I've been thinking for a while now that I need to start giving my oldest son an allowance! He just turned 4. I've been trying to come up with my plan first though and that's what's giving me trouble!

My first question is should I give him allowance for chores that he does or should he have to do chores as part of our family? I know Dave Ramsey says to pay them for chores, his point is that we all get paid for the work we do, it teaches them to work for things! I like this theory, but then how do you stop them for asking for more money anytime they do anything extra around the house. I like the idea of them doing things around the house because they're part of the family and that's what you do when you're part of a family! But then are you giving them cash for nothing? Can I have a good balance, some chores they just have to do and extra chores they have to do for money?

Then do you give them the option to not do the chores and they just won't get paid?? My mom says that I would have cared less about the money growing up and would rather have not done my chores. So do you punish them for not doing their chores beyond not getting paid? You can't just skip work and not get punished beyond just not getting paid, kwim??

Then there's the whole question of amount?? My sister was thinking $1 a chore - 2 chores a week! Then from that money they have to give .25 to church and save .75 or so?? We're talking about 3-5 year olds & one 7-year old.

Ok, so once that's all figured out, what chores are good for these ages???

What do you all do??? Sorry it's so long, but the questions just keep coming!!!

Thanks!

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Stay at home mom to my 3 boys... ages 5, 3 & 1!

I can do all things through CHRIST who strengthens me. Philippians 4:13

There are varying opinions on this, much as you described, and I don't think there is any one "right" answer. A lot depends on your kid - like you said - some kids would opt out of chores & not care about the money. Many people think however they were raised worked for them, and advocate that, which is what I'm about to do!
Chores are part of being a family. We all live together, we work together. The kids get their food, clothes, home, education, etc. They are expected to do reasonable chores for their age. Just part of being in a family, doing as you are asked, respecting your parents wishes. I did get an allowance, and it got bigger as I got older. I was expected to have a savings account. I did not have a "set amount" that I had to put in there, or a "set amount" to give to the church (actually, my mom put change in my church envelope -that never came out of my allowance" - but my allowance was small enough for me to want to save it for bigger things. So I was always very careful with my money. The allowance is how people teach their children about money, saving, delayed gratification, etc. Same with birthday or xmas gift money - I could spend part, put part in savings.

We don't pay our kids to do their regular chores. But if they help with extra chores then we do. I give depending on the chore. dd just washed dishes but there wasn't much there so I gave her $1. when she helped me clean the bathroom I gave her $3.00. My youngest who is also 4 doens't do anything but her normal chores. I think she is too young to get it.

we also make sure kids save a certain percent, donate a crtain percent and gave buy or save up for something.

HTH

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allgirls, mom to 3 girls

My oldest kids receive an allowance, its based on their behavior.

They have chores to do - (taking out trash, loading/unloading dishwasher, making their own bed, gathering dirty clothes) but those are things I feel they should do because we are a family and we have to work together to keep our home in order.

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DS-16
DD-12
DD-5
DS-2

DD gets an allowance (25 cents per year of age, paid when hubby's paycheck arrives) just because she is a member of the family and benefits from our combined wealth. She also has a responsibility to contribute to the running of the family but that isn't tied directly to her allowance.

Yes, children should learn how to work but DD, being an enterprising young soul, isn't going to work for ME. If she wants to earn extra money she has to market her services to the neighbors.

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"I've been rich and I've been poor but independently wealthy is where it is at."

My four year old isn't interested in an allowance yet. He still gets paid in cookies to do his chores!

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There are more than 40 different types of congenital heart defects. Little is known about the cause of most of them. There is no known prevention or cure for any of them.
My Blog:Musings of a Heart Family

My kids are 9 and 12...we started giving them allowance when they turned 5. I can't remember exactly how much we started with, but they both get $5 per week now. We don't tie our allowance to chores. We actually don't have chores in our house at all. I expect that if I need someone to do something, and I ask, that it's done without complaining. So far so good - it works for us!

My DS who is 4 gets an allowance. He gets $4 a week; however, we decided half goes to his education fund. He has a special envelope for his education .... we will open his own savings account soon.

The money is not tied to chores. He is expected to make his own bed, put away clean and folded clothes (I fold and wash), clear the table and clean up after he is done playing. However, if he does not want to do a particular activity he will have to pay for it .... each time the amount goes up. So let's say he doesn't want to put away his clothes fine but it will cost him 50 cents then next time maybe $1. So he will get his allowance on Sunday and then he must hand me back some of the money.