Comments on: Allowance Chart For Kids Chores

By: Carmen

Carmen — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 19:16:38 +0000

I have to say this information is very useful. There are chore a child should be responsible for without expecting pay such as cleaning your room, feeding/walking the dogs and cleaning off the table. I also have my oldest put away dishes. Now for other jobs such as helping out the younger two (ages 4&2) clean there room, clean their bathroom, actually do the dishes, vacuum, or maybe even clean windows i thing it would be a good idea to pay them to do it. I have 4 children and a to big for me house 2300 sq (maybe not so big for most but very overwhelming)so the extra help is very appreciated. Plus it shows them how to work for money and not get it just because. As far as allotting for spending, savings, etc I thing that at least make them save a portion. This way they will learn to save and not spend everything. I wish i would can been taught that growing up. Now if we have an emergency we are pretty much in a knot. But that is just my humble opinion.

By: a.b.

a.b. — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 18:15:00 +0000

Although I don’t have kids, my dad had a great system for me (almost 12 years ago). At seventeen I received $20/week which covered my basic expenses, food at school and most of my gas for my little jetta.* In order to get my allowance for the next week I had to submit an expense log from my dad detailing every penny with attached receipts and we would discuss whether I was happy with my purchases and how to make adjustments in the future. It taught me great analysis skills early on.

*Although I would’ve like to earn my own money at that age I was already in college and my parents were in the “school is your job” set.

By: Bill

Bill — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 15:22:29 +0000

Great plan, Jason! Thanks for contributing to my Kids and Money carnival, too! This entry was a great addition!

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By: cwaltz

cwaltz — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 16:38:03 +0000

I have 4 children varying in age from 16 to 9. My older two recieve 15 dollars weekly(Two dollars daily with a one dollar bonus). My younger two recieve 5 dollars weekly. The way it works with the older two is they have set chores my son is in charge of kitchen cleanup(this includes wiping down stove and counters, sweeping and doing dishes daily and cleaning out the fridge and mopping floors weekly). My daughter is in charge of the laundry room.(This includes doing a daily load of laundry both washed, dried and put up as well as taking out trash and placing trash out for collection weekly). The older two know that if their obligations aren’t met one day that I dock money from thier allowance and they lose their bonus, additionally if I find that they have decided to gundeck(cheat a little) they lose thier allowance for the two week period(in essence they get fired). If they get “fired” they also find they are unable to do stuff like attend the all night skates or pool functions that are reserved for older child status. I hope this is imparting to them that being older does have its privileges but also responsibility. As for the youmger two I cut them a little slack because they are still settling into the routine. The eleven year old will get big kid status in a year and will know the drill, the youngest still has a bit to go. They know that “helping” is integral and if they want to do things then they have to pitch in.

By: Brian Lang

Brian Lang — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 16:11:54 +0000

I like your concept. I will also have to look in the First National Bank of Dad. I do have a question though. My son is 5, and in kindergarten this year. I’ve been pondering giving him an allowance, but he doesn’t have the math skills yet. Should I wait until he has some math skills before starting in on money skills?

By: Blessed

Blessed — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 14:38:05 +0000

I equate allowance with the “blow money” my husband and I get each week as well – it isn’t much, but if I want to stop at Starbucks for a coffee once a month because that is a personal indulgence I enjoy, I can and I don’t have to feel guilty about “wasting” money.

Our daughter is only a year old so we haven’t started an allowance system yet and when we do I’m not exactly sure how we’ll implement it but we’ll do something.

My brother & sister in law have a neat plan in place for their kids that is working well for them, their kids didn’t like it at first but now they do and I think we will do the same thing for our child – any money their kids receive, allowance, gifts, payment for jobs they do for other people first they give tithes – 10% and offering – 5%, then half of what is left goes into their savings account the other half they can spend, give, or do whatever they want to with it. The kids receive quite a bit of cash from relatives and then do get money from Mom and Dad too – they are learning about giving, saving and spending. Also if there is a high dollar toy that the kids want their parents make them save at least half the price of the toy and then may give them the balance as a Christmas or Birthday gift so that they can then purchase the toy – the kids appreciate those toys a whole lot more than they did in the past.

By: todd

todd — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 14:02:15 +0000

I highly recommend the book The First National Bank of Dad by David Owen. He rails against chore requirements as a condition of allowance, as well as telling kids how they must allocate their money, e.g. 1/3 each for savings, spending, and charity. He ended up doing something of a commission schedule for “extra” jobs as well, but is quick to point out the expectations that parents place on a “for hire” job.

By: Frugal Dad

Frugal Dad — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 13:57:18 +0000

@DavidK: I was wrong to tie every single chore to a commission, rather than setting a base list of chores for which they would be responsible and rewarded with a base allowance. I started to feel like I was micromanaging my kids’ chores, and they were only eager to do things around the house to get paid for it.

Mixing the basic set of chores with a few opportunities for bonuses (commissions) seems to be the best of both worlds for us.

@Jamie: Excellent point on creating a savings goal. I imagine my oldest will have both long term and short term goals (a car when she turns 16, and a new Disney movie that comes out next month). This will definitely keep them motivated, because saving money just to have a cushion doesn’t sound like much fun when you are that young!

@John: I have not read that one, but I saw it reviewed over at The Simple Dollar and it is in my queue to check out.