[greenmama]

For those who give your kids allowance, how much do you give and how old are you children?
I have 6 and 9 year old sons and am thinking $10 a week is appropriate...does this seem in line with what everyone else gives? I have checked with the moms in my area and no one seems to do this anymore, so I need some other opinions.Thanks!

[mommytoEli]

our foster children were supposed to get one dollar per week per age when they were 8 and 9. that being said...after the first 6 months of that i can say i've never given an allowance since. they are now 14 and 15. my kids used it as a sort of "get out of jail free card." lol. they did all sorts of extra naughty things because they knew i had more stuff to take away that wouldn't impact their priviledges right away. anyway....now that THAT is behind me....i guess i wouldn't think 1 dollar per age per week was extreme...if they were working for it above and beyond chores i consider necessary because they are participating in a family. like, i wouldn't pay for them to do their laundry, clean their room, or clean their bathroom.....but i might pay for them to vacuum the stairs or mow the lawn with a money amount per chore. but just my 2 cents. i haven't found that my children need an abundance of spending money, so when they do...i tend to think about their behavior in the past week and then dole out what they need/want based on that. it seriously isn't often. my 6 year old does also does not get an allowance...but recently he wanted a little game that was just like one he already had. i thought that was super frivilous, and so i made him earn it. i didn't really give him an allowance per se....but we made a chart with his goal on it: 40 bucks, and then he did chores at a dollar per chore until he reached his goal. he did love earning something....but i just couldn't see doing it every week for him. if that changes in the future...i'll rethink my "plan." lol. good luck!

[greenmama]

The thing is that right now I am spending $50-100 a week on toys for pretty much each kid...and I want them to have some understanding of money. I guess I will try it and see if the amount is good or not. Mostly likely not. lol

[mommytoEli]

lol...yeah, you need a plan. good luck!!!!

[fostapeepz]

Our kids only get gifts for holidays and their birthday. They get an Easter basket with toys and candy, sometimes I give them a little something at valentines day, and I spoil them rotten at Christmas. As much as I would enjoy spoiling them year round, they came to me with no appreciation for 'things'. Their mom bought them absolute crap all the time - fast food toys, dollar store junk, etc... - and that's what they became accustomed to. They treated everything they had as disposable and didn't appreciate anything. Not buying them random junk, and helping them to learn how to treat their current toys with respect, has helped their entitlement attitude a ton! $50-100 a week for kids that age seems excessive to me. Kids who don't learn to earn their way, will never respect what they have.

[greenmama]

It is excessive...and it is the way we have always been. I want to do the allowance to break the cycle!

[greenrobin]

With our 3 older bio kids, we just didn't have the funds to part with cash for nothing, so we paid for extra jobs they did beyond their assigned chores.

With Jay, he gets $13/week for doing his chore. If he misses days, we subtract that amount. He also has the option to earn extra for big stuff, like cleaning the downstairs or upstairs or all of it (which is a big paying job), or he can do laundry, wash vehicles, etc.

I don't give him spending money just because he breathes!

I'm thinking about trying something new when school starts, though. I read somewhere that, assuming your kids can handle it, that you give them the money for their expenses on payday and let it go. They're responsible for paying for school meals, getting their stuff like school supplies, etc. His extra still comes in the form of chore money. It kind of scares me, but Jay is my responsible bio kid, so it might work.

And even though you've "always been" like this, spending that much per week per child, you don't have to be. Initially saying no will feel wrong. After a while, though, it gets to be a fun thing to hear you say yes. And it teaches kids that they won't die if they don't have everything immediately.

You'll find what works for you. You can do it!

[dachshunds4you]

Originally Posted by greenmama

The thing is that right now I am spending $50-100 a week on toys for pretty much each kid...and I want them to have some understanding of money. I guess I will try it and see if the amount is good or not. Mostly likely not. lol

I gotta say, OMG! I would never spend that even in a month. I think it's time to just go cold turkey. No toys at all and no allowance. Slowly ease into an allowance. They would definitely have to earn the appreciation for these things, which I'm sure after you buy the toys, they are forgotten in a short time.

I would suggest you rotate the toys out that you have now, and then switch them around in a month or so. It'll seem like new toys to them, since they wouldn't have seen them for a while.

[teachermomof3]

Please don't tell my kids how much allowances are these days! We start allowance at about age 4 and it is for predetermined chores that are not the ones required just because you are a member of our family. I work outside the home and the kids all know that chores are things they do to help mommy get housework done so that we can spend time together. I pay $1 per chore for the week, so my 4 year old has 2 chores and gets $2. My eight year old has 3 chores and gets $3, but he also has to pay his Cub Scout dues of $1 per week out of his money. My 3 year old wants in on the money too, but we are holding off because he doesn't really understand. My kids don't get toys throughout the year (just birthdays, Christmas, Easter) and we have done this since our oldest wanted more Thomas the Trains with no holiday in sight. They have become really good at saving and are very proud of themselves.

[kretzklan]

I think you first have to determine what the allowance is "for". Is it to pay all expenses (like someone mentioned above) - which is great for older kids. Or is it just for fun money? We buy our kids NOTHING fun except for Christmas (where they only get one big gift + stocking) and one gift on birthday (if they are not having a party). We buy them the clothes they need and items that are necessary for life (sports equipment, school fees). So, our allowance is for fun stuff only and the point is that they have to SAVE for it. So, paying big bucks doesn't give them the point. If you pay a young child $10/week - there are a 1000 things they could spend that money on - and if you pay allowance, you really can't monitor what they use it for. You'll end up with a ton of little crappy stuff laying around. Whereas, if you know the things they like and expect that they'll have to save 5-6 weeks to purchase something - you may only pay $2/week. Around here it is not tied to chores at all...it's tied to being part of our family. That means you do what mom and dad ask you to do - daily chores, extra chores. Yes, if we painted the fence or something really big, we'd offer payment...but more than money, we'd offer a trip for the family to a movie or to a favorite hiking spot. Their payment is truly US...family and home. We pay our oldest more each week - because we made a list with him of what we won't pay for anymore - including hanging out/going out with friends...so we had to include enough so that he can do that (but not EVERYTIME he wants to...has to learn to choose).

[greenmama]

It would be for toys only pretty much...but both kids would have to save. The $10 a week would have to be kept for 4 weeks to buy a wii game or 3 weeks to buy a transformer or something. My idea isn't totally fleshed out yet...but I do think I would like them to have some idea about money.
As far as spending money as they get older, I dont want my kids to have jobs during school...school is their job...so we will continue to pay for fun stuff at that point (going out with friends, movies, etc) but there are obviously chores they do just as part of being in our family. I don't want that tied to money really...it just IS.

[Happy_Cat]

We do buy occasional toys, but it is occasional. Our kids get $1 a for ever year (ages 5 = $5 and 7= $7). They are required to save a minnimum of $1 a week in their piggy bank and personally we have the older one give some money in Sunday School. Most weeks they are pretty good about saving. They saved their money for a Wii game (together) and once they saved up for Bendaroo's. I do not expect them to pay for everything, but if they want something extra then they have to use allowance. We encourage them to save their money if they want a new toy and will sometimes tell them if they save X amount of money we will pay the difference.

[greenmama]

I have been doing a little research and one thing I know I need to do is give each child the same amount even though they are 3 years apart. I also think I am going to raise the amount and have them put some in to a savings account each week. Here's hoping it works!

[DoYaReallyThink]

For our soon to be adopted daughter, We do a dollar per year of age that will stop when they have their drivers license and able to get a job. We also make 1/2 of the monies go into a savings account. When she starts the I want this and that we tell her she has the rest of her allowance to either spend or save and get something bigger. She is learning so much from that and actually sees that money does not grow on trees. Now, we have a point system also. Chores are a responsibility here along with bedrooms etc but if one does not do chores we take off from the allowance. We also use a point system for all of this. We use a behavior chart from Easy Child and white out what isn't appropriate for each kid and add what is. We add up all of the points they could get and start decreasing a certain amount per dollar all the way down to zero. This works soooo well! My other foster kiddos did not do the savings but I think they will start is they are age appropriate. A is saving for her first car, She has 4 years and I love to see her face when she looks at her savings book after each deposit she makes.

[hkolln]

We do 1.00 for every year for each child (age 9=9.00/wk, age 15=15.00/wk). Once the 15 yr old (next year) gets her DL (she has her learners permit) and is able to take on a job we will take away her allowance. She also pays us 15/mo for the texting on her cell phone so the 1st week of the month she gets no allowance.

We have a chore chart with magnetic smiley faces (got it at ToysRus here). Each child has a couple of chores each day and they rotate (litterbox, setting the table, washing dishes, doing laundry, etc..) and they have to clean their room once a week (on Saturday) and don't get paid until it's cleaned and inspected by either my husband or I. If they miss a chore on a day they lose 1.00 and are allowed to miss 3 and if they miss 3 in one week they lose their allowance for that one week. They are required to save the money in a savings account (1/2 of it minimum) and lately they have wanted to save for big things so they save it all. Our 15 yr old wanted to go to the movies Saturday morning so we took 5.00 (matinee) out of her account so she could go. We don't pay for anything for them anymore unless it's a necessity (food, clothing, lodging, etc...) and if it's a "want" they have to save up for it.