Allowance

Give each child a set of chore lists and responsiblities with an attached dollar amount to each item. It'll be easy to 'add up' any earned income at the end of the week and it'll be hard for them to argue. Grades below a C -$1, skipped dishes on Tuesday -$.50. It's very clear cut and leaves no room for arguing or attitude.

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Figure out the amount of $s they should realistically get for the incidentals they buy each week.

Then figure out how many chores you want them doing. Enough to be real responsibility, and not too much to create homework conflict etc.

In our extended family, kids get no allowance if all their chores aren't finished, and finished well. And there is no "opting out" of chores. Just like in life, you have to do your work to get paid.

Also, every one sits together each week and deducts "tax" and "savings"(to be given back at a later time-18th birthday, whatever) from their allowance to teach that you don't get to spend everything you make. Some kids have been asking for more chores, because they don't have enough money after taxes!!!! Just like life! :)

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My kids are young and I don't do allowance yet with them, but I thought I'd let you know how my parents handled allowance when I was growing up. Until high school my sister and I got an amount dependent on our age, and we were required to put a certain amount in the bank - required savings. The rest we could do what we wanted with, but were encouraged to save it toward special purchases that we wanted to make. Then once we hit high school, my parents figured out how much they spent on us total (clothes, extra $ for going out with friends, gas for the car once I started driving, etc.) and divided it into weekly amounts. So at that time I was getting $25 per week but I needed to manage that well because they didn't normally give me any money outside of that. I needed to buy my clothes and everything with that $. I'm not sure I'll do the same with my kids, but I do think it's an interesting method to consider. It certainly did teach us to manage our money.
Good luck!

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Hi D.,

I have 3 beautiful children ages 21, 20, and 16, so I've been down the "allowance" vs "chores" road, so here is my humble opinion.

An allowance is the money you ALLOW your children to have. An allowance is not earned money, as for a chore or job, and should not be given as a result of work performed, nor withheld or docked for work not performed. It is a tool you give them to help them learn to budget and save their money, and to make good decisions about money. It helps them understand that money is a limited resource, and we all have to make choices to live within those limits.

Deciding whether or not to give your child an allowance is up to you, and how much is also up to you and your family's available income and situation. My opinion would be somewhere around $10 a week for a 13yo, and somewhere around $7 or $8 for a 9 year old.

If you also require chores to be done, then they should be done simply because you are all members of a family, and family members are required to help each other out in order to meet the family goals. I explain to my children that I don't get paid for running the dishwasher, doing the laundry or cleaning the bathroom, and neither is any pay taken from me if I don't. The consequences of not doing my laundry is simply that I wear dirty clothes, which isn't a choice I want to make, so I do the laundry.

If my children ever wanted more money than they could save with their allowance (such as to buy Christmas presents or etc.), then that money needed to be earned. They could not earn them with their regular chores, but as you know, there is always work that needs to be done above and beyond the regular chores. I would allow them to clean out my car, a closet, or do something extra such as that. I would work out the compensation in advance. I usually paid by the job instead of by the hour, because working by the hour would give them the incentive to work slower, and by the job gives the incentive to finish one job in order to to another.

Lastly, I opened a savings account in their name at the bank. I required that a portion of their allowance go into the savings account each time they got paid. I required 10% go to savings, but my children usually chose to put more like 50% or more in savings. My name was also on the account, so they could not withdraw the money unless they had my permission. In this way, even my spender was able to see the value of saving her money, after she saw her savings account grow to over $300, she was thrilled and began to save even more of her money.

This system worked for us. I hope it helps,
L.

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Hi D.,
You got some really great advice, so I won't go into much detail. I totally agree with Lori and some of the others that chores are required because we all contribute to the running of the household. There are jobs/work that HAS to be done in life that we never get paid for. To teach our kids that they should be compensated for everything they do that they consider work is bad news. I also was able to earn extra money by doing extra chores or work...ie rewarded for going above and beyond what is required. As far as the amount, you need to decide what you can afford. I was thinking about the lines of $5 to $10, but you know if you can afford that or not. I commend you for teaching your children to contribute and to be responsible with they money they do get. I am proud of you MOM!! Good luck.

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I would set up a weekly list (like you have done) and if ALL the chores are done each week, they get their allowance, if a chore was missed or skipped, then nothing. They will learn that there are jobs that just need to be done, whether they want to do it or not. Plus you won't be figuring out "patrial rates"! :-)

Also, consider teaching the following as far as the use of their allowance money:

There are three things you can do with money: Spend it, Save it or GIVE it.
Kids are usually OK with the spending & saving, but the "giving" is a little tougher! Yet so important for them to understand!

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Well it is hard to say. I would say $5.oo wk sounds good. It is also depeneds on how much you feel that you have to give each of them. i have heard some people hire then that and others lower then that. My kids still need to learn that they need to do thiers with out being asked or told.

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My children are 8 and 4, they have chores and they get an allowance for them. I agree with the first response as far as the $10 a week goes, but, you shouldn't give one more then the other. They do the same amount of work, considering the age difference. It does teach them to be responsible. If they don't do them correctly, take away $2 a day or however much you see fit. My 8 yr old feeds the dogs every day, and she cleans one room every day, my 4 yr old feeds the cats every day, and helps his sister with whatever room she is doing. So as far as too much goes, I think you are fine. Good luck! Don't give in!!! My daughter is not allowed to do ANYTHING until her homework and chores are done, It's hard at times, especially when her friend calls and wants her to come play! But now her and her friend know, she has to do her homework then her chores as soon as she gets in the door from school, it works well, she does it, and her friend usually waits about an hour before she calls now. Good luck again!

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When my daughter was 13 i paided her $10.00 a week and the other i think i would pay her $5.00 a week. It does teach them to save. My daughter now works for me and makes very good money and she has to save 1/2 and put it in the bank.
Jade

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www.daverasmey.com had great books on this for kids of all ages.

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Hi D.... my kids are a little younger but this is what we do, they get half their age and a raise every other year (that way we don't deal with change) And it makes it somewhat 'fair' since they are different ages, and the older one does more then the younger. Good luck!

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Hi D., I have 2 things to share from Suze Orman. I saw an Oprah show she was on and she had a question and answer session via video phone with some viewers and someone asked about allowance. I copied this from Oprah's website:
From her bridal boutique in Roseville, California, Lori asks if she should give her 10-year-old daughter an allowance of $20 a month. "I read a recent article that said to give allowance not based on chores, but based on the fact that they're a part of your household," Lori says. "I was wondering from Suze, how much I should give her and what would be an appropriate amount for a 10-year-old?"
Suze thinks the article Lori read is wrong. "You get an allowance simply because you live in a household? No! Money has to be earned," she says.
Based on the federal minimum wage of $6.50 an hour, Suze calculates that each minute of work is worth roughly 10 cents. It will take about four hours of work to earn the $20 Lori's daughter wants. Suze says this is a good level to start a child's wages. "Now if they do that job efficiently, you can give them a pay raise. If they do not do that job efficiently, … I would actually decrease their salary, so that the kids understand good work equals good pay equals job promotion. Bad work equals getting fired," she says. "And when they learn that at 8, 9, 10, now what are we talking about? We have a kid that knows they have to work for something."
What kinds of work can Lori's 10-year-old do to earn her wages? Is cleaning up her room or making her bed enough? Yes, Suze says these are good tasks for a kid as long as it helps her parents. "You guys have to decide together what helps you really around the house," she says.
The second thing I want to share is a money article from Suze I found online:
http://finance.yahoo.com/expert/article/moneymatters/42820
The third point talks about allowance. I thought you might find the whole article intersting (I did). Suze can be a annoying at times (just the way she talks), but I like the advice she gives. Hope this helps.

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I never received an allowance growing up even though I did the same cleaning type tasks to help my family. My parents made it clear that those were obligatory tasks and everyone had to help out. Paying them gives them the opportunity to say "no I don't want to do it this week - I don't need the money." It isn't an option, but if you pay them, you make it seem like they could not do it, if they don't want to.

What my parents did was require us to do a certain number of necessary cleaning tasks, for which we did not get an allowance, however, there was always a list on the frig of extra cleaning tasks that were not assigned to anybody. If we choose to do those, then we got paid to do them. They were more obscure tasks like racking leaves, or sweeping out the garage, etc. That encourages them to actually work hard and earn however much they want to... but also, that obligatory family duties aren't optional.

Good luck!

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