Questions regarding kids & allowances

Michelle · 06-13-2002, 05:39 PM

Do you give (or plan to give) your kids an allowance? And if so what age did you start (or plan to start) giving one? How much do you give? Do you have the kids do chores for their allowance, or do they get it regardless?

If they do have chores, what are they? How old are your kids?

If they don't do the chores on a particular day, what do you do?

Ok, maybe I should have called this "a million and one questions about kids & allowances

Thanks for the input guys. We're considering giving my 5 yr old an allowance for helping around the house.

Chelle

MANDERS · 06-14-2002, 12:25 AM

I think its a great idea to teach responsibility.I mean when we become adults and do our jobs we get paid for doing a good job.

We just started giving dd an alowance,she is 4,but she is an old 4.We made a ''good girl" chart with several things on it from making your bed each day,cleaning up your room,being nice to brother,no whinning,brushing your teeth,going to bed when told,helping out,setting table.There are a total of 16 things she can do each day to earn a star if she gets atleast 8 stars each day for that week we give her a $1 and if she gets atleast 8 stars each day for the whole month she gets to go out to icecream.After 1month it has been very successful.She has gotten $1 each week and we went out to icecream.She even got an extra star for cleaning her little brothers room all by herself and when I asked her why she did it she said because mommy,he can't do it yet and you clean the whole house all the time and I wanted to help you out.This alone was payback for the past 4yrs.She likes being responsible and thinks she is a big kid now.We let her save it,put it in her disney jar or use it for yard sales.This is also a great way of teaching them about money.

milach · 06-19-2002, 06:06 PM

I saw a great thing on Oprah a few years ago- they were talking about giving your kids and allowance, while teaching them to save money, splurge a little and the like.

What this family on there did was give their children $1.00 per year of age they are per week. So your son is 5, give him $5.00 a week for completing all his chores. But the kicker was there were 3 jars the kids had to divide their allowance into. One jar was for savings (which they didn't get to spend, but save for later on in life when they want a car, move out on their own), the 2nd jar was for spending on what ever they wanted, and the 3rd jar was money for charity of their choice once a year (like donating new toys or books to local needy children during the holidays, donating food items to a local food bank). I thought this is an excellent way to teach kids about saving money for the future, saving money for whatever toy they want and doing something for someone less fortunate. I would like to do this maybe when my ds starts to understand the concept of money (other than it's there for me to put in my mouth), like about 4 or 5 or so.

Maybe what you can do if that doesn't sound like something for you- come up with 5 chores he has to do on a daily basis (since he is 5 years old), and pay him say 5 cents per chore per day. So say at the end of the week, he does all his chores every day, he gets paid $1.75. For each chore that doesn't get done, dock his weekly pay 5 cents, so if he goes all week without making his bed, that's 35 cents less in his allowance.

That's just some ideas for you. Hope this helps!!

Laura

CAGmomof2 · 06-19-2002, 07:14 PM

Allowances well I think to start off with I will give my DD 5cents at the age of 4

At that age I think she will be able to feed the pets on her own!!
She will be able hopefully to help us in the making up of her bed!!
So I think 5 cents is a good start for an allowance for her!!
DD will most likely use that money to help out in BGMC that is Boys and Girl Missions Club at our Church!!

The more money she collects the higher up she can go in the BGMC !!

dz_blonde_girl · 06-19-2002, 10:10 PM

I tried an allowance with my son at that age, but he just didn't grasp the concept yet. Now that he is 9 he's doing lots better. He is in charge of his dog and the trash. He folds towels, washes dishes and cleans the bathroom. He mows, changes oil in the cars, weeds the garden, and generally helps out when we need him to. I give him $5 a week now. I would like to incorporate some of his expenses into that like pool and lunch money.

simplemom · 06-19-2002, 10:34 PM

I wish I could help with that one...

I`ve tried allowance, no allowance, making them do something extra for money, no allowance...

I find when I did give them money they wanted more, they wanted to go to the candy store, dollar store and buy stuff all the time!

And I had a hard time in thinking I paid them to help in the house when in fact everyone should do his share because we are 7 at home and I am not a slave...

So, since they are very lucky to get money from their grandparents at their birthdays and at Xmas, They have more than me in the bank...LOL! So if they want something they use that money...

So to answer your question, in this period of time, they don`t one and do help out anyways. But I do occasionally treat them to something special(but cheap).

That`s it for me...Hope you get an answer that suits you Chelle!

mustang80 · 06-19-2002, 11:14 PM

My DD's won't help around the house (except with the baby) unless they are being paid.

I end up becoming the martyr and doing it all myself because it's easier. Help me to delegate better!

Lori Biever-Launder · 06-20-2002, 02:15 AM

My boys each get $3.00 a week. They have chores to do every day. They do the recylcling/garbage, help fold laundry, load/unload the dishwasher, make their beds, keep their rooms at sort of clean (I try to get it so I can walk through without hurting my feet!) dust, wipe down the bathrooms, sweep off our porches, and set the table. If they want ot earn extra money or are paying back library fines, they can do poop patrol or clean the cat box.

I know this osunds like a lot, but it actually only takes them about twenty minutes a day.

They LOSE allowance if they don't do their chores, if they are mouthy or if they have to pay back their library fines.

lucy979 · 06-25-2002, 05:47 AM

My daughter is five. I just started giving her things to do around the house. I made a chart and posted it on the fridge. Everytime she does a chore on the list she gets a check mark and every check mark is worth 25 cents. She only gets paid for the amount of work she does. This has worked out really good in our house. She doesn't always do all the chores but she is getting better. I hope this helps!
Laci