What is the point of forced donations and forced saving? I want my kids to learn to give because they want to give; that's how I learned. And saying "this is your money, only it's not" isn't teaching them how to handle money.

I know this is going to sound vengeful, and I swear I don't make parenting choices so I can tell my kids "I told you so," but they learned to save because they wanted something and couldn't afford it at the time. Worked especially well when he'd bought a ton of Pokemon cards and then something he'd wanted and been saving for went on sale. He'd have had enough money in his savings if he hadn't bought Platinum Dungheap the week before.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My first grader got $10 per week last year. He saved nearly all of it.

It sounds like a lot, but I don't buy much for him. If he asks for something at Target (toy, candy, whatever), I say "Okay, but I'm not buying it. That comes out of your money." He then decides whether to spend his money or not. He usually decides not to. He bought a Kindle for himself. He buys video games sometimes.

Does anyone else think this is WAY too much for a 6 yr old? My son got a dollar a week when he was 6 and he had certain chores he had to do before he got it.

You can't even buy a candy bar with a $1, though. If it doesn't buy anything, it doesn't mean anything.

Exactly. If I gave my 6 yr old $10/week, he would spend it right away. He knows he has to save for a month if he wants a small Lego set or Lego minifigure. If he wants a larger Lego set, he has to save for a few months. If I want to buy myself something like an iPod, I have to save for a good 6 months before I have enough to buy it. This is real life and I want my son to recognize it when he gets older.

We do half your age per week in $. Started when eldest was in 1st grade. She has learned to save up and not spend it all on Target dollar bin stuff, though that took a few months to get past at first. It is great, too, that she learned in 1st grade to pay a cashier for her purchases (when there wasn't a long line behind us).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Right now, a dime a week. To me, right now, the purpose of allowance is to teach about money. So we started with a penny a week. Then a nickel a week. Now we're on a dime. The girls will learn about savings, borrowing, making change, adding and subtracting, etc.

It is not tied to chores because chores are what household members do to keep the household running. If you want to live as a member of the household, you will do chores. Having said that, there are sometimes special extra projects that we will pay for.
I do not believe in a dollar per age because what four year old needs almost $20 a month? That's a ridiculous amount of money for such a young child.

i tried tying allowance to chores but it didn't seem to work. started getting questions like: it i let you cut my nails can i have a penny for each nail. decided it was the wrong lesson since i think doing things around the house is something we all have to do.

So, to further break down what I was saying above, everyone has to do things like help with laundry, make their beds, clean up from meals, help cook, help do routine cleaning. But if DH decides he wants the car washed, he might offer it up for $5, and then tip an extra $2 for a job well done. Or when we re-did our attic and turned it from the scary place we threw suitcases into a bedroom, DH paid the kids $1 an hour to be helpers. When I was going to hire someone to repaint our fence, DD asked if she could have the job. So I paid her $10 per coat of paint.

Anonymous wrote:We do $1/per year old per week. Right now $6/per week (and $1 has to go to share (ie. make a donation.)

This is what I'm thinking about doing. I want 10% set aside for charity, so of course the amount has to be a bit bigger than something like $1 a week. I'm just not sure of the amount at this point, and/or how I want to require my son to buy his own toys with it.

Anonymous wrote:Right now, a dime a week. To me, right now, the purpose of allowance is to teach about money. So we started with a penny a week. Then a nickel a week. Now we're on a dime. The girls will learn about savings, borrowing, making change, adding and subtracting, etc.

It is not tied to chores because chores are what household members do to keep the household running. If you want to live as a member of the household, you will do chores. Having said that, there are sometimes special extra projects that we will pay for.
I do not believe in a dollar per age because what four year old needs almost $20 a month? That's a ridiculous amount of money for such a young child.

i tried tying allowance to chores but it didn't seem to work. started getting questions like: it i let you cut my nails can i have a penny for each nail. decided it was the wrong lesson since i think doing things around the house is something we all have to do.

We do $1/per year old per week. Right now $6/per week (and $1 has to go to share (ie. make a donation.)

Pp here who does $10 per month for her 10 yr old. Actually it more than covers the little things she buys for herself. She donated $10 at the end of the summer to the
MSCPA because she felt she had more than enough saved. I pay for her clothes and food including desserts but not treats or candy but she has no problem buying the little extras she wants. She is not a particularly needy or grabby child. She pretty much never asks for things. I am interested that this sounds like a little compared to others but to us it feels like plenty. Maybe bc she is an athlete who practices her sport a lot she doesn't have same time or access to shopping that others do? so maybe for children who have more time to shop or access to things they might want, more allowance might be in order?

We give each of our children (8 and 6) $5 a week. It seems like the right amount since we never buy them anything extra (other than presents for holidays/birthdays). The younger one (1st grade) likes to spend it all. The older one rarely spends and has a ton in the bank.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My first grader got $10 per week last year. He saved nearly all of it.

It sounds like a lot, but I don't buy much for him. If he asks for something at Target (toy, candy, whatever), I say "Okay, but I'm not buying it. That comes out of your money." He then decides whether to spend his money or not. He usually decides not to. He bought a Kindle for himself. He buys video games sometimes.

Does anyone else think this is WAY too much for a 6 yr old? My son got a dollar a week when he was 6 and he had certain chores he had to do before he got it.

You can't even buy a candy bar with a $1, though. If it doesn't buy anything, it doesn't mean anything.

+1 pp here..I think $10 for a 10 yo is way too little. Then you must be buying stuff for them. OP I think it depends on what your goals are. Some people are trying to have it be a lesson for learning about money, whereas others are giving a bit of pocket change or tying it to responsibilities. Once you decide the "what for" you can set the amount/time frame.

The $10.00 for a 10 year old is per week, not per month. That way, if he wants to save for a DS game, it takes just about one month. A fancy Lego set? 8-10 weeks. It makes saving for something attainable, but still requires effort and discipline.

Guess what? The funny thing is that after saving for that long, sometimes he decides that because he has worked so long to get that money the trinket it not worth getting and he would rather have the savings or put it towards something more valuable.

Right now, a dime a week. To me, right now, the purpose of allowance is to teach about money. So we started with a penny a week. Then a nickel a week. Now we're on a dime. The girls will learn about savings, borrowing, making change, adding and subtracting, etc.

It is not tied to chores because chores are what household members do to keep the household running. If you want to live as a member of the household, you will do chores. Having said that, there are sometimes special extra projects that we will pay for.
I do not believe in a dollar per age because what four year old needs almost $20 a month? That's a ridiculous amount of money for such a young child.