Do you give your kids an allowance? When do you think they are old enough to earn an allowance? These are some questions I wondered about for myself. When ever we went somewhere, my two girls who are the oldest of my four, always want to buy something, but they have no money. Do I always buy it for them? No. I don't think I need to, all of the time.
I homeschool our kids and have decided that it is time they really start to learn the value of money. What better way to do this than to pay them for work they do and they can see the money pile up.
A couple of months back I made of list of age appropriate chores that they can do. Clean the toy room, take clothes out of the dryer for mommy, make their beds, even brush their teeth (that is a chore for most kids...). I likely have 14 or so items on the list. To each of those items, I decided what to pay the kids if they did it. I made a spreadsheet that includes all seven days of the week. Each day has three columns, one for each kid (the youngest is too young for this). When someone does one of them, there is an "X" put in their column beside the very job that they did. At the end of the week, I tally it up and pay them their allowance. A dime here and a quarter there adds up. For my oldest, it added up to $5 last week, second oldest $4.50 and my son $4.00.
I am not forcing these kids to do any of it. They want to. It is their choice. I don't see anything wrong with giving children the option to help out in the home and they are learning responsibility at the same time.
Not only do I want to stress the value of money, but the importance of not just buying something for yourself, but sharing it with someone who may need it. I told the kids they can save it and buy something they want for themselves, but it is important not spend all of your money on yourself either. Maybe there is a missionary that could put that money to good use. Maybe there is a sick little child in the hospital and a new stuffed animal would brighen their day. I want my children to grow up thinking of others, and not just themselves.
This has proven to be very successful in our household thus far. I will continue as long as it is working. As they get older, the list will change, and so will how much they get paid. I think if I was a 10 year old, and my mom was paying me .10 to brush my teeth, I would never forget...lol!
I would love to hear what other mom's and dad's do out there.
