Allowance for Kids

Money management is one of the most important thing in our lives today, and what better time to inculcate the importance of money management in an individual, but in childhood! The best method of inculcating this quality in kids is by ensuring that they understand the importance of money in their life, and they will only understand the importance when they have their own money. This can be done by assigning some chores to them, whereby they earn their own money and spend it the way they want (while you monitor them of course). The amount of money that you give your kids as allowance should be well thought of; it should be neither too much nor too little.

Best Way to Inculcate Money Management in Kids

Giving allowance for children, in return for the chores they do, is much better than you buying things for them. Doing this will only increase their dependence on you throughout their childhood, making it a problem for them when they come of age. Allowing them to manage their own allowance can act as an excellent child development too. You may also set some rules to ensure that, some of the money is saved. Inculcating the importance of saving in childhood can help the child in becoming responsible in money management. You should also keep a tab on this allowance.

Allowance for Kids by Age

You can start an allowance for children right from their 7th birthday. In most cases, while determining a kids allowance, the rule of thumb is to give them an amount half their age in the beginning and gradually increase it every year. This will also keep your children happy as they will be looking forward for their birthdays. As they grow up, you need to take their needs, lifestyle and expectations into consideration and raise the allowance as required.

Chore Charts: Allowance Chart for Kids

When assigning the chores, you will have to make sure that the kids would be comfortable doing them. For instance, you can't tell a kid in his preteens to iron the clothes, but this can be an ideal chore for a kid in his teens. The allowance that is assigned for these chores should also be at par with their difficulty levels. For instance, watering the plants on weekends can earn him $1, while watering the plants everyday can earn him up to $5 over a week.

Chore Chart for Preteens

Chore	Allowance
Watering the Plants	$2
Sorting the Laundry	$2
Helping in the Kitchen	$2
Cleaning Large Rooms	$2
Cleaning the Lawn	$5

Chore Chart for Teenagers

Chore	Allowance
Ironing Clothes	$5
Pet Care	$5
Preparing Food	$5
Washing the Car	$10
Mowing the Lawn	$10

You can also have some consequences for the chores assigned are not completed, this will ensure that the kids will take the chores more seriously. You can also add some more chores to the charts given above.

However, you need to make sure that the chores included in the allowance chart don't include daily activities such as brushing teeth, making bed or doing homework. These are ideal components of child behavior charts, and if the kids are made to do them in return for allowance, it will adversely impact the child's mindset, thus making him feel that all the tasks he does at home need have to be compulsorily compensated in cash. Last, but most importantly, when you give weekly/monthly allowance to your kids, you need to closely monitor how they spend the money and advice them on how to use their earning efficiently and save them for future.