Allowance??

I never got an allowance, I did get paid for grades when I got into high school (above 'Cs' I was paid below I paid my parents). I was taught to help because I was part of the household and of I wanted dishes to eat off of that they need to be washed and clothes to wear to wash them, and so on. I like your idea!

My little one isn’t to the point of allowance but I have been seeing alternatives to giving allowances. The bar has been raised nowadays

My kids are 5 & 8. There is a chore app called “Busy Kid” where you can specify chores to a child, how much per job, and how often it needs to be done.They earn more for certain jobs than others. For instance, they can earn 25 cents for sweeping the kitchen floor daily and 50cents-$1 for vacuuming a room (depends on which room) the most they can earn for a job is $2 and that’s for folding and putting away their own clean laundry. After each chore is complete they can log into their specific account and check off their chores BUT if the job is not complete to my satisfaction I can disapprove the chore so that they do not get paid for it. You can either pay them in cash or you can opt to get the child a ‘Busy Kid’ card (prepaid debit card) and you can load the card so they can use it instead of cash.

3 replies

Also, when we went to Disneyland we gave them an opportunity to earn more $ and I set up this in their play room so that they can see what they can do to earn money. By the time we left for Disney, they earned themselves $300 and they used it on whatever they wanted to do.

No way. We work hard to give them a beautiful home, good food to eat, clothes to wear, and private schools to attend. No reason to pay them. Helping out around the house is expected as a member of this family.

2 replies

It wouldn’t necessarily be a reward for doing chores, but more a way of teaching them the value of money and allowing them to buy their own things. Hoping it will alleviate the constant requests for new toys, treats and special outings. If they ask me to go for ice cream, go to a movie, for a new toy, etc I will tell them they need to use their money. If they can afford it then I will take them.

We do that, too, but their money is in their piggy banks and is saved from special occasions, like lost teeth (tooth fairy), birthday cash from relatives, etc.

I will reward them for chores well done. That’s how the real world works, you get paid for your work.

4 replies

Yeah, but in the real world they’ll also have to pay for food, clothing, housing, etc. They get all those things handed to them and are thus expected to be useful members of the family and to do all of their schoolwork.

Good point although I disagree. As the parent who chose to bring them into this world, you shouldn’t hold it against them for having to eat or need shelter. Those are not life skills but life necessities, therefore my responsibility.

We gave our kids the choice. 1) we pay you to do chores. But you are responsible for buying your own junk food( chips candy pop) and your own extra stuff. We will pay for your sports and such but if you want a toy or new movie it's yours to pay for. 2) you do your chores and without a fight. You don't get paid but we will pay for all junk food and do fun things and you will be rewarded with things as long as your behavior and work ethic is up to par. Our kids picked option 1. It lasted all of 2 months before they realized the benefits of just contributing to keeping the house running smoothly outweighs get a list and paid to do that list.

While I’m not quite at that stage yet, I appreciated that my parents didn’t pay me for chores but bc I held my end of household help, they were always willing to give me money to do things as they came up. With my younger sister, they paid her (chores and graded) and now she is weird about money. Everything she does, she thinks she’s owed something. I definitely like the app suggestion but maybe not money? Positive reinforcement is a must!

I just give them money if they ask. I advise them to save. If I don't have the money when they ask they usually have some put to the side. And I put it back for them when i do. Plan on doing the same with my son.

As a kid my parents paid me allowance..although I really appreciated it as a kid I would do it slightly different. They started to pay me at about 5-7 yrs old and for me it lasted until I was 14yrs when I started working. I would help out with basically anything you can think of, whether it be a small task or not. I would be paid by my age but only every other week so that I had something to really look forward to and made the pay more realistic because a lot of jobs pay weekly or biweekly rather than everyday. If I was 5 yrs old I would get $5 per week at the end of the 2 week period I would have $10. I would definitely say the little amounts of money really added up to me wanting to get a job at a younger age. As soon as I started working for my money, allowance stopped.

1 reply

As for my young sister she is over 16 yrs old and it didn't really kick in the same way it did for me when I was younger. She still gets paid her allowance because she hasn't started working, some days I feel like it might ruin her future not having any experience with jobs. I don't know. All I can say is I am not at the allowance stage yet with my baby but when the time rolls around I'd probably make a cut off of how long it can be received. I think 14 is a good age because little summer/part time jobs are always looking for students to work and it really motivates one to feel the urge to get a job. All in all, allowance worked well for me as a kid, my parents could offer to pay for something I wanted but in return I wouldn't be paid for 2 up coming pays if it makes any sesne. And if I didn't deserve the pay I would get half or nothing at all.

My 8 y/o only makes $1 per chore and the chore must be completed without me asking or helping in order for him to make his $1. It’s just how I was taught and I learnt quickly how important it is to do chores because some stuff would be left undone until I “thought” of it on my own. For example my son didn’t remember to sort his laundry into the larger hamper for me to wash up once, he hasn’t forgotten since he ran out of clothes the first time. 🤷🏻‍♀️

This is so hard! I have a 17 year old son with Asperger’s and dyspraxia. He’s trying to find a p/t job alongside college but gets discouraged when he doesn’t get it. His friends at college have been telling him they get their child benefit each month from their parents/ carers, which is around £80 each month. We’ve told him he can have this after lots of thought but... he has to pay for his own drinks at college and any clothes he needs? What do people think of that??

My oldest daughter often gets money on her birthday and holiday so instead of doing an allowance we tell her shes working towards get special classes or outings ( dance class or going to the zoo) When we offered her money it didnt get her as motivated.

We have a chore board He is 5 We have not started yet but I plan to soon

My kid isn’t at allowance age yet but I started getting an allowance when I was 3 probably and my mom who was a banker taught me how to count my money and it was used for anything I wanted (not needed). It wasn’t associated with chores and I’m sure she also bought me stuff I wanted here and there but mostly I just learned to manage my own money. I got extra when we went on trips and when it was spent that was it. I still had to help around the house because it was the right thing to do for our family but the two were unrelated. I still got an allowance when I was old enough to work but it was for my needs like clothes, etc. And again was more about me learning to manage money than earning my keep. To this day I’m a saver and it hurts me to waste money!

1 reply

When I was a small child I probably got like $5-10/week and as a teenager probably $100/month but then I was buying my own clothes and paying for my own outings, putting gas in the family car when I borrowed it, etc.

My oldest started earning at 5 years old I paid to her age.

1 reply

My daughter's is 10 now and does multiple chores to earn money. She's gets $20 now. But when she does more then expected she gets extra treats or money