As my children are growing more responsible, I want those skills to include money skills too.
We’ve reached a point in our family where the amount of work being done by our oldest child was not equal to the amount of work being done the other kids. Sidney and I are seeing a development in his maturity; doing things without being asked, helping take care of his younger brothers, etc.
Our Chore and Allowance Philosophy
In our household you have certain things you do just because you’re a living, breathing human member of the family. Your laundry? You put it away. Your dish? You get to put it in the dishwasher. Those aren’t paid for – they are just part of being alive.
Nor do my husband and I believe in paying children to just exist. “Oh you were alive for an entire week? Here’s 5 bucks.” That doesn’t happen in our house either.
Why We Decided to Pay for Certain Chores
What we’ve noticed happening the last couple months, however, is that Evan is sweeping up in the kitchen and NONE of it is his mess. It’s mostly Adam’s mess under his high chair. Or cleaning up the bedrooms – it’s a mess that Micah and Adam made, not Evan. Or carrying in firewood for the entire family? Evan is being helpful and giving his dad a hand, whereas the other two boys aren’t yet able to physically carry it in the house.
So we are sitting down this week to brainstorm what chores are the “extra chores” and what those tasks are worth. Sweeping the kitchen floor? That sounds like a cool $.50 per day to me and well worth it considering at this point in my pregnancy I can’t even bend over with the dust pan! Things like that. The extra above-and-beyond stuff.
What Will We Do With the Money?
This is where the timing of my invitation to consider being a brand ambassador was a total God-thing! It’s only the third brand that Untrained Housewife has agreed to work with so far and listening to the founder explain the concept behind it made me realize this was an excellent choice.
Kidworth will help Evan and Brianna create saving, giving and spending habits that will be of tremendous benefit in their future lives as adults. Did you know the average child gets $25,000 in their lifetime yet most leave home with a networth of zero?
, Sidney and I will be able to sit down with the kids and help them create a savings plan, a giving plan and a spending plan that will serve them well for years to come. And teach them the values about finances and money that are important to our family. We will be able to pay the majority of the job earnings directly into our children’s Kidworth account and allow them to visually track their progress!
Watch for future posts coming soon on how we set up our kids account and how the children respond to this new-found wealth.
What are your philosophies of work, chores, allowance, etc? Do you have a system in place to help your children learn important financial skills?
Ryan’s at the same stage with Gabe… trying to decide what chores he can give Gabe that we can pay him for so he learns to earn, save and spend wisely!
I think we decided to enlist the kids’ input on some of this discussion so we can encourage them to think through what is part of being a family member and what they feel is an extra. Parental guidance included of course. 😉