Allowance?
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We received cash that was not tied to chores; it was strictly an allowance, not remuneration. We were allowed to spend it as we chose (hobbies, cafeteria food in place of bag lunch, movies, etc). I don't remember that my parents ever specifically included a moral or lesson or other type of parental message, so all lessons were strictly based on experience (such as buying the wrong paint for a model airplane and being stuck for a couple of week before it could be painted). My older brother probably started receiving his allowance around 5th or 6th grade, but the youngest (Linda) probably got hers around 1st or 2nd. ===== I have two friends, both Yale PhD economists who did essentially the same thing when their kids turned 6 & 8. The kids have age-appropriate chores and age-appropriate allowances, both slightly tuned to their personalities. Sam (now 8) and Isaac (now 10) decided to save up for a Wii, which took them about 4 months after pooling some birthday cash from relatives.
we never received an allowance as kids. if we needed money and my parents thought it appropriate they just gave it to us.the conversation came up several times throughout my childhood because i wanted an allowance and they said "no". their reasoning was that i should not be rewarded for participating in the family and what it takes to keep the family and house running smoothly. because money was not really withheld when i wanted to go to the movies or something it was not really a very big issue. I also got a job fairly young. they thought it more important to learn the value of money and how to manage it from actual jobs.
We have 3 kids, ages 7, 5, & 2. We give the older two a weekly allowance. Right now the 7-year-old gets $3/week and the 5-year-old gets $2/week. It is not tied to chores or behavior. (They do have to follow rules, of course, and have household responsibilities, but we explain that those are just part of being a family member.)We pay for food & clothing, and get the kids gifts for birthdays, etc. Other than that, they have to save up to buy what they want. It works well because when they beg for some piece of junk at the store, I can just say, "Do you have enough money for it?" Sometimes they save, other times they blow through it weekly. We've had to forbid sharing their money because the older one takes advantage of the younger one. (E.g., "How about we put our money together to buy this toy (that I really want and that you don't care about but I'll convince you that you want it too)?") Basically the allowance has saved me a lot of agony as I bring the kids with me on errands. I can say "no" very easily now, and they're learning about how to spend & save. Right now we don't require them to save a portion of their allowance to give to charity. However, we do encourage them to donate when they get big chunks of money from relatives for their birthdays. Also, when we have birthday parties we usually ask guests to bring a book or toy to donate in lieu of a gift for the birthday boy. Then he can pick out a charity to give the loot to. Good luck!
We don't do allowance yet, but I think it is about time. The incessant nagging for various useless items is getting REALLY old. I like what Jenny said about the allowance.
We kept allowance and chores separate. The kids had to do chores and I didn't want them thinking they should get paid for everything they do.I'd recommend making three boxes or envelopes for their allowance. 1 is for savings, 2 is for spending and 3 is for giving (church/charity/whatever). You can talk about what percentages should go into each envelope. When they get paid, they put the appropriate amount into each envelope. When the spending envelope is empty, they can't take money out of the other two. Those are for other purposes.
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