Comments on: Allowances: Show Them the Money

By: Toys are a Waste of Money

Toys are a Waste of Money — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 19:13:06 +0000

[...] on December 29, 2010 – 12:12 pm It has happened to us repeatedly. One of the boys accumulates some money and decides to use it to buy a toy. We then spend 30 minutes looking around the Target toy [...]

By: Developing Math Skill in Kids

Developing Math Skill in Kids — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 01:17:34 +0000

[...] boys had no appreciation for money. I’ve been slowly teaching them about it. This skill has twofold importance. The first [...]

By: Keith

Keith — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 20:16:21 +0000

Dan: I think you might be right about it being a bad idea tying chores to allowances. I think that’s something I’ll change. You almost might be onto something with the dollar bills vs coins thing. I’ve noticed in these past few days that the boys like the jingle of coins more than paper money. It’s seems less important the value and more important to them the heft of metal! Kids are funny little buggers.

By: Dad Logic

Dad Logic — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 19:59:48 +0000

Hey Keith,

I really like the idea you (and your parents) have about giving the kid options. It seems like a really good way to get them to think short and long term about what money can do.

I heard somewhere that an allowance shouldn’t be tied directly to chores, or the child might choose not to help around the house because they didn’t need the money. Or if the allowance is taken away as a punishment, the child might argue that they don’t need to help around the house in return. I have no idea how you’d be able to successfully convince a kid that chores are just something you do for fun and an allowance is just a separate reward of sorts each week, but I do think it is interesting how an allowance is essentially designed to teach kids that hard work equates to a monetary reward.

Does it make a difference to your children if you pay them with a $5 bill versus in quarters or single dollar bills? The poem you included at the end made me think of this, since children don’t necessarily understand the value of a dollar, but a sack of nickels sure does seem like a lot.

Fiscal responsibility is one of the best things a parent can teach their children. Nice job of getting this into your children’s heads early on.

By: suburbangranola

suburbangranola — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 23:42:57 +0000

We give “allowance” starting at birth. $20 a month straight into their bank account. Around 5 years old they start being able to split it up and have a little to give (if they want, and they all choose to..for charity, gifts..etc) and a portion they can spend. But at least 1/2 goes into savings. They have little registers to keep up with it, they love going to the bank, and seeing their money “pile up”. All the kids get the same amount regardless of age. And they get it not based on chores. But don’t get me wrong they do have chores but they are expected to help whether they get paid or not. We also have the option to dock their allowance for certain things like my oldest who kept “forgetting” to wear her glasses, I threatened to dock her $1 per day I caught her without them. She only lost $3. And now I dont have to nag her about the glasses.
.-= suburbangranola´s last blog ..Pregnancy Update- 14 Weeks =-.

By: Rebecca

Rebecca — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 22:18:44 +0000

We start giving our kids an allowance at the age of 5. At that time they get 25 cents per year of age per week. So my 5 year old gets $1.25/week. At the age of ten it goes up to 50 cents per year of age per week. At 13 years old it goes up to 75 cents and at 16 to $1. 10% (or what’s close to that in the change they get)must go into savings every week at every age level I don’t tie my kids allowance to their chores, they will do the chores regardless. It works for us

By: Mike Simons

Mike Simons — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 22:02:22 +0000

Dear Keith,

First off I’d like to say that I’ve recently started reading your articles, and really enjoy them primarily I guess because they’re all easy to relate to for me, or at least most of them.

I too received an allowance when I was a kid, but I only got my 10 dollars if I did all my chores everyday for that week in a timely fashion in my parents eyes. Not to mention everything had to be up to par, as far as the work that I was getting paid for haha.

With my sons I did the same thing with the eldest of the 3. However, having two other sons right behind him, I had to find a way to spread the chores out or come up with more (great for me by the way!).

What I ended up doing was coming up with a list of chores seperated into categories and let each of the boys pick which chores they wanted to do. Now the catagories were primarily to seperate the little stuff from the big stuff, in which they each had to choose a certain ammount from each category. Anyways long story short, i think It taught them all different aspects of alot of different things, business for one, time management, and responsibilities if not most important. Anyways just wanted to add my comment here for ya bud!

Have a wonderfull week, can’t wait to read the next article! If you have a second take a look at how I became a stay at home dad and give me your feedback, It would be greatly appreciated and highly valued , thanks again Keith, Hey guys I’m new to the forum, name’s Sarah

Anyways I think you all might like to take a look at something I’ve been doing alot of research on and really have found this to be unparalleled to anything else out there, watch a couple of the videos and let me know what you think. click here if you have the time.

Sincerely,
Mike Simons