No. If they need spending money for something, I give it to them, but no allowances in exchange for household chores. Keeping your house clean is not a paying job, it's a part of life. I don't get paid for it, why should they? If they want to make money cleaning houses, they can go clean someone elses for 10 dollars an hour after they finish cleaning theirs.
Yes I give my children an allowance. It is not tied into chores at all. They get their allowance and if they save it I match it, if they spend it I do not. The chores they have, they just do. They were doing most of them before I started allowance. I give them an allowance so that hopefully they learn more about money and being responsible.
I never got allowance. My parents would buy me things here and there, but they never actually gave me a specific total of money each week, which worked perfectly fine. They bought me books and CDs once in awhile, and when I was 12, I got a job at my synagogue every Sunday (you don't need a permit to work at a religious place in NY), and made money from doing that. It never bothered me.
I got an allowance when I was young and it spoiled me. I know how to handle money now, but i wish I had learned better as a child. when I have a child I won't give them an allowance to do the things they are supposed to do, but if extra help is given to me, I think they deserve extra cash as well. My mom used to give me $10 for every A I got in school. then she stopped because she thought I should do it no matter what. I see her point, but I have to say, it was motivation. I think kids should be rewarded for every good thing they do, but not always with money.
I like the idea that my kids have to budget to buy things that they want. Not just wonder if mama or daddy is going to give them the cash or not. I think it sets up good financial habits. My 5 year old does not get allowance, my teens do. They get a base rate, whether they do "housework" or not. This base rate does not change, and includes the money they need for school lunch, if they choose not to bring lunch. But, some of the money can be taken, as kind of a discipline, if they neglect their chores. The latest seems to be "forgetting" to take out the garbage. Yuck. They need to remember. It is something that NEEDS to be done, and kids are capable of doing it. They also have dishes to do (I've done my waiting on kids, for the most part.......) They don't get fined if they don't do their laundry, they just have dirty clothes. (I am NOT going to do a teenager's laundry.) But they do get fined if they leave clothes in the washer. I think I start giving them allowance at about 7 or so. I can't remember. I don't beleive in giving kids money for grades. My FIL always wants to do this, and it is very uncomfortable. Grades should be their own reward.
When I was growing up, I didn't get allowance. We couldn't afford it. We needed every cent just to survive. We made $3600 a year. Our rent was through HUD, but everything else was up to us. I never went without. My mom was good about robbing from Peter to pay Paul. And if there was something we needed, whether she had to beg, steal, or borrow, we got it. I remember how much of a chunk my $120 percussion kit cost my family. I felt so horrible. I did get a job when I was 16. All my money, well most, went towards the family. We needed help, so I helped. There was one time when I wanted to see the farewell concert for one of my favourite bands. I spent $50 that night. I felt horrible about it. Now though, I'm in uni, supporting just myself. I don't need spending money. I've done without forever now, so why would I need it now? I get $1000 extra a semester from my scholarships. It's spent within a week. I know the finer things in life and I buy them, dammit... However, next semester, I'm saving money. LOTS of money. My friend from the UK is coming for a visit next summer. He's paying near $2000 for his plane ticket, so if he's going to put himself into debt just to visit me, I'll spend all I can giving him a good time. So it means I neglect myself a few mall trips...Oh well... Anyway, what was I talking about? Oh yes...When I have children, I will give them allowance. Not much, but enough. It won't be connected to chores or grades. But rather, connected to their own generosity. When I was younger, I was taught that when you give something, you get 10 times back what you gave. And I don't think it was meant in a literal sense, but I always got back more than I gave. So my children will be given a little here and there. They can spend it on themselves, or they can give it to charity. If they give to charity, I'll reward them some how. If they spent it on themselves, well then, they already rewarded themselves, why should I double the reward? To give an example...When I was young, I would get maybe $10 at Christmas from my Grammas...all of them. I would spend it on candy and toys, like any other little kid. But I always saved $2 or $3, by giving it to my mom to hide. At Valentine's time, I would take that money and I would buy candy grams for two or three children who didn't have many friends. Then I would watch their faces light up when they received them. At Christmas time, I always gave away clothing I didn't want anymore and toys I didn't play with. My mother, seeing this, reinforced this idea with me by going out of her way on my Birthday and Christmas to buy me what I wanted. When I was reading Madeline L'Engle books, she bought me all the books in all the series' she could find. They were expensive, considering our budget, but she always gave me what I wanted because I always gave to others. She did the same with my little brothers, but they didn't do it as often as I did. But that's how I'm going to be with my children. Sorry for such a long post....:&
I have mountains of respect for you Holly. There were points in my life when I also was very very poor and I've been homeless. I know life and financial troubles are the worst feeling in the world at times. For to have been so disciplined with money for so long, and have such a positive attitude and a great outlook on life, and to be grateful for everything you have now is one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. You truely are an amazing woman!
I never received an allowance as a kid. It was not possible for my parents to give money to 4 kids, but I don't think they would have anyway. My daughter does not get an allowance. She does extra chores every week to earn her dues for GIrl Scouts. She is only 6, but I don't plan on giving her an allowance when she's older either.
I think my kids are too young yet (especially my twins, being that they're only going on 2 years old! *lol*) so no, no allowances here. I'm not sure if we'll even give them though. I never got an allowance as a child, but my husband did. Peace.
We started getting allowences when we got into first grade, that is 6 or 7 years here in germany. We got each week one DM for every grade we were in. That is 1 DM per week in first grade, 2 DM per week in second grade and so on. (1 DM was about 50 cents at that time) For germany this was not much money, barely an icecream per week. But I guess it was ok, there were kids that got more, and there were kids that got less. When we needed extra money, we needed to do more chores around the house then the usual. Even though I think chores should be done for free, it is a good idea to have some ways to increase the allowence, because then the idea of "you have to work for money" is taught. That method was used when we wanted to go horsebackriding. Need extra money? Go do something. Because you can't work at 10 years in germany... I think, when I have kids I'll probably do it in a way similar to this one.
My parents tried, but kept forgetting to give it to us. They usually just bought stuff we needed and extra things we would contribute money towards (we'd get money for birthdays and such) or wait till Christmas. Now I'm at university and have my loan, so that's the closest thing to allowance.
I wasn't given an allowance when I was younger and I will not be giving my little ones allowance when they get older either. (They are currently 4.5 yo, 23 months and still in utero).
I give my 9 year old daughter an allowance so she can learn about how to handle money. She gets $5 per week, with at least $1 going into her savings account for college/university. She does alot of chores to earn this: feed animals, haul fire wood, weed the garden, sweep floors, set and clear the dinner table, wash dishes, wash, dry and fold her own laundry, dusting, and emptying the compost bucket. Wow, looking at that list, I feel like a slave driver.
I've never gotten an allowance, but my parents have always given me money if I need it up until recently when they've both been unemployed for 2 years. They won't allow me to have a job until summer so it won't interfere with my school, which I really respect because I know alot of parents who really press jobs on their kids. I still can get a little bit of money from my parents and I get a large chunk every Hannukah/Birthday (both about the same time) ammounting to about $1000 from my Grandparents that I save most of and use $500 spread out throughout the year for clothes and whatever else I need. I've saved up almost $4000 that way which is good, because I can do what I want with it once I turn 18. I really don't have many chores to do. Since both of my parents stay at home applying for jobs most of the day, they have plenty of time to do the housework. Really all I have to do is empty the dishwasher, take the dog out at night, feed her dinner, keep my room clean, and scrub the cabinets and baseboards as well as cooking and some other odds and ends occasionally. I really lucked out with parents who completely support me working myself to death with school- but it's what I enjoy so whatever. They also have taught me how to save- though it's in the blood, I'm very Yiddish, but still.. it's good to have.
Children of wealthy parents equip them with values and so many things for free in life; I'm not sure an allowance should be one of them.
