Do you? Don’t you? Is it tied to chores? How much? And what are they expected to do with their money?
These are some of the questions that all parents think about. And stress over. We all want to teach our chidlren personal responsibility. We all want to instill a good work ethic in our children. We also want our children to realize that helping out around the house is an expectation. No one pays me to wash their clothes, so it stands to reason that they should not be paid for cleaning up their own rooms or loading the dishwasher.
President Obama has said that he gives his girls a dollar a week for an allowance. And that he forgets to give it to them most of time! Obviously their allowance is just a token amount. I doubt they are expected to buy much more than a pack of gum with their money.
They also do not buy their children birthday presents because they feel spending money on a party is enough of a present. We give our kids the choice… party or present. So far they have all opted for the presents.
So do you give a monetary allowance? And how much do you give?
we don’t do allowance…chores are expected and part of being a family. if the kiddos want to work for something, we decide together what a task is worth…washing the car or what have you. each of our kiddos have a clothing budget for each month that they can use and an entertainment budget. so, hopefully, we are setting them up to be responsible and not to be moochers!
Comment by a thorn among roses — February 23, 2009 @ 2:37 pm
Yes chores are expected in a family all must contribute their time and energy to make the big wheel work. But, also to teach our children that they can save and work for extra’s. If my children want a specific toy or add to a collection they can earn the money themselves. This also makes them realize it took their effort to earn and they treat it better because they worked for this item. If their grades are not where they should be or out of the understandable realm the recieve nothing however I remember my Mother made me pay back when I wasn’t doing what I was supposed to I was given a monthly spending if I was not up to par it was deducted. And there was 2 times I was left with nothing. It only took twice for me to learn what my responsibilities were.
Comment by Cyndi — February 23, 2009 @ 5:58 pm
She’s 4 and we haven’t addressed the allowance issue or, really, the chores issue (except help to pick up or clean up messes she made). I figure we’ll wait on allowance until she hears about it from other kids at school!
She’s been at part-time preschool, but she’ll be home alone with me all summer, so I think I’ll try to get her to “help” me with the household chores then. It’s that or they won’t be done for two months.
Look at you blogging along like nothing’s going on!
Comment by Brigitte — February 24, 2009 @ 6:15 am
P.S. My guess is “Texas”, perhaps not far from Antique Mommy!
Comment by Brigitte — February 24, 2009 @ 6:44 am
We do allowance every two weeks. It is directly tied to their Handipoints. They have a goal they must meet in order to earn their allowance. I know chores should be something as part of being in the family but we decided to use it like a job. If I don’t work, I don’t get money, if they don’t work they don’t get money. We chose the every two weeks on my payday because they have to learn to save for what they want. If it were weekly they would be walking around with more spending cash in their pocket that I do.
Now we are instituting that they must log in and complete their chore charts on time or “the accounting department” is closed until a specific time.
As far as what they can spend it on, I try to allow them to use it however they wish. It’s hard and I have said no to 30 cans of silly string but it really is their money but for the most part, if they spend it all in one shot, its a great learning opportunity next time they want something and don’t have the money.
Comment by Tammi — February 25, 2009 @ 12:04 am
Hi,
I’m just exploring this program. I like the idea of rewarding kids, but real money is not an option right now. Do we have to use real money?
Comment by Pamela La Gioia — February 25, 2009 @ 4:18 pm
No we do not have to use real money, It can be an item, token, event. But he point is if they want they have to work for it. In one way or another.
Comment by Anonymous — March 4, 2009 @ 12:35 pm
my girls get 3.00 a week, they put a dollar in the offering plate at church on Sunday and .50 goes to church on Wed night. If they have done their chores and earned it we will go to the dollar store on Fridays, or they can save it for something they want at the end of the month. My oldest usually puts hers in her piggy bank.they need to learn to deal with real money at some point. It is up to the parents of course. I wish I would have learned about money at a young age!
Comment by just a mom — March 9, 2009 @ 11:11 am
We use HandiPoints for special things like a new outfit or a certain toy or a trip to the water park. I give our daughter (9 years old) $5 per week. Three goes in her piggy bank for whatever she wants to save for. Two goes to a savings account. She didn’t like it at first, but I told her that you can’t just spend all your money. You have to save for emergencies, birthday presents, etc. At first, I tied the allowance to completing her chore chart. Now I give her allowance regardless, but she won’t earn points for the extra stuff unless she completes her chores. I think the allowance has helped her to see that you only have a limited amount of money each week (and parents do too) and you must budget if you want things.
Comment by Barbara — May 11, 2009 @ 8:34 am
All of my children get allowance every two weeks when we get paid. They get half their age in allowance ie: 4 year old=$2.00, 7 year old=$3.50, 9 year old=$4.50. Each of them have 3 jars to divide the money in: share jar goes to chaple at school and church, save jar goes to the bank (they can’t touch this they get it when they graduate from high school), and a spend jar which they can spend on anything they want. My older kids save and end up with $50 in their spend jars before they know. Money they get for birthdays or christmas they get to spend on what they want. I think this system shows them how to put some away for later, spend now,and to share with God. I don’t tie it to chores, but they are responsible to buy things they want like candy, icee’s, and gum, and toys. They also take their own money to deposit at the bank. It teaches them how to make deposits. My 9 year old fills out her own deposit slip and does her banking on her own.
Comment by Jenny — August 20, 2009 @ 8:40 am
My kids also still have expected chores and if they aren’t done then they don’t get priviledges like the TV, DS, or computer.
Comment by Jenny — August 20, 2009 @ 8:42 am