I'm guessing I'm not the only parent here that has dealt with the issue of giving an allowance to a child for doing certain chores. I'm curious to hear at what ages you have started an allowance, what kind of chores required, and the amounts involved? My daughter is about to turn 6, and we have just started her on a weekly allowance. She is required to set the table for supper and clear it off, Sunday thru Friday nights, with Saturday being her day off. Besides those mandatory chores, she has to perform 3-4 other chores during the week, such as helping sweep the wood floors of dog hair, helping do laundry, etc. As long as we are satisfied that she has performed as expected, she is now receiving $5 every Saturday. The first Saturday, she spent $4 and saved $1. She has not spent any of the next $5. We will be telling her she has to save at least $2 every week, and can spend the rest IF she wants to. We didn't have any specific plan for starting an allowance, then out of the blue she asked us a couple weeks ago if she could do chores for an allowance. She's a smart kid, already reading @ 3rd grade level, and just now starting in a Gifted Student program. She'll probably be able to afford my 455 rebuild before I can... Anyway, how about sharing some of your experiences? Age started? Type of chores? Amount paid?
I'm only 23yrs old, with no kids but i started getting allowance at the age of 10 with $5-10 a week, when i got into high school i got $20 week, but my dad was runnning a swet shop with my brother and I. I should of got more for what i was doing at my age but besides the $20 a week he was teaching skills that i'm thankfull for now, and my wife is thankful as well because i can do a lot of our own fixing around the house, and if i cant fix it, i put in practise the best skill my old man though me, if you cant fix it "duc it" (duc tape) :grin: But i personally dont think the amount of money your giving your kid is bad, $5 is a lot of money for kids,but reasonable.. besides..at that age they have to learn responsability and i think that's what your teaching them most of all. But like i said i dont have kids so maybe we can hear from parents that do... :TU:
I have 3 kids ages10,7,& 6. We have about the same philosophy. They get $6 week, but 1/2 has to go in the bank. We give them more when they do more and we give less, when they don't do their chores. They rarely get less.
What a lucky kid! When I was around 8, 1967 or so, my allowance was only 50 cents a week!:ball: I gave my son an allowance when he was younger, and I spent more time making him do his chores than it was worth. I had to stop his allowance, then he got a few jobs cutting grass in the summer. Now he is grown up (18) and is a volunteer fireman and a very good worker. I even got him to shovel the driveway the other day for free! I guess I must have done something right.
Well, I personally never got an allowance. And I venture to say that I grew up working harder than a majority of members here. By 8-10 yrs of age I was driving grain trucks, unloading in grain bins, picking rocks in the fields every spring for 3-4 weeks just staying ahead of the planter. We drove and walked 12-15 quarters of land picking rocks by hand, anywhere from 20-100 lb each. Starting driving tractor by 11, combining by 13. Cleaned out grain bins every summer before harvest, repaired broken fencing from April to November for livestock, up early to feed livestock every day in the winter. In return I had food on the table and a roof over my head. I could buy things I needed, or wanted sometimes, but I had to ask for money. While my school buddies from in town were goofing off all summer, I was working my A** off on the farm. I guess my "allowance" was being allowed to play organized baseball in the summer. That was the routine until summer between Jr and Sr in college. I told my dad I wasn't going to spend another summer at the farm, and didn't. Don't miss it either...
No kids yet. As for me, I never really got an allowance. We tried it a few times, but it never really worked out. I didn't really care all that much either. Money has never been an important force in my life. It was understood that I had to do things around the house - not that I wanted to do them - and an allowance didn't really motivate me. However, sooner or later I'd do what I was told, allowance or not. (I still have to take out garbage and mow the lawn when I visit my parents, LOL). I learned that we all have responsibilities above and beyond renumeration. On the other hand, I didn't really want for anything either. I didn't need money as a kid, and when I did I'd ask my parents - $5 or $10 here and there. If I wanted something "expensive" I could do extra things and get paid for that. Sort of a general contractor arrangement. I'll probably do the same if I have kids. When I first started working a job (in high school) it was maintenance and upkeep of vacant homes - for the real estate company my dad worked for. Basically, I was a "contractor," but my Dad was my boss. So, if I forgot one little thing (like a lightbulb), he'd make me go back right away to correct it. That, and the example of both my parent's rarely, if ever, taking a sick day at their jobs, has given me a good work ethic.
I never got an allowance, we had a large family an money was scarce. I used to keep score for a womens bowling league one night a week to pay for my league on Sat. mornings and that was when I was 10-12. Started working for my church after that 30 hrs a wk. If I wanted something I had to work for it, and a lot of times that was school clothes and things like that. I give my 13 yr. old $5/wk and and my 7 yr old $3/wk based on the chores they accomplish. They do nothing, they get nothing, and they can only spend a portion of it once a month, bank the rest. In todays world its so hard to teach kids the value of $ and having to work for what they want . Now if I can get the G-parents to quit spoiling them every chance they get...:spank:
