kfeusse Posted September 8, 2012 Share Posted September 8, 2012 instead of having them do chores for money? If so, how did you decide how much for each kid and is getting their allowance still based on something...or do they just get it reguardless. The reason I am asking is becasue I have tried chore system after chore system thinking I will eventually find the "perfect" one...I just started another thread on my lastest system...but someone already said they don't attatch allowance to chores per se...but they must still help out in whatever is needed. But how do you determine this...is it based on a percentage of cooperation or attitude...and how in the world does one remember that from week to week with multiple kids...and then it still sort of looks like "by doing A, you get B"....doesn't it?? Help me sort this out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parrothead Posted September 8, 2012 Share Posted September 8, 2012 Dd helps out around the house because she is a member of the family. We all help out as needed. She gets an allowance of $10 every two weeks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desert Rat Posted September 8, 2012 Share Posted September 8, 2012 Chores in our home are mandatory. They are part of working together as a family. We don't have chore charts, etc. We just do things that need to be done. My boys help with dishes, trash, laundry and some cleaning. They weed the yard and crush cans. All of these are just done as needed. Right now I ask them but I am working on teaching them to *notice* when things need to be done. My dh isn't too great at this, so I don't know how successful I'll be. LOL They also get an allowance. This is their spends. They receive 50 cents a year they are old. So, $6 and $4.50. They have to put half in savings. Otherwise, there are no restrictions on how the spend it. It is also not tied to behavior or attitude. We really don't have many problems in those areas. Behavior is handled by solitary confinement (going to their rooms for awhile, usually because they need to cool off). Attitude is fixed by redoing/saying/walking until they don't have an attitude. I don't get much of this yet either. Notice I say "yet". I realize my kids are still on the younger side and we haven't hit teen attitude and hormones yet. Hope this helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted September 8, 2012 Share Posted September 8, 2012 (edited) My children get an allowance that is not tied to chores. They are expected to help with household chores just because they are family members, not because they are getting paid. I pay for certain big jobs like mowing the lawn. The amount of allowance depends on the age and on the expenses they are responsible for. First when we started, it was just for small extras. We found that giving an allowance was a great way to eliminate any whining: you want something from the store? Sure, you may buy it with your own money. That taught them to think good and hard about their purchases before buying. It also taught them to save. Now that they are older, they are more responsible for things they need and want. DD is sometimes away from home and needs to buy food, so we increased her allowance accordingly. Edited September 8, 2012 by regentrude Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKL Posted September 8, 2012 Share Posted September 8, 2012 No, but you just reminded me that I need to start doing that. I believe in a combination of (a) work for pay plus (b) allowance. They've been doing work for pay since they were 2. I didn't do allowance because they had no place to regularly spend money. But now they do - they are able to buy junk snacks at after-school care. :glare: I know this because they used about a week's worth of milk money to do so. :glare: So I have told them they can take their own money to buy the junk on Fridays. I guess I'll start giving them a little allowance for this purpose, since they are down to only 50 cents in their piggy banks . . . . ;) I got an allowance starting at age 5 as well. It was just enough to buy a little candy at the corner store on Saturdays. I believe it helps kids develop concepts regarding the value of money as well as math. The "work for pay" part helps too, but they don't always feel like working. :tongue_smilie: ETA: My kids do also have chores that they don't get paid for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColoNative Posted September 8, 2012 Share Posted September 8, 2012 Our kids get 50 cents per year they are old, per week (My 11 year old gets 5.50 per week). This includes money for snacks, spending and savings - it's divided equally among the categories. My husband created a spreadsheet in Excel so they have an account, and I don't have to remember to have cash to give them. If they want to "buy" something, I pay for it and it comes out of their account. They need to know how much they have in their account, and can't spend money they don't have in their account. They get "paid" every Saturday morning - so the money goes into their account and they start the week with their allotted amount. They have chores that are required...and if they don't do a satisfactory job, they get a dock of 25 cents. They are. in essence, on salary, and get docked for jobs they don't get done, or if they do a sloppy job. They can also earn bonuses if they do things above and beyond what is required, without being asked. It works for us because: 1. I don't have to remember to pay for each chore they do. 2. I don't have to keep extra bills around each week to pay them. 3. They don't lose their money as much. 4. It's an incentive for doing their work, and all I have to say is, "you're going to be docked", and they get going... 5. It's easy to manage 6. They are learning how to manage money and only spend what they have. They cannot buy on credit!;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKL Posted September 8, 2012 Share Posted September 8, 2012 My husband created a spreadsheet in Excel so they have an account, and I don't have to remember to have cash to give them. If they want to "buy" something, I pay for it and it comes out of their account. They need to know how much they have in their account, and can't spend money they don't have in their account. They get "paid" every Saturday morning - so the money goes into their account and they start the week with their allotted amount. This is interesting. Did the kids have any trouble understanding it? I kinda thought for young kids, it would need to be more concrete. But what you're doing is more like real life nowadays. I buy everything with plastic. I've been wondering how my kids are ever going to understand money beyond swiping a card when a purchase is made. :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tasia Posted September 8, 2012 Share Posted September 8, 2012 My boys help out around the house because they live here. We don't do chore charts, but they know that they have to pick up after themselves, keep their rooms clean, sort their laundry and help out in the kitchen, along with anything else we ask them to do. For things that we'd pay someone else to do (washing the car, mowing the lawn, babysitting, painting the fence, etc.) we pay them about minimum wage. We don't give allowance, because Dh is a pushover and hands them money when they ask. If I could put an end to that, I'd do a monthly allowance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mathnmusic Posted September 8, 2012 Share Posted September 8, 2012 My kids get 25 cents per year of age. 6 yr old = $1.50 per week, and 8 yr old = $2 per week. Not tied to chores, but of course they do have chores and are expected to do a good job on them. We're learning about "firstfruits", and giving first to God, and the kids eagerly give their offering to church first thing from their allowance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kfeusse Posted September 8, 2012 Author Share Posted September 8, 2012 Our kids get 50 cents per year they are old, per week (My 11 year old gets 5.50 per week). This includes money for snacks, spending and savings - it's divided equally among the categories. My husband created a spreadsheet in Excel so they have an account, and I don't have to remember to have cash to give them. If they want to "buy" something, I pay for it and it comes out of their account. They need to know how much they have in their account, and can't spend money they don't have in their account. They get "paid" every Saturday morning - so the money goes into their account and they start the week with their allotted amount. They have chores that are required...and if they don't do a satisfactory job, they get a dock of 25 cents. They are. in essence, on salary, and get docked for jobs they don't get done, or if they do a sloppy job. They can also earn bonuses if they do things above and beyond what is required, without being asked. It works for us because: 1. I don't have to remember to pay for each chore they do. 2. I don't have to keep extra bills around each week to pay them. 3. They don't lose their money as much. 4. It's an incentive for doing their work, and all I have to say is, "you're going to be docked", and they get going... 5. It's easy to manage 6. They are learning how to manage money and only spend what they have. They cannot buy on credit!;) I like this idea...for us, however.... .50 per year, per week in total will be 14.50 per week....or 58.00 per month, 696.00 per year... just for allowance. That seems like a lot of money to me...am I the only one who would think that?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kfeusse Posted September 8, 2012 Author Share Posted September 8, 2012 My kids get 25 cents per year of age. 6 yr old = $1.50 per week, and 8 yr old = $2 per week. Not tied to chores, but of course they do have chores and are expected to do a good job on them. We're learning about "firstfruits", and giving first to God, and the kids eagerly give their offering to church first thing from their allowance. .25 per year per week is more managable to me. And we do "first fruits" also in our home, so they have been giving of their own money as well. we also believe in "you live here, you help out"...but I also don't like the "I want..." or when we go on vacation and we go to a cool museum and they want to buy something, I like it when I can say, "you want it, you buy it"... and then they decide. We are also headed to Disney in October and they want spending money for that...so I am wanting to be sensitive to that as well. But each kid already is sitting on some money...$20 or more. Thanks for helping me sort this out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catwoman Posted September 8, 2012 Share Posted September 8, 2012 My ds12 gets $10.00 a week, no chores required. But I usually end up buying him most of the things he wants, anyway, so he ends up stockpiling his allowance money most weeks. I pay him extra money if he does some chores around the house, but he doesn't usually need the money, so that's more of an occasional thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justamouse Posted September 8, 2012 Share Posted September 8, 2012 Yes. It's called clothes, food, warm beds and even things they want. :D We are a team. All of us. We all help for the good of the team. If they want $, they go make it. THey've made buko bucks with a lemonade stand, my girls made tons of money making earrings, the boys have made $ washing cars and they shovel out people's walkways in the winter. Frankly, I would rather them get the entreprenurial bug than expect to be paid for doing what they should be doing anyway. Either that, or I want to be paid for being a mom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angela in ohio Posted September 8, 2012 Share Posted September 8, 2012 Neither. We share our money as a family. If they need something, they ask and it is considered along with everything else the family needs. They are also budgeted money for specific reasons - dinner out, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dory Posted September 8, 2012 Share Posted September 8, 2012 My kids help around the house as well as having their regular chores. We're a family, everyone helps out to make our place function at it's best. Since the adults get some of the money for their contribution to our family, the kids get a small portion as well. They each get $1 per year of their age. They are expected to tithe 10% of it, save 20% of it and they can spend the rest as they see fit, although they are encouraged to save up for larger items. With each of the kids I pushed them to save for one large item once and after that they tend to treat their money differently. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeghanL Posted September 8, 2012 Share Posted September 8, 2012 (edited) We kind of tie it to chores. Every day my 2 year old has 2 "chores" and she gets an allowance of $2/week. My 5 year old has a list of 5 chores and he gets $5/week. My 8 year old has a list of 8 chores and he gets $8/week. They need to do their chores (and schoolwork with a pleasant attitude is one of the chores) before they get screen time for the day. They do their chores for screen time, but I consider the allowance also for doing their chores. Edited September 8, 2012 by MeghanL My sentence didn't make sense. I was typing faster than thinking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halcyon Posted September 8, 2012 Share Posted September 8, 2012 Weekly allowance whenver they are good, responsible, helpful members of e family, which is 90% of the tme. They are expected to keep their rooms clean, alternate doing their laundry, make beds, help on our big cleaning day (usually Saturday) by doing bigger chores: steam cleaning floor, cleaning bathroom, vacuuming, dusting...whatever needs doing.they also emoty the dishwasher daily and set table for dinner. Older likes to make dinner so that is a "fun chore" for him. Older gets $5 and younger $4. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garga Posted September 8, 2012 Share Posted September 8, 2012 Chores is just a way of not living in filth and dying from diseases. Every single human on the planet has to learn how to clean up after themselves and not a one of us gets paid for doing that. (Said lightly and being somewhat silly here.) So, money is not tied to chores. However, sometimes a grandma will hire my boys to help her with a chore-like job. That's fine. There are lots of people who make money by hiring themselves out as housecleaners or handymen. (It's just that no one pays you to clean your own house.) I have two kids and they get $4.50 a week for an allowance. The point of that was to teach them how to save up their money for stuff they want. Also, they'll say things like, "Ooo! Can I have a slushie!" and I'll say, "Sure, but you'll have to buy it for yourself," and they suddenly realize that they don't want the slushie anymore. That's a good life lesson. And I like the idea of them learning that if you don't have the money, you don't get the toy. They've learned all about having to wait and save. It hasn't been easy for them to learn, but it's necessary. Every now and then they might get docked a quarter for some reason, after a warning. "If you continue to do X, I'll have to dock a quarter from your allowance." Usually about talking back or having a bad attitude. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IsabelC Posted September 8, 2012 Share Posted September 8, 2012 (edited) Our children get pocket money that is tied to their financial education. The ability to count money and figure out change gets them a starting allowance of $3 per week. When they can make a written budget, explain about concepts such as interest, loans, investments on a basic level they get a 'raise' to $6 per week. We plan to up it again to $12 per week when they can show an adult grasp of everyday finances, and after that they will have to negotiate or make a convincing presentation to us if they want any more. We'll probably adjust slightly for inflation but the principle is that their allowance is a learning tool so they have to demonstrate learning. We don't reduce or omit payments if they fail to do their chores cheerfully. We see chores as something they should do because they're living in the house as part of the family, not for money. But if they have done their normal chores and completed any schoolwork I asked them to do, then they can earn extra money by doing jobs I wouldn't normally expect them to do (eg I pay $20c per 40cm square pane for window cleaning). The only time I have not paid them was when it was a consequence for a money issue (stealing money from another family member). Edited September 8, 2012 by Hotdrink Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justLisa Posted September 8, 2012 Share Posted September 8, 2012 My ds12 gets $10.00 a week, no chores required. But I usually end up buying him most of the things he wants, anyway, so he ends up stockpiling his allowance money most weeks. I pay him extra money if he does some chores around the house, but he doesn't usually need the money, so that's more of an occasional thing. Same here! Mine get 10 a week. We don't have "chores" but we just kind of help where needed. I still buy all of their necessities and probably extras, but they are good at saving and spending wisely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dory Posted September 8, 2012 Share Posted September 8, 2012 My kids get 25 cents per year of age. 6 yr old = $1.50 per week, and 8 yr old = $2 per week. Not tied to chores, but of course they do have chores and are expected to do a good job on them. We're learning about "firstfruits", and giving first to God, and the kids eagerly give their offering to church first thing from their allowance. The kids in our house also do first fruits as well as tithe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pawz4me Posted September 9, 2012 Share Posted September 9, 2012 Our boys get an allowance but it's not tied to chores. Our opinion is that in a family people do their fair share around the house and yard and it's not something one should expect to get paid for. Our kids' allowances are very small. Fifty cents per year paid every other week on the same day that DH gets paid. But that's solely for their discretionary spending or saving. We pay for most of their wants (within reason) and all of their necessities. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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