Allowances

Do you give allowances for your kids?  It is so hard for me to decide what to do.  They don't have chores around the house (I know, Iknow...some of you really feel this is important, however, I am a stay at home mom so how can I ask them to do the dishes, vacuum or put laundry away?  That is my job.  Their job is to do their homework and go to school which they go to 8 hrs a day.  I don't ask my husband to do the dishes after a long day of work either.   But I do want them to have some sort of concept of money and not think there is a never ending debit card balance.

In an attempt for the boys to become more aware of finances, spending and budgeting I decided to give them a monthly allowance that was not tired to chores.  They each receive their age X $0.50 X 4.  This gives them $0.50 a week for each year they are old.  Of that sum, 10% goes to charity, 30% goes to savings and 60% they get to spend.  Now when we go into a store and they want candy, movies, trinkets, or whatever, they have to decide if it is worth spending their own money on (my money was sooooo easy to spend).  Also, if they decide to put some of their spending money into savings I will match that amount.  This is a concept Kemper gets and takes advantage of but Griffin not so much. 

So far this plan has worked well for the past 3 months.  We have tried other allowance plans tied to chores and it just doesn't work in our family.  I just set up interest bearing savings account for each of the boys.  My original plan was to just transfer the money into their account each month.  Now, I think it is better if we make time to go to the bank each month and have them deposit the money themselves.  I want them to get used to the idea of walking into a bank and handing over their hard earned cash.  OK, so in this case it is not quite so hard earned, but you get what I mean. :)

I have not put any restrictions on what they can buy with their spending money.  It is theirs and they can blow it however they like.  The money in their savings account is intended to be used for car needs when they turn 16 (they each have separate college funds).  As for charity, this money is sometimes used when there are fundraisers at school.  The boys love being able to use their own money from their charity fund for this.  After school is out, the boys will combine their charity money and do something with it such as buy some bulk items at Sam's Club and drop it off at the local food pantry. 

Also, on a final note.....though their allowance is not tied to chores, we do have an agreement that I can ask them to do anything I want and the complaining has to be kept to a minimum.  LOL!