Chores and Allowance for Kids
photo credit: Sugar Pond
I am here today to ask you to tell me not what I should do, but what you do for your kids with chores and allowance? I have a 4 year old with a short list of what I suppose could be called chores but really they are more like things that she is asked to do as part of our daily routine. As of now, she doesn’t get an allowance but we’re changing that soon.
So, tell me, please.
- What chores do your kids have (please share ages)?
- Do you tie allowance to those chores or is the allowance stand alone?
Both our children, four and six, have a list of chores they must complete. These are mandatory. They also get an allowance, but it is not necessarily tied into their chores. They do their chores, because they are part of the family, and part of the family business. If everything is as it should be, they get an allowance on Saturday for the preceding week. However, if behavior is not in alignment, than they must forfeit their allowance. Yes, we have been told often that this is not cool, but hey, at least my kids are well behaved most of the time.
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My daughter is 8 and gets 4.00 per week (.50 per year). Her allowance is not tied to chores. However she does have chores that she is expected to do - bringing her laundry to the laundry room, taking care of the animals, getting the mail. She also has chores that involove whatever I tell her to do. For example if I’m doing dishes then I send her around the house to make sure there are none hiding anywhere.
The allowance is a tool I use so she learns about money and fiscal responsibility. The chores are not a set list and are required because everyone in a family contributes period.
Our kids (aged 7, 6, and 2) don’t receive an allowance yet, though they have money in the “daddy bank” which accrues monthly interest which is like getting an allowance. They each (even the 2 yo) have chores that they are expected to do well, simply because they are part of the family. When we start an allowance, it will NOT be tied to chores. I don’t get paid to be the keeper of the home, and neither will they. That said, I plan to implement what friends of ours did. The allowance is given whether or not chores are done. However, if chores are not done, they must pay the one who did the chores an appropriate amount, out of, you guessed it, their allowance. We hope that will be positive encouragement to KEEP the money they receive.
Our five year old daughter gets an intermittent allowance, about $5 a month. (Her birthday’s coming soon, and I think that we’re going to switch her from the $5 a month to about $5 every two weeks.) It’s not tied to chores or behavior. Instead, every time we go to the supermarket, she comes with us, and she’s responsible for bringing her money. Before we go into the store, she’s told what she’s in charge of purchasing for the week–sometimes it’s oatmeal, sometimes it’s a cucumber and a red pepper–it’s always something that we would have had to buy anyhow, but that she’ll be part of eating. (So things that we bring to work for lunch, for example, wouldn’t be on her list.)
She gets to pick out the kind of [whatever] we buy, and then whatever money’s left after she’s bought her “list” she gets to keep. There are a few reasons I like this plan: first, she’s learning that life costs, and that just because you see something “on commercial” doesn’t mean that it’s going to be a good choice. Second, she’s learning how to do basic math and budgeting–this and this, or this and this, but not all four. Finally, I like the idea that we’re teaching her how to shop for groceries, which is something that an alarmingly large number of adults can’t do. She’ll look for soft spots on cucumbers, smell tomatoes to decide if they’re “fresh”, and reject withered-looking red peppers. We’ve also found that since she started buying some of our food, she’s more interested in how to prepare it and more willing to try new things, which is a nice side effect.
I have to admit that another nice side effect is that we’re no longer being pressured to buy Spongebob-branded yogurt or what have you, since she gets that they cost more and you get less of them.
My daughter is 7 and her chores are unloading the dishwasher, picking up the toys at the end of the day, cleaning her room, wiping down the bathroom sink, and drying the dishes that I hand washed. She gets a quarter per chore. It works out to be about $20 a month because she rarely does all her chores every day.
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we do not have allowance for any of the 6 kids age 2 to 18. They have chores that they do because they are part of the family. during the school year they do allot less because I see their school work as there job, they put in about a full work day same as an adult. And I believe they need some chill time after homework. So during the school year they have to take care of them selves and there stuff and what I tell them to do. During the summer we have a chore schedule for everyone everyday.
What we do is if they are wanting money we pay for chores that are above and beyond what they would have to do. So this makes them look for jobs that need done or they ask to see what they can do when they need money.
Such as pick up the 1000 walnuts in the yard so we can mow. or we pay to mow or weed eat, clean out the van and vacuum, clean off dads work bench. different things. sometimes I just have allot to do and i need extra help so I will hire someone to do something I need done. I find that the kids don’t need much money, we don’t buy toys in the stores. we get books and movies from the library when we can. There just isn’t a big need for small kids to have money. Since we are gearing up for Christmas they are looking for jobs so they can buy presents.
An issue we have wrestled with…Our kids (13, 11, 9) do not currently get an allowance. However, as part of the family, they do have specific chores they have to do - and that is considered part of their job for being part of our family. Jobs include drying dishes, feeding/caring for the cat, taking out any recyclables, taking out compost, laundry, vacuuming are the big ones. We do, however, give them money if they need it for something. Hmmm…this is one of those issues I’m just not sure what is best…
We work solely on commission here. Clean a bathroom = get $1. We tend to make everything $1 items, but he’s 11 and more is expected for that $1.
He has a paper route one day a week after school for 3 hours. They pay him $15 + 2.50 for a treat. It’s getting pretty hard to convince him to do $1 items.
Might have to rethink this.
So at just four and nearly six my wee boys have no fixed chores - too young I feel.
What we have is a star chart. At 4.00pm each day we have a chat and see if their behavoiur over the day thus far deserves a star. Star behaviour is doing what mummy asks, when mummy asks, being kind to each other etc etc - the usual stuff.
Out of a month there is probably three or so days that do not get a star. We do it at 4.00pm because to leave it any later would result in 50% less stars … The idea is to reward and not punish.
When something is going pear shape during the day I can say “now that’s not really star behaviour is it” they get it straight away.
So at the end of each month each star is worth $0.20. We tally up and then either go shopping and spend it or save it and add it to the total for a bigger spend. The boys have the decision making power here.
Seems to get some decent results - cheers le
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My daughter is seven and gets $2/week, which is not tied to any chores. We don’t have a formal list of chores for her, but I think we should. At the moment, she helps clear the table, empty the dishwasher, and is supposed to make sure her dirty clothing gets to the hamper!
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In order to reduce the amount of whining around here whenever I ask my kids to do chores, I took away their set allowances and started paying them per chore. Now I assign jobs with amounts I will pay them for doing them and it’s working great.
For example, I’ll post the job, “Empty dishwasher, 50 cents.” They are responsible for buying any toys they want, so they have to work to make the money for them. It has really helped with motivation around here!
My kids are 13 and 6, and this works especially well with my teenager.
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I am so glad you posted this! We just started allowances for my kids, but I am still confused as to exactly how to enforce it all. We have an 8 and 6 yrold that get $5/wk. They have to save and tithe, which leaves them with $3.50/wk. I think this teaches them real fiscal responsibility! My problem has always been that when I have extra money it burns a hole in my pocket, and I am terrible about saving and giving!
My question is…do you decide what your kids can buy? Of course they want instant gratification, but the only thing you can buy for $3.50 is candy or crap from China! I don’t know how to give them this responsibility, but then manage it. Where do I go hands off, ya know? My 2 boys share most of their toys, and now they have started trying to combine their money to buy something collectively. But the stronger of the 2 personalities usually wins out on what to buy. I don’t think this is good either….sigh! It was certainly easier before allowances!
But as far as chores go, we have a list of family chores that are part of being in the family. We will pay extra for yard and garden work, but already they are doing dishes, starting laundry, putting clothes away, washing the car, and cleaning the bathroom.
Starting when my son was about 5 we gave him $5 a month that was not tied to chores or behavior. It was a dollar per year. BUT he had to give 10% to tithe and 50% to his college fund. Sounds harsh but when he was little he didn’t realize and once he got old enough to complain I pointed out that as frustrated as he was at having to save for college, when he was the only kid there with plenty of pizza money he’d be thanking me. We invested the college money in stocks that he chose, Nike, Target, Coke, Pepsi, Dreamworks and others.
He turned 14 in August, I switched up and started giving him $150 a month which includes the money I was spending on his cell phone and his clothing budget. He gets to decide where and when to shop and since he was going over budget on his phone, he has suddenly realized that going over minutes means he can’t buy the new hoodie or sneaks he wants. BIG eye opener!
Hi, I’ve come via Le @ thirdontheright.com.
I have had many failed pocket money/allowance schemes with my kids. It wasn’t that the kids wouldn’t do the chores but that I wasn’t good at keeping it all together - the money, the chores etc.
In the last few weeks we have settled on a system that seems to be working. My kids are 8 and 10 and now have things they want to save for so I tell them that provided they make their bed, pull up their blinds and come downstairs dressed and ready for school without asking every day I will give them $5 per week to spend on whatever they wish. The point, for us, is that I’m not tying payment to chores as such but explain that if they contribute to the family in a small age-appropriate way then they, like me, will have their own money to spend. It’s not too onerous for them and it really helps me out. So far it’s working a treat.
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My husband, kids and myself recently watched Suze Orman talking about money and kids on Oprah. She brilliantly recommended ten cents a minute - something my 9 and 11 year old jumped at. Suze said that the current minimum wage comes out to be about that, and I hoped this would help my boys understand how long it takes to earn a buck. My 11 year old also earns $15 a week for doing yard work for his grandma. The first few months he blew it quickly, including splurging on candy for the girls in his class one time, but he eventually caught on.
I have a four-year old and she doesn’t get an allowance. I don’t plan to give her one when she gets older because I feel that she should contribute to the chores because she is part of the family (I also have the same expectation of my husband, by the way!!!). We have daily chores (make the beds, put stuff away, clean up after dinner etc.) and weekly chores that we always do on Sun a.m. (change bed linens/empty garbage in bathrooms/clean bathrooms/wash floors etc., etc. etc.,). On a daily basis, I want her to put her toys away (ongoing struggle), set the table with my/my husband’s help and put her dish on the kitchen counter afterwards. She also “helps” me with chores like making supper, tidying up and making the beds –although it is more like “following me around” vs. actually contributing at this point. On a weekly basis, she is responsible for completely tidying up her toy room (vs. an “ok” job the rest of the week) and also she “helps” me with the rest of the chores. I think our kids are the same age, right? What do you do? I have no idea of my expectations are too high or too low!!
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I’m going to be giving a presentation about this to a group soon. I’ll send you the link when I get it on my blog.
My kids are 5 and 2 and they have been getting money for chores like feeding the cat, picking up their toys, not whinning, not hitting, sharing, getting dressed, etc. My goal is to teach them about money at a young age while also getting them to behave:-) It’s working great for my 5 year old. I got this from Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace Jr. He says if you just give them money, they don’t learn about the importance of earning a dollar. We make sure to take the money they get and put in 3 envelopes. Save, Spend and Give. My son gets excited to give to the church. I’m glad, because I still have a hard time with that one! ha.
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