Opinion: Our Old vs New Allowance System
April 26, 2017
Most parents I know start giving their kids allowance at some point in their young lives.
We believe that today’s youth lives in a world where they are given everything. Somehow, our culture has veered that way and we believe it is our job to try to educate them away from the “entitlement” culture they are living in.
We wanted a system in which the children could earn their own money. We wanted them to be free to buy what they wanted instead of asking “can you buy me that?” and have them understand that money is valuable and you earn it and you must decide how to spend (or save) it wisely.
I know. It’s hard.
We have researched different systems for allowance. At some point we tried the “point” system. It consisted on earning marbles – each marble was worth $1. This system had it’s perks and flaws.
MARBLE SYSTEM –
Pros:
- We never needed to have cash on hand.
- It was easy to put marbles in and out of a jar.
- Kids could count the marbles themselves, which helped with Math skills when they were in early elementary school (or preschool).
- Marbles are cheap. We got them from amazon.com. We also got some cookie jars.
Cons:
- If the kids forgot to count how many marbles they had and we went to a place where they sold something they wanted (Target, Walmart, etc), then they couldn’t buy it.
- If they didn’t have enough, we would lend them money, but then it was difficult for them to pay us back one marble at a time. (We banned lending, btw).
- It was hard to work with cents. We used to round down the cents on a total bill for them.
Then, we decided to try a different approach. The kids were getting older, too, and they wanted to have their own money. So I went to Hobby Lobby and bought some supplies (a magnetic blackboard, blackboard markers, wood tokens and magnets). Then I got to work.
BOARD SYSTEM –
Pros:
- Easy to maintain, just take or add.
- The magnets are $1, $5, $10. So it resembles real money. When they loose a point, they need to transform those $10 into one $5 and four $1.
- Every week they get the real money and they have to take care of them, so it teaches them responsibility.
- If the purchase has taxes, they have to pay for it, so they learn about real world finances.
- They are responsible to bring their wallets when we go out if they want to buy something. If they want it and they didn’t bring their wallet, well… tough cookies! Just like in the real world.
- They learn to save, because if they want something expensive, they calculate how many weeks they need to save.
- We also add special chores that are paid – some chores are mandatory and are included in their fee (like emptying the dishwasher, setting the table, make their bed, clean their room), but we create special ones for them, like emptying all trashcans in the house, pulling out weeks, arrange all topperware with their lids, etc… they get a few extra dollars for those.
- If they don’t follow the rules, they must pay with their future allowance. If they do well in school, or get a good note from their teacher they can get extra allowance.
Cons:
- We must always have cash in hand. Not only that, we need to have enough $1s, $5s and $10s.
- They could loose it!
- If they have a bad week, they could end up with nothing 🙁
So, what do you think? Do you have a special way to monitor your kids’ expenses?
cheers!
