Different Ways to Give Your Kids Allowance

If you’ve got kids, you may be in a position where your children are starting to ask for allowance. Many parents have different feelings and opinions on allowance, as well on different methods of giving an allowance to children.

Here are a few that you might consider doing:

Allowance by Age

What it is: As your kids age, you give your children a fixed amount per year. Often parents give .50 cents or a dollar per year on a weekly basis.

Pros: It’s easy to keep track of how much you’re giving and very young kids don’t have a bunch of money that they aren’t responsible enough to have yet.

Cons: If you have multiple children, you may find that younger children feel cheated or frustrated that they have less money than their older siblings.

Chores First

Some parents give their kids money if, and only if, they complete all of their chores, but they give a fixed amount.

Pros: This method is pretty straight forward–once a specific set of chores are done each week or month, children receive their allowance.

Cons: If a child isn’t able to complete a task for some reason (like illness, etc.) then parents may have a difficult time being consistent–especially when there are siblings involved.

Allowing Children to Earn Money

What it is: Creating tasks at home that are “worth” given dollar amounts. So for example, mowing the lawn is worth $5 and doing the dishes is worth .50 cents. Children can do as many chores as they want.

Pros: Children learn the value of working for money.

Cons: It might get a little expensive if you’re not prepared for you child to do all chores every week!

 

No matter what method you use, it is very important to have positive money conversations with your children. Talk to them about being good stewards of their money and the importance of giving and saving, as well as spending.