Tried and True allowance strategies

[Anonymous]

I'm hoping for parents of teens and older to weigh in here--if you gave your child an allowance in elementary school, what was the allowance plan (i.e. How much, how often, was it tied to chores, were they allowed to spend it all or have to donate/save part).

I really want to teach my children the value of money and of saving more than spending.

[Anonymous]

I made a list of what task they could do to earn money.
Empty dishwasher
Vacuum upstairs
Vacuum downstairs
Fold Laundry
Practice Piano
IXL or other math program
Clean bathroom,
load dish washer
Set table
make their bed/open curtains
etc...

I have two DC - 13 and 9. It is their responsibility to calculate their earnings on Sunday and submit for payment.
They can also earn additional money for other tasks as an as needed basis.

Each task earns them a quarter. SOme weeks they earn $5 others <$1. It's up to them. When they want an expensive item, I can tell as they start doing more chores. Every once in a while, we take a trip to the bank for a deposit as well as the animal shelter to make a donation.

[Anonymous]

A movie and a half. I give them this amount of allowance a week. Whatever the cost is running for a full priced evening ticket (it's just a random cost-of-living barometer). This is pocket money. I expect them to do what's asked to clean up after themselves - no negotiation. Other chores can be done for extra money. They need to convince me if there is a one-time special need for something. This can result in good discussions and about wants and needs. One was good with money, one wasn't (I frankly don't think it was much to do with training and the specifics of an allowance.) The one that wasn't as good with money has a summer birthday. Due to the spacing of Christmas and his birthday, it was pretty easy for him to time his wants.

[Anonymous]

There are several threads on this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I made a list of what task they could do to earn money.
Empty dishwasher
Vacuum upstairs
Vacuum downstairs
Fold Laundry
Practice Piano
IXL or other math program
Clean bathroom,
load dish washer
Set table
make their bed/open curtains
etc...

I have two DC - 13 and 9. It is their responsibility to calculate their earnings on Sunday and submit for payment.
They can also earn additional money for other tasks as an as needed basis.

Each task earns them a quarter. SOme weeks they earn $5 others <$1. It's up to them. When they want an expensive item, I can tell as they start doing more chores. Every once in a while, we take a trip to the bank for a deposit as well as the animal shelter to make a donation.

I read Dave Ramsey's book and tried to implement this strategy. The problem is that one kid was willing to work for money b/c he wanted to buy something but the other kid didn't care to earn any money b/c she has no interest in buying anything and she has some money that has been saved from bdays and Xmas. This was a problem for me b/c I wanted them to do certain tasks on the list b/c I didn't want to get stuck doing them -- so I didn't like these jobs being "optional."

I had to re-vamp my plan. The way it works now is that they are expected to make their beds every day, clear out their backpacks everyday, set the table, gather garbage on Sunday and Wed. nights, and do their laundry on the weekends. For that, they get $4 each per week (they are 9 and 11 yrs old). They are expected to put at least $1 in their "giving envelope" to use for charitable giving at a later date. If the kids want to earn more money -- which they usually don't -- they DO want to earn extra tablet time occasionally --- then I can usually come up with a few more chores like sweeping the floor, watering plants, sweeping the garage, sorting out their closets/toy bins, etc.

But, the things I really expect them to do as part of pulling their weight/being part of the family -- those are the things I pay the weekly $4 for. If they wanted to earn extra money (like $1/task or extra tablet time), I would give them the other chores as options for earning $/time.

[Anonymous]

We don't do allowances. We just give them money when reasonable expenses come up. And they get money gifts sometimes from us or relatives. The few dollars a week bit, eh, haven't seen the need to bother. If anything they manage the money they have more carefully knowing a good case has to be made for more.


They're expected to do chores regardless.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We don't do allowances. We just give them money when reasonable expenses come up. And they get money gifts sometimes from us or relatives. The few dollars a week bit, eh, haven't seen the need to bother. If anything they manage the money they have more carefully knowing a good case has to be made for more.


They're expected to do chores regardless.

Same here.
This probably only works if you generally don't buy things for your kids outside of birthdays and holidays. If they want to go to an outing with a friend, they get the money to go. They save bday and Christmas money. When they are old enough for a job, that is their spending money.

[Anonymous]

Our son is 7 and we just started formal allowance.

I made a chart of specific chores for him. Examples are things like: take the bathroom trash out of the can and tie it up and replace the bag (when we ask, otherwise he'd bag up a tissue and ask for credit), or get every piece of clothing for the day into the hamper without us asking, or get every dish/cup of yours into the kitchen on the counter without us asking. If he does a task he puts a check in that box. Boxes are for the whole week. If he does 10 tasks in a week, he gets $5. If he does fewer than that, no $. He's about 2 for 3 so far. He's too young for spending money for movies and stuff, but yesterday he wanted a $15 toy at Target (we were buying another toy for the family) and he used his $ to get it. He seems proud to do the work and proud to buy things/save his money.

For us at this stage it's about sticking to a routine and remembering to take the initiative to do stuff on a regular basis. The generic "clean your room" or "take out trash" was too broad for us to follow through on. So our weekly system works for us. For older kids, I'd imagine it's much of the same?

[Anonymous]

For teens I like it when they have to state their case. They and friends are making plans, they want to go, but need the money to make it happen. I like still having some influence. Where are they going? What are the arrangements? Sometimes the plan is to go to a rather expensive place, maybe one I don't treat myself to very often, so that's a 'no'

[Anonymous]

Op here. Thank you for responding. My youngest is 5 so quite young. They ask for little toys at every single store we step into from the dollar store to target to the grocery stores. I say no 99.9% of the time because although it's usually pretty cheap stuff but we are up to our ears in toys from the various holidays and birthdays and grandparent visits. Once they have their own money, do you allow them to spend it even if it's on a piece of chintzy plastic you know will break sooner or later? Or something you think you could realistically get cheaper elsewhere?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op here. Thank you for responding. My youngest is 5 so quite young. They ask for little toys at every single store we step into from the dollar store to target to the grocery stores. I say no 99.9% of the time because although it's usually pretty cheap stuff but we are up to our ears in toys from the various holidays and birthdays and grandparent visits. Once they have their own money, do you allow them to spend it even if it's on a piece of chintzy plastic you know will break sooner or later? Or something you think you could realistically get cheaper elsewhere?

Dave Ramsey (Money Smart Kids) says you let them spend it on whatever they want so that they learn from their mistakes when the stakes are low. He also recommends giving kids the cash for their expenses (i.e. lunch money, clothes money, sports fees, lessons, etc.) and establishing a bank account for them so that THEY start paying their bills. You still supervise, but they have to get in the habit of seeing how much money they spend, budgetting it out over a period of time, and seeing that there is a limit. His philosophy is that it is better for kids to learn this on a small scale and while you have a chance to discuss it when they get into trouble (i.e. over spend) rather than sending them off to college where you aren't there to teach it... and the stakes are higher b/c they are adults (and therefore able to get credit cards and debts).

[Anonymous]

We do $5/week but it is the money they use for buying toys, gifts for family at birthday and Christmas, and extra stuff. Like for Halloween I said I would pay for $10 toward a costume. Anything else comes out of allowance. So my son is making his costume bec it's not worth it to him. same for extra things like the book fair at school. I will buy $10, the rest comes out of allowance. It def helps them budget money. Some chores are worth money, but others are just expected.

[Anonymous]

We have implemented a new system this year with an 8 and 11 year old. We pay them a low level of interest to promote savings. Interest is computed and given once per month, with a weekly allowance. Any large deposits from whatever are split for charity and into their own banks. We buy nothing "extra". For example, we said we would play one game of laser tag, kid wants 2 games, he can pay for the second game. Walking thru Target, can I get xyz? My response is "sure with your own money". 99% of the time they move on quickly, which just goes to show you it is junk and they would play with it for 5 seconds. We also have a candy tax--any junk food/candy/red gatorade at a swim meet, vending, etc, child can buy it without questions but has to pay for it himself and pay 100% tax to me. Without a doubt this helped cut candy consumption at swim meets this year. And I am always happy to provide healthier snacks. Now if we all go out for Sweetfrog I pay because that is a family activity. If we go to the movies and they want that horribly expensive popcorn, they can buy it but I'm not. I have one saver and one spender, and both are benefitting.

[Anonymous]

what was the allowance plan (i.e. How much, how often, was it tied to chores, were they allowed to spend it all or have to donate/save part).

Two of my kids are 24 and almost 21. The other two are 12 and 9.

Allowance up until senior year of high school was once a week. In 12th grade it was once a month. It was NOT tied to chores. You do chores because you live here and you're part of the family and you love your family and want to make their lives easier and their environment nicer to live in. I never forced my kids to donate. I encouraged saving by saying I would match everything saved at the end of the month.

When each kid turned five, they were started on a penny per week. This went on until they understood the concept of one cent. Then they were promoted to a nickel until they understood that five pennies equaled a nickel. Then dime, then quarter. We "played store" a lot from 5-6-7 yrs old. If I saw growth in maturity, their allowance went up by a quarter. When you hit middle school, you get $5 a week. Allowance goes up to minimum wage. You want to earn more than that? Get a job.

[Anonymous]

It was NOT tied to chores. You do chores because you live here and you're part of the family and you love your family and want to make their lives easier and their environment nicer to live in.

I agree passionately with the bolded. I do not pay you, son, to rinse the dishes you just use or carry out the garbage that you threw out.

DS, 12, gets $17.50 a week. He's inclined to save it and periodically purchase one pricey thing. But he always has a few hundred in savings.