Allowance for Young Kids

M.,
If you really want to do this right--go to daveramsey.com website. There is a special area for teaching kids (according to their age) about money--saving, spending and giving. Outstanding!
K.

I too believe my five boys should do some work around the house just because they are part of the family. Therefore, we have a chore chart with about ten jobs divided between the boys and they change monthly. When they want to earn extra money they check the "job" board. On this I have chores listed that are normally mine or out of the scope of daily house upkeep along with their dollar value. They are chores such as wiping down the baseboards, cleaning the track on the sliding glass door, pulling weeds (I pay per full sand pail), cleaning out the inside of the car, wiping down the leather furnature, wiping down the door frames, cleaning my bathroom (they clean theirs). With this set up I don't have to worry about not paying them the weekly allowance if they don't do their chores. They only earn money if they are motivated enough to go find the job and do it. It is intended to be more "real world" for them. Hope this helps

M.,
There is a great book on money for kids called "Money doesn't grow on trees". It basically says to give kids their age in allowance a week (so your daughter would get 7 dollars). Seems like alot but you teach them about savings (long term, short term, quick cash, etc) and charitable donations. They also pay taxes out of their money that goes back to the communikty (your family) and then you get an opportunity to teach about voting and making your voice heard as to how your money will be spen t by the community (once every 6 months we do something fun with the community money: movie, amusement park etc.) It takes some work but my kids are almost all grown and all know the value of a dollar, pay tithes and have savings accounts with more in them than I have! Give it a try and good luck! S.

my friend told me about chorebusters.net and it has been helpful to think of jobs and order them for our schedule.

Hi M.. We recently started a system for our 9 year old who is very difficult to get to do her normal chores. We created a job chart with all of her weekly chores, including homework and brushing teeth (she would never brush if we didn't remind her! Yuck!). She has weekend chores, like dusting& vacuuming her room, too. Each day she gets a sticker on her chart when all things are completed to our satisfaction. We set up a small goal (usually a king size candy bar) and a $5 goal each week, which we break down to 10% tithe, 50% savings, and 50% she keeps to spend how she wants. If she gets stickers all 7 days, she gets both treats, but if she misses the mark and gets stickers at least 5 days, she gets the small goal only. This way if she messes up one day she won't think, "Well, I'm not going to get anything, so why do it at all." Unfortunately, she hasn't earned the $5 goal yet (5 weeks now), but she's starting to realize how much money she would have if she just took a little extra time to do it right. (Unless she messes up today, she'll earn both goals this week!) You can give her extra chances to earn money when there are big projects around the house like pulling weeds, cleaning out the garage, or other spring cleaning stuff. Ask family and friends if they have any extras for her to do. But always remind her the importance of tithing. Our church had the kids paint little piggy banks to take home to put their God money in to bring back when it's full. Good luck. (Sorry it was so long!!)

I have been giving my daughter an allowance since she was 4 & she is currently six. I have a chore sheet that is on the fridge & treat it like a job if she does all her work each day at the payday (Friday) she gets her money if she hasn't completed all her work she does not get paid. I also give her bonuses if she does something more then her normal job. This helps teach her to save her money & prioritize what she wants. We recently went to Disneyland & I had told her a year earlier she had to buy her own souvenirs she had $104 by the time we went. She was 5. She also had to make sure she spent her money slowly so she wouldn't run out. now she want to get a ds system (since she as an advance me & her father wont buy her another so she is saving for that. This is also teaching her to be responsible for her own things if it gets broken she knows she has to buy another & she doesn't want to do that. I believe giving them money is more rewarding then giving them toys. My daughter gets paid for doing her school work, behaving in school (not loosing her popsicle sticks or getting her card flipped, cleaning her room, putting her clothes away, clearing & setting the table picking up all toys in the house (since i watch 2 kids most of the mess is not hers)putting way dishes, feeding the dogs, daily hygiene, & obeying mom & dad with out sass plus anything else i need help with that day with out attitude.

Our kids are a little older, but we had them do things like pull weeds in the yard, clean out the car (all of the garbage and junk that seems to accumulate), and dust. Now they clean bathrooms and sweep and mop. They can also clean the patio door and vacuum the stairs (they did this when they were younger with a dustbuster). Most of the time we pay about .50 for a job (now bathrooms are worth a little more). A good program to use is by Dave Ramsey. He has a program for children. You can find it on his website at daveramsey.com. It talks about saving, spending money and money for church. It also teaches them that going into debt is not a good idea and the value of saving for something. It is really neat and our kids loved it.

Hi - My daughter is 4.5 Yrs old and we dont give an Allowance yet, but we have taught the face value of coins & bills for the last year. She has to identify any coins before she is given them for her Piggy Bank. She has a little Wallet for her change and if she wants to stop for a Breakfast Jack - her Favorite - she Wants to contribute to pay & we encourage that - She saves her change & knows that food costs money. I also teach her everything that costs Money & that we dont waste money b/c many people don't have it - so we turn off the Lights, etc b/c it is wasteful & costs money. She knows mommy sells on Ebay & Craig's List to Earn Money & if I sell one of her toys I will give her a dollar and she puts it in her piggy - she knows about selling things & also about donating - we dontate alot to Packages from Home and she knows that giving things that she no longer needs or has outgrown to those in need is good & makes room for the things we need. She also knows she has a savings for College - thats where her bank savings goes - I want to equate earning & the Teaching of finances with giving to others & conserving & being Thrifty, as well as just selling & working - Hope that is encourageing! Good Luck :) - S.

I give my kids (age 9 and 14) an allowance equal to the grade they're in. For example my son gets $4 and my daughter $8. The chores they do around the house are expected as being part of a family. The money has helped them buy things that I am unwilling to buy. Many years back my daughter wanted another American Girl doll and I refused. She had 2 already. I told her to save her money and I would match it. By the time she did, she didn't want now to spend the money she had saved, she was proud of what she accomplished and kept on saving. She now has $900 and has paid for half of her computer and half of her ipod touch. She pays for her own movie ticket when she goes out with her friends and any extra cool clothes she will buy on her own or I will split the cost with her. My son isn't as good but he is quite a bit younger. He saves for WII games. He still hasn't gotten past saving $40 yet but I am sure he will. For him, I also have a star chart. He gets a star for things kike being helpful, kind, being ready on time, etc. When he gets 6 stars he picks from the jar. It has notes with things like Pokemon cards, $1, go to bed late etc. This has worked as a wonderful incentive to go the extra mile on thiings not on his chore list. I am proud of how they handle their money.

My 7 yr old son is a very strong mature young man, sometimes!
He will do practically anything for money!
He picks up dog poop, cleans litter boxes, vacuums, sweeps, mops, does dishes, washes cars, waters flowers, scrubs walls, dusts, feeds the dogs, etc.
Wow, he's like my little slave!
I pay him five dollars a week.

I have a 2 and a 4 year old and they have been getting an allowance since they could walk and help out with little household chores. Up till this point they have only learned the value of saving- recently my 4 year old wanted to buy a PSP-he is far advanced for his age...I was not about to go out and buy a $200 game system for him- he is 4!!! So he asked me mom will you give me money if I clean up this or that... finally my curiosity got to me and had to ask why-he said because he was saving for his psp-he eventually saved enough for the system and one game... I guess the moral is it is never to early to start with allowances, younger children you can get away with a penny a chore and move up to nickel, die, and then quarter... I guess in your instance I would give her a chore chart for each day of the week-not including her bedroom(this should be automatic) if she completes her chore everyday then offer her 50 cents a day or $2.50 on Friday- start out small at first just like a job you start out at minimum wage and if she sticks with her chores and you do not constantly remind her then after about a month give her a raise to say 75 cents a day and so on, between each raise make the time a little longer... maybe for holidays you can give a bonus... this will instil a good work value in her at a young age and teah her that hard work is rewarded in time... Make paydays on the sae day every week and at the sae time- this way everything is constant... if you want to teach her to budget then you can always tell her that she needs to put at least 50 cents of her allowance into a seperate piggy bank- tell her it is her rainy day money-explain what that is... and let her know that it is for something extremely important to her that could not be afforded otherwise, example-a school sport or needed items for that sport, ect... I hope this helps and it is never to early to start teaching children about these things, if they become habits as children then they will remain habits as an adult!!
Goodluck!

Check out www.daveramsey.com. He has a great product called "Financial Peace Jr." for kids. ($20 for the kit). My husband and I went through the Financial Peace University course last fall and loved it! We learned so much (it's not just about budgetting). I know the course is offered frequently in Tucson, if you are ever interested. Our daughter is only 2 1/2 now, but within a year or two, we will start teaching her the concepts included in the kids kit. Dave Ramsey's money tips are all from a Christian perspective and very in line with what you are already doing with your daughter (i.e. some chores are just expected, some earn money/ money is divided into saving, giving, spending envelopes). If you are looking for suggestions on additional chores for your daughter--she is probably old enough to do simple cleaning tasks--dusting, vacuuming, sweeping floors, cleaning sinks and mirrors, loading the dish washer, drying dishes, etc. I would recommend paying her whatever amount you feel is fair. Hope I was helpful!

Wash fingerprints off the walls - doorknobs, fridge, etc.

We are going through Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace Univeristy right now, and he has a program specifically for kids, and how to balance between savings, church, and spending. He also talks about giving your kids comissions rather than allowance - that way they have to earn the money - it's not just handed to them. Check out his website at www.daveramsey.com and go to the kids, teens and money section.

My hubby and I are in the process of going thru the Growing Kids God's Way class, for the third time....we've gotten so much from the classes and with five kids, it's helped so much. I agree not to pay for chores that are part of her investment in your family, we've never done that. But for things above and beyond we have, especially if they are trying to earn money for something special. Maybe if there is something for her to do outside....we've had ours pull weeds, remove rocks, rake. Some inside ideas are maybe to wipe down the baseboards in the house, we had one of our daughters clean out and wipe down the inside of the fridge. One of the teachings we learned was to show the kids a value of a dollar, what they did when their daughters wanted a particular board game....the girls were paid one dollar for every bucket of rocks they put in the rock pile....so they knew their game was worth 25 trips to the rock pile. That gave them a knowledge somewhat of the value of something and they could then decide if that was worth it to them. Hope this helps, God bless.

PS: I believe Larry Burkett, that is on KFLR has a program for teaching children about being good stewards, might look online.

Alison (Mom of five, ages 4-13, married to the same wonderful husband for almost 16 years)