Money-It's a Gas

Last week my husband and I chose to start an allowance system for Tukker.  I would have never dreamed we would be starting this so early actually, however he was already doing three of the chores we gave him just because he wanted to help.  So starting to pay him seemed natural and fair.  After all it would be nice if he continued to enjoy helping and money(plus a sticker chart) seems to be a pretty good motivator. These are the chores we had him do:

• TRASH: he brings all the little trash cans downstairs the night before trash day and rolls in the empty ones from the curb.  I am hoping this will one day deter his desire to be a trash man when he grows up!
•  LAUNDRY: he puts away his and Brekkon's folded clothes once a week, like socks, underwear and pajamas
• DISHES: As I am unloading, Tukker is responsible for unloading his dishes and his silverware and putting them away.  We keep all of the boys dishes and cups in a big drawer down low so they can get their plates out at meal time, get their own drink of water and put dishes away.  Its a genius idea, but not mine, to build independence.
• TOILETS:  This is the one we added, he uses a Clorox wipe to clean the lid, seat and rim.  When I told him about this one, he put his hands over his heart, gasped dramatically, and said, "The inside too?!!!" I still do the  inside, however this is an attempt to correct aim on his part.  The free little fast paced spirit of a child misses...a lot.

There are absolutely things that he has to do in which he doesn't get paid, like brushing his teeth so they don't rot, making his bed to teach orderliness, and getting dressed so we don't get arrested.  We believe there should be a balance and are striving for that.  

We changed the plan somewhat about half way through the week after going to our weekly Financial Peace University(by Dave Ramsey) that our church is offering for free. One of the two topics was money with kids! Gods timing is always perfect! We are now calling it a commission rather than allowance, suggesting more that you are not just allowed the money but earn it, just like everybody else.  Another change we made was to give him a dollar for each chore rather than a dollar total.  You can't enjoy money very much at a dollar a week even as a four year old, plus he will be pulling a dollar out a month to give, and a dollar to save.  After he gets a little older we will change the system, but it needs to be simple for young children.  Another tool we are using is to use a clear container and crumpling up the money, visuals are a must for really young ones. We crumple it up because it looks like more than just money laying flat, and visually grows faster.

It is so funny how you can tell what kind of natural spenders they would be, at this early age.  Tukker, the free spirit, has already told us, he is going to spend all of his money(even when we talk about him saving for a car).  Brekkon, the thinker, tells us he is going to save it all and buy a really cool car like Lightning McQueen (he isn't even earning commission yet)!  The end goal is to get them to a smart place somewhere in between the two.