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6 years ago
Saturday, February 9, 2008
"Money Money Money By The Pound..."
While buying a little gift for his friend's birthday this week, James came across several exciting animals he'd love to add to his toy collection. Typically we put such things on a Christmas or birthday list, but he is determined this time. So I suggested he do extra jobs and earn the needed money. Yesterday was great! He collected laundry, took out the trash... I gave a few suggestions but no, he wanted to do other jobs he "liked" and named off his own ideas (ie cleaning the lint out of the dryer). I tried encouraging him- knowing his work had not yet equalled the amount needed for any of the prized toys, at which point he began bartering. "I'll only do it for a $1..." "No, you can earn a quarter...then if you do four jobs, you'll have a dollar..." But I need some input here... How do you handle money/allowance/gifts in your home? Do your kids have job charts they complete daily...weekly? Do they receive a set amount of money each week regardless of their work? Do they just get toys on demand? What has worked for you? Isn't it hard to not just get them a little something to keep 'em quiet and happy for the rest of the shopping trip? Growing up, we had "bean jars". Good actions were rewarded with white beans, bad actions received black beans and at the end of the week there was some translation of beans to money. How was it in your home? We want to teach the concepts of earning, saving, tithing and mission funds- but at 4 and 2 years old, what is the most effective way to do this?
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We have the same issue around our house with Brenden (8) and Oliver (4). I try hard not to just get every little thing so we'd do the bday/xmas list thing but sometimes that just seems so hopelessly far away. So we gave the kids the chance to do jobs for money when they feel like it. They make their own charts and every square is worth 10 cents. Most jobs are worth 1 square (make your bed, empty the dryer, move the wash to the dryer, brush your teeth an extra time today, practice piano) but sometimes if they do a particularly big job I'll say you can mark 2 or 3 squares for that one (like clean your whole room or empty the dishwasher). Then when they're ready they can cash out and we go shopping. It has taken them a long time to learn to be patient enough to get more than a dollar. Oliver in particular has learned that for $1 he can get a hotwheels car, for $3 he can get a little monster truck and for $6 he can get some of the other things he likes. I usually kick in for their tax and sometimes if they don't understand the .99 on the tag they'll just look the dollar spot and I'll pay their change. But the best is when they can do the whole transaction with their own money. We've tried getting things first and then working them off - but that never works. Sometimes if they've forgotten to bring their own money we've tried "lending" it and they pay us back when we get home, but they don't really get that concept yet.
As for tithing, we decided to make it something we talk about when they're younger, but we actually start doing when they turn 8. That is what our bishop suggested and I think it's working for us. As for saving, we haven't gotten into long term saving, but certainly talk a lot about how if they save up they can get something bigger at the store. Maybe we'll start long term savings when they're 12.
Sorry it's so long. It's a topic I've dealt with a lot.
Sorry - one more idea. In November, in preparation for Christmas present buying, I told them if they would make their beds, put away their pjs and brush their teeth every morning without being reminded, they would get $1/day at the end of the month. With that money they had to buy a gift for each other and a gift for the toys for tots drop off at their schools and the rest they could use for something for themselves. My motivation was to hopefully get them into a good habit which would continue beyond the month. That didn't quite happen but the were great at it and it showed me they are capable and they enjoyed making money faster that way.
Isaac and Lucas for some reason still have not caught onto the money thing. Christmas and birthday lists still work. I really like Sarah's ideas.
We've dealt a lot with money in our house (our kids are fascinated with it--not sure what to make of that yet) and are still formulating some of our ideas, but here's a basic synopsis.
We believe that some things you do just because you are part of a family and you love each other. So just like mom and dad don't get paid to feed and clothe and otherwise take care of the kids and house, the kids don't get paid for everything they do.
We have morning and evening routines which are things like putting away clothes, brushing teeth, 10 min. picking up toys, clearing bfast or dinner dish etc. These are just part of life and don't get rewarded. Likewise, if they are asked to do something by Mom or Dad, they're expected to do it b/c that's helping the family.
We've created as a family a list of "money jobs" and how much each job is worth. They can do these jobs any time they want to earn money as long as their routines are done and their room is picked up. Some examples of money jobs in our house are taking out the trash, weeding the garden, cleaning out the fridge, etc. They're supposed to be a little harder, and we expect them to do these jobs well to be paid the full amount.
We keep a 'bank' which is basically a spreadsheet on the computer of who has earned how much from what job and whether they've paid tithing yet. The kids can choose to keep it all in the 'bank' and then mom or dad will buy for them what they want according to how much they have in the bank and then deduct when we're home, or if they want, we'll hand over the cash.
So in general, when they want candy or toys etc., they're told they can earn money to buy those things, although occasionally we will purposely take them out to get something special. But I hate just getting it at the time b/c of whining, so I usually don't. (The whining still hasn't completely stopped for us, but I have hopes!) I think that telling kids things like "We can't afford that" over and over sends the wrong message to kids, that money brings happiness or fear of not having enough. So we try to focus on the idea that learning to work will help you earn money and that you need to make choices with how you spend your money. Both our boys have saved up for big purchases, but it definitely takes time for them to understand the concept of forgoing the gum to get the big toy.
I read a book which talks a lot about dealing w/ kids & money. We haven't followed everything suggested, but I thought there were some good ideas. It's called "The Parenting Breakthrough" by Merilee Boyack.
Whew-I think that is the longest comment I've ever posted on a blog!
I'm just so excited that you referenced "Pete's Dragon" here! You're my hero.
We had an allowance/chore system in my house. We had a certain number of jobs we had to do each day and a chart with stickers to show that we had completed them. If we did our jobs every day - at the end of the week we got 50 cents. My mom also allowed us to do extra jobs around the house if we really wanted to earn some money. Older siblings helped with younger ones (to give mom a break) and I did things like pick up pinecones in the yard for a penny a piece, washed walls, folded an extra load of laundry- etc. We had tithing banks, and mission banks as well. You could go the the bank and get some rolls of dimes and pay the kids in dimes so it's easier to see how much to put away for tithing/mission etc. Hope this helps! I have fond memories of my family's system!
I don't have a system yet, but I am definitely interested, so thankyou for posting this blog. I will be checking back to read more comments.
I have no idea here...my kids still think quaters are for giving to mommy because "I can choke". I can't wait to sit and read all your comments!!!
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