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A while back our oldest who is now 10 said she wanted an allowance (I think she saw it on TV). But she didn't know you had to actually do something to get said allowance. So we made up a list of weekly chores and said we'd pay her $5/week.
After about 2 weeks she gave up and said $5 wasn't worth all the hassle. It didn't help that her GM's and GP's send her $20 in the mail about once a month or so. So basically she gets money for nothing from GM & GP but when we want her to work for an allowance that's the same amount she decides that she doesn't need the money so bad
She's a great kid though. She makes excellent grades. As long as she keeps her grades up we reward her with things now and then. So in a sense she is still rewarded for her efforts.
when I linked allowance to chores the same thing happened. lol
I have taken away allowance twice because grades went down.
when I linked allowance to chores the same thing happened. lol
I have taken away allowance twice because grades went down.
Yeah... If I link ANY sort of $$ to ANY sort of chore or work with my 8 year old son... (i.e. $5 to wash dishes all week) I'd get a smart alec answer like "Well, how much will I get if I just wash a spoon?"
Initially when my son wrote up a contract, it was for $5.00 weekly. I told him we would start at $4.00 and see how that works out and then a possible raise in the near future. As someone else pointed out there isn't a visit to Nana and Pop's without some item to come home with. This week both kids came home with fishing poles, fishing gear, MP3 player, and a video game, so my kids are far from deprived. I did explain to him though, as some of you posters have pointed out that certain chores are just expected of him for being part of this family and additional things would be counted towards his allowance. Also taken into consideration are his grades which need to stay up also. He agreed. We've only been doing it for a few days and so far so good. Thank you all for some very good answers and great advice.
Jeannie, imo what the children get from their grandparents have nothing to do with the allowance. The major reason I do it is to teach the kids good spending habbits so that when they move out of the house they already know about money. For instance my 12 yo daughter wanted clothes (imagine that) I had already told her I would buy her 4 more pairs of shorts at $20 per pair. She wanted abercrombie. went to the clearance section on the computer and picked out 2 pair. She also picked out 3 shirts which I would not pay for becuse I already bought her plenty. anyway. she had to pay the difference from the $40. she was $6 short. begged me to take it out of her allowance. (she has money in savings but not allowd to spend it on last minute items). I allowed her to get the stuff but charged her interest.
My DH used to get really upset when she was younger and would blow her money on stupid stuff and then not have any left over for stuff she wanted. I always let her make the decisions and I would explain what I thought she should do. eventually she learned. now she very rarely just blows her money. She is also very good about putting extra money away for a "rainy day" because I let her deal with not having any money. I would much rather the kids learn from stupid mistakes while their young than when they get out on their own.
I am thinking about uping her allowance to include lunches next year. my problem with that is she is smart enough to make her lunch every day if it means extra money in her pocket! LOL
Jeannie, imo what the children get from their grandparents have nothing to do with the allowance. The major reason I do it is to teach the kids good spending habbits so that when they move out of the house they already know about money. For instance my 12 yo daughter wanted clothes (imagine that) I had already told her I would buy her 4 more pairs of shorts at $20 per pair. She wanted abercrombie. went to the clearance section on the computer and picked out 2 pair. She also picked out 3 shirts which I would not pay for becuse I already bought her plenty. anyway. she had to pay the difference from the $40. she was $6 short. begged me to take it out of her allowance. (she has money in savings but not allowd to spend it on last minute items). I allowed her to get the stuff but charged her interest.
My DH used to get really upset when she was younger and would blow her money on stupid stuff and then not have any left over for stuff she wanted. I always let her make the decisions and I would explain what I thought she should do. eventually she learned. now she very rarely just blows her money. She is also very good about putting extra money away for a "rainy day" because I let her deal with not having any money. I would much rather the kids learn from stupid mistakes while their young than when they get out on their own.
I am thinking about uping her allowance to include lunches next year. my problem with that is she is smart enough to make her lunch every day if it means extra money in her pocket! LOL
yes, I agree with you. I guess what I was trying to say was that I'd like to see my kids save their money and not want to immediately blow it on a new gadget, game etc. They have some many "things" and it just seems to go overboard at times. Honestly, I'd love to see my son save up for a good book to read instead.
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