Lux Et Veritas Academy Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 How much do you pay your kids for jobs and chores around the house. I think I way over pay- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennifer in MI Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 Nothing! As members of this house, they are required to help out - for free! :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah CB Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 My kids don't get anything either. We give an allowance ($5/week for dd 12 and $2/week for ds 7) but it's not tied to chores. Each person contributes to the running of this household as he or she is able. Even the two year old is expected to pitch in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suzanne in ABQ Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 Same here. Chores are expected. Allowance is tied to attitude, not chores. Some opportunity available to earn extra money for special jobs, but not often. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa B Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 We don't pay for chores or give any allowance. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen sn Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 My dd is 10. She washes dishes, shakes out rugs, sweeps, feeds the pets, etc.... Generally I don't pay her for chores. She does them because she lives here. But sometimes I will give her $ just because I appreciate everything she does out here. Last time I gave her money it was after she had been helping me watch my neighbor's kid for weeks. She never expects it and always appreciates it. I think that time it was $10. (big deal to her) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrianne Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 My kids are still young so we do not give weekly allowances. What we do instead is if the kids are trying to save for something, i.e. ds9 is saving for a Nintendo DS lite, then I will give him extra things to do like washing my car or helping to clean out the attic. For the car I play about $5 or so. My reasoning is learning to work and save for something extra he wants is more important than the amount we pay him. Because he is only nine, it needs to happen fairly quickly also. (this took him from August to Jan to save the money). But neither child receives money on a regular basis. Normally they are just expected to help out. Adrianne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nancypants Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 How much do you pay your kids for jobs and chores around the house. I think I way over pay- The only jobs that I pay for are the ones that I find most undesirable! LOL Is that awful? The kids can get paid to scoop dog poop (you know when it's not frozen solid). They get 10c per "pile" (have to count by tens to do this which is good too!) :p They get 15c per "pile" if the weather is less than -10 degrees. :D My seven year old will also change a diaper or get the toddler dressed for the day (not that this is undesirable but it sometimes gives me a couple extra minutes to do other things) for 25c. They don't have expenses so any little bit they get is gravy and they have to save up for a good while before being able to purchase anything they want which is good as it increases the value of money in their eyes since it is so hard earned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LizzyBee Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 Chores are part of being a family. However, we pay our oldest for babysitting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom2jnb Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 We do commissions.... They earn the money if they do the chore all week. They get fines for poor attitude. We list them all before the week starts and go over it. My kids get ds(11) $5 and dd(6) $3 My theory is half their age.....stopping at $5. Alison Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KAR120C Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 The only money anyone can make for chores here falls under the "whoever does the laundry keeps the change" rule, which serves both to encourage DS to do the laundry and to remind us all to check our pockets before clothes go in the hamper!! ;) The same rule holds for cleaning out the car. If you clean out the car you can keep what you find. If, on the converse, you lose something by leaving it in the car (or in pockets of dirty laundry) and someone else cleans behind you, well you should have been more careful now shouldn't you! :p Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riverfront Headmistress Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 We use to give allowance but no longer do. I don't get paid to do chores, so why should they? Chores are something we do to help the household move more smoothly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirty ethel rackham Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 My kids get a monthly allowance, not tied to chores. They do the chores because they are a member of this family. Part of communal living. However, my one requirement on allowance is that they have to ask me and remind me to get money to do so. (I pay with debit so rarely have more than a couple dollars on me:) ) I have, on occasion, paid them to do a special chore that I really don't want to do. For example, when ds lost his retainer a couple years ago, he worked off the debt by cleaning out the crawl space. It tends to be a disaster because I am just to old to spend lots of time in that cramped space. Like Nancy said, it has to be something I really don't want to do if I am going to pay someone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wbtx Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 I pay 20.00 per week. The girls rotate kitchen, bathrooms & garbage ,family room & living room. My 21 yo helps me drive the girls to their activites. Lately, I feel the workmanship has gone down the tubes. :( I am threatening to fire them! They are expected to use their own money for the movies and eating out, etc. on the weekends. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdWTMer Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 my boys do not receive either money for chores or an allowance. :( They have to do the work pro bono. It's a good thing to learn in life. Plus, they're cub scouts and this is their part in the family. Hope that that made sense. :confused: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orangeblossom Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 But like most others, it's based on attitude, not chores. They don't have a chore chart or anything assigned (except their rooms), they just do what I ask, when I ask, or when they see that something needs doing. Dd gets $12 per month and ds gets $10. From that, they tithe (by choice) and put 10% in the bank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Peregrine Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 No allowance. I do pay half their age in dollars/hour for "extra" jobs, like construction/remodeling in our basement or other things that come up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susie in CA Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 Nothing! They don't pay me to cook dinner either, right? Susie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris in VA Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 No pay here, either. Ds18 does the dishes almost every night, sweeps, does his own laundry, watches his sister when we need babysitting (at least once a week bc of other son's therapy), takes out the trash, and does the cat box. DD7 makes her bed everyday, clears the dinner table, helps fold laundry, cleans the bathrooms when asked, and does other chores when asked. On the other hand, ds doesn't pay for his own clothes or for anything else. He doesn't have a cell phone or other technology, except his laptop, which was a used one given recently by his aunt. I occasionally give him a movie card or pick up his favorite soda at the market. Now, two summers ago. Dh wanted the basement painted, so he put large prices on the walls in pencil--$10 for a smaller wall, $15 for the longer ones--gave the boys the paint and set them to earn. They worked hard and had money for a few extras when we went on vacation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RenJac1501 Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 None to do chores. But an allowence Jacob gets 10$ a week Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*anj* Posted January 30, 2008 Share Posted January 30, 2008 We do commissions.... They earn the money if they do the chore all week. They get fines for poor attitude. We list them all before the week starts and go over it. My kids get ds(11) $5 and dd(6) $3 My theory is half their age.....stopping at $5. Alison Do I detect another Dave Ramseyite? :D I personally don't believe in giving kids money for regular chores. As others have said, helping out is part of being in a family. But...... Ever since we started Totally Making Over our money, ala Dave Ramsey, dh has adopted this practice. Each child has a list of things they're expected to do and they get paid on Saturdays, and yes, bad attitudes will have a negative affect on their commission. Ds10 gets $5 Dd8 gets $4 Dd7 gets $3 Ds6 gets $3 I do offer little incentives for great attitudes or for a child going the extra mile with helping. They never know when I will say "You know, honey, you had a great attitude and you did a super job. I'm going to give you an extra (50 cents, dollar, whatever.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quiver0f10 Posted January 30, 2008 Share Posted January 30, 2008 How much do you pay your kids for jobs and chores around the house. I think I way over pay- Zero :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Needleroozer Posted January 30, 2008 Share Posted January 30, 2008 We don't pay anything for daily life chores either, like laundry, pet care, bathroom cleaning (I hate doing this, so always have them do it), kitchen cleaning and meal prep, etc. We also don't give allowance, either, at least not formally. I always make sure ds has bus money, and give him about $5 a week for spending money, and I make sure he has money ($10 to 20) when he goes to a tournament, or all day seminars. If he is a pain in the bum, he doesn't get it. We consider the kids to have earned those $10. bills, by doing extra hairy-daddy chores around the homestead. For example, ds has earned $350 to pay for hotel and airfare to a special speech tournament at Stanford) since Christmas by doing the following over several weekends: Splitting rounds, chopping, hauling and stacking firewood, helping me scrub all walls and ceilings to get prepped for painting, helping his dad repair the fence around the chicken coop, etc. DD is doing the same thing: She has hauled and shoveled wood chips, split smaller pieces of wood, and helped her dad with repairs around the house. She also does a great deal of the housework over and above the normal daily stuff, as she is home more than ds. We keep a tally in our heads or on paper and pay them roughly $10. and hour for this type of work. As long as they are willing to help out like this (and in the last year, they have both become such good workers!), we are willing to pay for the big extras, and make sure they have a bit of pocket money. We don't do a formal allowance, just this makeshift system. We are often tight on cash, and when we are, so are they, unless they save their pocket money. They are both learning to do this! We also have a close family friend that pays the Boy $10. and hour to help him around his property. Now to read the other responses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colleen Posted January 30, 2008 Share Posted January 30, 2008 It wouldn't occur to me to pay children to help out around the house. (For that matter, I don't assign chores, or make chore lists, either. People just pitch in when and where the need arises.) All that is part and parcel of communal living, to my mind. We don't provide an allowance, either, but we're not really faced with that because our boys earn money for working here on the farm. The work the older three do means cuts back on how much we need outside help, so it genuinely contributes to the functioning of the business. They earn a decent wage, most of which has to go into long-term savings. If that opportunity didn't exist, I still would not give an allowance, though. I would offer older children (maybe 10+) opportunities to wage-earning opportunities (e.g. clean out the garage) if they were saving for something specific. When they were old enough, I'd encourage them to start a business (mow lawns, for example) or get a job (paperboy, etc). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Katia Posted January 30, 2008 Share Posted January 30, 2008 We have never paid our children to do chores. It's just part of being in the family. Now, I have hidden change here and there around the house where I know they are supposed to be cleaning, just to see if they clean there :) If they find it, it is theirs! They love this. Good incentive, but we don't do it all the time or they come to expect it. We gave allowances at one point in time, but it was very sporadic. Now they work outside the home for money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daisy Posted January 30, 2008 Share Posted January 30, 2008 We don't pay for chores. They receive allowance which can be taken away for bad behavior (we have the allowance set up in quarters). They get half their age. So the 6yo gets $3 and the 8yo gets $4 per week. They have to buy all their own toys, icees, etc. (except for holidays, of course). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tess in the Burbs Posted January 30, 2008 Share Posted January 30, 2008 chores are for everyone. and no money is tied to it. and as they get older they get more. the oldest just earned trash duty :-) the youngest folds and puts up her own clothes. Dh does a lot and more when I ask. So, here it's part of being in the family. allowance is a totally different thing for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted January 30, 2008 Share Posted January 30, 2008 As members of the household they are expected to do their part. They get an allowance each week: Calvin gets around USD 2, Hobbes about USD 1.20. Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoughCollie Posted January 30, 2008 Share Posted January 30, 2008 My kids are 12 and 13. They get paid nothing for cleaning up after themselves. I pay them 75 cents a day for 3 chores, which take a hard worker about 15 minutes total to complete. These are things like washing counters and stove, unloading the dishwasher, cleaning the bathroom sinks and toilets, taking out the garbage, cleaning the dining room table, and so forth. I pay them $20 total to shovel the driveway, stoops and walkway after the snowplow has done the bulk of the work and to clean the snow off the car and my SUV. I pay them $100 total twice a year to rake the yard (spring and fall cleanup costs $400-$600 if I pay someone else to do it). If they don't work, they don't get paid. 10% of their money is saved to give to the charity of their choice. 30% goes to pocket money, 30% to short-term savings for whatever they want to save up for, and 30% goes to long-term savings (car, college -- something big). They make $6 a week doing this stuff, or $8 if they have garbage duty on garbage day. They can make more -- I have lots more chores than they are already assigned. I have a chore list and they take turns choosing which ones they want to do each week, and cannot duplicate chores 2 weeks in a row -- that way everyone will eventually learn to do everything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amy in NH Posted January 30, 2008 Share Posted January 30, 2008 Um, nothing! Didn't read the rest of the responses yet. Even if I could afford to pay my kids, which I can't, allowance wouldn't be tied to chores. The chores they do are a duty because they are part of the family. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lizzie in Ma Posted January 30, 2008 Share Posted January 30, 2008 Both dc have a helping list to complete by supper-time. Most of the time they get chores done before breakfast. For every chore not completed by supper they lose 15 minutes off bedtime. They are being trained slowly but surely to do these things without my nagging. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TammyinTN Posted January 30, 2008 Share Posted January 30, 2008 We don't pay our children at all. Our 20 year old pays all her own expenses, she works full time. Our 18 year old will graduate in May and is going back to work full time then, she part-time now. She pays all her own expenses. Our 9 year old is expected to help out gladly. We take the kids all out to dinner at least once or twice a month, when I go shopping I usually buy each one something they might like or want..which is usually once a month. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommyfaithe Posted January 30, 2008 Share Posted January 30, 2008 no one pays me...sigh.... I guess it's barter...they get to live here and be abundantly blessed by their parents. ~~Faithe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*anj* Posted January 30, 2008 Share Posted January 30, 2008 I totally understand why some of you are saying that you don't give your children money for doing what is expected of a decent human being and family member. I really get that part, and it's been my own opinion pretty much throughout my parenting years. But I'm wondering this: We as parents do our jobs around the house, and are entitled to discretionary funds. So if being part of the family unit entitles us to take some of the money for our own use, why aren't the children entitled to any of it if they contribute to the household to the extent that they are able? I'm addressing this to the ones who said that they don't give their children an allowance of any kind, just "room and board." And I don't mean to sound confrontational. I'm just asking it in the conversational/devil's advocate way that I would if we were sitting and chatting over coffee. Oh, and part of the reason that we've decided to give our kids a weekly Commission is that we want them to learn how to budget starting at an early age. They don't just get money to go out and buy toys. If they have their eye on something, they can save for it. They have to split their commission up by categories: saving, spending, giving. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoughCollie Posted January 30, 2008 Share Posted January 30, 2008 It is hard to weigh the demands of being part of family life and our desire for our kids to learn that they have to work to make money and they have to learn how to budget it. My kids get paid an allowance for the chores they actually do. But I also ask them to do things that they do not get paid for. Starting this year, we are giving them 50% of their clothing budget at the beginning of each season. We are going to teach them how to budget their money, to make a list of necessary wardrobe items that must be purchased, and so forth. My aim is to have them completely responsible for buying their clothes within a budget by the time they are midway through high school. We are going to do the same thing with groceries at some point. We are also going to play a game with them, over a period of months, in which they earn money and have to budget it or stretch it to cover things like rent, utilities, car payments, insurance, and the usual things people spend money on when they are living on their own. It is going to be a game and the winner will be the one with the most savings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheri Posted January 30, 2008 Share Posted January 30, 2008 My boys work for 'screen time': nintendo, computer, videos. They get a token for each chore and each token is worth ten minutes. I guess that could be translated to 10 cents/chore. :p Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tap Posted January 30, 2008 Share Posted January 30, 2008 if they want to earn extra then they get about $2 per hour of labor. If they work hard and fast, or really put effort into the chore then I pay $4 per hour. These are always above and beyond type chores. Like washing all the dining room table and chairs, from the bottom of the leg to the top. Washing base boards on hands and knees. Washing the kitchen cabinet doors and insides. It isn't typically a standard household chore, unless they are doing one of my chores for me :0) . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmgconner Posted January 30, 2008 Share Posted January 30, 2008 We don't pay anything for chores. It's expected of them to help out around the house and learn to take care of their belongings. No allowance, either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WTMindy Posted January 30, 2008 Share Posted January 30, 2008 I totally understand why some of you are saying that you don't give your children money for doing what is expected of a decent human being and family member. I really get that part, and it's been my own opinion pretty much throughout my parenting years. But I'm wondering this: We as parents do our jobs around the house, and are entitled to discretionary funds. So if being part of the family unit entitles us to take some of the money for our own use, why aren't the children entitled to any of it if they contribute to the household to the extent that they are able? I'm addressing this to the ones who said that they don't give their children an allowance of any kind, just "room and board." And I don't mean to sound confrontational. I'm just asking it in the conversational/devil's advocate way that I would if we were sitting and chatting over coffee. Oh, and part of the reason that we've decided to give our kids a weekly Commission is that we want them to learn how to budget starting at an early age. They don't just get money to go out and buy toys. If they have their eye on something, they can save for it. They have to split their commission up by categories: saving, spending, giving. My kids don't seem to really want to spend any money at this stage. (9 & 10) They don't eat a ton of candy and they couldn't even think of things to ask for at Christmas. So, they haven't really had a need to have extra money. They do get money from Grandparents at Christmas and so they have some money in the bank if they really want something, but so far they haven't. We don't pay for chores or give allowance. However, they did get paid last summer when they did some hard work (extra projects, not just regular weeding) out at our property. Dh paid them $2 per hour. They thought it was a lot of money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CalicoKat Posted January 30, 2008 Share Posted January 30, 2008 just kidding. :) We pay our kids with poker chips for their jobs. 1 poker chip = 30 min. or 25 cents. They do lots of chores and keep track of what they've done and Daddy pays them once a week. Each kid has a different color poker chip so they can't mix it up. Additionally we have a special (white) poker chip that we give out for PRT's. If we catch them doing something great we can reward them. A PRT is worth 50 cents or 1 hr. They cash their poker chips in for screen time or cash. We do a trip to the dollar store occasionally. DD 8 is saving her poker chips for a special item she desires. She's just about ready to head to the store. Ah yes, we can also ask them to pay us a token for a job they were asked to do that we ended up doing instead. :) Rarely used. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bee Posted January 30, 2008 Share Posted January 30, 2008 Theoretically,we all get paid when it's payday at my house.Amounts vary,depending on how helpful the child has been and how many chores were done without some parent having to remind the child that it needs to be done.Oldest dd gets much more than her sister because she does more and complains less when we ask her to do something.They are supposed to write down what they do so we know exactly what we are paying for and can base the amount they get on the amount of work they do but they never write it down so they usually get the "base salary".That's $1.00/day for 11yo and 25 cents/day for 6 yo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Lorna Posted January 30, 2008 Share Posted January 30, 2008 Our children do jobs for free. I always ask and do not insist they do jobs. They nearly always do the jobs but if they have something important to do I always respect that. It works well. Our son loves to save up for things and if it looks like he is not getting far with his savings he will ask to do jobs for money. My husband drives a hard bargain however and he rarely gets more than the equivalent of a dollar for the job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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