Kids Allowances Saves you money

Are you giving your child or kids a weekly or monthly allowance?

Do you think it’s an added expense?

I used to think that I gave my kids enough stuff, and they didn’t need an allowance at all. They generally got stuff all the time. Example Movie rental, junk food, etc. I of course also secretly enjoyed the power of the Word “NO” when I felt the item was worthless.

I also did Chore money for a long time, but was spending money on them for movie rentals, etc, going to the show as a family etc.  The chore money for them became used for stuff I would say No to.

So a few months ago I read an interview with the famous tv show host : Gail Vaz-Oxlade and she mentioned Kids need an allowance to learn about money. And Chores should have nothing to do with allowance. Her theory was we as adults do not get paid to pick up after ourselves, etc.

So I decided to try this theory out. I am currently on month 3 right now in my experiment.

According to Gail Vaz Oxlande you should give your child : 1 dollar per year per week.  ( So if your child is 5 then it would be $5 per week)

Well I am terrible at doing weekly allowance. I rarely carry cash beyond $20.00 .  So I decided I will give my kids the correct amount of allowance and only pay them once a month.  This way they really need to learn how to stretch a dollar.

First off: My son is $15 So his check is $60 and my daughter is 12 and she gets $48.00 per month.

Guess what? It is working.

They both had field trips of some sort or other, so they had to watch their pennies during the month because of the events.

We went to the show, and made them pay for their own, My daughter was price hunting what the cheapest drink was available, and she decided to skip popcorn, to save her money.

My son is 15, and likes to go up town for lunch, so he packs a lunch and eats his lunch, and simply goes up town for a pop with his friends.

About My kids:

My son is a complete Gamer, and loves renting games and movies, as well as purchasing games.

My daughter is a book-worm, and reads everything in sight.  She owns tons of books.  She is also artsy, and likes crafting.

Payday is next week:

My son has approximately $20 left

My daughter has approximately $28.00 left.

I believe it is saving me money. I was in Walmart the other day, by myself , and found a neat craft set ( that was on sale) I knew  my daughter would love to own it. I stopped, and thought “No, she can buy it if she wants it, next time we’re in.

When I stop at Tim Hortons and the kids are with me, I’m no longer paying for their ice caps.

My kids still do chores.

DD still does the dishes daily

DS still does Garbage and lawn mowing/snow removal.

They both have to clean their rooms, etc.

Everyone seems happy on this system.  The Kids love the control of how to spend their money, and are very nervous about being broke. ( LOL their words)

I am happy for not spending all this little money all the time.  Every rental is $4 -$5 for us. X 2 =$10/ week usually

Every time I stop at Timmies $4x 2 = $8 per week.

Going to the show $15 x2 =$30 – Usually 1 time per month

Junk food $10 per child per month $20

Money for Uptown lunches $25 per month

Money for books $26 ( Daughter)

Money for Gaming stuff $30 per month ( son) Not monthly but generally I would end up purchasing during the year Points for Xbox in exchange of chores during the year.

So before I was spending approximately $200 a month on them ( give or take)

Now it’s costing me: $108.00

So you can see that I am spending about $90 less than before.

They aren’t asking to go to the Movies  ( they make sure its theater worthy)

They don’t ask for movie rentals anymore, since it comes out of their pocket.

They don’t go uptown as much.

They don’t ask for Icecaps anymore.

I’m very happy that I’ve attempted this way. I’m thrilled the kids still do their chores, without complaining, as they know its part of their duties of living.

I think I also might attempt this year to give them a Back to School Allowance on shopping for clothes and books etc. Perhaps next year they won’t be so hard on their stuff.  ( example writing all over their binders)

I should add, I still pay for their clothing, and their food ( family suppers or if we are traveling, but no junk food) As well as school activities such as golfing or entry fee’s into sporting events.

My only regret is I didn’t start this sooner!

What do you do for your kids as far as Allowances go?