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Post by freecharlie on Jul 17, 2015 22:20:35 GMT
A story I just read stated that the average allowance of a school aged child was $35 per week. I wondered how average that really was. What does your child earn for an allowance if you don't mind sharing? I am apparently cheap. story
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Post by littlemama on Jul 17, 2015 22:28:59 GMT
Holy crap! In later elementary school, ds got three dollars per week, one to spend, one to save, and one for charity. In early middle school, that changed to five dollars per week-2to spend, two to save and one for charity. Eventually, we made that twenty per month so I didn't have to keep coming up with all those singles. Right now, he is technically supposed to get 50 dollars per month twenty to spend, twenty to save, and ten for charity, however, we pay for his car, his insurance, and his gas, plus he gets cash and gift cards for Christmas and birthday, so he doesn't have need for much. I usually just let him keep the change from gas or the grocery store.
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johnnysmom
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,682
Jun 25, 2014 21:16:33 GMT
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Post by johnnysmom on Jul 17, 2015 22:33:44 GMT
Whoa, don't tell my ds that! Ds14 gets $.50/year of age, so we're up to $7/week. Honestly we're pretty bad at paying him, I need to find a better way to keep track Ds4 isn't quite old enough yet, but he's been asking for more stuff lately to its nearly time for chores and allowance to start up there.
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Post by Dori~Mama~Bear on Jul 17, 2015 22:36:14 GMT
my daughter didn't get allowance she had to earn money. If it was doing extra chores or baby sitting or working with husband. She earned money. Now if she wanted something we would talk about it and usually bought it for her depending on what it was. or we would tell her to put it on her wish list. If she wanted to go to a movie we would give her the money or take her to the movie.
From a very young age we started her earning money because she was learning about money in school and didn't have a clue. so we showed her how to earn money.
and even before that we would give her a nickel or a dime or a quarter for what ever. like picking up her dirty clothes or taking a shower. We made a list of everything she had to do in a day. including hygiene stuff and what ever else a 4 year old does. She wanted to make money for Christmas gift for her grandmas and her grandpa and her dad. so We taught her how. When we first started we thought it was only going to be for a couple months until that Christmas. Well She made lots of money that year and she spent it all on people for Christmas. She was so proud of herself. She wanted to keep making money. Now at 22 years old she has a nice little stash. She told me a few days before she went to Hawaii she had to go to the back. She had 8 pay checks she had to deposit. She got paid every 2 weeks. I couldn't believe she had 4 months of pay checks she hadn't deposited. She said if I don't cash them I won't spend the money. I told her that isn't a good idea to do it that way She had them all in her wallet. I told her if she doesn't want to spend it to put it in her trust account.
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raindancer
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,095
Jun 26, 2014 20:10:29 GMT
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Post by raindancer on Jul 17, 2015 22:41:28 GMT
I can't help but wonder if that is also counting expenses for "fun" stuff or something. my parents gave me money for weekend activities and lunch and that was my "allowance". Some weeks were more than others.
My kids don't get anything close to that, but I also buy them a lot of things. They never buy shoes or clothes for example.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Jun 1, 2024 17:53:47 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jul 17, 2015 22:42:54 GMT
That's crazy!! We aren't giving our kids allowance right now, and I think the last time we did we were giving them $5/week. When I start working, I'm planning on giving the older two $10/week because they will be doing daily chores and helping out more.
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Post by 950nancy on Jul 17, 2015 22:54:55 GMT
Once my kids were old enough to start mowing lawns (9) they got cut off. They started earning $150-200 a week for five months and all of a sudden my $5 IF you do everything you should didn't seem so good anymore. I have a few chores in the house that I would pay for and those were often done in the poor months of winter.
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Post by 950nancy on Jul 17, 2015 22:58:41 GMT
That's crazy!! We aren't giving our kids allowance right now, and I think the last time we did we were giving them $5/week. When I start working, I'm planning on giving the older two $10/week because they will be doing daily chores and helping out more. My husband and I both worked. When my kids got old enough to do chores, they started doing their own laundry, cleaning the downstairs, vacuuming, cleaning the toilets/showers, mopping, emptying the dishwasher, and the yard work. When I finally figured out that my husband had given them most of HIS chores it was too late! He worked about 15 hours more per week than I did, so I let that one slide. How old are your kids? When do you go back?
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Jun 1, 2024 17:53:47 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jul 17, 2015 23:18:23 GMT
I don't think there's enough information in that article - and there's too much variation in what people consider allowance - for that amount to be very meaningful. If someone gives their child $35/week and the kid is expected to pay for their own phone, their own clothes, any sports/activities, and so on... Well, that's not very much at all. If they get $35/week and it's purely for entertainment and the parents pay for everything else, well, that might be kind of a lot.
DS is 7 and he gets $7/week. At this point, he's to save half, spend 30%, and give 20%. We still buy pretty much everything for him. His allowance is not so much about the actual money now and more about building habits and attitudes.
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Post by Basket1lady on Jul 17, 2015 23:31:41 GMT
My kIDs get $1 per year of school. So a 2nd grader gets $2, a 11th grader gets $11. It's basically fun money. They buy Starbucks, movie tickets, eat out with friends, etc with that money. We pay their car insurance, cell bill, activity fees, etc beyond the allowance. I found the allowance helped A LOT when they were younger. If they were In a store and wanted a treat or a toy, I would tell them it was their money and they could buy it if they wanted. That stopped a lot of the gimmies, and they seldom bought the item.
Personally, I found it too much work to keep track of nickel and dime chores. I'm very organized but would find that I would forget to mark a chore done because I was in the middle of my own thing. Then there were the times when they had birthday money and decided it was too much work to pick up their laundry and make their beds, so they would tell me to just keep my money. So about kindergarten, I decided not to tie chores to allowance. If you live in our house, you are expected to help out. We did a big deck cleaning and staining project in June and we did pay them extra for that. And DS gets $10 a week extra for mowing the lawn.
So if I had to add up the extras, my kids probably get more than $35 a week. But for our family, it's just part of the cost of raising kids. I don't consider paying the car insurance allowance, but I do call it a priveledge, not a right. Same with the cell phones.
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Post by freecharlie on Jul 17, 2015 23:42:32 GMT
My kids can earn $10 per week for normal chores, room cleaned and their 1 extra weekly chore. They can earn more.knew by doing other things around the house, but they rarely follow through. I am glad to see I am not too far off other peas.
I give them money when there is a social outing, play for their typically extras, so they don't want for anything
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Jun 1, 2024 17:53:47 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jul 17, 2015 23:59:10 GMT
That's crazy!! We aren't giving our kids allowance right now, and I think the last time we did we were giving them $5/week. When I start working, I'm planning on giving the older two $10/week because they will be doing daily chores and helping out more. My husband and I both worked. When my kids got old enough to do chores, they started doing their own laundry, cleaning the downstairs, vacuuming, cleaning the toilets/showers, mopping, emptying the dishwasher, and the yard work. When I finally figured out that my husband had given them most of HIS chores it was too late! He worked about 15 hours more per week than I did, so I let that one slide. How old are your kids? When do you go back? I'm starting in a few weeks. Our oldest two are (almost) 14 and 11; the younger two will be 2, and 4, in Sept/Oct.
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scorpeao
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,521
Location: NorCal USA
Jun 25, 2014 21:04:54 GMT
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Post by scorpeao on Jul 18, 2015 0:04:38 GMT
My dd has never gotten an allowance. She is expected to clean up after herself and help around the house as needed. If she wanted something I usually bought it for her or she had to wait for her birthday or Christmas. Now that she's older I pay her to house sit and take care of animals when I go out of town.
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Post by birdy on Jul 18, 2015 1:23:55 GMT
Whoa, don't tell my ds that! Ds14 gets $.50/year of age, so we're up to $7/week. Honestly we're pretty bad at paying him, I need to find a better way to keep track Ds4 isn't quite old enough yet, but he's been asking for more stuff lately to its nearly time for chores and allowance to start up there. We do $0.50 per year of age too. DS is 15 so gets 7.50 and DD is 9 so gets 4.50. DS also gets an extra $5-10 to mow and use the weed trimmer each week.
We aren't good at remembering to pay either. So, we write it on the calendar for every Saturday so we remember. We figure, we wouldn't like if our jobs didn't remember to pay us, so we're trying to be better with that w/ the kids.
They have to do chores and that's their pay for the week.
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Post by maryland on Jul 18, 2015 1:27:07 GMT
My girls are 12, 15 and 17. They don't do much, so they don't get an allowance. My 12 yr. old daughter always shovels without being asked and she mows the lawn as well as a lot of other things. She gets paid for what she does and makes a good amount of money. She started mowing the grass last year and loves it!
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Post by doesitmatter on Jul 18, 2015 1:35:23 GMT
My dd 12 was getting $5 a week, but now I have been getting her a monthly Ipsy instead and she loves it so much more! she is almost 13 and going to middle school and she is getting a great mix of skincare, haircare, and some make up she can wear in middle school. I can't do more than that right now, but I can do this and she loves it more than actual money right now.
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Post by AussieMeg on Jul 18, 2015 1:39:51 GMT
That seems awfully high, but it depends on what that money is supposed to cover. For example, my kids get to order lunch at school one day a week, which is a treat, and I pay for it. But I know kids who have to pay for their own lunch out of their allowance. Likewise if my kids were going to the movies I would pay; Perhaps the kids who are getting $35 a week have to pay for that kind of stuff themselves.
My kids don't get an allowance.
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Deleted
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Jun 1, 2024 17:53:47 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jul 18, 2015 1:41:57 GMT
Our ODS (11) has chores he has to do that don't earn him money...cleaning up his room, making his bed, putting his laundry away and such. But I have extra chores that he can earn money by doing...they range from .50 cents to a dollar depending on the chore. He can choose to do them and earn money or not and get nothing that week. It works for us. Normally if there is something he is wanting he is more willing to do the "paid" chores.
YDS (6) has the same potential to earn money and he will do quite a few things each week. He normally gets on average about $2 a week doing extra things around the house to help out.
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Post by Outspoken on Jul 18, 2015 2:32:02 GMT
Mine don't get allowance. We pay for smart phones, clothes, fun with friends, etc. They do have chores and receive money and gift cards for gifts on occasion. If they earn any money doing odd jobs, it's theirs to use as they wish.
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Post by padresfan619 on Jul 18, 2015 2:45:22 GMT
I got $15 a week in high school. I mostly used it for lunch money. I got a job when I turned 16 but still got lunch money.
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Post by freecharlie on Jul 18, 2015 2:47:21 GMT
I pay for the kids lunch, any day they want to eat (which is most) and purchase items to make it with when they don't want to eat hot lunch. I don't consider that allowance. That is food.
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Post by HelenaJole on Jul 18, 2015 5:17:42 GMT
We do one dollar per year of age, every pay day (10th and 25th). We're at $10.00 now, and have discussed not increasing it after this year. Not sure yet.
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Post by scrapmaven on Jul 18, 2015 17:34:30 GMT
We pay for meals. I also provide all movie tickets. Snacks are their responsibility for movies. We give a weekly allowance, but it's tiny, cause we provide so much more. They can have more for extra chores, but they don't seem to want to do extra chores during the summer. Go figure! In our case, they have to do their laundry and clean their bathroom. There are things I just cannot do and they have always had to help out. My oldest has a booth at the local antique store and makes money there. Right now it's just enough to cover rent and little bit extra. So, we still give an allowance. When it's up and running we might discontinue weekly.
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Post by just PEAchy on Jul 18, 2015 18:47:57 GMT
My kids used to get their school grade per week, ie $5/week for a 5th grader. They had to put 20% into savings. I was also bad about paying them, but I wrote it all down in a check register and then I would subtract when they used it, but alt of times I would forget. . I really wanted something easier that I didn't have to keep track of, so now I just give each of them (ages 16, 14 and 11) $20 cash at the end of the month. It's less money for them, but we pay for a lot of things for them, ie movie tix, Starbucks, an occasional DVD. or video game and they haven't complained about it being less.
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Post by freecharlie on Jul 18, 2015 19:10:33 GMT
My 14 year old has an account and a debit card. I pay him by transferring the money. They youngest doesn't have that access, so I have to pay him cash and then he loses it.
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Post by originalvanillabean on Jul 18, 2015 19:11:53 GMT
We don't have children, but when I started getting an allowance it matched my age. $10 at age 10, $11 at age 11, etc..
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Post by melanell on Jul 18, 2015 19:21:25 GMT
We also do the .50 per year of age, and like johnnysmom said above, we don't even always remember to dole it out nor do the kids remember to ask for it.
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Post by crazy4scraps on Jul 18, 2015 23:04:37 GMT
DH and I never got allowances, and we won't give one to DD either. She is/will be expected to help out with some things around the house because she is part of our family, and neither of us get paid for keeping our household clean and maintained so why should she? We don't usually buy her a lot of extra stuff throughout the year either other than Christmas or birthday wish lists. So if she wants other stuff she has to do extra stuff to earn it, just like anybody else would in real life.
We we expect her to keep her room clean, clothes picked up, and her toys and stuff picked up in the family room, etc. We also make her clean up after herself if she makes a mess and not leave trash, dishes and other stuff laying around. Now that she's getting a little older, she can set and clear the table at mealtimes, dust furniture, feed the dogs, scoop poop in the yard (with help) and other age appropriate tasks. None of this is stuff she'll get paid for.
She can earn extra by doing some additional chores. I'm thinking of making a set of chore sticks that have a task written on each one and the amount we'll pay her to do that chore. Every time she chooses a chore to do and successfully does it, she can move the stick to a second jar. At the end of the week (or two weeks, or whatever) she can cash in the sticks in the second jar for money.
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tiffanytwisted
Pearl Clutcher
you can check out any time you like, but you can never leave
Posts: 4,538
Jun 26, 2014 15:57:39 GMT
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Post by tiffanytwisted on Jul 18, 2015 23:10:45 GMT
Holy crap! That's a lot in my book.
Mine never got an allowance or paid for chores. We felt you take out the garbage, etc. because you are a contributing member of this household.
We did however, pay for grades. Not the most popular mindset, but it worked for us. $10 for an A, $5 for a B. Nothing for anything lower. The kid had the opportunity to make about $100 per marking period (there were 4 per year). Only once did one of mine make that much and even so, they always seemed to have enough money for what they needed.
$35/week? Did I say holy crap already?
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Peal
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,524
Jun 25, 2014 22:45:40 GMT
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Post by Peal on Jul 18, 2015 23:28:37 GMT
We do what another pea had mentioned a while ago. The amount per week equal to their grade in school. Example: my 5th grader get $5/week. They only get allowance during the school year and they can earn extra money by doing extra chores. Mowing the lawn. Maintaining the pool. Bagging leaves. Stuff like that.
My oldest just started driving. He has to cover his gas through his job this summer. We will cover his gas during the school year.
When I was a teen I got $20 a month. If I needed more than that I got a job.
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