Allowance

Allowance...I know some people totally believe in it and others don't. Dave and I have kind of taken a middle ground. Probably about three years ago we instituted our form of allowance. We started off with a list of chores that had a price attached to them...normally like $.25. If the child chose to do that chore, they'd receive a check in a column and at the end of the week, all would be added up. That worked not that great. Josh would rather get out of work than receive money at that point, and I ended up doing chores I had previously expected my kids to accomplish.

So we changed our tactic. Each Saturday (in theory) the kiddos receive $2.75. $1.25 goes into their spending money jar, and then $.75 each to long-term and short-term savings jars. From the spending money they receive, they are expected to take out some portion for offering. We don't tell them how much it should be, but encourage generosity. The rest of their spending money they can pretty much spend at will although I will veto some things at times - like lots of candy in one purchase. Short-term savings mainly goes towards birthday parties the kids are invited to. I have them take out $5 (if they have it) to go towards the gift and I make up the difference. Hannah has also used some of that money this year to pay for her sewing supplies. Long-term savings has gone towards things like room decor...we haven't taken too much from there over the years.

This allowance is not based on chores accomplished. It is pretty much given to them just because they are part of the family, and we desire them to get used to having their own money. It has almost completely eradicated the whining for new toys as I just ask them if they have enough money of their own to purchase the desired item. It has also been marvelous at understanding coins and how money works. Hannah is a definite saver and has over $50 in her spending money (some of that is from gifts). Josh likes to spend his money pretty quickly and probably has less than $5 in his jar. I expect he'll grow out of that somewhat as he appreciates the value of money more as he gets older. They have also come to appreciate yard sales as their money goes so much farther.

Overall, I've been completely satisfied with our system. Hannah and Josh do the chores I ask of them each day with the understanding that they are part of the family, and they receive a small amount of money each week to get used to spending/saving. Here are some pictures of them with their jars. As you can see, we just used Costco nut/chocolate jars, put some construction paper around them with a printed label, and added stickers.

Prov 13:11 Dishonest money dwindles away, but he who gathers money little by little makes it grow.