Chores and Allowance for a 4 Year Old

My 4 year old son has starting doing some chores in the last 6 months. We have him make his bed every morning, he feeds the dog, he cleans up after himself at dinner (takes his plate to the sink and throws his napkin away), and sometimes helps me unload the dishwasher. He loves to feel like he is being helpful. We haven't really tied it to an allowance or anything yet. My husband often gives him the change is his pockets to put in his piggy bank and we will give him $$ for his bank, too. He has become very interested in money lately too. Mostly just asks for it and says he wants money. We have started talking to him about saving most and spending a L..

Attached is an article about allowances...I tend to agree with what the writer says. I don't believe chores should be tied to allowance. Allowance is for teaching money management and for going above and beyond what is expected. Cleaning up after yourself, making your bed, etc. should just be expected from children and not financially rewarded. In our house, we follow this and it works well. We do have a reward chart where our daughter can earn extra allowance by doing "extra things" around the house.

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/five-rules-setting-...

We give my 7 year old daughter $5 a week. While it sounds like a lot, it actually saves me money-- when we're shopping and she starts begging to buy things, I ask her if she's willing to spend her own money (or sometimes, split the cost with me) -- usually her answer is "no." It’s amazing how frugal she is with her own money vs. spending Mom’s money. I made 4 large plastic containers for her to keep the money in (I chose clear containers, so she can actually see the money grow). $1 goes to a college fund, 50 cents to charity/tithe, $1 for pocket money, and $2.50 to save for something cool. I finally decided to tie the money to actual chores (she was getting lax in doing them) -- putting away her own dishes after a meal, picking up her room and playroom, picking up her things around the house, feeding the cat. We made a chore chart and I also included blanks for special chores (dusting, helping load/unload the dishwasher, etc.) -- she can earn a L. extra money doing these things, but first she has to complete the jobs she is responsible for. I feel like she's learning a lot-- responsibility for doing chores, how to count money, the importance of giving to charity (I let her choose where to spend this money-- a while back she decided to give it to a L. girl in our neighborhood who has cancer). It also keeps the idea of “college” in her mind --she knows it’s expected. Plus, it has saved on arguments and me having to nag her-- for instance, if I remind her to feed the cat, If she doesn't, I'll say in a voice that sounds like I’m thrilled, "Okay, great! I guess I'll earn the money for that job today!" It's amazing how fast she'll get up to earn that dime! Plus, she gets to see how her money adds up and the importance of saving-- she wants to buy an iPod shuffle-- and she's already 3/4 of the way there.

Dave Ramsey has a kids financial kit that has everything you need. He tells you what ages to do what and he keeps it simple. He has books to read to the kids too about money, but it is interesting and like a fictional story. CUTE.

Look online at his website for more details. We bought it at his conference but haven't gotten it all out yet...our daughter is two and he says to start around three, so it won't be long.

Hi H.,
Do you guys have any pets? You could let him feed and water the pets for a L. money, also this teaches responsibility for caring for pets too.
Debbie

Two of my sons are 5 and 3 and they vacuum, help unload dishes from dishwasher, set table and clear table, and take the trash from around the house and put it in the kitchen trash along with cleaning their room. You will be surprised at all that he can do and they usually think it is fun. We have not started giving an allowance yet. I have seen some ideas and the one that I am looking at starting is giving them a dollar for each year of their age each week, then showing them about managing it by taking a certain percentage out for taxes which goes in a general fund jar for use on family outings, and a certain percentage for tithing if you go to church and a certain percentage in savings, then they can have control over the rest to learn about holding on to it for something big they may want. It sounds good in theory at least. Hope all goes well with it

Allowances should not be a reward. If you attach chores to money later on they will not do anything until you pay them. I would settle on a Dollar a week or .50 or so. It has nothing to do with the chores. People in a family work and do their part as team work. If we attach the money to the chores they them will want more and more. At first they will blow it all. Later on they can will have responsibilities as to what they need to buy with it. Also I would take what every you give them and match it into a jar where they can see saving is important and pay yourself is a must. As it builds and they see that they have spent all they have they will learn that savings will reward them into having more for more important things.I also read that on birthdays the allowance goes up so beware. G. W

H., We recently set up a job chart for my 4 year old, and he loves it. Some chores we have on it are putting his clothes away, dusting and feeding the pets (if you have animals). We also have secondary chores, like since he isn't able to push the vacuum yet, if he follows us around with his play vacuum, we give him credit, because he's putting the effort in. (Hopefully this leads to actually vacuuming when he's older!) We give him $5 per week if he does all his chores (I think it's a L. much) and take off 25 cents for every chore he's missed. We had to remind him a lot when we first started, but now he completes most of his jobs by himself. He's also learning to save his allowance when he wants something big. Good luck!

We just started this with my 4 yr old. The allowance isn't tied to chores though. Every Sunday we give her a dollar in change. We got her a piggy bank and she has her own tithing envelopes. She puts 10 cents in her piggy, 10 cents in her church envelope, then the rest goes in her coin purse. She can spend it however she wants.

As far as chores, her responsibilities are to feed the dog, make her bed and clean her room. She used to put the silverware away while I unloaded the dishwasher, but that one has been passed down to her L. brother.

I printed up a L. chore chart that lists her jobs (along with clip art icons) and the days of the week. Each day she puts an X as she completes each job. It's a good visual incentive and reminder. Since it's new, we're tying it to a reward. When the chart is full, she gets marbles in a jar. When the marbles are all used, she gets to go to Chuck E Cheese.