Family chores, pocket money and teaching kids about money and responsibilities

balletshoes

gunsandbanjos wrote: »

I had the bank of scotland squirrel, lost him though:(

We all had Clydesdale bank pigs (as well as other money boxes in various forms given as gifts through the years from relatives). I had more money saved as a child/teenager than I've ever had since :rotfl:.

artichoke

thanks for all the replies - i will have a proper read later when kids in bed ...

I also don''t want chores to be directly linked to pocket money.

i have been googling and found this - which i like the initial look of but will read the guide to see if it would work for us...

has anyone else seen or used something like this ? any thoughts?

http://www.fisher-kids.com/Home_Page.html

I like the idea that there are set responsibilities that you have to do as you are part of a family team but if you do extra jobs then you get paid extra and that you have to save some of the money not just spend it all...

i have downloaded the guide and will read later - it's too expensive to post to the uk but i am sure i could use the same principles in my own system...

art

BitterAndTwisted

See, the thing about giving kids pocket-money is that it becomes theirs to do with as they choose. If you insist that they save some of it they lose their autonomy. It's the autonomy which leads to responsibility (one hopes). I don't think you can have one without the other.

MadDogWoman_2

My Daughter is 6 and instead of linking chores to money I have set up a reward chart on Excel for her with set things on it like reading and practising her spellings, which she gets points for.

Then if she does anything extra, or gets a good result on her spelling test at school she gets a bonus point.

Currently she is trying to gain enough points to get a visit to the Build a Bear shop.

pukkamum

Never link pocket money to chores for all the reasons listed above.
I have a job pot, a jar with extra jobs written on lollipop sticks, each of these have a monetary value, ie cleaning the car, wiping skirting boards etc but washing up, setting an clearing table etc all expected as being part of the family.
P.s I have had to restrict the lollypop job jar to one a day as my son once wiped me out in one fell swoop, though my house was pristine afterwards hahaha.

pukkamum

MadDogWoman wrote: »

My Daughter is 6 and instead of linking chores to money I have set up a reward chart on Excel for her with set things on it like reading and practising her spellings, which she gets points for.

Then if she does anything extra, or gets a good result on her spelling test at school she gets a bonus point.

Currently she is trying to gain enough points to get a visit to the Build a Bear shop.

I'm sorry but I really do not agree with reward charts for things that should be done anyway such as reading, reading should be done for pleasure not to earn a reward, same for schoolwork.
I think rewarding children for doing things that should be done anyway is a slippery slope.

pukkamum

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

See, the thing about giving kids pocket-money is that it becomes theirs to do with as they choose. If you insist that they save some of it they lose their autonomy. It's the autonomy which leads to responsibility (one hopes). I don't think you can have one without the other.

I agree, forcing a child to save teaches them nothing, showing them a game or something else they could have had instead of spending it all on sweets is a much better lesson learned.
My son was desperate for the next the walking dead graphic comic.
I pointed out that had he not spent a months pocket money on sweets he could have had it, he was gutted.
Since then he has himself set himself a sweets and comic budget.
He saves enough to buy one and when it comes he uses that weeks money to buy sweets to eat whilst reading it.

GobbledyGook

We have a mixed bag in our house. Everyone has set chores that are theirs. There is no reward or anything for them. They are part of the household and everyone has to do them.

The girls get pocket money for extra jobs, but when they take on the extra jobs they have to commit to them for 4 weeks. That does make the extra chores 'optional', but we're strict on it and it only took a one or two times of missing their money (which for DD1 meant missing an extra trip to swimming and for DD2 missing her magazine for a week) before they grasped the concept. They also understand that if adults choose not to do their biggest chore (go to work) there would be no money for anything.

However pocket money doesn't get spent on sweets here. As I've mentioned before on here they have a treat box (as do the adults) that gets filled once a week with a variety of things including some sweets. It's entirely up to them when they eat from it. It only took one or two weeks of eating everything on day 1 to make that work also.

I think we've struck a balance between 'everyone needs to pitch in' and 'if you work hard(er) you can earn/aim for more' but without seeing all of the pocket money being spent on sweets. It's not perfect and there are weeks where they play up, like any children, but on the whole it seems to work.

LucyGoose

When we were growing up we were expected to help around the house, washing up and keeping our bedroom tidy etc. I did however get pocket money if I did other tasks such as cleaning the family car, helping dad organise his shed or helping with the gardening.

minerva_windsong

Kayalana99 wrote: »

I might be wrong and it would of been the 90's but I'm sure Halifax were the ones that gave me a yellow house with a red roof money box.

I had that Halifax house money box in the early 90s Never got on with the magazine though, mainly because it didn't seem to promote any fun things to do near where I lived as a kid...