Kids earning spending money....?

[California Mom]

On this trip, I'd like for my kids to have their 'own' money...so they can decide how to budget and spend it rather than asking us to buy them everything in site! ....with that idea, I'm trying to decide how much to 'give' them each (based on age)....so I thought that I would start having them earn it with chores...
I've come up with a 'list' of our of the ordinary chores that they don't normally do, some special projects in the house...as well as everyday things (that might help them get in some better habits like making bed everyday )
for example...my little ones (7 & 9) will get $1 every day they make their bed, etc, from now until we leave. I'll be paying them in Disney Dollars...so they don't spend it on anything before we leave.

what do you do for your kids spending money? give them a set amount? how do they earn it?

Thanks for your feedback....

 

[disnutt]

My DD's (9 and almost 5 yo) have been earning their spending money through extra chores and donating things to charity as we get ready for moving. (I figure I'm going to claim the deduction for the item I can split some of the money with them.)

Also, since they have been doing this since January and it is hard to maintain intensity we are matching their savings. This has cut down on the 'gimmes' when we take trips to Target. $1 spent at Target means $2 less at WDW.

My 9 yo is going to end up with more than $300 with the match. She's tight with her money. The 5 yo earns less but also spends more so she'll only end up with about $50.

They each seem happy with their decisions so far. We'll see next week.

 

[Tammi67]

Kindness and bad behavior are also rewarded/punished with the allowance in our house. For instance, being extra helpful with brother/sister or around the house earns money, being naughty, fighting, not listenig means money gets taken away. I like to reward behavior as well as "jobs."

 

[poohkinandpiglet]

I use a chore chart with a token system with my 4 and 5 year olds. My kids are rewarded with tokens for completing daily chores/routines/behaviors etc.... Then, they trade their tokens in for rewards, treats, privileges, etc...

Prior to our vacation they can trade 10 tokens in for $1 disney dollar. When we go to WDW they are allowed to spend the money they saved on anything they choose. They LOVE saving money. It makes them feel very grown up and gives them the freedom to decide for themselves.

 

[golfgal]

They way it works in our house is the more I dislike doing the job, the more they get paid. The big money maker in this house is scrubbing the kitchen floor. I hate doing that and the kids don't seem to mind with the $10 they earn to do the job (hands and knees scrubbing, not with a mop). They can earn money for cutting the grass and doing other yard work, doing extra things around the house, DS wiped down all the window sils and washed windows one day. We have a 3 season porch that tends to get messy over the winter because of all the winter stuff, boots, mittens, etc. that get left out there. He cleaned that out, washed the windows and scrubbed the floor. DD has been helping with the laundry. She gets a $1/load, wash, dry and fold.

 

[Mom to Jordan]

In addition to the all the normal chore things, something I do in the Summer to encourage DS to read and alway increase his income is to give him dollar bills to use as book marks. When he finishes the book and tells me about it he get to keep the dollar and get another to start a new book. This Summer he is reading adult ficton that have huge books so I will give him a 5.00 bill to use as the book mark!
We also do the chore thing with washing the car paying pretty well. I won't pay for regular around the house chores that he is expected to do anyway.

Jordan's mom

 

[blessedby3]

My children are also doing regular chores during the week to earn money ($5 per week) or a special treat (like a trip to the ice cream parlor or a movie/game rental). I let them pick and remind them that when we go to WDW some may have more $ than others. My kids are also signed up through www.kidzeyes.com to complete surveys and have already cashed in checks to put in their Disney fund. I bought Disney dollars with the money and trade in part of their chore money for Disney dollars also so they wont spend it! My youngest just got a check for $20 and my middle child got a $15 check from Kidzeyes. The surveys are fun and dont take much time. My 6 year old seems to get more. Maybe they need more feedback from kids that age? Also, each child has a piggybank in their room. They can get change from my DH and me at the end of the day to put in there to cash in before we go. Grandma and Grandpa also freely give out change to feed the piggys. We always have each child save their own money for any vacation trip to buy the things they want. Teaches a great lesson about saving and they are more choosy about what they buy when we go shopping- they want their money to go farther just like mom and dad do. My oldest DD already has about $225, (although she makes a bunch of money babysitting for different families and at church so hers is more) my DS has $55 and my DD6 has $50 saved. They are all excited about how much they can save before we go in November.

 

[Christy]

We also had a garage sale and our DDs could put things they wanted to sell in it to make extra $. Of course they wanted to mark everything $20.00 ... They also have lemonade stands...

 

[hezreck]

My DD 7 also does Kidzeyes.com. We only started about 6 months before our last Disney trip and she earned $30.00 before we left. since our trip in Dec. she has already earned $25.00. I love it, and it's a great way for kids to earn some extra spending money. We do the surveys together and really enjoy giving our opinions! lol

 

[pjynx]

At the beginning of the school year, I devised a chore chart with basic things that my 5 y.o. needs to do. I basically wanted it to be something she could look at in the morning and know exactly what needed to be done before we leave in the morning (so I'm not nagging her all morning while I'm trying to get ready myself). These included things like make bed, get dressed, shoes on, brush teeth, brush hair, etc. I did similar things for the evening (pj's on, dirty clothes in hamper, pick out next day's clothes, etc). For every item she does, I put a dot on the chart (so if she makes her bed every day of the week, she'll have 7 dots, not just 1 for the whole week). I also included extras that are optional if she wants to earn extra (putting away clean silverware from the dishwasher, emptying the bathroom/bedroom wastebaskets, filling the toilet paper holders, dusting, etc). Every week we count up the marks on the chart and for every 20 marks, she gets $1 (a nickel each). On one hand, a nickel each isn't very much, but when you think about it....I'm paying her to do things like getting dressed and combing her hair. On the other hand, I probably shouldn't pay her for things like that but it really has cut down on our tempers in the morning since I'm not nagging her and we're not running late all the time. It also has drastically cut down on her begging for us to buy her things at the store because she knows she needs to save up her own money for something she wants. So even though I don't like paying her for these things, the benefits far outweigh my bad feelings about it. I'm sure as she gets older I'll phase out the simple things that are expected of her, but I'll also make the $ rate higher too.

Anyway.....when I started the system, I told her she could spend her money on whatever she wanted. She's really learned about saving money for a couple weeks vs. spending it asap. When we started planning our disney trip, I bought a cosmetic case that seemed appropriate for Disney savings (it's a hard plastic square, clear with silver stars and glitter throughout - I thought it was cute for something "special"). I told her that every week when I pay her, she HAS to put at least $1 into it and she can spend whatever is left of her allowance. For every $1 that she puts in, I also put $1 in (I use Disney dollars to make it more fun). If she puts $3 in, then I do $3 also. For the last couple weeks, since we're getting closer to the trip and she's seeing how her money grows, she's been more likely to put $3-4 each time (because I match it) rather than just the required $1. By the time we leave for her trip, she'll probably have about $60 saved. Plus her birthday is next week and she usually gets some money from relatives. I'm sure she'll choose to bring that as well.

 

[California Mom]

Thanks, everyone...for your responses and ideas....anymore?!

 

[Catrin]

My 10 yr old does the laundry..... yes ... the laundry!!

He gets 25cents for each trip.... 25cents to put in the wash, 25 cents for the dryer.....25 cents to walk it up to my bedroom. So far, he has earned over 20.00 just on laundry duty!
I actually plan on giving him $25.00 in Disney Dollars. That is $25.00 that I have absolutely NO say whatsoever. He can spend it on Food, Video Games, Food, Food and more food!
I also told him that I would buy him TWO pins (he already has 20 to trade), a baseball hat and a Tshirt if he would like.

We tried the chore charts etc....but he just always wants to earn money for PS2 Games.... so thought I would be specific with the laundry.
Catrin

 

[momsgoofy]

DS is just turned 13, so he can now earn $13/week. He has various chores he is assigned; some lame (read simple and easy) jobs and some he detests doing, but he does them. Each week he cleans his bathroom toliet and sink area 3 times (the inside bowl at least once), brings in the mail and newspaper daily, brings in the garbage cans weekly, empties and replaces the trash bags in his bathroom and bedroom, cleans, dusts and vacuums his bedroom weekly. Each job has a value given to it as to what he can earn. Additionally he may earn bonus pay and can have pay deducted for incompleted chores or "shoddy" work. We keep a chart on the fridge where he is responsible for having DH or me check off each chore after completion. Yep, just like a time clock...don't clock in then ya can't get paid. My sisters think we are evil for making him do so much. (We never had assigned chores as kids.)

But let me tell you, DS has been doing this since he was 9 (wish I'd started earlier, but that is hindsight) and he fully understands the value of a dollar. I am very proud of him. Last year he wanted satelite tv in his bedroom...that is a fluff item since we already had 2 tvs with it. We compromised, we paid for the installation and unit up front and each month DS pays the $5 fee for the extra service to that receiver...with no complaints. About 18 months ago, DS wanted a computer for himself so he could play PC video games...well, no way were we putting out that kind of money when I didn't even have my own computer for work. Well, he started saving his earnings and money he received for gifts...we told him if he could save the money we would match him dollar for dollar. Well, in March DS purchased a huge Dell system that has enough graphics he can play any game on the market. When it comes time for DS to buy gifts for DH or me, he does so with his own money which I think gives him a real feeling of sucess. We still pay for gifts to other relatives or friends. When we go on vacation, he has his own money (usually a couple hundred) that we get for him in dual signature travelers checks...been doing this since he was 7...that way he knows how much money he spends. It really helps with all of the thing he THINKS he wants, he buys a lot less "junk" when he's spending his own money. It's a great accomplishment I think as a parent to have taught him early that money does not grow on trees and how to save and spend wisely. If only it stays with him....