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I want to thank Jonathan Clements for his article on allowances for children many years ago while I was raising my children. After reading the article I decided to give my two children age 13 and 5 at the time a monthly allowance. For this allowance they had to buy their own clothing. My daughter at age 13 was initially appalled at having to buy her own clothes. We did agree that we would buy big clothing items such as a. winter coat or later her prom dress. However, in the interim, she became a bargain clothing hunter and enjoyed showing me her bargain jeans from TJMax etc.! Our son only 5 at the time was elated to have any money but decided to save as much as he could and asked me to take him to thrift stores to buy his T-shirts and shorts or pants. My kids are now 34 and 26 and are still frugal and now very savy investors.
It has been a long time since those days, and times have changed. We didn’t give our boys an allowance. Instead they had a newspaper route for 9 years. The oldest had it for 4 years and the younger then had it for five. It is a shame that newspapers are dying and this opportunity to understand the concept of earning and to actually earn money no longer exists.
I couldn’t remember so I just texted our four children. Three replied immediately No‼️ you put us to work stuffing and ceiling envelopes and sorting mass mailings ( I had a very small side business)
One also said “I think I still have paper cuts from it and I have the taste of stamps in my mouth still…….”
The fourth child, the different one, replied “Yeah, I got $50 a week.”
That didn’t go over well, but he didn’t.
I think I’d like the different one
I think I feel sorry for the different one, but it begs the question of “different how”? (Now there’s the question of how to punctuate the end of that sentence, should it be question mark, quotation mark, period? That looks odd.)
I think question mark but inside the quote (no period).
Great job, Margaret. We didn’t do as well with our child. She received a small allowance tied to completing specific chores above the list we expected her to do without pay. But we didn’t complete the task by having her shop with her money. Instead, she became a miserly saver.
On the way to Disney World at age 8, she received a gift of $100 from her grandmother to spend. At our urging she finally parted with ten of it for a souvenir, but would have been happier keeping it all.
Today, she’s still a great saver, and a fledgling investor, but also beginning to show some good shopping habits as a college student. I have reason to be hopeful I can give a good report 14 years from now when she’s 34.
Certainly can’t harm but still a lot depends on the personality of the child. I remember running a fairly significant (relative to pocket money) loan balance back to my mum as she tapped me for cash whenever she didn’t have time to go to an ATM/bank. Meanwhile my brother had an extraordinary collection of model aircraft.
I see the same in my nieces, one is always very analytical about committing any expenditure on her debit card, the other constantly surprised when she goes to buy a drink and it bumps.
In both cases same nurture, differing nature.
Yes, my brother and I fit your description. I won’t say which of us was the spendthrift.
Allowances are good, but only one factor in learning how to handle money. In your case there seemed to be good communication between you and the kids. I’m also betting that you set a good example.
My kids are also doing well, and that gives me a great piece of mind.
Margaret,
What a wonderful story that teaches your children the value of money.