So, I was wondering how other people do this. Do you give your kids an allowance? At what age do you start giving it? Do you make them earn it by doing chores or is it free? How do you encourage them to pay tithing on it?
A friend of mine who has teenagers actually gave her kids a clothing allowance. (Don't recall what age she started this.) They got a certain amount monthly towards clothing and they had to clothe themselves with it. If they wanted cooler clothes than the money would buy, they had to get a job of some sort. (Doing yard work for people, babysitting or summer job... whatever.) I love the sound of this. I plan on using it once my oldest gets a bit older.
__________________
"The promptings of the Holy Ghost will always be sufficient for our needs if we keep to the covenant path. Our path is uphill most days, but the help we receive for the climb is literally divine." --Elaine S. Dalton
At six, I start with a weekly allowance that they pay tithing on. They receive this until they are old enough to earn money other ways (babysitting, lawn mowing, etc). If they want to earn more money, I have various jobs around the house they can do (wash windows, wash/vacuum car, etc).
I never buy my kids toys except at birthdays/christmas. So if they see something they just have to have, they have to save up for it. They get much more "helpful" during this time.
I haven't yet settled on a clothing allowance for the older kids, but we're working on it. Now that I have a driver, I am planning to send the two teenagers to do their own clothes shopping - with a parental subsidy that they supplement with their own funds.
I also just made a deal with my high schooler about lunch money. She doesn't want to eat school lunch, but I told her I would give her the equivalent money, and she can budget it out (a lot of kids go off campus for lunch). So she can go out with her friends some days and take brown bag the others. It adds up to a couple hundred dollars per school year. If she brown bags it every day, she can use that money for other things. She liked that idea.
Bok stole the lunch money idea from me, truth be told. I give them the lunch money for school lunch beginning in Jr. High. If they make their own lunch (not me make it) they can save up that cash. Or they can just buy lunch all year and have nothing at the end of the year, like my oldest just did.
__________________
Life is tough but it's tougher if you're stupid. -John Wayne
I think it's all sort of the same pool of money, y'know? I mean, if you pay for their clothes or they pay for them with "their" allowance, what's the diff?
__________________
Life is tough but it's tougher if you're stupid. -John Wayne
The kids learn to budget and save. They learn the value of working hard for something they want and making wise spending choices. My friend's kids really had their heads screwed on straight when it came to money. That's part of what impressed me.
__________________
"The promptings of the Holy Ghost will always be sufficient for our needs if we keep to the covenant path. Our path is uphill most days, but the help we receive for the climb is literally divine." --Elaine S. Dalton
"The promptings of the Holy Ghost will always be sufficient for our needs if we keep to the covenant path. Our path is uphill most days, but the help we receive for the climb is literally divine." --Elaine S. Dalton
"The promptings of the Holy Ghost will always be sufficient for our needs if we keep to the covenant path. Our path is uphill most days, but the help we receive for the climb is literally divine." --Elaine S. Dalton
Seriously, you don't want to own me. I'll be a pain in the place you sit.
__________________
"The promptings of the Holy Ghost will always be sufficient for our needs if we keep to the covenant path. Our path is uphill most days, but the help we receive for the climb is literally divine." --Elaine S. Dalton
I've been trying to link allowance to chores, but it's not working so well. No chores are getting done, and no money is going out, and there is much whining at the store. Maybe I'll just adjust to the small free money allowance and have them do chores for extra.
My kids get allowance once they turn eight. And the rule of thumb is that the age that you are is the amount you get every month. So my 8yo gets $8 a month, my 12yo gets $12 a month... We felt it was important to give them practice in budgeting and paying tithing.
We don't connect it to chores, because we teach the kids that chores are a part of being a member of our household. But if the kids want to make a little extra money, after regular chores are done, they can approach me and ask if there is anything extra they can do to make money. I have no problem paying a child a dollar to mop the kitchen floor for me. (And I have been known to offer $20 if the dog bomb situation has gotten really out of hand - especially since Big Black Suck is my dog.)
One of the best things that ever happened to my boys in terms of their budgeting skills is when DH was unemployed for seven months. We sat them down when he lost his job, and told them we couldn't pay allowance for a while, but we'd keep track of what we owed them in a little book, and pay them once he got a job again.
When son1 and son2 looked at what they'd "saved" after seven months, the light went on for them. The two of them pooled their money, saved a little more and bought a PS2. No more spending allowance on candy and silly stuff.
Now that my oldest two are making real coin at summer jobs, the policy we have is they get half, 10% is of course titihing, and 40% gets put in the bank for missions.
This is what works for us, but I'm of the opinion there are lots of different ways to go about an allowance, and each one is a viable option.
__________________
They might not look it, but bunnies can really take care of themselves.
I've been trying to link allowance to chores, but it's not working so well. No chores are getting done, and no money is going out, and there is much whining at the store. Maybe I'll just adjust to the small free money allowance and have them do chores for extra.
FWIW - for little kids, I gave them enough weekly allowance that they had enough money to buy 1-2 candy bars a week after tithing, depending on the age. That motivated them to work for extra money.
