Allowance

Do you give your kids allowance? The experts have differing opinions on the issue for kids of different ages. Here is a group of articles on the topic if you would like to see what the "experts" have to say.

I have given allowance up until recently, one dollar for each year of age per week. Kind of a costly proposition with kids over 10 years of age. The deal was they each had daily chores to do in order to collect. The bad side of this is even if they did not do the chores or whined and complained they got the cash. Not a great system.

One parent I know puts the allowance on the fridge in dollar increments, he takes away for whining, not completing tasks, anything not meeting standards. That is an interesting idea as well.

A few days ago I informed my children that the gravy train was over, no chores, no money. So my 10 year old daughter said, "can I consult with you about this?" Once I stopped laughing I told her she was welcome to have a consultation but this is a dictatorship so whatever her idea was it better be good....she proposed that I pay them "by the job". Okay, I am interested in hearing more...

They each began asking me for jobs, they were keeping a running list of what they were doing and I was to put a price on it at the end of the day. Sweeping was 75 cents, vacuuming the whole house one dollar, cleaning the bathroom counters 75 cents. Dusting one dollar and so on. After about two hours, my house was clean, the garbage and recycling was out, linens were changed on the beds, dogs were fed, it was amazing. My daughter made $12.50 and my son $9.50.

Yes, I know, this is barely above slave wages. It was wonderful....next week I teach them how to do laundry!!

So I am curious to see how others handle this situation. Email me what you think works and what doesn't.