Chores and Allowance

I have 4 children. Ages 10, 6, 2.5,6 mos. The two oldr girls do have chores, but instead of allowance they earn time on the computer, tv time, ect... I don't get paid for doing my chores, so they don't either. My husband and I feel that some chores are just things you do when you are a part of the family. For every chore they complete they earn a 15 minute block of time. We made a chore chart, with stickers and all things girl. Their chores include, feeding the dog, making bed, cleaning up room, putting thier clothes away, bringing dirty laudry to laundry room. They chose what chores they wanted to do. They do on occaision earn a few dollars here and there. For example, helping clean the car, vacuuming, helping mop the floor (6year old loves to do that.) When we recycle the cans & bottles, they split the money.
Hope this helps.

I can't say much on what is age appropriate for chores but I wanted to put my two cents in on allowance. Growing up there was no allowance given to me and my siblings. We were encouraged to get part time jobs during the summer when we were old enough, 13. ie: C.I.T. (counselor in training) or the local ice cream shoppe. My parents believed that chores were a responsibility as being part of the family and there was no reward for such duties.

When money was needed (school clothes, movies, birthday presents for siblings or parents) my parents would provide it on special occasions. Money spent on items when were little such as candy and toys was only from birthday/christmas money from relatives. As for managing money, we learned this when were a little older and were encouraged to get jobs during the summer. 6 and 9 are too young to understand long term saving and managing money in my opinion anyways.

Good luck!

Hi D.

I really can't advise you, personally, because my daughter is not old enought yet to begin to chores, at least in my eyes (18 months). I can, however, give you what my cousin does with her 8 year old son. Zach has a list of chores he is responsible for....cleaining his room, picking up after himself, throwing out the trash, etc. He receives stars for each one he does (I think homework might be on the list too). He gets around 3 dollars a week IF his chores are done without her asking him, telling him, or reminding him. She makes him earn 10-30 stars....I think a dollar per ten stars to try to teach him to save his money...her giving him 3 dollars was not helping him learn to save up for bigger toys, he would just blow it on candy. So, this is what she's trying now. It seems to be working for him. He also gets stars for chores he does that are not on his list or being nice and considerate of others. For example, he holds the door open for her, helps her carry in groceries now and he holds doors for other people in his condo complex too. I don't know if this helps, but it works for her and he is the type of kid that should be on meds for ADHD, but isn't because he has his energy directed in positive ways......it's amazing!

J.

Hi, I have one daughter just turned 11. She kept bugging me for an allowance also. I finally gave an allowance when she was 10, with conditions. She would get $5 a week and I would deduct $1 for each day she did not get up on her own and get ready for school. She never got the full $5 but did get some money each week. It gave her a chance to save for things she wanted and learn about money. That went on for awhile. Money was getting tight, so I said no more allowance. Then she wanted to purchase things in her Club Penguin, so I switched her allowance to the $6 monthly membership. (cheaper for me). That just ran out. She asked for more time and I refused. There is no extra money right now, so no allowance. So we are back to no allowance. She is ok with that. She knows if she really NEEDS something, I will get it for her.

As for chores, she has been helping around the house for many years. She helps make the mess, she has to help clean it. Right now she is responsible for her own room as well as empty the dishwasher, take out garbage and recycling, dusting, (doesn't happen often enough) and helps with laundry. She sorts her own clothes, empties pockets, folds clean clothes and puts them away. (something she needs to know how to do on her own). She learned how to run the machines two years ago to help when I was having surgery. She did great at 9.

During our weekend cleanup, she has helped with various other tasks like vacuuming, washing floors. She is also responsible for the bathroom sink, counter and mirror. I get the rest. I was quite surprised how well she cleaned the first time she did that.(9) We don't give them enough credit for their abilities sometimes.

Hope these ideas help. Don't overload them at first, break them in slowly so they won't get overwhelmed and want to run.

My children are 8 and 11 and do not receive allowance for everyday household chores. We believe that it is all members of the family's responsibility to perform the household chores and if we all work together they get done much quicker. My children are required to set and clear the table for meals, empty their school lunchboxes, help fold laundry, feed the cats and tidy their bathroom each week. In addition, they usually perform small jobs as requested. They do receive money for extra jobs such as helping in the yard and cleaning out a closet or garage as these tasks come up. Some times they even find an extra job to do if they want to earn extra money,

I am a homeschooling mom to a 13.5 boy, 8.2 girl, and 6.4 boy. Each child is responsible for their own chores as they are all members of the household and it is expected of them to help the family run smoothly. With this being said, they all are expected, first thing in the a.m., to make their beds, tidy up their rooms, clear the floors, closets and drawers are to be neatly maintained, and floors are to be vacuumed. Once that is done, they are to bring their dirty laundry to the laundry room, and can then have breakfast. The trick is, however, none of them are allowed to have breakfast individually, so this means that they all must work together as a team to ensure that they all can eat early on in the morning.
We then have studies. Throughout the day, if something comes up, they are responsible for helping; such as with mealtime, preparation and cleanup, etc. We also have quick clean times, which means that if anything becomes out of place throughout the day (although the children have become much more aware of the importance of picking up as soon as they're done with something), then it then will be taken care of.
All three children are responsible for recycling, trash, dirty and clean laundry, separation of the laundry, putting away laundry, helping with groceries, vacuuming, sweeping, clearing and cleaning the table, putting away dishes, the boys are responsible for cleaning the bathrooms (the youngest takes care of the smaller one, and the oldest takes care of the larger one), they also are responsible for the care of their pets including food and water, cages, litter boxes, and so on.
If they are invited to a birthday party or something (my oldest likes to go to the teen center for dances on Friday's), they need to earn the money by doing extra chores. These would be something that mom is typically responsible for. If they help out without having to be asked, and do the chore without complaints, then they can earn some money toward their event.
We also don't purchase toys for the children, "just because." I believe that too many parents purchase toys for children on whim's or because it's something that the child really wants. Because of this, toys are purchased for birthdays and certain holidays only. If they see something that they like between those times, they are responsible for keeping a list that they check periodically to see if they still want it or not. Most times, once it comes time to the next gift-receiving day, a large portion of their list has been crossed off due to their not wanting the item anymore.
I hope that this all helps you! Great luck to you!

I have a 9 year old who has daily and weekly chores, he does them on his own and we do not give allowance. We believe he needs to learn the responsibility of chores without a reward, so they are things in his normal routine. However, since we do not buy him things (ie: toys / video games – with the exception of birthdays and Christmas) he understands that those are things he needs to save up for to buy himself. So if he wants a particular game at the store, he needs to work for it (just like we do in the adult world) and we will come up with “extra chores” that he can do for money. Some of the things we have done in the past are picking up garbage on the side of the road near our house, picking up sticks, raking leaves, shoveling snow, and we’ll pay him according to how much he does (if we pay by the hour, he’ll take WAY too long!!) . We will usually give him $1-3 per bag / bucket of sticks or trash he picks up, or tell him he gets $5 if he shovels a certain area…that way he knows he’s earned his game, and in addition to that, he learns the responsibility of taking care of his things because he understands the work he’s put behind the price of that game.

Mine is more of an anecdote than a response. I researched what an age appropriate dollar amount was and found that a childs grade is a reasonable amount...give or take. That was years ago of course but that's irrelevant. So I told my children that to receive their allowance all they had to do was to remember to ask for it on Friday. (Chores were expected as a matter of course but allowance is to teach them how to manage money, a huge lesson of itself.)I can assure you that I seldom, if ever, had to pay up since they never seemed to remember to ask for it on that day!

Hi this is Sierra, I am 12 years old and I have been trying to find out how much money I should get in a week for alowance ( sorry if i spelled that wrong) when I came apon this question. I started doing chores and getting alowance when I was 9. What I did when I was 9 was: take out the trash, pick up after my dog, clean my room. I got 4 dollars a week for that. When I was 10 I did: set the table, clean my room, take out the trash and pick up after the dog. I got 4.75 for that. When I was 11 I did: walk the dog pick up after her, fold and put away laundry, pick up after dog and take out trash. ( things got taken away from the chore chart if they became to easy and then I would not get paid for those they would be things I HAD to do) I got paid 5 dollars for that. Now for 12 I do: walk my dog, pick up after my dog, do my laundry and fold and hang up it and wash and dry dishes. I get paid 5 dollars for those. Things I can do for extra money are: wash my dads car, mow the lawn, sweep, mop and or dust, help my dad with his job by moving things he buys and is selling to down stairs and help clean them up and finally I can go get things at the grocery store by our house if my M. needed me to. With this information I need a question anwsered also how much money should I get paid?

Hi D.

I have a 7 1/2 yr old. What I started to do, was give him a small list of chores that he is able to do, and he needs to do them on a daily basis, stuff like help clean up toys around the house, set the table, take out the trash and more things. What I also did, was tied in good behavior for the week as well. So at the end of the week, I give him a allowance, but it is based on what he has done all week. If he did well it is about $2, if he did extra and really helped out a lot, I may go to $4. Or if there was a special project he helped me with I did once give $5. One time he got only 50 cents cause he did much of nothing all week!! It made him see he had to try harder to get his things done and he would earn more. This method has really worked for us.

When my son was little until about 8 years old we had a chore chart which he earned stars for each chore he did on his own. Once he got a particular amount of stars he earned a small toy (of his choosing). Once he got a little older 9 to 12 he was expected to do chores to do his part as the rest of us did. He got no allowance and no toy. Once he a became a teen I started giving him an allowance if he did his chores, if not no allowance. He is now 15 and hasn't been doing much for chores (although he helps out when asked) so no allowance. I hope this helps.

a. my 10 year old puts away the dishes from dishwasher. Changes the cat box & makes sure he has food and water.
b. any money he earns he can use to put gas into his 4 wheeler that is at my parents house. If he doesn't do things to make money, he can't put gas into it and therefore can't ride it.
c. his chores are NOT part of earning money. They are put of being a family and helping out and knowing that he can do things to be a "part" of the family. During the summer he can help me in the garden and such to know he had a hand in helping getting food on the table...so to say! We're not all into sports so I feel it helps him know he's part of our "family" team. The best team to be a part of.
It has more to do with my beliefs than anything else but this is how we do things. And he can't do things until his chores are completed. I think it instills something more than a sporting team does.
Now my isssue is getting the 28 months old to help out in age appropriate things. Picking up toys is all we have so far.

Goodmorning D.
Whenn I raise my kids I use to have them help me I would help our 6 years old making his bed have him help you too,also he maybe help empty the dish washer and you put it away, give him the dishes and set the table for meal, do the same thing with your daughter, on night the 6 would do it the next night the 9 year od, this way they participated do fo thing in the house empty the garbage again take turn,no allowance I never give allowance to my kids if they want to go some place Take them to the movie or shopping and then you tell them, that's your allowance for helping Mom & Dad.to clean there room is the same way try then to clean there room and later check there room if it's not completely clean he you help me and I help you cand we do a good cleaning to your room. I hope I gave you good sugestion, and believe me when they move out of the house they know what to do and they don't expect money for everything they do.

I have a friend with a nine and a ten yr. old and there's nothing that they don't do. They clean their rooms, wash dishes, sweep the floors, fold clothes and put them a away and of course, if they don't do their chores, either they don't get there allowance or they get punished another way. All depending on what and why they didn't do something. She also has a 2 and 3 yr. old and they pick up their toys when their done playing with them at least after they're told to or if you play a game with them while they're doing it.