Life Lessons...

Awhile ago, I published this post about Allowance and the strategies that work for our family.  The system was test this past weekend, when Connar bounced a check!


Ok, ok, he's 11 and doesn't really have a checking account...

Typically, when the boys want to spend their money, they need to have their wallet with them.  This way, they know how much they have and money can change hands in the moment.  I made an exception on Saturday.  We had been out all day at a Football Jamboree and were stopping at a toy store on the way home.  The boys had just done their weekly jobs and knew how much money they had.  So I made an exception.

When we got home, I asked them to pay me back before they played with the new toys.  Connar opened his wallet and had nothing.  He teared up.  He over reacted.  He cried.

When he calmed down, he remembered that he's spent some money previously.  He didn't remember putting money into savings - which surprised me.  I said, "So it looks like you bounced a check.  You promised a payment with money that you didn't have.  How would you like to solve this problem?"  I expected him to say he'd pay for it out of savings, he had plenty in his account.  After a couple I don't know's, Connar asked if he could pay me back with extra jobs and next week's allowance.  So, we went with Repossession and Repayment.  


His new toy is sitting on top of the refrigerator, and there is a sticky note on the refrigerator door.  He's already done $2.00 worth of extra jobs and he scrounged $1.48 out of his bedroom.  I declined to accept the free chalupa coupon as payment.

I wonder how long it will take him to pay back the remaining $9.15?

Life Lessons...

Connar got an ipod touch from Santa.  It was the only thing he wanted for Christmas, and he was thrilled to have his wish granted.  Connar is an gadget-y kid.  He loves electronics and loves understanding how they work.  The ipod has been his constant companion since Christmas :)

A couple of weeks ago, Connar was heading out to soccer practice.  His dad advised him to leave the ipod at home.  Connar insisted that he "needed" it for the ride to practice.  Once at practice it got put into his backpack...and the water bottle leaked...a lot.

Connar was devastated that the ipod was broken.  Kyle made a few calls to find out about repairs and shared the information with Connar.  The crushing blow came when we asked, "How are you going to pay for repairs?" Connar's face fell, and his shoulders trembled, he fought back tears and replied, "Part of my birthday money?" Since he wasn't sure how much repairs would be, he set aside all of the birthday money...the money for a new skateboard...the money for a new goalie jersey.  Then he waited...and waited...for two weeks, when he heard that the ipod was beyond repair.

His face fell and his shoulders trembled when I asked what he wanted to do.  Connar took a deep breath and said that maybe he would get a new jersey for Christmas.  We headed out to buy a new ipod.  The new ipod took all the birthday money and a good chunk of Connar's savings.  When we got out to the car after the big purchase Connar said, "I don't think I'll take this to practice tomorrow!"

Allowance...

I have been talking with many of my mom friends lately about allowance.  How much should we pay kids?  When should we start?  How can we manage all the details?  I thought I would share our families strategy for allowance...

It starts with work... I wanted my kids to understand that their allowance is connected to the work they do.  My kids have two sets of jobs, we call them "Every Day Jobs" and "Weekly Jobs".  I printed out the jobs and put them in inexpensive, magnet backed plastic frames which are on the fridge.

Aiden has pictures on his since he wasn't a confident reader when I made the lists.  The top set of jobs are daily and the bottom set are weekly.  At a glance the boys know what they need to do.  Each boy is responsible for making sure his daily jobs are done before the end of the day.  {and since they are who they are, they usually do their jobs as the very last thing before a bath!}  Weekly jobs are usually done on Saturday.  I treat the boys as if they have arrived at work when jobs begin.  They each have a clipboard with the details of their jobs in a checklist - this helps them remember what needs to be done and it helps me remember what I can be picky about!   Daily jobs take about 10 minutes each day and Weekly jobs take about an hour. 

Then they get paid... My primary goal with allowance was to teach my boys how to be responsible with money.  I wanted to make sure they had enough money to spend it all at once on an impulsive toy or to save for a time to buy something more valuable.  After weekly jobs, they get their paychecks.  Each boy has three accounts...Charity money, Savings and Spending money. 

• They are able to spend their charity money on anything they wish as long as they don't get anything material in exchange.  {They have contributed to care packages for U.S. troops, bought school supplies for the Salvation Army and sent money to Haiti recently}
• They track their savings with a ledger similar to a check book.  In order to access their savings, they need to identify something they are saving for and write this on the ledger.  Currently I have frozen their savings accounts so that they will have spending money for our summer vacation. 
• Finally, they receive spending money each week to put into their wallets.  I don't usually carry cash, I'm a debit card girl, and having cash on hand for allowance was an extra chore for me.  I created Chase Bucks - which are token dollars that spend like real money.  If the boys have their wallets and enough money when we are out, they may spend it however they wish.  This eliminates the "Can you buy me something?" every time we're at a store {and I try to point out how they chose to spend their money that week and reinforce saving for something special} You can download these Kid Dollars to use with your kids.

This strategy has worked very well for my family.  In fact last week, as we were driving past the library Aiden remembered he had a fine for overdue books.  Since the library was closed, he took a dollar out of his wallet and asked me to save it for him.  He thought he, "would be tempted to spend it on a toy." 

How does allowance work in your family?