Allowance for 7 Year Old--how to Do It?

My boys, are 8 & 10. they have chores that are tied to their allowamce but they understand that there are other things that they are responsible for.. cleaning their room, putting away their clean clothes, that are just part of helping with things that need to be done. At first a chart with stickers of some sort might help her. The one thing it has done is that mom does not buy them toys, they have to save for them if they want them. (with the exception of bdays and Christmas) I had chores growing up and an allowance. It teaches them how money works and how to save in my opinion. Good luck!

we started allowance starting at 4 - 50 cents per year of age. their money is to be used for toys and extras. it is not tied to chores although both kids do have regular chores. we felt it was more important for them to be getting regular allowance and learning to manage money. also, quite frankly we also feel that you do chores because you live here, not because you will get paid for them and I didn't want to start that cycle of arguments. We have added an onerous chore in the last month or so for my 7-yr old - picking up dog poop. the weeks he does yet w/out whining, arguing, etc - he gets an extra dollar. If he argues, etc - he still gets to do it, but no extra dollar.
as part of the managing money thing, we do dictate that about 1/4 goes to a charity jar, about 1/4 goes to savings (and both the 5-year old and 7-year old have savings accounts at the bank) and then about 1/2 goes to a spend jar. it makes it a hassle to pay allowance as we have to have a lot of quarters to help w/the splitting into jars but its worth it.

My boys have age-based chores. Everyone has a dog chore, a dish chore & their basic chores. 5 year old sets & clears the table, 8 year old puts away the hand-wash dishes he can reach, 13 YO dries & puts away dishwasher dishes. They all get a week of scooping poop in the backyard. They all do the weekly trash-5 YO does bathrooms (got 3), 8 YO does bedrooms (got 4), 13 YO takes the kitchen & laundry trashes & makes sure everything gets into the big can & out to the curb. They all are responsible for making their bed, brushing teeth, keeping their room clean, picking up their stuff from the family areas, stuff like that. I'd make her earn her allowance, rather than just giving her money-when she's 17 you'll have a much easier time giving money to her if she knows she has to earn it & not just put her hand out for some. That, & you said she wants to earn her own.
5 YO gets $1.25/wk, 8 YO gets $2.50/wk & 13 YO gets $5 (don't tell them that's on the low end lol)
If you don't want to give the 4 YO allowance, give her something else... stickers, a visit to the dollar store every 2 or 4 weeks just for her.

I would encourage her to do chores to earn her allowance. I think it teaches a valuable lesson about the value of money and self-reliance. It doesn't have to be anything to strenuous since she is only 7, but make sure that as she gets older, she does earn the money in a manner relative to her age...for example, right now you might not want her doing dishes, but when she's 10-12, she can, that kind of thing. Perhaps you can try giving her an allowance for cleaning up the the toys from the playroom, or living room, or wherever you have them. She must do this every evening, and then at the end of the week, she gets her money...just a suggestion. Or, if this is something you think she needs to do anyway (which kids also need to learn that they need to do things because things need to get done and they won't get paid for everything), find something extra for her to do...maybe pulling weeds out of the flower bed or something like that. Make her work for the money, so make sure to give it to her at the END of the job, that way it will keep her motivated, and if she doesn't do the work, she doesn't get the money. It is perfectly okay to not give your 4 year old an allowance, and explain that she must wait until she's older...this is what my parents did, and believe me, it made me VERY excited to get older so I could join the "working" ranks of my sisters.

My sister has 7 kids. When they were younger she had them help her around the house. Then each week she gave them .10 cents for every year they were old so if you did this your 7 year old would get 70 cents each week. This way they learn about earning and spending money. They also learn about working. I didn't pay my kids because I expected them to be helpful. It's nice to see them contributing to the family volunrarily but this doesn't last forever. The only way you can figure out what works for you though is to experiment. Good Luck

We give 25 cents for every year of their life per week. So, my 6 yo gets $1.50 and my 5 yo gets $1.25. They get this every week regardless of what they do. However, they can "earn" a bit more if they help me a bit more. I did raise my 6 yo's allowance 25 cents more when he began emptying the dishwasher every morning for me. When I start requiring quite a bit more from my 5 yo, then I'll probably raise his too.

That's what we do. So far, it's working ok.

Our 6 yo also began putting his money in the bank in January. He's already saved $70-something dollars! So, that's kind of exciting for him. He can also earn "bank bucks" from the bank (Wells Fargo) and he can still earn prizes without spending his "real" money. Fun.

N.,

Ask yourself: What do I want to teach Victoria?

What kind of arrangement can you make with your daughter that will teach her responsibility and assist her with creating money? What can you teach her about budgeting?
What can you teach her about the value of supporting a family without monetary gain? What can you create that will be long last and teach her the values that you wish her to have? Is there a way that you can also teach her about saving her money for a major purchase?

What you teach your daughter at this young age about money will create a believe system about money that may last a lifetime... no pressure.

You are an amazing mother that can assist your daughter to be the type of mother you wish her to be when she grows up.

with my whole heart, C.

I too have a four and seven year old.
I don't do allowance as I am all about you do chores and help as being part of the family. I remind them nobody pays me an allowance, hee hee! :) They can earn money too if you have neighbors you know well to ask them to walk their dogs, help around their gardens and so on.

My daughter has saved her tooth fairy money (she has lost nine teeth), cashed in gift cards she has gotten and has quite a stash of money. I have always told her if she really wanted something she has to save and if it is big I will match her on it. Now she asks for money instead of gifts for holidays! :) She recently bought her own scooter and I was so proud of her. There was a lot of pride in her buying it herself too. If she does something beyond the realm of daily chores I will do a "allowance" type thing like give her a couple of bucks, like helping me pull weeds or brushing the dog.

My youngest doesn't get allowance, for him we do the smiley face chart and if he does well with behavior, making good choices, then when we are out somewhere he has a choice of getting a dollar or two for his piggy bank or a fun prize when we are out. Not so much allowance but more just incentive to be on board with the rules. It works 70% of the time, hee hee. He just accepts he earned it or not.

They both have a set of a few small chores each that is expected to be done daily. Like clearing the table after meals, putting dishes up, in the dishwasher, putting away clothes, wiping up their messes in the bathroom, keeping toys picked up, feeding the pets and making their beds.

The problem that you might run into with paying allowence for chores is that your childnre will then only help out at home if there is money in it for them. My philosophy is that we are all part of the family so we all pitch in and help each other because it is our responcibility, not because we will get rewarded. So I would think of allowence as a privelege (that can be taken away if she is not behaving, including getting her chores done) but not as payment for doing her chores. I hope that makes sense at all!

I would pay Victoria a dollar for every positive and encouraging book she read okayed by you. This is one way to give great influence on her life early. Let her know the chores is a daily part of life. Like making her bed and picking up her toys. I would do the same with each child as soon as they begin to read, or maybe you can help her read and she could earn allowance that way too if she wanted.
Just an idea or thought.

I became a single mom to 3 spoiled children...and quickly realized that we had to change our ways! My kids and I developed a way to pay for chores that they loved: Each chore paid $1.50, the maximum any child could earn in 1 month was $99.00, they had to keep track (on paper)of the chores accomplished, each Friday was "pay day." I quit paying for extra stuff like makeup, movies, bowling, CDs, etc. I was responsible for school supplies, normal clothes, shoes, coats and school lunches but if they wanted extra stuff they had the cash to buy it! Each Friday was fun, we got a math lesson every time (addition and multiplication). The kids worked hard to keep track of their chores, I did not help them keep track at all!
I did make up 3X5 cards that contained one chore each and if they could not figure out what to clean they could go through the chore cards and find some. I was very specific on the chore cards to avoid arguments. If a card said "Clean the entire main floor bathroom" then I listed all the individual things that needed done for that chore.
I did pay double for picking up doggie doodoo.

Some chores took 1 minute, others might take longer. One chore was to clean the entire bathroom.
One chore was to vacuum Mom's car
One chore was to clean the kitchen countertops.
One chore was to dust the window ledges in the main rooms.
One chore was to mop the kitchen floor.
You can be really creative with this and save yourself some headaches too. Good luck!!

N., I think it's great to start teaching about handling money as soon as you think they are old enough to understand. You could try some small purchases with the 4 year old and see if they can grasp the concept.

For the 7 year old, I would start with a very small allowance. My daughter is grown now, but I set up a savings account in her name as a minor, with my husband and I having custody of the account. (When she got older, we'd have to sign for her to take money out.) We had an agreement that she put half of her allowance in savings, and the other half was hers to spend. We did not do advances on allowances - she could do a special job around the house to earn some extra money. We also did not require her to do work for money; she got allowance as being part of the family. However, she was expected to do her part. (She started unloading the dishwasher at age 3, with supervision.)

I hope this helps!

We just read a great book called "Young Bucks" about how to teach your kids the value of money. It was great. Our 6yr thinks it's great, too! He's already making much more money than we could ever afford to pay him in an allowance, and we don't have to pay an allowance. I highly recommend the book! Just my thoughts.

I already give my 5 year old and 3 year old allowances but only for VERY specific chores. Not picking up THEIR toys or cleaning THEIR rooms. But, for chores that used to be mine. Like cleaning out the dishwasher. Making their beds (they are still pretty little, I help them). Anything they didn't have to do before that I have always done, if they help or do it, I give them a quarter or a dime. Obviously, you might want to reward your 7 year old with more. Maybe not. I teach them that money comes hard and it spends easily. I gave each of them their own little bank and they have the good pleasure of putting the money in. We count it and then, they get to buy something with their money. They love it.

I give money for chores. Not all chores-- some my kids just have to do because it's their responsibility. My parents adjusted this concept several times over the years as we became more responsible or as their income changed. My boys are 5 and 3, so I hand out nickles, dimes, and quarters for helping me with certain jobs, especially on Saturday, which is our main shopping day. Then they can see an immediate reward for their work. However, a 7 yr old can save her money for a specific goal. This last Saturday, my 3 yr old chose to do more chores than his brother so he had more to spend. My 5 yr old wasn't very happy about that, but it was a good lesson in working to buy something. Just before we left for the bakery thrift store to spend their money, I asked my husband if he had any jobs they could do to earn more. He said no, but he had some quarters in his pocket they could just have. That was fine with me because they'll learn that sometimes people are generous. It gave them a chance to practice gratitude. I guess what I'm saying is that great lessons can be learned from giving your child an allowance and there are many ways to do it and you can be flexible with how you do it.

Hello,
My 5 year old has chores that he gets 5 cents a chore for. He has 4 chores and we have a chore chart that we mark off after each chore. Some of the chores are twice like feeding the cats so he gets 2 stickers for that one. At the end of the week he gets his money. Usually ranges a little over 2 dollars a week for his chores. Because we give him 5 cents a chore we pay him in nickles. It makes him more excited. When he gets older it will be a little different because he won't need the nickles, he'll understand the dollars. Also as he gets older we will slowly increase the amount he gets per chore as well as what type of chore he does. We have him put it in a piggy bank and then at the end of the month have him count out what he has, if he is saving for an item then we let him keep it in his piggy bank, if he is not saving for an item then he goes and deposits it into the bank. He has already bought a movie and the Wall-e robot this year.

Hope this helps :)

We have regular chores for my seven-year-old and three-and-a-half-year-old to do all the time, and then we occasionally have a bonus Paid Chore Day (at my discretion)where they can both earn money.
They each receive a list of chores with a corresponding dollar amount next to it. They can put a check mark next to ther chores on the list as they do them, but only after I have inspected their work and declared it excellent can they cross it off and circle the dollar amount. I pay in cash the same day, and Paid Chore Day tends to be on a Saturday morning when I can supervise and help teach them (since it's about training them to do things as much as it's about getting the house clean and earning money.)
Some of the Paid Chore Day jobs are their regular, familiar jobs, but with a payment as a bonus, which makes them feel lucky since they are experts at those chores and consider them easy. Some are new ones they are still learning to do, and usually one or two are jobs they have never done before and I will teach them about. I try to do those in combination--the older son will learn to scrub the toilet (without splashing!) and the younger one will learn to wipe all water spots off all the faucets and fixtures in the bathroom. Then at a later date, I can incorporate those new chores into the regular jobs I ask them to do, or as a familiar job on a Paid Chore Day. The payment for chores is based on how unpleasant the chore is (although I don't think my kids know that's my criteria). So, organizing toys is worth $1 even though it's really easy because they hate it and scooping the cat box is only 50 cents because, weirdly enough, they think that's fun. And again, I often ask them to do a few jobs and just say, "I need your help with a few things" and give them jobs while I am finishing making lunch or dinner.
My three-year-old never makes as much money as my seven-year-old, but he doesn't care since he is still learning to count and understand the concept of money. (They usually finish a Paid Chore Day with between four and nine dollars for about two hours of effort.)I don't think earning money is as important at his age, but it *is* important for me to teach him that if one of us is working, we all should be working and helping, and that he is not too little to help. So, he is included in Paid Chore Days and jobs and such.
We don't give allowance, but I try to give ample opportunities to earn money and also to do work just because it needs to be done. I was told a long time ago that self-esteem is directly connected to achievement, and that really stuck with me so I try to give my kids lots of opportunities to feel like they have achieved something.
I just took my seven-year-old to the bank to open his own savings account with his birthday and tooth fairy money and that was a great experience--the clerks were so nice to him and he felt very important.
If you're looking for a book about jobs for kids that will motivate you to teach them how to do things so they can do jobs to earn money, I recommend Merilee Boyack's book "The Parenting Breakthrough" and also her audio CD "Teaching Your Kids to Fly." They are written from an LDS perspective, but I think the concepts are general enough that any parent would appreciate the ideas. I liked them a lot.
Best wishes!