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November 29, 2007
Allowance Learning
I stay out of the allowance debate. Many parents give their children an allowance. Other parents say no. It’s not necessary.
My own choice was to provide some allowance, but not enough for all the goodies my kids wanted. Extra money was available by doing jobs above the routine chores; bringing in firewood during the winter-routine, chopping wood during the summer-extra. They liked doing dangerous work with an axe and getting paid for it, but you get the picture.
For my money, what kids do with the money they receive is almost as important as receiving it. The other evening I was talking with a Mom who had a plan for her son’s utilization of his income that I’d wished I’d used.
Parker gets a daily allowance during the school year. Eighty percent of his money goes to whatever he chooses. If he’s like most fifth graders, he’s on the verge of big purchases-CDs, DVD, video games. Boy toys start to come in larger sizes in after the age of ten. Saving for a little longer than three days becomes a necessity if an ipod is in the picture.
Notice I said 80%. So what happens to the rest of his money? According to his Mom, 10% must be put into savings and 10% goes to charity. We didn’t have a lengthy discussion, but I’m guessing the savings stays put even when the ipod is close to a reality, and the charity is up to him. In this case I doubt if “charity beginning at home” is an argument that is going to be won ipod or no.
As I look at my own children and their learning the use of money, I realize we can’t start too soon. Habits of spending and saving, earning and giving begin to form early. They watch what you do. They try things out to see what works, but they learn best by experience.
I’m not into the allowance debate, but I do believe we need to let our children experience the benefits and pitfalls of receiving and spending money before they have to do it on their own. We may not always agree with their purchases. I still have remnants of stuffed animals crazes, clunky jewelry, and music I would never listen to around my house. I also have a few baseball cards that might just be worth a fortune someday, all purchased by youngsters figuring out what they liked in the world and how much they were willing to spend on it.
Posted by Dr Joni at November 29, 2007 05:56 PM