If you give your children allowance money & you have a fair # of them

[plain jane]

How much allowance do you give each child?  Also, at what age do you begin giving your child allowance money?

 

We used to do $1 per year of age per week, but if we do so, we will be giving out $150 of allowance each month and that's only for the oldest 4.  That seems to be a tad on the high side to me, but maybe that's par for the course for a larger family whose kids are getting older?  I dread when they are all a few years older;  I'm going to have to get a job just to fund their allowance money.  :huh:

 

So what's worked for your family?  I could use a few tips. 

[Wilma]

It depends a lot on the purpose of the allowance, right? Fun money? Clothing? Lunch at school? What are they expected to pay for?

[TracyP]

My kids have "jobs" that they get paid for. They have 2 jobs per day with the ability to make $3.50 per week. (max of $75/month for us, although we may end up paying more to older kids...tbd...) These jobs are above and beyond the regular help that is expected around our house. We have been discussing age to begin since the younger kids are asking for jobs and $$; I think we will officially start at 6yo.

 

I don't know if there is a "par for the course". Plenty of low income families give no allowance. Higher income families probably give much more than we do. Choose an amount that feels comfortable for your family. I would never consider offering the kids an amount that was even the slightest stretch for us to afford.

 

[Tammi K]

It depends a lot on the purpose of the allowance, right? Fun money? Clothing? Lunch at school? What are they expected to pay for?

 

Those are the things we considered, too. Our policy was we purchased clothing, gifts for invited birthday parties, sports paraphernalia and fees, and things of that sort.

 

We generally shopped at Mart type stores and paid that type of price. If they wanted something more expensive they paid the difference. They also purchased little extras that struck their fancy - nail polish, a candy bar if they were at the shops with friends, a snack at the take away shop on the way home from school, that type of thing.

 

So, our allowance was $5 a week for the olders (12ish and up) and $3 for the littlies. It sometimes seemed pricey to pay out $25-35 a week BUT we tried to be firm with the admonition to 'spend your own money. when they asked for something. Several of my kids are pretty good at saving their money and $5 a week gives them a bank of funds to buy Christmas presents for siblings and the like.

 

Edit to add: We have chores that everyone is expected to do. We also have extra chores that we call on kids to do from time to time. Allowance is more to learn to save/ purchase wisely than it is a payment for work.

[MooCow]

DD gets $10 a week if she has no deductions.

DS $3.75, he rarely gets deductions and usually earns more doing his sister's chores. Most of the time they are saving up for something. Once in a blue moon, DS will spend a dollar on a bag of chips.

[LostSurprise]

Do what you can afford to do on a regular basis.

 

 

For awhile we did half the child's age in dollars given out every 2 weeks. Anyone over the age of 5 had an allowance. (That was the age they noticed it and could also count money.)

 

Currently we do $1 per year every 2 weeks. When dh gets paid they get paid. 

 

We also have them separate out 10% for tithe/donation and 25% savings every allowance too. They choose where the tithe goes, as long as it's helping someone else. In mid-December they open their banks and count out their savings. Half goes to them for Christmas presents or just spending on themselves. Half goes into a saving account at the bank. They can use it for big expenses (a car, a trip, college). 

[AngieW in Texas]

We give twice their age in dollars each month ($0.50/week) that they get directly. We also put the same amount in a savings account for them that don't get until they go to college (or whatever they do after high school). Once they have finished high school, I transfer the savings account money to them at the rate of $75/month.

 

Allowance is capped at $25/month. The money that goes into the savings account isn't capped, so it stays at twice the age in dollars each month.

 

Once they have finished high school, "allowance" is stopped and the money they get is what has built up in the savings account. We keep putting money into the savings account as long as they are in school. Once they finish school (whether that school is university or a trade school or whatever), we stop putting money into the savings account.

 

Only the 15yo receives allowance now and that is $25/month. We are putting $30/month in a savings account for her.

We put $36/month in the 18yo's savings account and transfer $75/month from that savings account to the 18yo's checking account.

We put $40/month in the 20yo's savings account and transfer $75/month from that savings account to the 20yo's checking account.

 

 

[DragonFaerie]

I only have two kids, but I'll tell you what we do anyway. :D

 

Each kid gets half their age weekly (so $6 for DD and $5 for DS).  That means they get a "raise" on their birthday. hehehe..  From that, they are expected to put $1 per week into savings that they will then use for birthday and Christmas gifts throughout the year.  The rest is theirs to spend as they choose.  Their allowance is not tied to any chores.  They do their chores because they live here and thus will help with caring for our home.  The allowance is because that is how I choose to teach them about financial responsibility.  However, I have been known to tie allowance to grades (grown DSS had some issues when he was in school) if it becomes necessary.  To my mind, getting an education is their job, and if the allowance needs to become "wages" for that job, so be it.

[Serenade]

How much allowance do you give each child?  Also, at what age do you begin giving your child allowance money?

 

We used to do $1 per year of age per week, but if we do so, we will be giving out $150 of allowance each month and that's only for the oldest 4. 

 

 

We do $1 per year of age PER MONTH, rather than weekly.  Our kids really don't need much money -- their needs are paid by us, so the allowance is mostly fun money.  

[rieshy]

I found that every time I tried a blanket allowance policy it failed for various reasons, one of which was my own lack of funds at allowance time.   What's worked for my large family is helping my children all find jobs.  Even if that means time and trouble for me.  For example last year we drove the then 13 yo 20 miles to babysit at a church for one hour each week during their ladies Bible study.  She made $15 a week for that.  More than enough to fund fun stuff, small clothing extras and outings for her.  Of course I was eating the time and gas costs...  I also consider it the start of a resumé.  This year same dd has a neighborhood dog walking job. 

 

I'm fortunate in that all my kids have been able to find some sort of part time work by the time they are 13.  Dog walking, baby-sitting, freelance production, piano lessons, house cleaning, guitar lessons, bread baking, yard de-pooping (not a favorite), weeding/gardening, house sitting,- are all some of the jobs my children have done for others over extended time periods over the years.

 

I love what my kids have learned from working for others.  The lessons have been rich and variable :lol:

 

For the record- I'm not anti-allowance, I just never found it workable over the long term for our family.  I also will pay my own kids for big jobs that over and above the normal level of "let's all pitch in and get a family job done".  

[elfgivas]

no allowance here.  we are family; we all work together.  we all shop together.  they do get money gifts from both grandmothers at christmas, and they can use that to buy things if they choose.  birthday money goes in to the college account. 

 

we do make exceptions.  when they were younger, they wanted DS's.  i offered to pay them what a cleaning person would earn if they cleaned the house each week.  they each got half, and then they decided to give half of what they made each week to the Heifer project.  it took them a good long while to earn enough for two DS's and two games each, but they did, and they had a great sense of accomplishment.  and Heifer got a water buffalo to give, and a few flocks of chickens :).

[magnificent_baby]

Just started the iAllowance app, from a recommendation on a previous thread. The kids really like it. I set it up to pay 10 cents per chore (or 25 cents if it's a bigger chore). It's not getting paid much at all, but keeps them motivated and I don't anticipate having to pay out a whole lot. They are all elementary age though, so 10 cents seems like a lot to them. It's also a bit of a competition, as any of them can do the chores, but whoever gets to it first earns the money. They can also earn stars to trade in for special things (TV, computer time, etc.). 

 

I wasn't a big fan of allowance, as I think they should be expected to help out since we are a family, however, I think money management is an important skill as well. 

[Goldilocks]

We do $1 per year of age PER MONTH, rather than weekly.  Our kids really don't need much money -- their needs are paid by us, so the allowance is mostly fun money.  

 

This is what we do. 

.

 

I am always surprised that they usually have the  money when they really want something.

 

It forces them to carefully consider how to spend their money.

[FloridaLisa]

We do $1 per year of age PER MONTH, rather than weekly.  Our kids really don't need much money -- their needs are paid by us, so the allowance is mostly fun money.  

 

This is what we do as well BUT it is capped at $15 when they hit 15.  At that point, they are babysitting, lawn mowing and working odd jobs so that they can fund extra clothes, wants, entertainment expenses. Monthly allowance stops altogether after high school graduation, b/c at that point, I'm helping with college expenses. Their monthly allowance is divided as follows:

 

10% -- tithe to church

20% -- college savings

70% -- their spending money

 

Lisa

[regentrude]

How much allowance do you give each child?  Also, at what age do you begin giving your child allowance money?

 

We used to do $1 per year of age per week

 

That seems to be a LOT of money for younger children - what would a 5 year old spend $20 per month on? What responsibilities would he have to finance?

 

We started by 25 ct per week at age 5 and have gradually increased. The amount depends on what we expect our kids to pay for.

DD gets $60/month; she often has to pay for food away from home, so that is taken into account when deciding her allowance.

DS, OTOH, does not have any necessities he needs to buy; he gets $30 per month.

[joannqn]

We give them half of their age each week.  The older two kids occasionally have opportunities to earn money in more substantial amounts.  We have no expectations for how it is to be spent beyond tithing 10%.  

We provide all of their needs, but we don't have money for much beyond the basics.  DD13 often buys clothing with hers.  DS12 buys a variety of miscellaneous expensive things he wants by saving up.  The littles buy little things here and there when they get enough money saved up to do so.  All four kids spent much of their savings on Christmas gifts.  

The kids are also aware that allowance is extra and paying the bills/food comes before paying for allowance.  We will pay them back allowance when/if we can.

[MinivanMom]

We start allowance at 5 yrs and gradually increase the amount while decreasing the frequency.

5 - $1 per week

8 - $10 every other week

10 - $40 per month