We've decided to put Elijah on an allowance to teach him about money. The allowance is only for extra jobs he does around the house (not ones he has to do anyways). We started this last night with the idea that he would be able to go to the dollar store at the end to buy something for himself (last night's wage being a dollar plus tax). He did his job and off we went.
Have you ever been to the dollar store with a 4 year old? Oh my goodness, we must have been there for 45 minutes by the time he made his final decision. We had to be sure that he bought what he really wanted because quite frankly I wasn't coming back to exchange anything.
He ended up with a metal airplane kit that we (being me) put together. I thought this was really a cool toy (esp. for the dollar store). What they don't tell you is the instructions are inadequate tiny pictures and that it's a fiddly little thing to put together(I know, I bought it at the dollar store not the science shop, so I shouldn't complain). But it's together now and he's happy now and looking forward saving more money to buy more things another time.
Mexican Casserole
5 years ago
1 comment:
Hi its Gramma here with a few words...I read an article that suggested you pay a child a dollar for every year as his weekly allowance. Its like a wage and he knows that he will collect it every Friday if his daily tasks are completed. If not then he gets deductions. He also learns to save for bigger items and to purchase others gifts as in BD presents, and a certain percentage is put into savings and a percentage is designated for charity as well. This also works well when they become teens and nickle and dime you to death for every little fad that comes their way.... I offered this suggestion to a friend at work who had 3 teenagers and it changed their whole home environment. One daughter turned into being a real saver and the other spent everything every week but learned there was no more money coming her way when that money was gone. The money tree does not grow in the backyard! I think this method instills financial responsibility into a child - they learn to budget. I wish I knew about this method when you and Jeff were growing up.....love Mom
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