[Nathan]

Do you give yoru child an allowance? What does the child have to do, if anything, go get it?

[twinzplus3]

Yes--we pay our kids for our chores. We make them put some in savings, some for investing and 10% for a charity of their choice. They have to help clean the house, but helping is optional as they are all still very young. (That's a long story.)

[Mim23]

We started our four year old on allowance this year, so we could teach her the importance of paying her tithing, and saving. I believe that these skills should be taught young. She does have a list of daily chores (making her bed, picking up her toys) that she needs to complete in order to earn it.

[shazbo]

no my daughter is 7 and she has spending if going on holiday or a trip but if we go anywhere she has things bought with in reason

[Samual]

Mikey has pocket money, £3 a week as he is only four, our children don't and will never be expected to do any chores.

[etali]

I'm a fan of pocket money. We do it the 'it's yours, but if you spend it, you don't get any more' way - so no telling them to save it or give it to charity or anything. When the youngest got her first few weeks worth she would blow it all on sweets, make herself ill from them, and then be upset the rest of the week because she couldn't have an ice cream or a magazine with her friends, or whatever else she wanted.

She quickly learned to budget though - at the moment she's saving up for a game for her DS

[daddyoftwogirls]

our kids get 2 dollars each weekend, unless they failed to keep their room reasonably tidy so we "charge" them part of the allowance to do the job.

[bigijim]

I don't receive an allowance so neither does anyone else in this house. I heard Tom Hopkins say once that he and his wife decided when raising kids that they would provide everything their kids needed and would allow them to earn what they wanted.

This has worked good for me, As examples: I provide anything that is needed for school and activities. When it comes to clothes I price conservatively. If my teenager wants fancy or extreme name brand, she could do extra task around the house for the extra cash difference. Otherwise I set the amount to be spent on clothing items. At age 16 she now has a part time job and can subsidize her own clothing upgrades. She values what she owns much more than if we just purchased everything she wants.

When great grades come in I will reward with purchasing or giving the money for something she wants. Rare that I will pay full amount of a high ticket item like an iPod. She has to find a way to contribute the the purchase. It really makes her take care of things.

[greenmtmom]

Yep. $1 per year. My 3 yo gets $3/week...usually. Sometimes we fall off the wagon with family meetings but we're set to start again. once a week, we hand out cash...

[pattiewrites]

We do a dollar for every grade level in school, so $5 for my 5th grader every week, $3 for my 3rd grader. I agree with the idea that we provide what they need and they earn what they want. They can save and buy whatever they want with the money they earn. We don't have a set percentage for giving to charity, but they give a lot, more than half in some weeks! Other weeks, they spend most or all. They are learning how to handle money and making decisions with it. They do have chores. I am neither an indentured servant nor a paid cleaning woman. They are absolutely expected to pick up after themselves and pitch in a bit, whether that means emptying the dishwasher or sweeping the floor. This isn't tied to allowance, but this is our home. We all live here. We ALL take care of it together. They get to choose their weekly jobs and it rotates, so everyone gets a chance to sweep the kitchen floor. (they have actually argued over this one, believe it or not!)