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VIDEOWhat Works For You? Allowances
How other parents handle allowance
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Here’s what Deanna, who lives in Concord, MA, had to say on the subject:
We have four kids -- 7, 9, 9 and 12. For their allowances, we pay each kid a dollar for each year of his/her age. We really make them work for it. Our kids get serious chores, the biggest of which is the care and feeding of our lab, Buckley. Our 12-year-old son handles most of that.
Even though it's difficult sometimes, we try to give them full discretion on how they spend it. We have one impulse buyer, two savers who then buy big enviable large ticket items that make the impulse buyer drool, and one, our youngest, who with no remorse spends her entire allowance on birthday gifts for girls in her class.
Since the economy collapsed, I got laid off and the kids are aware of our belt tightening. We thought about cutting allowances but since at this point, the kids (with the possible exception of our 7-year old daughter who is still "in training") truly contribute to the house running smoothly, so we decided to leave the system in place.
What's ***really*** amazing is that they came to us and offered to "take a pay cut." We didn't accept but wow, we feel like we're doing something right.
I'm not sure if it’s their ages or the economy, but I now take library fines and fees for broken items out their allowances too.
David from Michigan reports:
My son is 7. Recently we have had him earning Wii minutes, not cash, in exchange for doing jobs and taking more responsibility for things.
Recently, we decided to skip a Caribbean vacation because of the economy and pulling in our horns. I have been talking to him about helping me do some things, and us forming a fund together so we can go next year.
This includes making sure we get all the bottles cashed in, rounding up stuff that we can sell on amazon and ebay and craigs list ... including some of his things he no longer uses. And rounding up all the loose change and then taking it to Coinstar. I just want him to have the experience of contributing to something special so he doesn't just think a trip like that falls from the sky.
The next thing I have in mind is for him to help find the coupons we can use. And we will channel the money we save into the fund.
Lisa from New York says:
I try to remember to give my 7- year-old son a quarter every week, although he's usually the one to remind me! I also give him $1 on Thursdays (not every Thursday though) to purchase something at the school store.
What's difficult is getting him to understand that a quarter or a dollar is appropriate, but when he sees prices everywhere (on TV or in stores) I think he might expect more. He's learned to sell lemonade and do a yard sale over the summer and then I told him he can do anything he wants with that money.
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