are implementing 2 changes - my oldest has asked to open another bank account, where he can save for bigger ticket items without being tempted to spend it all (his words )
Secondly, I mentioned this in another thread recently, but in the past we have allowed them to borrow money at no interest to buy something they wanted without saving the full amount first. They will now have to pay interest and give collateral...they are not pleased with this turn of events

 

[jessp1021]

With the money per yr of age is that per week or per month?

 

[GAGirlInVA]

With the money per yr of age is that per week or per month?

We do it per payperiod which for my husband is every 2 weeks.

 

[kellia]

Here, everyone is expected to help around the house because they live here. So, if they do their chores well and on time, they get allowance. If they don't, they get to do or re-do their chores and no allowance. Allowance is basically a reward for doing it right without nagging and doing it correctly the first time, they don't have the option to not do them!

DD is 15, she gets $50/month. She can also earn more watching her brothers or doing extra chores. My sons are 7, they get $1 a week. They are horrible about doing their chores. They still can't manage to hang up their towels or put their dirty clothes down the laundry chute without me telling them, let alone do anything else without nagging. I've told them when they can do things without being told, they'll get a raise, but that doesn't seem to be motivating them! Their other chores are (between the two of them) setting table, putting recycling in bins, taking out trash- nothing hard!

 

[casjen]

Thanks! Dh and I talked and we'll be giving them $2 a week to start for doing their current chores and learning how to help with the laundry (washer and dryer). They are very excited to save their money so they have enough to get a savings account at the bank.

 

[claytonsmama]

With the money per yr of age is that per week or per month?

ours is based on when my husband gets paid, which is bi-weekly. so my ds (5) gets approximately $10.00 per month.

 

[santadog]

I came up with my own idea that many of my friends with kids like.

Each Sunday morning, I put 10 $1 bills on a magnetic clip on the fridge.
My daughter has chores she is supposed to do.
Set the table, feed the dog and help put away laundry.

She is also expected to put her dirty clothes in the laundry hamper, bus her dishes after a meal, and turn off lights when she leaves a room.

Whenever she forgets a chore, or leaves a light on, she is given a "reminder" after that, she looses a dollar each time she forgets to do a chore, or leaves a light on, or her clothes on the floor.

When she sees her money disappearing, it really motivates her to remember to follow up on her responsibilities.

On Saturday, she gets whatever is hanging on the door.

 

[pennymom]

My boys are 6 and 9, and each gets $0.50 per year of age per week in allowance that is not tied to chores, so $3 and $4.50 per week. We LOVE the Money Savvy Pig bank, and it has really helped them think before spending. They each put at least $0.50 per week onto the donate section of each pig, then decide where to donate when it reaches $5. The invest portion is used to save for birthday and Christmas gift shopping, although we plan to begin teaching DS9 about investments soon.

They are both expected to take care of their toys, clean up their own stuff, and put clean clothes away, but in addition, DS9 empties the dishwasher each morning, and DS6 feeds the dog twice a day. They are also expected to help out when asked with dusting, taking out the trash, etc. Their chores are not tied to allowance, but I have been known to 'fine' them $0.25 from their 'spending' money if they argue over doing chores, with the fines going to a charity.

 

[blake.daly95]

We haven’t started giving our kids pocket allowance yet but now that their friends are getting it, I guess we’ll have to follow suit too .

 

[Soarin_04]

I did a couple questions for others:
2. With getting your children to save do you have a specific savings account for them?

We initially set up a general savings account for each boy when they were born. They still have that, but when I saw the difference in interest rate between a passport savings and a money market account (we're going back about five years now), I started a money market account for them. Now, they use the general savings account as their "short term" savings -- beach money, Disney money, etc. -- and the money market account is for long term. When they get a decent chunk in there, I've been pulling it out and getting them CDs. Now I'm looking into a 529 account.

Also with the giving do you have them donate at the end of the year or how does that work?

The time and organization is up to them. When we first started this, I wanted to make the donations relevant to their age, so they started by using that money to buy donations for The Chirstmas Shoebox Project. But after that, we started looking around at other causes. Bottom line is that it has to be THEIR choice or they don't get the true feeling of sharing from it; it's just another task Mom makes them do. They've given money to Toys for Tots, St. Jude's, Heifer International, Nothing But Nets, the juvenile diabetes foundation, and some local organizations.

If I am wanting to have them set aside to save and give should I give the allowance each week and divide it up or pay them bi-weekly and say 50% goes into savings 1 week and 50% goes into the giving account the second week??

Every time they get paid, they get their money split into the different directions. Think about it -- when you get paid, you've got to pay income tax each week or two weeks, right? Your employer pulls a chunk out for your benefits every paycheck, right? Same with this. Every two weeks, my kids' money is split. They learn to deal with it...which will make it easier for them when the bring home their first real paycheck, minus all the deductions.

3. What is the best approach to go with in revealling to them the new allowance amount along with the new you much save some and you must give some rule??

We just sat them down and had a family meeting. You make it centered on the benefits for them. This is the great new plan we've come up with so you can have not only money saved up for our next Disney trip but also money for college and money to spend whenever you need to. Just think, Kids -- you won't have to ask us for money! You're financially independent! You can spend your money on whatever you want! Huzzah! Huzzah!

Trust me, after they dump all their pocket money on something truly disappointing, they get really discriminating!

 

[hipchickie]

My boys are 6 and 9, and each gets $0.50 per year of age per week in allowance that is not tied to chores, so $3 and $4.50 per week. We LOVE the Money Savvy Pig bank, and it has really helped them think before spending. They each put at least $0.50 per week onto the donate section of each pig, then decide where to donate when it reaches $5. The invest portion is used to save for birthday and Christmas gift shopping, although we plan to begin teaching DS9 about investments soon.

That sounded great, but their website is very lacking on info (obviously - if they gave it all away, you wouldn't buy it! )
But if anyone is interested, I found this page that desribes the principals, and how to make your own (BTW, canning jars that they decorated is exactly what my kids use to divvy up their money