Seriously? None. I hear the opinion about not paying for chores either, because it's part of being a family. Yeah, but part of being a mom is to prepare my children for life. Part of "life" is working, getting compensation, knowing what to do once you've received money (for us, that's 10% tithes, 10% -at least- to savings, the rest is spending now, though we will teach about budgeting and goal setting when he's older....there's also the charitable facet, and no I don't think my son even thinks "I will do these chores for my money" but he does things with us because we do things together.....and then he's rewarded because we appreciate him). That's just my opinion and answer to the "part of the family" argument against allowance. But I don't think allowances are things you just get for no reason!!!
My 3 year old son is on a daily system because weekly is too far out for him....he's just a wee boy but he straightens his room (roughly), puts his blanket back on his bed, empties all the little bedroom/bathroom wastebaskets into the trashcan in the kitchen, feeds the cat with a scoop, swiffers the floors, throws his dirty laundry in the correct spots (and helps with the baby's laundry) by putting them in the color-coded bags (colors in the colored bag, whites in the white bag, reds in the red bag), empties the dryer into the laundry basket and pushes it to the living room for me to fold, he folds washcloths and his own underwear while I'm doing the bigger stuff. He "washes furniture" (dusts) with a swiffer cloth. He picks up ALL his toys in the yard and puts them in the "outside toybox" every day before coming in the house. He helps me out when I'm going from room to room gathering things that aren't put away and sometimes will run something from the basket to the room it belongs in (for me to put away when I get to that room). He's a big helper. Obviously he doesn't do some of the jobs (swiffering, dusting, folding clothes) perfectly, but we brag on him, encourage him, love on him, and reward him. He has his own puppy dog calendar by his bed. When the day is over and we're tucking him in, we talk about the day, what was his favorite part, etc....he knows his "job" is to help me with whatever I need help with, to be a good big brother, to eat without having a fight, and have fun. He doesn't do ALL those chores everyday. He does the daily stuff (toys away, laundry away, straighten his room) every day and does the swiffer, laundry, dusting as needed, when I ask. If he does his "job" that day, he gets to put a star sticker on that day's space on the calendar. At the end of the week, we count the stars and he gets a quarter for every star. There are some days he gets an "X" (not a good day, and no pay). Other days he goes above and beyond, is super good, or does a chore that is not normal (this weekend while we weeded and trimmed hedges, he had work gloves on and picked up clippings and threw them in the lawn bag, then "mowed" the lawn with his bubble mower): that got 2 stars because we don't trim hedges very often. This teaches him to work and earn money (so he respects it), he learns good and bad consequences to his actions, and he gets to practice counting. We also call out what color the stars are, so he's practicing colors, too. It helps his self esteem. We also give him everything he needs, and give him gifts sometimes for no reason. We take him out on an adventure every week, sometimes a couple times a week (something more than the normal trip to the park or whatever). HOWEVER, if he finds something at the store (a toy horse, a Toy Story sleeping bag, a Spiderman fishing pole), he knows he gets to work and then buy it with his own money. He is SO proud of that! He also has a 3-way bank. 1 bank, divided into 3 compartments: savings, tithes, and spending. We divide that up on "pay day" as we're handing out the money for him to put in the bank with us. He's only 3! A 14 year old girl should be ok with doing a few things around the house so she can have some movie money or whatever. It's good for her. I wouldn't give allowance for nothing, period. But I WOULD definately provide opportunities for her to earn money, sure. Give her some basic chores for a certain amount of money (daily life? $2-3 a day??) and if she does extra chores or helps with spring cleaning or something, give her more for that day. If there's something she's wanting or saving for specifically, give her opportunities to work for it and if she's working hard and every week, I'd probably kick in money too as a bonus.
