Saturday, February 13, 2010

Resources regarding "allowance" for kids.

I came across these sites and thought I'd share them.  I haven't had a lot of time to go through the sites thoroughly but I plan to. 

Baby Cheapskate did a post about "Your Take on Kids' Allowance"...

  • Don't give them one--they're part of the family and should be expected to contribute to its upkeep without payment.
  • Give money every week, but necessitate that part of it be set aside for savings, charity or both.
  • Payment according to number and type of chores completed.
  • The no-strings-attached allowance payment.
This was essentially my dilemma.  I want my kids to earn money... but I also feel there are things they should do around the house just because they are part of the family.  I also want them to learn the value of a dollar, learn how to save and work for things they want to buy. 

KidsMoney.org has a TON of links to articles with different opinions/reasonings on allowance.  Very interesting.  
A couple online sites:
Yesterday Porter made me so proud.  Everytime we go to the store he asks for stuff and I tell him no.  I told him he has some money in his piggy bank (from past birthdays, spare change we've given him etc) and he can use that.  We went to Target and he took his money ($13.75 woah!) to Target.  I reminded him if he spends all his money he won't have anymore and will have to save up more.  I told him if he saves it, he can add money to it later and buy something bigger and nicer.  He decided to spend it... he bought a 5 pack of matchbox cars with Diego and Backyardigans on it.  He was so proud to hand over his money.  And he made me even prouder when he opened the pack and gave Hudson two of the cars to have.   

I think that I'm going to start a "chore" list for Porter and those will be required.  If he doesn't do thema nd I have to do the chore for him, he'll have to pay me.  I think we will give him an allowance, not tied into chores, of $2/week (half his age).  I'm going to make 3 jars for him... a Save ($1), Spend (50cents) and Share (50cents).   So... he has jobs he's required to work for... and if he slacks he'll lose money.  He'll earn an allowance to learn how to budget and save.  I think this will work for our family.... I may tweak it later but for now that's what I've come up with.

2 comments:

  1. That is sorta the system my parents had for us growing up. We had things we had to do because we lived there that we didn't get paid for. Then there were other jobs we had to do that we were paid for, the most lucrative of which was watching our little brother. Then we also got a certain amount each week just b/c that we could have taken away if we misbehaved.

    I hope it works for you. I'm thinking that's what I'll do when Roo is old enough.

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  2. We did this exact three jars thing growing up. In fact they were old Fish food containers and my mom cut holes into the tops for the money to go into. We had a savings, spending, and tithing for church can. I think just setting the allowance for each week is great. Did it suggest somewhere to do half his age too? Sounds like a good idea. Ill be thinking about what kind of jars i want to make for Lukas. :)

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