Children's Chore Carnival

Chilihead is hosting a carnival today on chores and allowance for kids so of course I have to participate because this is a subject of great interest to me. In fact it's been our family "project" for the last year and a half. I'm not sure if it will ever stop being our family project because there is so much to learn on the subject but I will share what has worked for us so far.

This is a series of articles I wrote about teaching kids to work. The bonus is that it has taught me to work more efficiently as well. My nine year old wrote the last article for me.

Part I, Whose Job is It?
Part II, Getting Rid of the Clutter
Part III, Let Them Help
Part IV, It Takes Time
Part V, Work Together
Part VI, Learn to Practice
Part VII, Make it Easy
Part VIII, by the Gallagher Boy

He also wrote an article describing his allowance and how he saves and spends money.

How a Nine Year Old Would Spend $50

Here is my article describing Mom First Credit Union from my perspective. I cannot tell you enough how great this system is. IT'S EASY AND IT WORKS!

Debt Proof Your Kids

We have changed a few things since that article was written. The kids don't write checks to me anymore. They just keep track of their spending and earning in a checkbook register that they keep in a small Organizing Bag along with a calculator and pencil. But the deal is the same. If they don't have their register, they don't spend any money.

I have also raised their allowance considerably and they have many more responsibilities than before. For example, now they have to buy their own socks and shoes because I think paying for them themselves helps them take better care of them. Eventually I will have them buying all their own clothes as well. Victor has to pay for all his own Scouting costs. I pay for the kid's art lessons but they have to buy their own supplies. Basically, anything they want to do or buy that's not family related, they have to pay for themselves.

They are paid their allowance once a month and according to Janine Bolon, the kids can use 40% on their expenses, put 20% into long term savings, 20% into short term savings, 10% goes to tithing and 10% they give away to anyone as philanthropy. Of course they never spend 40% so most of it just stays in their "checking" accounts. They have so much money in their savings accounts that Stranger is going to take them to the bank this week to buy some CD's with it so they can start earning a higher interest rate.

You really must check out Janine's books, Money...It's Not Just For Rich People, and Cash Cars and College that was written for kids. She is fabulous! In fact I like them so much that I contacted her and she is going to send me some to give away! As soon as I get them we will have a fun give-away here on my blog so make sure you check back.

My kid's allowance is not tied to their chores in any way. They do chores because they're part of our family and they do them every day without complaining. I mentioned this in one of my articles but I think most parents want to know how I get my kids to do chores without complaining. The biggest key to having cooporative kids is consistency and habit. If they are doing chores every day then they know what to expect and there is nothing to complain about. Kids whine and complain when it is effective. If you have kids that act like this then they are getting what they want by this behavior. My kid's lives have never been improved by whining or complaining so they almost never do it. Of course they have to try it occationally just to make sure it still doesn't work but then they go back to being their sweet selves.

If you would like help building positive new habits for yourself or your kids then please join us every week for Smart Habit Saturday. It's been an amazing experience for all of us who have participated in it this year.

Don't forget that I'm not an expert but if you have any questions for me I will answer them in the comments. Thanks for visiting!