Allowance

Scott and I have decided to give the boys an allowance. We tried this a few years ago with Zach, and he did very well. He saved for an entire year, and earned enough to buy a Wii system (that we would not get for him). We stopped allowance for a while, hoping that we could use allowance as a way to get them to do chores too. We started the work pay system, because it made sense to have them work for pay. It turned out that did not work as well as we hoped. 

From the book, Kids are Worth It, by Barbara Coloroso, she states: 

"They learn to handle money, to make decisions about their own money, and to set financial pirorities. The money is given to them, without them working for it. In real life, how hard you work is only a minor factor in how much money you make.  What is important is for kids to learn that no matter how much money they have, earn, win, or inherit, they need to know how to spend it, how to save it, and how to give it to others in need. That is what handling money is about, and this is why we give kids an allowance."

A great way to start allowance is with the Money Savvy Pig. 

They must save, spend and give (and even invest!). They decide how to do all three, and how much of their allowance to devote to each. We are there to guide and give advice, but do not order them, or lecture them about where the money should go. 

Our boys have different personalities when it comes to money. Our oldest saves (we started allwance when he was five), and our middle son will spend it the minute he gets it (we started his allowance when he was six). They each get half their age every week. Zach is 8, so he gets $4.00. 

They each research the thing they want to save for, which helps to prevent them from running to the store once they have their money. Once they know how much it is, we draw a bar chart on our chalkboard, so they can see how close they are getting to earning it. It is a fun and visual way to keep them saving. 

Now, don't think that T has more..if you look closely, he is going up by $1.00, while Z is going up by $10.00.