Wisconsin Beth
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No, we don't walk away. But when we're holding on to something precious, we run.
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Post by Wisconsin Beth on Jun 22, 2012 13:49:58 GMT -5
My money's on candy. Or books on physics...
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shanendoah
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Post by shanendoah on Jun 22, 2012 13:58:11 GMT -5
My brother and I got an allowance. I don't remember exactly what I did with mine. I know I saved up birthday and Christmas money (not actually hard, as my birthday is 4 days before Christmas) for a Cabbage Patch Doll once. However, they did teach me the value of money when, while on vacation, I left my camera in a hotel room. We were able to contact the hotel and have them send it back to us, but I had to pay my parents back for the postage (which wasn't inexpensive). I think I lost half my allowance for the next 2 months, or something like that.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 22, 2012 14:27:27 GMT -5
Make them work for it, chores etc.
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Sum Dum Gai
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Post by Sum Dum Gai on Jun 22, 2012 14:31:41 GMT -5
Make them work for it, chores etc. I go back and forth on that. On the one hand, they have chores because we all have to pitch in to take care of ourselves. They should do their own laundry, clean their rooms, do dishes, etc., because those things need to get done, not because mom and dad are paying them for it. On the other hand, that leaves us giving them an allowance just for existing. Reinforcing the idea that they should get money just because they exist and want stuff doesn't sound like decent parenting. How do the allowance parents in here handle that?
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midjd
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Your Money Admin
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Post by midjd on Jun 22, 2012 14:36:34 GMT -5
I didn't get an allowance for doing the things I should've done anyway (clean my room) but did for "extra" projects that my parents would've had to do anyway. Usually ended up being outdoors projects - raking leaves, mowing the lawn when I was old enough, trimming bushes, cleaning up the trash when the neighbor's dogs would get into our cans... stuff like that. I'll probably do the same thing. I agree that it may set up a bad precedent to pay kids for things they're going to have to do for free as an adult. But there are a LOT of annoying household things I'd gladly outsource for $5/week ;D (I got $3/week back in the 90s - that would cover admission/skate rental/4 video games at the skating rink, which is where I spent all my money. Still do ) Not a parent though, so I know you didn't ask me
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souldoubt
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Post by souldoubt on Jun 22, 2012 14:42:00 GMT -5
Aside from regular chores you could always offer to pay them to do things they normally aren't resonsible for and you can even try to teach them by negotiating the price and if you low ball them once see if they come back asking for more. When I was young my friends and I would earn money by washing cars in the neighborhood, pulling weeds and so on. When all was said and done we were probably earning less per hour than some kid half way across the world working in a nike factory but we just saw the money in our pockets and that was motivation enough to keep at it. If we wanted money for the movies, food, baseball cards, etc especially during summer when we had almost 3 months off we had to earn it because it wasn't coming from our parents. Out of all of us that did this when we became old enough to work we all had jobs because we wanted money and knew it wasn't going to be handed to us.
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Epiphany
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meowzers!
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Post by Epiphany on Jun 22, 2012 14:46:53 GMT -5
I was homeschooled and part of my math lesson was helping mom figure out the bills. This was when people wrote checks and mailed them in of course. So my mom would make math problems listing dad's check and the bills that had to be paid out of it. I very quickly learned we didn't have much left over.
We'd also take math to the grocery store with a budget, list, and calculator to get to stay within budget.
Have you googled this question for ideas?
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shanendoah
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Post by shanendoah on Jun 22, 2012 14:49:58 GMT -5
Not yet a parent, but I remember that my brother and I did not get an allowance for doing the things we were supposed to around the house- cleaning our rooms, dusting (me), mowing the lawn (brother), etc, but we could earn extar money for things like cleaning up Dad's tool bench. We still got an allowance, but it wasn't just for existing- it was for going to school. School was our job. While we didn't get specific dollar amounts tied to grades, we both knew that if our grades slipped to unacceptable levels, we would stop getting an allowance until grades came out again (so like two full months). In high school, my parents rule was "if you want to drive, you have to have a job". My brother got a job and drove (living in a small town with no public transit). I chose not to drive (didn't get my license until 25), and not to have a job until after senior year of high school. But I still took my job of school seriously and earned myself a full ride scholarship to college.
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Peace Of Mind
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[font color="#8f2520"]~ Drinks Well With Others ~[/font]
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Post by Peace Of Mind on Jun 22, 2012 16:08:34 GMT -5
Make them work for it, chores etc. I go back and forth on that. On the one hand, they have chores because we all have to pitch in to take care of ourselves. They should do their own laundry, clean their rooms, do dishes, etc., because those things need to get done, not because mom and dad are paying them for it. On the other hand, that leaves us giving them an allowance just for existing. Reinforcing the idea that they should get money just because they exist and want stuff doesn't sound like decent parenting. How do the allowance parents in here handle that? When I was a step parent (and my parents did this with me) kids had to clean their own rooms and bathrooms but any work for the family got an allowance. So when they vacuumed, dusted, washed the car, etc. that was extra. Taking care of themselves was not. Yes - you can say they used the house and rode in the car... but they were shown how to earn money and then manage it by taking the initiative. Cleaning after themselves or their messes did not count.
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thyme4change
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Post by thyme4change on Jun 22, 2012 16:12:33 GMT -5
Maybe I can get my husband to do the dishes every once in a while if I tie his allowance to it.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 22, 2012 18:55:24 GMT -5
Reinforcing the idea that they should get money just because they exist and want stuff doesn't sound like decent parenting. It's theoretical at this stage, but I figure if we have kids, I'll give them a small allowance while they're in school. School is their primary job. The way I think of it, it's kind of analogous to grad students receiving stipends. I don't think I'd pay for specific grades, just maybe chip in sporadic small bonuses if they did well, but not be consistent or predictable with the amount, like a lot of jobs.
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GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl
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Post by GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl on Jun 22, 2012 20:56:09 GMT -5
Make them work for it, chores etc. I go back and forth on that. On the one hand, they have chores because we all have to pitch in to take care of ourselves. They should do their own laundry, clean their rooms, do dishes, etc., because those things need to get done, not because mom and dad are paying them for it. On the other hand, that leaves us giving them an allowance just for existing. Reinforcing the idea that they should get money just because they exist and want stuff doesn't sound like decent parenting. How do the allowance parents in here handle that? We don't pay for their expected contribution to helping the household run smoothly. And, I never thought about the allowance as payment for just existing. I see it as a financial curriculum. It's really hard to teach finance to kids theoretically. Experiential learning is a whole lot more effective. Besides, call me a parenting slacker if you will, but I just got freaking tired of being nickeled and dimed to death.
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Firebird
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Post by Firebird on Jun 25, 2012 10:47:09 GMT -5
Maybe I can get my husband to do the dishes every once in a while if I tie his allowance to it. It sounds good in theory but I better not go down this road or DH might stop cooking for me.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 25, 2012 10:48:17 GMT -5
Clark Smart Parents, Clark Smart Kids
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aliciar6
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Post by aliciar6 on Jun 29, 2012 9:26:48 GMT -5
We don't do allowance. We've talked about it a couple times, and even started once, but we were horrible at stopping by the ATM to have cash to give them so it only lasted about a month and they only got their allowance twice I think. We probably should start a real allowance so they can start budgeting their own money. what my parents did with allowance was keep a chart showing how much we earned per week for doing our chores ($10) and a running total of what we have accumulated to date, when we wanted the money to either spend part of it or put it in our accounts, we would let them know and they'd take the money out for us and either give it to us or take us to our bank to put the money in our savings account.
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aliciar6
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Post by aliciar6 on Jun 29, 2012 9:29:10 GMT -5
also i did earn extra money for cleaning the pool, mowing the lawn, and shoveling snow. if i was bad, my punishment was pulling weeds or picking veggies or fruits in the garden.
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zibazinski
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Post by zibazinski on Jun 29, 2012 10:09:07 GMT -5
I think it's going to be hard for you to make them work for their money and learn the value of a dollar but I wish you luck.
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