{"id":2708,"date":"2017-12-07T13:55:54","date_gmt":"2017-12-07T17:55:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/marriagekidsandmoney.com\/?p=2708"},"modified":"2020-06-15T04:39:06","modified_gmt":"2020-06-15T04:39:06","slug":"why-i-wont-give-my-kids-an-allowance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marriagekidsandmoney.com\/why-i-wont-give-my-kids-an-allowance\/","title":{"rendered":"Why I Won’t Give My Kids An Allowance"},"content":{"rendered":"

The concept of giving my kids an allowance bothers me. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou exist therefore you get money.\u201d That concept doesn\u2019t work in the real world. Why would I want to teach that to my kids?<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

My children are only 5 and 3 (or \u201c5 \u00be\u201d and \u201cfree\u201d as they would say) so there\u2019s still quite a bit of time to cement our parenting strategy around chores, rewards and helping around the house. <\/span><\/p>\n

My 5-year old, Zoey, has been doing small chores around the house for the last year. Instead of an allowance, we give her a dollar for each chore she completes. Three chores per week nets her $3. Not bad for a 5-year old!<\/span><\/p>\n

The chores aren\u2019t too difficult and she\u2019s really starting to grasp the concept that hard work equals reward<\/a>. I\u2019m new to this whole \u201cfatherhood\u201d thing, but using the term\u00a0\u201cChore Money\u201d instead of \u201cAllowance\u201d<\/strong> just seems right to me. <\/span><\/p>\n

To further convince myself I\u2019m headed down the right path, here are 5 reasons I dig the term \u201cChore Money\u201d over \u201cAllowance\u201d:<\/span><\/p>\n

1. Understanding where money ACTUALLY comes from<\/h2>\n

Throughout my career, I\u2019ve found the more effort I put in, the more rewards I receive<\/a>. <\/span>The same goes with Zoey\u2019s chores. We tie her contribution around the house to a monetary reward so that she starts to understand the correlation.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Zoey
Zoey Raking Leaves<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If she helps with the chores, she's get paid. <\/span><\/p>\n

If she doesn't help, she doesn't get paid. Quite simple really.<\/span><\/p>\n

As we're trying to teach our daughter the rules of life, we've found “the simpler, the better” rule of thumb works best. That goes for brushing her teeth, the amount of time she gets with the iPad and the amount of “treats” she can have. Our daughter craves rules and boundaries. When there is a vagueness to a situation, she kinda freaks out.<\/p>\n

I do agree with Joseph Hogue, CFA from Peer Finance 101<\/a> that there are some chores that should be done without compensation. “Kids need to learn that there are some things you do around the house just because they need to get done,” said Hogue. “A family works together even if the rewards aren\u2019t as tangible as getting paid.”<\/p>\n

2. Comprehending that money is a finite resource that should be carefully spent<\/h2>\n

A few weeks ago, we went to a kid play place where they had bounce houses and video games. Zoey brought $5 of her own money and she was able to use it for games until she ran out of money. We definitely warned her of this rule before letting her run wild. <\/span><\/p>\n

30 minutes later, Zoey came up to us and asked for more money because she was all out. We stuck to our guns and told her, \u201cIf you\u2019re all out of money for video games, you can play on the bounce houses. Those don\u2019t cost any money.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

She wasn\u2019t thrilled with our response, but after some moping and whining she got over it.<\/span><\/p>\n