Author Topic: Are you giving pocket money. If so, how much?  (Read 5665 times)

Grogounet

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Are you giving pocket money. If so, how much?
« on: December 21, 2016, 11:26:21 PM »
Got a 6 YO and 3.
Want to start to give pocket money to my 6 YO and also, for her to get paid for "jobs" around the house or else.

I've bought 3 jars: one for spending money on what she wants, one for investing where she ll get a 10% daddy's return and one for charity that she ll give for whoever she chooses.

Interesting to see what others do.
Age - How much? - Jobs or just pocket money?

mxt0133

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Re: Are you giving pocket money. If so, how much?
« Reply #1 on: December 22, 2016, 12:09:57 AM »
When my then 5 year old started asking for things on a regular basis, we decided to give him an allowance to teach him how to manage his impulses and teach him delayed gratification.  We did the age in dollars per week but then calculated $5 for 52 weeks a year was a bit much and he has been on $4 a week ever since.  He has a spending jar and a savings jar where the expectation is that he save have of what he gets.  Gotta get the 50% savings rate ingrained in his brain somehow.

One thing my wife and I agreed to was to not use the allowance as leverage or punishment.  He get's his $4 every week even if he acts like an ass.  That is address in a different manner.  We also decoupled it from jobs or household chores because we feel that those are things that are supposed to be done as a member of the family.  We have not started to introduce additional chores or jobs that he could do to earn more money simply because he hasn't asked for an increase.

He as been good with waiting to get more big boy toys such as NURF guns and is even proud to buy things for his little brother and sister.  He wanted his own camera and he waited a whole month because he didn't have enough.  I was expecting him to forget about it in a week or two since he first brought it up but after three weeks of asking us to find one for him that he could afford we started looking.

One time he had enough money for a pocket knife and I had to veto that purchase decision.  He was told upfront that just because he has the money for it doesn't mean that he can buy because somethings are not age appropriate for him.  For instance just because he has $20 doesn't mean he can buy $20 worth of candy to have at one sitting.

So far so good.  I no longer get nagged into having to buy things that he wants, he already knows my reply, "do you have the money for it?"  We still buy him some things like books and treats when the whole family is having some as well.

Grogounet

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Re: Are you giving pocket money. If so, how much?
« Reply #2 on: December 23, 2016, 02:50:03 AM »
Thanks for the feedback, really appreciated.

GilbertB

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Re: Are you giving pocket money. If so, how much?
« Reply #3 on: December 25, 2016, 02:33:25 PM »
4 year old.

No pocket money yet, but all cash for birthdays and regularly from us gets placed on a conservative saving plan.
At 4 she has has like 4x the most cash I ever had in my early twenties!

We plan to give her limited funds but use them as teachin moments.
And she will have work to do (grades, chores, welding rebar) to "earn" it, but not put the bar at some ridiculous high level that she has to struggle with.
Not being mean, but just trying to teach her what my parents did not.

As for the poster about the 6 year old that wants a pocket knife, odds on that he really would like a tool more than a weapon, Leatherman has one:
http://www.leatherman.com/leap-358.html#start=12
An adult can add the blade when it's appropriate (going camping!) and remove it later.
At 6, I would have made a shrine to it.

This might not be the place, but a small tool box is probably one of the best, and cheapest, presents you can give a 5+ child:
- use a small screw driver to change battery in toy? In goes screw driver, 4 rechargeable batteries and their charger.
- repair a flat bike tire? In goes a spanner and a puncture kit.
- etc
As adults we sometimes forget how empowering, magical and fantastic these basic things are to a kid.
« Last Edit: December 25, 2016, 02:46:42 PM by Gildasd »

mxt0133

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Re: Are you giving pocket money. If so, how much?
« Reply #4 on: December 25, 2016, 03:40:40 PM »

As for the poster about the 6 year old that wants a pocket knife, odds on that he really would like a tool more than a weapon, Leatherman has one:
http://www.leatherman.com/leap-358.html#start=12
An adult can add the blade when it's appropriate (going camping!) and remove it later.
At 6, I would have made a shrine to it.

This might not be the place, but a small tool box is probably one of the best, and cheapest, presents you can give a 5+ child:
- use a small screw driver to change battery in toy? In goes screw driver, 4 rechargeable batteries and their charger.
- repair a flat bike tire? In goes a spanner and a puncture kit.
- etc
As adults we sometimes forget how empowering, magical and fantastic these basic things are to a kid.

He actually does Have a tool box with a hammer, screwdrivers and pliers.  He likes to hammer nails into wood and screws.  He as asked for a wood working class to build a bench.

Edits: Typos
« Last Edit: December 25, 2016, 04:54:34 PM by mxt0133 »

GilbertB

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Re: Are you giving pocket money. If so, how much?
« Reply #5 on: December 25, 2016, 04:02:46 PM »

As for the poster about the 6 year old that wants a pocket knife, odds on that he really would like a tool more than a weapon, Leatherman has one:
http://www.leatherman.com/leap-358.html#start=12
An adult can add the blade when it's appropriate (going camping!) and remove it later.
At 6, I would have made a shrine to it.

This might not be the place, but a small tool box is probably one of the best, and cheapest, presents you can give a 5+ child:
- use a small screw driver to change battery in toy? In goes screw driver, 4 rechargeable batteries and their charger.
- repair a flat bike tire? In goes a spanner and a puncture kit.
- etc
As adults we sometimes forget how empowering, magical and fantastic these basic things are to a kid.

He actually does Have a tool box with a hammer, screwdrivers and pliers.  He likes to hammer nails into wood and screws.  He as asked for a word worked class to build a bench.
I learnt how to use a chisel at  about that age, had a engineer gramps that was convinced that the best way to prevent injuries was to teach how to use tools properly (full size lathe at 12 was maybe pushing it tho).
With a small chisel, 1/4 inch stock, a hammer, glue and hobby saw he can do dovetail boxes quite safely - and probably earn proper pocket money by age 7 by selling them!

As an aside, despite playing with "dangerous" tools all my childhood, it took until I was 29 to injure myself, doing something the wrong way, knowing I was doing it wrong, still doing it anyway and paying for the consequence. Not strayed back over the wrong side of the fence since.
« Last Edit: December 25, 2016, 04:08:55 PM by Gildasd »

ahoy

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Re: Are you giving pocket money. If so, how much?
« Reply #6 on: December 26, 2016, 12:49:16 PM »
My two kids are 13 and 10 yrs.  They have been getting an allowance for probably about the last 6 yrs.  It started as $5 per week each and now it's only $6.   I was going to increase it a few months ago because I thought I was being a little stingy.  But then I did a lot of reading and it's interesting what other people say.  Same parents pay for household chores others don't.  Just do what works for you and and your family. 

Anyhow, I haven't increased their 'base' allowance from $6 /week.  I would rather have them find ways to make extra money, so I am encouraging them to find needs around the property and house to earn this.  To be honest at the moment they are forgetting to do this, but a few weeks ago, they cleaned the car inside and out and we negotiated the price before they started.

Two weeks ago I got them to both make an income statement, and they have to record all income and expenses for the next couple of months.  So far they are impressed with what they have been making as it certainty adds up.  they both spend very little.   they record even their Christmas money they received.   I have a small business so I pay them a few dollars here and there to help out. 

This is what different incomes they have made in the last couple of weeks:
*  Allowance
* helping me with my very small business
* Receiving dividends  (they only get 6 payments per yr (at the moment), but they got checks last week)
* Christmas money 
* Working for their Grandma - 1 hour each  (this will only happen once every few months)
* They both sold a couple of books each, that we bought for a dollar and they resold for about $3.00 each

As I said above, a few dollars here and there really does start to add up.






boarder42

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Re: Are you giving pocket money. If so, how much?
« Reply #7 on: December 27, 2016, 10:21:52 AM »
my allowance growing up was always tied to chores suitable for my age and skills.  if you dont do your chores you dont get your allowance.  i do however like the idea of tying money directly to the chore ... like when i mowed i got 7 bucks per time outside of the allowance.  so washing the table after the meal is x ... vaccumming is y ... etc. i like better than just handing over money.

moof

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Re: Are you giving pocket money. If so, how much?
« Reply #8 on: December 28, 2016, 05:54:30 PM »
I'm likely screwing up my kid, but this is what I do.

Our 4 year old has a few chores, like setting out silverware at dinner time.  We also ask him to "help" us with other things.  Mostly he is still a negative net work contributor, but I want him to feel invested in the family.  A couple times a week when he has been very helpful and following directions we give him ~$0.50 to $1.00 as an allowance and explain that he has been very helpful recently and has earned it.

We do not do a direct quid pro quo with him on allowance.  I remember as a kid how that worked out very badly for my mother on her various attempts.  It either created a bonanza if she got the amount too high, or resulted in almost no chores getting done if set too low, and rarely did it result in anything more than 1-2 weeks of motivations.  Instead I want the kid to be partially responsible for the running of the house with jobs he is responsible for, and to share in the spoils that are due to him as a contributing member of the household.

At 4 he still does not have a good grasp of what $20 really means, so we help him out in explaining what he can afford (usually small, medium, or large Legos).

To each his own.

mxt0133

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Re: Are you giving pocket money. If so, how much?
« Reply #9 on: December 30, 2016, 05:57:17 PM »
For those of you that believe allowance should be tied to chores.  I'm curious what you think about a family that can't afford to give their kids allowance.  Are the kids not expected to contribute to running the household be cause the won't be paid for doing them?

frugalfelicia

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Re: Are you giving pocket money. If so, how much?
« Reply #10 on: December 30, 2016, 07:17:50 PM »
$5/week, not tied to jobs/chores, 11 years old.

Spiffy

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Re: Are you giving pocket money. If so, how much?
« Reply #11 on: January 23, 2017, 11:00:05 AM »
When my kids ask how much I will pay them to do a chore I tell them, " The same amount I get paid to do it, which is zero." We do the chore because we are part of the family not because we will get paid to do it. I give them a small amount each month that I have been putting into their investment accounts. But I think I am going to stop doing that and give them the option to take cash. They are always asking me to take money out of the account for them, which I never do, so I think I need to rethink how this works. If I start paying cash I will more easily be able to attach some rules to the whole thing. Like if grades slip below a set level, no money. If room isn't kept reasonably clean, no money, etc.

BeanCounter

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Re: Are you giving pocket money. If so, how much?
« Reply #12 on: January 23, 2017, 01:13:38 PM »
We give our 8 year old $12 per month. We started last year.
We do not tie it to chores. He is responsible for a few things around the house and it's part of being a member of the household. Getting some pocket money is also part of being a member of the household. If he refused to do his work I might consider taking the money away, but it hasn't come up. We will give him opportunities to earn more money by doing bigger, harder jobs if he is saving for something. It has really taught him that he can have anything he wants as long as he works for it and waits for it. Which I think has been a very valuable lesson for his age.
This is the way I was taught. As I got older the allowance increased significantly, but I was responsible more for my own expenses- school lunches, clothes, gas etc. It did teach me a lot about money and budgeting.

acroy

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Re: Are you giving pocket money. If so, how much?
« Reply #13 on: January 23, 2017, 01:41:49 PM »
Yes,
We start at 1st grade
Mini-Mustaches receive base rate of $1/day
Rate is adjusted up and down based on 1) grades 2) chores 3) behavior.
Rating is on a 1-5 scale.  We  keep a spreadsheet and settle up every Sunday.
The kids must save 50% in the college fund, and can spend the other 50%. We require them to keep $20 'emergency stash' on hand. They pay for their own school supplies (pencils, notebooks) and certain clothing items out of the 50% 'spending' portion.

Poundwise

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Re: Are you giving pocket money. If so, how much?
« Reply #14 on: February 09, 2017, 10:13:18 AM »
12 year old: $7 weekly, divided now into Saving/Spending/Giving/Necessities
7 year old: $3 weekly, $1 each into Saving/Spending/Giving

Subject to docking or bonuses contingent on house chores, extra work, behavior, or parental whimsy. Though most behaviorial modification in the house happens with addition or removal of screen time, anyway.

I have been tinkering with how we implement pocket money because my kids don't spend much (we never shop in stores) because I keep forgetting to have them pay for their own expenses.  But older son recently bought his own ticket to go to soccer game, while younger son did not save enough money to pay for school basketball game so he couldn't go.
« Last Edit: February 09, 2017, 10:15:58 AM by Poundwise »

Poundwise

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Re: Are you giving pocket money. If so, how much?
« Reply #15 on: February 09, 2017, 10:19:15 AM »
WRT chores, there isn't a direct tie.  But sometimes kids will want allowance and I'll say, "Nah, you didn't do a lot of work for the family this week and I had to nag you a lot." May not be fair, but I feel that if they didn't contribute to the team they don't share in the rewards.

MayDay

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Re: Are you giving pocket money. If so, how much?
« Reply #16 on: February 09, 2017, 01:13:21 PM »
5$/week per kid. Not tied to chores. They do chores without much fuss, because if they fuss I tell them it's all cool, I'm done cooking for them if they aren't interested in running the vacuum.

They are on notice that their allowance won't be increased- they are expected to do jobs as they get older if they want more (babysitting, shoveling snow, etc).

They both save some (H and I pay 1% interest per month to encourage), waste some, and spend some on well thought out purchases. They subsidize some activities, pay for their own food treats like ice cream, their own carnival passes, save for their own vacation souvenirs, buy their own book order books, make donations to their school fundraisers (jump rope for heart), etc. 

They have no shortage of cash since grandparents also slip them a 20 on the regular.

Maybe they have too much, but so far they've done a good job of managing their money.  Overall it probably saves me money since if they ask for crap I tell them to go ahead and buy it. Shockingly they usually don't want it enough to spend their own money.

Zikzin

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Re: Are you giving pocket money. If so, how much?
« Reply #17 on: February 09, 2017, 01:34:34 PM »
We do $1 per year, so now $7/week each for my 7 year old twins. They get paid every weekend for a week's job and they split it into: $1 give, $2 spend, $2 save, $2 invest.  Save goes to a CU savings account , invest goes into Betterment invested in 100% stocks. 


Zikzin

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Re: Are you giving pocket money. If so, how much?
« Reply #18 on: February 09, 2017, 01:40:12 PM »
For those of you that believe allowance should be tied to chores.  I'm curious what you think about a family that can't afford to give their kids allowance.  Are the kids not expected to contribute to running the household be cause the won't be paid for doing them?

In our household, there are chores that they dont get paid like cleaning up toys, making bed etc. we call it "jobs" so they know they get paid for it like folding their undies and socks and putting them away, vacuuming etc. basically stuff that mommy does for them and they end up doing it, it's called a job., but the stuff they do it for them which is cleaning up the mess they make, is part of family chores.

So they do more that they get paid at the end of the day and dont count anymore, coz i tell them i do more stuff and less sometimes, i get paid the same. what's important is doing the best at everything you do so you'll end up getting paid more and more overtime.

ABC123

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Re: Are you giving pocket money. If so, how much?
« Reply #19 on: February 09, 2017, 01:40:28 PM »
My boys are 6 and 8, and we started doing regular chores and allowance last year.  They each have certain chores they are required to do, and they each get a certain amount of money.  If they don't do the chore with a positive attitude, they will lose some of the allowance money -- but they are still required to do the chores.  They are part of our family, and we have explained to them that everyone has to contribute to make our family run.  So the allowance isn't directly tied to chores, but can be affected by it. 

The 8 year old gets $5/month to put in his wallet and spend how he likes, $5 in his savings account, and $1 to give to church.
The 6 year old gets $3/month in his wallet, $3 savings, and $1 for church.

As they get older, the chores will change and the allowance $ will change.  I want them to understand that responsibilities and privileges both change as they get older.

BeanCounter

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Re: Are you giving pocket money. If so, how much?
« Reply #20 on: February 09, 2017, 02:37:14 PM »
For those of you that believe allowance should be tied to chores.  I'm curious what you think about a family that can't afford to give their kids allowance.  Are the kids not expected to contribute to running the household be cause the won't be paid for doing them?

In our household, there are chores that they dont get paid like cleaning up toys, making bed etc. we call it "jobs" so they know they get paid for it like folding their undies and socks and putting them away, vacuuming etc. basically stuff that mommy does for them and they end up doing it, it's called a job., but the stuff they do it for them which is cleaning up the mess they make, is part of family chores.

So they do more that they get paid at the end of the day and dont count anymore, coz i tell them i do more stuff and less sometimes, i get paid the same. what's important is doing the best at everything you do so you'll end up getting paid more and more overtime.
We require the kids to clean up after themselves- make their bed, clear their place at the table, wipe off the sink in their bathroom, clean up their toys, put away their laundry. These are required and there will be consequences if they are not done. It's not tied to money at all. Consequences are losing not being able to play with friends or have screen time until whatever is forgotten is done.
We also have "citizen of the house chores"- these are things you are requested to do because you're part of the house and you benefit from them being done- helping bring in the trash cans or take them out on trash day, helping with cooking, putting away clean dishes, etc. These are also not paid.
They get some pocket money that is not tied to any of the above.
If one of the kids is trying to save for something we will over "extra" jobs for money. Things like washing the car, cleaning out the garage, weeding, etc. We tell them what we want done and what we'll pay and they decide if they want to do it or not.

FinallyAwake

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Re: Are you giving pocket money. If so, how much?
« Reply #21 on: February 09, 2017, 03:05:51 PM »
We require the kids to clean up after themselves- make their bed, clear their place at the table, wipe off the sink in their bathroom, clean up their toys, put away their laundry. These are required and there will be consequences if they are not done. It's not tied to money at all. Consequences are losing not being able to play with friends or have screen time until whatever is forgotten is done.
We also have "citizen of the house chores"- these are things you are requested to do because you're part of the house and you benefit from them being done- helping bring in the trash cans or take them out on trash day, helping with cooking, putting away clean dishes, etc. These are also not paid.
They get some pocket money that is not tied to any of the above.
If one of the kids is trying to save for something we will over "extra" jobs for money. Things like washing the car, cleaning out the garage, weeding, etc. We tell them what we want done and what we'll pay and they decide if they want to do it or not.

This is exactly what we do. 

I guess, before you decide why/how much allowance to give, you have to decide what your end goal is.  For us, it's teaching our kids:

1) how to take care of themselves and their belongings (i.e. clean your toys, make your bed, etc and these aren't tied to a monetary reward)
2) how to be respectful of those they live with and contribute to the family harmony (i.e. everyone has a chore or two to do each day, also not tied to monetary reward, no whining allowed)
3) how to manage their money for the maximum benefit of their immediate needs, long term needs, and charity/caring for those less fortunate (making sure they split their money in to the appropriate categories and not bailing them out if they failed to save/budget properly)
4) the joys of the side hustle (extra paid chores are almost always available in our house)

We want them to learn how to manage money under our care, just as much as we want them to learn how to read, or drive a car.

It's kind of funny, because we can already see patterns in our children- one is a big saver, another is an impulse shopper (and quickly regrets it!) and another just seems to have no clue how to manage any of it.  Luckily, since we see these things now, we can gently try to correct.....or allow a big failure to become a teaching opportunity. 

Neither DH nor I ever learned how to manage our money in our younger years, and we are, quite literally, still paying for this. 

We call our allowance a "Pay Day" (since we want to associate the money with future jobs), and it lines up with the actual payday in our house....i.e. every two weeks.  Everyone gets their age in dollar bills (so my 13 year old get $13 in ones, every two weeks) and they get a raise on their birthdays. 
« Last Edit: February 09, 2017, 04:22:06 PM by FinallyAwake »

madamwitty

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Re: Are you giving pocket money. If so, how much?
« Reply #22 on: February 09, 2017, 03:21:09 PM »
DD (8 years) gets 4 quarters ($1) per week; DS (5 years) gets 4 dimes, and DD (2 years) get a few shiny pennies. This is not tied to chores. They have chores which they are expected to do and can do extra jobs to earn more money, but they rarely find the motivation for extra jobs. This money gets split into 3 jars and the spending money is usually spent on little doodads at Target and such.

We pay for all basics, the kids have plenty of toys as gifts from family members and spending money from birthdays. They mostly enjoy doing things that don't require a lot of fancy equipment - drawing, paper craft, imaginative play, etc. We have taught them to think about whether something is worth spending their money. Our lives are already exploding fountains of luxury - or whatever phrase MMM likes to use - so they don't beg too much when they don't have enough money for something they want.

As DD8 gets older, we will soon start requiring her to pay for her basics (clothes, school supplies, etc.) so her allowance will need a boost at that point.

gaja

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Re: Are you giving pocket money. If so, how much?
« Reply #23 on: February 09, 2017, 04:51:47 PM »
Mine are 9 and 10, but we've used the same system since they were 4-5. Cleaning up after themselves, and helping with ordinary chores when told to, has no monetary value. They don't get any regular pocket money. But we have a list of jobs they can choose to do to earn money. These are tasks I really appreciate someone else doing, and might even consider paying a cleaning service to do, like doing laundry, cleaning the bathrooms, changing the sheets on all the beds, cleaning the windows, etc.

The oldest likes spending money, so she chooses to work. The youngest is a saver, and gets by on the money she gets for birthdays and from the grandparents now and again. We have set up a spending account (with debit card), a savings account, and an investment account for each of them, but they have full autonomy on where they place their money. Every once in a while we will go through their finances and urge them to move money to investments or savings. We also discuss all spending they do, the same way DH and I discuss our spending. When DH and I go through our charity spending, we ask the kids to consider donating some of their money. They can say no, but they don't.

We have also used the job list to get them into good habits. Before the oldest started school, we put "packing lunch" on the list. She had to pack lunch for all of us to get paid, but she was free to choose whatever she wanted. I ate a lot of Nutella sandwiches those 6 months. But since then, we have never had to nag the kids about their lunches, and they find it hilarious that their classmates' parents pack their lunches for them.

Freedomin5

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Re: Are you giving pocket money. If so, how much?
« Reply #24 on: February 09, 2017, 09:42:51 PM »
I like the idea of "paying" for one-off tasks, but not for daily chores that are expected as a contributing member of the family. I don't recall reading it in the previous posts, but my reasoning is that psych studies have shown that intrinsic motivation often decreases when an external motivator for the task/activity is introduced.

For example, my two-year-old currently thinks it's great fun to help mama throw away the vegetable peelings and put her dirty dishes in the sink. She loves being told that she is a big girl and is helping. If I were to start giving her an orange (don't ask me why but she LOVES oranges and would definitely work for oranges) every time she did those things to reward her, very soon, she would be working for the orange and not for the joy of being helpful. That being said, after we have all worked to clean up the dinner dishes, we often do sit down to enjoy some oranges as a family, but it's not tied to the fact that she placed her dish in the sink.

However, I can see how, when she's older, it might make sense to give her a part-time job working for the family business or completing tasks that I would otherwise pay someone else to do.

velvethammer

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Re: Are you giving pocket money. If so, how much?
« Reply #25 on: February 12, 2017, 07:23:35 AM »
My 8 and 10 yo's each receive $5 per week.

They are expected to contribute to household tasks, and some weeks require more work than others.  This mostly involves taking care of our dog (feeding her, letting her out, taking her for walks) and cleaning up after themselves (keeping their rooms clean, etc.)  For us, its as much about teaching them money management skills as it is about household responsibilities.  They do have the option to perform extra tasks for more money (shoveling the driveway, raking leaves, washing dishes, etc.)  My oldest "gets it" and has managed to save enough of his own money, supplemented by birthday money from family, to buy his own iPad.  To see the pride on his face, knowing that he did the work to earn this item, is priceless.  Not to mention the fact of how much more careful he is with it, knowing how hard he worked to save for it.  He is now saving for his own TV.  His younger brother isn't there yet...if he has $5, he spends $5.

LoganRivera

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Re: Are you giving pocket money. If so, how much?
« Reply #26 on: February 16, 2017, 02:20:30 AM »
When my then 5 year old started asking for things on a regular basis, we decided to give him an allowance to teach him how to manage his impulses and teach him delayed gratification.  We did the age in dollars per week but then calculated $5 for 52 weeks a year was a bit much and he has been on $4 a week ever since.  He has a spending jar and a savings jar where the expectation is that he save have of what he gets.  Gotta get the 50% savings rate ingrained in his brain somehow.

One thing my wife and I agreed to was to not use the allowance as leverage or punishment.  He get's his $4 every week even if he acts like an ass.  That is address in a different manner.  We also decoupled it from jobs or household chores because we feel that those are things that are supposed to be done as a member of the family.  We have not started to introduce additional chores or jobs that he could do to earn more money simply because he hasn't asked for an increase.

He as been good with waiting to get more big boy toys such as NURF guns and is even proud to buy things for his little brother and sister.  He wanted his own camera and he waited a whole month because he didn't have enough.  I was expecting him to forget about it in a week or two since he first brought it up but after three weeks of asking us to find one for him that he could afford we started looking.

One time he had enough money for a pocket knife and I had to veto that purchase decision.  He was told upfront that just because he has the money for it doesn't mean that he can buy because somethings are not age appropriate for him.  For instance just because he has $20 doesn't mean he can buy $20 worth of candy to have at one sitting.

So far so good.  I no longer get nagged into having to buy things that he wants, he already knows my reply, "do you have the money for it?"  We still buy him some things like books and treats when the whole family is having some as well.
It's really a very good practice of giving pocket money to kids. It will teach them in spending the money in the right way. Give a certain amount of money for each month. You must strictly tell them that the money given is for the complete month and won't be given more money if it is spent completely. It will surely help them in future.

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Re: Are you giving pocket money. If so, how much?
« Reply #27 on: February 17, 2017, 07:19:39 AM »
4yo twins get $1 a week for good behavior and cleaning up. No option or understanding other than it gets saved in the piggy banks.

Might start rewarding certain chores with quarters and explaining fractions soon.

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!