Kids and Spending Money - Inspired by Rock'n Robin's Thread

[Maleficent13]

Someone on Rock'n Robin's thread about money motivating kids said they let their kids spend the money they earned on whatever they wanted. I am curious as to how everyone else handles it. Is the money your kids earn (or are given as presents) theirs to decide how to spend, or do you dictate their purchases? Just curious.

 

[dizagain]

I tend to let my girls make their own choices...I DO make suggestions sometimes, however, and I have refused to let them spend money on something from time to time. DD, 10, saves her money and rarely spends it - usually on books. DD, 8, can't seem to hold onto it for long! Sometimes when they want some clothing item they don't really need, I'll offer to pay half if it's on sale or something. If they really want it, they'll go for it. For Disney, they save only Disney Dollars - otherwise, there wouldn't be any savings for younger DD!!

 

[kimwim8]

I was the poster you're talking about! But I want to clarify...

Dd is only 5. She doesn't get a regular allowance b/c I think at 5 years old, she really doesn't want for too much (she's a little spoiled by the whole family).

But she is almost as much of a Disney fanatic as I am, and she is counting down the days until we are there. So....I thought saving for Disney would be a good way to "encourage" her to help out around the house, and that she could spend THAT money on whatever she wants at Disney.

I honestly only thought she would get up to $20 or $25, but she is far surpassing that! :

I'm interested in finding out what everyone else does, though, since I'm kind of new at this. And if the OP doesn't mind, I'd like to ask -

Do your kids get an allowance, how old were they when you started, and how much do you give them?

Thanks!

 

[Michelemouse]

My kids both started getting an allowance at age 6. We do allowance a bit differently, however. The kids each get their age in dollars each week but are paid every two weeks on DHs payday. DD12 gets $12 per week and DS9 gets $9 per week. They get their allowance in a check and must take that check to the bank. At the bank they must deposit their entire check into their savings account and then may take up to 1/2 of it back as spending money. I don't think that there has been a week when they haven't taken the full 1/2 back. They each have a money box and in it are twp envelopes, along with their bankbooks. One envelope says "Invest" and one says "Donate". Each time they get their allowance they must put at least $1 in each of these envelopes. They may use their "Donate" funds toward any charity they choose. They may use their "Invest" funds toward any investment they choose. So far they have each made stock purchases and donated to several charities.

Anyway, we do it this way because we want to encourage them to save their money. Each time we go to the bank I have them take note of the balance in their accounts. Aside from the minimal interest they've received this amount reflects the same amount they have spent over the years. DD is up to more than $1000 in her account now. Our method will also give them a decent bank balance when they go off on their own someday.

We don't tie their allowance to chores or household duties as we feel those are done simply because you are part of a family. If they offer to do any extra jobs around the house we will sometimes pay them a minimal amount for that. I have, on occasion, withheld my DDs allowance because she wasn't doing her part around the house but once she got back on track she was able to reclaim that cash.

The money that the kids have left can be spent on anything they choose. I have, occasionally, indicated that I didn't think that a purchase was a wise choice, but I do leave it up to them.

I know this all sounds very involved but its really an easy system once it gets rolling. We chose to do allowance this way so the kids would have an understanding of how to handle their money.

 

[kadaten]

Michele Sounds like a great system!

 

[disneyjunkie]

Originally posted by kimwim8
I was the poster you're talking about! But I want to clarify...

Dd is only 5. She doesn't get a regular allowance b/c I think at 5 years old, she really doesn't want for too much (she's a little spoiled by the whole family).

But she is almost as much of a Disney fanatic as I am, and she is counting down the days until we are there. So....I thought saving for Disney would be a good way to "encourage" her to help out around the house, and that she could spend THAT money on whatever she wants at Disney.

I honestly only thought she would get up to $20 or $25, but she is far surpassing that! :

I'm interested in finding out what everyone else does, though, since I'm kind of new at this. And if the OP doesn't mind, I'd like to ask -

Do your kids get an allowance, how old were they when you started, and how much do you give them?

Thanks!

My son is 12, his allowance is $12.00 a week.

When we go to Disney, the amount of spending money depends on how much he has saved from his allowance, birthday and Christmas. We divide the total by the number of days we're there and that's how much he takes out of the room each day.
While on vacation he's free to spend his money as he sees fit.
The rest of the year I try to guide his spending. I try to encourage him to look for sales and save as much as he can. Not always easy when you just HAVE to have the latest video game.

 

[disneyjunkie]

sorry

 

[skiwee1]

I let my kds pretty much spend it on what they want. My 15 y/o son puts half away immedietely in his bank account. The rest usually goes for paintball which can run into the $1000s. My 5 y/o DD gets gift money and it will go into her bank account if it is a substantial amount. She gets a lot of cards with amounts of $5 for Easter and such that I toss into her bank at home. If she wants something badly and I have already spent way too much on her then I let her buy it with her own money. When we go to WDW I let her have $100 to spend on what she wants. What ever it is she can have. I also spend more on her that I want to buy her like clothes and sweatshirts and stuff from WDW.

 

[Tiggeroo]

i have twin sons who are 16yo currently working summer jobs. They both worked a bit of the year last year and had nothing saved when summer was over. So this has been a tricky issue for me.
They started out this year doing the same thing, only this year they will have a full summer with better paying jobs. Last night I made them sit down and work out a budget. They each have a checking and savings account. The amount that they decide to go into the savings account goes in first. Then they pull out pocket money and put the rest into the checkint account. They both want to purchase new surfboards and some clothes this summer. But they also have to be saving car insurance money. So short term savings will go into checking. I am hiding their savings account books. They can't touch that without a very valid reason. I feel bad at their age telling them what to do with their money. But they only have two more summers home, counting this one, and then it's off to college. I'm very worried that they will have no money management skills.

 

[BriarfoxinWA]

My 13 yr. old DS gets paid to do household chores - same as I would pay a cleaning lady. He got tired of it and now doesn't do it. He's learning though that it's tough not having any money to spend. He gets $$ for good grades but it doesn't go very far. Sometimes I will split the cost stuff with him if he wants it really bad - and there are usually strings attached that he has to do some work for me.

My younger DS is 8 and doesn't get an allowance - his older brother was "sub-contracting" some of the household chores out to him. He was really saving up his money (he got some extra for his birthday) and is very careful about what he spends it on.

 

[aprilgail2]

My daughter get 3.00 a week allowance, I was doing the 1.00 per year of age but when she turned 4 she said she only wanted 3 dollars a week LOL...I am sure that will change soon. She gets extra money for taking in the newspapers and giving the dog water. She really doesn't spend much at all, she banks most of it and when she does buy something she usually doesn't have her money with her and once we get home I only make her give me half of the cost back. This week she had a lemonade stand and made 20 something dollars which she put right in her bank, her choice.

 

[Rock'n Robin]

I haven't seen how my original thread turned out, but I wanted to say that DD#1 (the one who got the $10) is a real saver. She has over $200 from babysitting, lawn mowing, and allowance saved up. She has a wad from some housesitting in her room and she begs me to take her to the bank. DD#2 gets an allowance (I usually forget to give it to them except once a month, so they get roughly $20 a month) and has about $100 in the bank right now. DS doesn't get any yet but will soon. They love to see those balances go up! DD#1 already paid for a dance convention in April all by herself ($120) and I think she worked a lot harder than the girls whose moms just wrote a check. They also buy lunches when they feel the urge since I'm too cheap to buy them--I limit them to 2 school lunches a month ($2.25 at elementary, $2.50 at jr. high).
While I think they have a skewed view of some things (like vacations in Florida ) they are turning into good bargain shoppers too. DD#1 knows that if we need jeans or dress pants we will go to the resale shop first, and if she's lucky we'll pick up some Abercrombie or Aeropostale shirts that the rich kids stopped wearing. No one ever knows the difference.
Robin M.