Allowance Amount

[SuzySunshine]

We want to start giving the kids an allowance, not tied to chores or anything, they already have stuff they help with, but more of a way for them to learn the value of money, buy their own things. Etc...

How much is reasonable for a 3 & 5 year old? I was thinking $1/week/year of age - is $5/week to much for a 5 year old?

The rule would be that at least 1/3 would have to go in the save bin and at least 1/3 in the give bin. With the other 1/3 in the spend bin.

(ETA: Originally I was thinking a dollar a week in quarters - one quarter each to give/save but that is only $25ish/year which doesn't go far these days...)

Mostly we're wanting them to know how money works, how much things cost if they want to buy it themselves, etc.

I thought we had talked about this but I searched allowance and didn't find it...

[PrincessFiona]

I think $1/yr is too much, tbh. At that age, we gave the kids $1/week....with inflation, you could go 2? LOL I did actually tie it either to a chore or behavior though (behavior being the more likely). It was enough for them to go to the $1 store and pick something out or to buy themselves a couple of lollipops.

My experience with our kids was that actual understanding of money as you are presenting it (save/spend/give) didn't come until several years later. I'm not saying it wouldn't hurt to get started that way, but I don't think they will *get it* for a few more years. We started this system with our kids as they hit early adolescence (about 11). If they got financial gifts for bday or xmas, we started having them save half. At that point we could explain why it was important to have savings. It seemed to click for them at about 13.

Now that my 18 year old has a job, he keeps 1/2 and puts the rest in savings without prodding. Sometimes, he puts the entire check in savings. His specific goals are 1. a better car and 2. college cash. He is well on his way....

[Deebs]

We don't give a weekly allowance, but they have opportunities to earn money. Here's my breakdown:
Big bedroom clean (beyond daily straightening) .25
Cleaning some else's space (ie little sisters bedroom, communal bathroom, etc) $.50
Babysitting sister while I shower or do laundry (there has to be no fighting) $1.00
Sorting socks $.50
Etc
I have other jobs I just expect of them, and when I tell them they need to set the table, etc, but don't offer money, they know that is just an expectation of being part of our family. This is kind of the above and beyond.

I have a list for them. DD has a substantial amount of money just from this.

[GrayMatterWife]

We gave DS $7 a week, but did tie it to minor, age-appropriate chores. He took a lot of pride in accomplishing then chores then getting paid.

Why $7? First, it was a $1 a day, so that was easy for him to grasp. Second, it made divvying up easy. He was required to give $1 to savings, $1 to tithe, and $5 was for "fun money." At $5 a week in fun money, he was able to save up in a month for a nice Lego kit. Much less, and it would have taken so long to save up that he would have lost interest.

[MrsK]

$5/wk sounds like a lot for a 5yo. I'd be more inclined fo give her $1-2. As for the 3yo, mine is still learning numbers and doesn't have any understanding of money yet. If you really want to give him an allowance, I'd go with 10 or 20 pennies so you can start teaching him counting/adding/substracting/dividing in the simplest of terms. My 3yo would be thrilled if he had even a quarter for the gumball machine. For now, he when he finds coins around the house, he puts them in our tzdakah (charity) bank because he sees us do that with spare change. At 3yo, that's good enough for me.

[spotty_dog]

We are in allowance negotiations with my 6-year-old. I haven't spoken about it much with DH but my general philosophy is "When you are old enough to be helpful, you are old enough to have a small amount of freely given spending money. (No chore chart, but if I get the sense you are not being helpful, you must not be old enough and I will suspend allowance until I feel you are.) Additional chores may be available on a pay-per basis."

At five we tried this theory with $1 per week, but neither DS nor I really followed through. At 6 we are aiming for $2 per week and we are creating a list of chores that he can help with. He proposes that I can teach him to scoop the cat litter, load the dishwasher, he can pick up the floor in the evening before bath, and he would like to help more in the kitchen with making meals. I will probably get him to keep his clothes in the hamper and to straighten his bed daily. The agreement is that I have to remember to ask him; he has to agree quickly without complaint; he is putting a note on his calendar to remind me every Friday to pay him.

I think the amount should be sufficient for him to splurge on something small from the toy store, or save a few weeks for a $5-10 toy, or be really diligent and do extra work to save for a Lego he wouldn't otherwise get ($50 or greater). I think the $15-30 range is appropriate for him to put on a wish list for a gift giving occasion, not to try to buy for himself. So $20 per month would be too much in our family. (He is so excited and says he will buy things for the family with his money to help out, as well as buying his own toys!)

I don't feel allowance is necessary or useful for DD at almost 4, but we'll see how she feels when I start paying brother.

[Vanquisher]

My kids don't get an allowance. They have plenty of shit though. There just wasn't extra money in residency or med school to do it. I would sometimes give money for extra tough jobs.

[PrincessFiona]

That's where I was at at those ages.
I found myself early on equating my expectations with theirs but eventually realized that they were happy with less. It was good for me to realize I could also manage/create their expectations.

My little ones also never had the patience to save up for something.

It's better now. Aidan is earning a video game for preparation for/participation in a violin scales contest. Having the prize at the end helps. He couldnt have done the waiting at age 5 though.

Neat how we all approach this differently though.

Kris

$5/wk sounds like a lot for a 5yo. I'd be more inclined fo give her $1-2. As for the 3yo, mine is still learning numbers and doesn't have any understanding of money yet. If you really want to give him an allowance, I'd go with 10 or 20 pennies so you can start teaching him counting/adding/substracting/dividing in the simplest of terms. My 3yo would be thrilled if he had even a quarter for the gumball machine. For now, he when he finds coins around the house, he puts them in our tzdakah (charity) bank because he sees us do that with spare change. At 3yo, that's good enough for me.

[SuzySunshine]

I don't want to tie it to things, they are part of the family they have jobs just like we do. They also get a budget just like we do. They are constantly asking for things and I want them to learn they have to pay for things, value of money, etc.

[PrincessFiona]

I'll be looking forward to your approach and how it goes!

[peggyfromwastate]

At age 5 we start giving $1/week/age.

This is a lot of $. It's the system we set up way back when we started-- I think dd16 was 5...

We do tie it to savings but I'm not comfortable forcing the kids to tithe. I don't know. I have issues with the big money push. I much prefer them to participate in buying a goat or something at church vs trying to remind them to tithe. Our church doesn't even collect $ in Sunday school so I guess I'm not alone there.

The kids save a lot of cash. We go shopping maybe every 2 months, and they can spend around 15-20$. We go to the bank before we go shopping and they have competitions about who has the most$. Dd11 and ds11 each have over $1000-- and that's all their own savings bc my family doesn't give cash gifts. This $ is in savings for college--travel whatever. Big stuff like that after they are 18.

This past year they did spend more of their $$ than I would have liked on souvenirs and what not in travel.

They also use their own $ to buy each other gifts.

Dd17 buys most of her own clothes and helps pay part of her cell phone bill with her allowance. She will need a job before she drives though. She babysits a lot for me and half that money goes straight into her bank account.

Chores are not tied to allowance. They are required to do daily and weekend chores. Dd17 does big chores-- like deep clean of bathrooms-- while ds8 does smaller things-- like wipe down a bathroom with disinfectant wipes.

I will occasionally have then help wash windows but they think it is fun-- I don't really give them $.

Ultimately I like the system because they do save the bulk of the $. It is a lot of $ though. Dd17 has really learned to be prudent with her $ because it doesn't go that far when she's buying clothes and nail polish and all that teen stuff. She is the queen of clearance racks and thrift store finds!!

[SuzySunshine]

Thanks everyone and Peggy that is very helpful. We won't require them to give their money to the church, they can donate it to whatever they want like adopting a family at Christmas or something but we want them to learn that we give to others that are less fortunate

[Phoebe]

I like this idea. At what age did you get savings accounts for your kids? We have been meaning to do this for a while.

[Deebs]

Ok, so now that I read how much money your kids have saved, Peggy, I'm thinking maybe I will reconsider an allowance. We did start a savings account for/with our oldest, and she puts money in there from her chores, babysitting, the tooth fairy, etc, but it's very slow growing. Thanks for posting, SS. You guys always have me thinking about something.

[BonBon]

I don't want to tie it to things, they are part of the family they have jobs just like we do. They also get a budget just like we do. They are constantly asking for things and I want them to learn they have to pay for things, value of money, etc.

That is how we approached it. They have to help out because they're a part of the family. They get the idea of "fair/not fair" and we played up chores as Mom/Dad doing all the chores isn't "fair." We start allowance in first grade - $2/week, with a $1 raise every year. (so far. I've told them this will likely change...it depends on what having middle schoolers is like, how much they go out with friends, ie will I make them use allowance for movies, etc)

With the first issues of allowance, they went hogwild at Target figuring out what kind of candy to buy with a couple bucks. They decided on their own to start saving for bigger stuff. They occasionally donate toys/treats to the SPCA. We didn't want to force them to save/donate/spend but rather to model the behavior for them. We have a lot of talks about wants vs needs, and that you need to think hard about what you REALLY want, rather than making dumb impulse purchases. (which they've made plenty of...) We also only take away their allowance if they've treated their money disrespectfully. DD1 has lost hers a number of times...like last year when I found her wallet in the box of Christmas ornaments that I was packing up. *eyeroll*