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Yes, my kids get an allowance

February 15th, 2009 at 04:18 pm

Reading Monkeymamas blog about Suze Orman and teaching kids about money, got me thinking about the allowance we give our girls.

Our girls get an allowance, paid at the beginning of each month, based on how old they are. My 11 year old gets $11. The 8 year old gets $8. It's about to go up by $1 as the oldest has a birthday next month.

They each have a ATM type bank they stash their money in. It helps count the money for them, even though they both know how to count it manually. The oldest has over $100 tucked away. The youngest just under $50. I think they like having large balances. Well, large to them.

The youngest doesn't seem to mind spending her money. In fact, she's donating $10 to a charity later today for a girl scout event. She decided the amount!

The oldest is more contemplative about her purchases. She tends to wait until she feels she has an excess. She's a bit like her me that way. She prefers not to have less than $100. Right now she is saving to accumulate $200. She will open a bank account when she does. She actually wants to start saving for a car!! It sure isn't too early for that.

They do spend some of their money. I've made them pay me back for candy or gum!! Those are luxuries I don't need to pay when they have stacks of bills at home.

Although their allowance amounts are fixed, they are expected to work around the house. They make their beds, clean their rodent cages, make their own lunches, put away laundry, clean up their toys and numerous other daily living tasks. Occassionally, we will offer to pay extra for extra chores. I remember last summer, we paid $2 for the oldest to vacuum out the minivan. She did a great job, too!

It works for us! What works for you?

Posted in Family | 7 Comments »

7 Responses to “Yes, my kids get an allowance”

  1. monkeymama Says:
    February 15th, 2009 at 04:20 pm 1234714856
    1234714856

    My issue with anti-allowance crowd is the whole idea of "What if the kids won't do their chores? What if they decide they don't want it?" I never quite got that. It's not an option. They have responsibilities and in exchange they get cash (to learn how to manage it). Not living up to their responsibilities is NOT an option. It certainly wasn't when I was a kid.

    Anyway, allowance has a stigma that is unwarranted in my opinion. Everyone does it a little different though. There is no way I would be so good with money as an adult if I hadn't have had so many money lessons (through the use of an allowance) as a kid.

  2. creditcardfree Says:
    February 15th, 2009 at 04:24 pm 1234715096
    1234715096

    I don't get that either. I grew up with an allowance, too! I had to make decisions on how to spend and save at an early age. I didn't have enough to do everything I wanted each month so I had to be patient and save. I had to decided if it was worth my money to even spend it.

    Looks like we agree, Monkeymama.

  3. lizajane Says:
    February 15th, 2009 at 04:31 pm 1234715476
    1234715476

    I have no comment on the allowance, since we have no young kids, but I had to laugh at the differences in the way your kids spend/save. My brother has 2 kids, and he tells me when the youngest has money, it burns a hole in her pocket and she can't wait to go "shopping". The older one saves his back, and my brother ends up asking him for loans every once in awhile! He pays it back with interest too! LOL

  4. whitestripe Says:
    February 15th, 2009 at 06:57 pm 1234724230
    1234724230

    well, i never got an allowance from my mum, but my dad always put an allowance in my bank account, or when i was staying with him, he would give it to me in cash. i used to get 50c per year per week. (so if i was 10, i would $5 a week). he would also put his spare change in jars and then when i would visit him we would count it together and put it in my bank account for savings. then when i went back to my mums, she would 'borrow' it because she herself had run out of money for groceries.

    so i guess i have had a mixed background when it comes to money - but i definately agree with an allowance. and i agree with monkey mama - not doing chores is NOT an option.

  5. North Georgia Gal Says:
    February 15th, 2009 at 07:45 pm 1234727105
    1234727105

    My kids have chores, but they aren't tied to their allowances. they are expected to do chores to keep the house running smoothly. Not doing chores isn't an option. I wasn't given an allowance as a kid and I have just recently learned how to budget money!

  6. Counting Pennies Says:
    February 15th, 2009 at 08:52 pm 1234731155
    1234731155

    I got an allowance for a short period of time when I was a child. My mom instead of giving me and my brother cash would give us a "paycheck" for either doing our chores or getting As on a report card. And then if we wanted to buy something we basically went to the bank of mom and endorsed our check as if we were going to the bank to get money out. We usually had to notify her in advance so that way could get cash out if she needed to. I didn't really see the point when I was little but, I see it now. Both me and my brother knew what to do with a check at a bank at a very young age and my mom even made us our own register to keep track of our money that we were saving.

    But I mean, I never saw it as blackmail or anything where I would only do something if I got paid. I had to do it anyways, but it was nice to get a reward every now and then especially if we went above and beyond.

  7. snoopycool Says:
    February 16th, 2009 at 12:51 pm 1234788705
    1234788705

    When we were doing an allowance, the part they were paid for was above and beyond what they were responsible for to keep the house running smooth. I'm in the middle on this issue: I want them to learn to budget their own money; I also want them to take pride in their home and take care of it with or without being paid.

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