Our kids need to learn some good solid money habits before
it’s too late. We’ve been putting it off all school year.
Waiting for time.
I guess I can take joy in the fact that it coincides nicely
with our new “summer chores” list. A
nice two-for-one deal, if you will.
A little back story to start this. My husband and I have an 11 year-old son who
is a saver and a 9 year old daughter who spends every last cent she gets. Wildly different in every way, but they both
need money practice before we send them off into the world by themselves. We also really want them to learn to take
responsibility for the things they own AND know how to do things around the
house – hence the chores. I know many a college student who racked up thousands
of dollars of credit card debt because they had no concept of money when they
left home. We parents need to step it
up.
Our children have been doing age appropriate chores since at
least kindergarten. They make their beds (begrudgingly), pick up their rooms
and have had an additional “chore list”.
We have always told them that they need to do a few things “because they
live here, too.” Which I think is
perfectly appropriate. But before this summer, they have never had an
allowance. The time is here.
Because the children were whining frequently about their
chores, I knew it was time for the seasonal change out. We needed new chore options for the
summer (more on that later...). To add in the aforementioned
“Money 101” class AND stifle the whining and nagging we decided to add in an
allowance. I have to say, 3 weeks in,
it’s working. Chores are getting done
each day without (much) complaint and they are starting to learn to divide up their
money. Here is how we decided to do the allowance
management in our house.
First, we needed new piggy banks. I wanted the kind with three slots – one for
save, one for give and one for spend. I
looked online and was unhappy with the choices.
Pretty expensive (sort of defeats the purpose of the lesson) and they
were really plain. So instead I just
borrowed the concept and we made our own. See below for instructions.
Then we decided on how to divide up the allowance each week. This was not a popular decision, but again,
it’s a lesson. In our house, the kids
put 20% of their allowance into the “save” jar, 20% into the “give” jar (split
between our church and a charity of their choice) and 60% into the “spend”
jar. Every few months we will go to the
bank to deposit the “save” money and we will donate the “give” money*.
Now, thanks to the immediately divided allowances, it’s easy
for each child to tell exactly how much money they have, and how much they
still need to earn to get whatever it is they desire. They can also take a peek at their savings
accounts online via the bank’s website and watch their savings grow. Last, they are learning to save first and
hopefully they will get some joy out of choosing how to donate their “give”
money. Money management is too important
to neglect.
* One child feels passionate about the humane society at the
moment. The other needs a more “active”
donation, so we are going to introduce him to www.Kiva.org,
an organization that allows regular people to lend small loans to people in
impoverished countries.
Our daughter's bank is quick and easy. I used three plastic jars leftover from some Dole peaches and pineapples I had on hand. I asked my husband to cut the slots in the lids with a box cutter (it was easier for him to do...). Then our daughter wrapped her choice of duct tape around all three. Last, she labeled each jar "give", "spend" or "save". Done.
Our son got a more sophisticated piggy bank look. I'd love to say it's because he is more sophisticated, but really it's just because I think this version is way better and I couldn't let our daughter have glass. But I digress...
For his banks, he chose three different paint colors from leftovers we had on hand. One is his bedroom paint, the other two are from other projects. For each color, I poured some paint into a ball jar and rolled it around until it covered the jar. Then I poured as much out as I could back into the can. Last, I inverted the jar into a big red plastic Solo cup and let it continue to drip out overnight. By the next morning it was beautiful. It took another 24 hours to fully dry. We decided not to bother with slots in the lids on these. Just twist off the lids for use. Also labeled with "give", "spend" or "save".
Next post - the chores that earn the allowances. Have a great weekend.
