I think a child should earn their allowance through chores and possibly their grades.
I do not, nor have I ever agree with just handing kids money every week. It's hard to learn the value of money if it's handed to you.

My daughter had a list of chores that she did. Each chore had a price that it was worth if done and done well, or 1/2 done. She was paid accordingly. She could earn up to $10 a week, but it was hard work. I'll tell you she works at McDonalds now and she can stretch a buck further than anyone I know and she values it.

thats amazing..
when i was growing up i never really had to do chores, but i never got an allowance either. I got the things i needed and some things that i wanted..
When my mom and i would go shopping she would hand me $10 and say that is your money.... you can keep it and save it for something bigger or you can spend it.. but there isn't anymore... that's all you get and i'm not buying anything that you want..
and i would usually end up not buying what i wanted because i didn't want it bad enough to spend my money on it...
it worked for me.. lol

I should probably add that my daughter never had to buy anything she needed (toiletries, clothes, shoes, things for school, etc). I bought all of that, but I had limits. I wasn't about to spend $70 on a pair of jeans, so if that was what she wanted she needed to save her money to get them.

Once a child's old enough to do chores or just help out a little they should get a little allowance. The money should be based on age and how much you can afford. It shows responsibility and the value of money.

Exactly, I think that the chores should be based on age. I remember having a chore chart and at the end of the week, if I had all my stars, I got a $1. That was a big deal to a little kid. I saved it and then took my money to the store when I went shopping with my mom. My chores were simple though at a young age and as I got older, I had more chores and I got more money.

I think that it is a good idea to start children on chores at an early age because it teaches them responsiblity.

i am not gonna pay my kids to do chores thats their responsibility.


i am not gonna pay them to clean a mess that they made.

I put my opinion on allowance on the other post. I usually do go off topic... I'll copy it here...

Yeah, I didn't get an allowance either, but I also didn't have real chores. I was asked (told, lol) to help around the house when my mom was having a cleaning day and thats how it went.

We weren't rewarded for cleaning our rooms; we were punished for not doing it. So I guess we were raised to avoid punishment, rather than always expecting a reward for our actions. Of course good behavior meant a reward on payday, and good behavior also meant mom and dad are happy with you and smile and play with you etc. Bad behavior, and they don't want to play with you as much and you get in trouble. That's how it was in my house.

I had an allowance but my mom always forgot to pay me. She had a horrible memory. But I was a weird kid, I would never ask her for it because I felt like I shouldn't ask her for money for things that I would have done anyway...

Children should earn their allowance by doing chores around the house and helping others. I wouldnt just give my daughter money if she didnt work hard for it.

There are going to be certain things that my daughter will be expected to do, such as keep her room straight and pick up after herself around the house. She won't be earning an allowance for this.

But I *do* want to offer her an allowance for doing other things around the house. Dishes, sweeping, helping Mommy fold clothes, etc. I'll put a value on each chore depending on difficulty and labor involved, and allow her to choose.

So when we're about to leave the house to go shopping, I'll ask her if she wants to bring her money. If she sees something at the store (toys I mean, not food) I'll explain to her how much it costs and let her choose if she'd like to buy it. If she doesn't have enough money, I'll explain that if she completes more chores she can earn the money for her toy. I think this will probably give her a greater respect for the toys she worked for and bought, as well as the value of hard work and how it pays off.

I was thinking the same thing, keeping there room clean and taking there dish off the table or cleanigna mess they made is there responsibilty , they need to learn to keep the house clean and not expect money for doing it. Other things that is usually up to us as moms to do and they help out then those warrant an allowance, but like as they get older, they can do there own laundry and not get paid for it. Things like maybe washing the car or mowing the lawn when theyre older are good things to get an allowance for. Or washing all the dishes. Sweeping the living room.
When my kids are older i will make a chore chart with the ones that get allowance and the ones that need to be done, the ones that they dont get paid for they will get stickers for. And if they all get done in the week maybe friday n ight they can stay up an extra hour. The bigger chores they earn allowance for something they want to buy. When they are like teenagers though and they are old enought o ge ta job and get a job i wouldnt be buying themmuch of anything depending on how much they get paid , when is tarted working i bought my own things, my own tampons, deodorant shamppoo and all that stuff then whatever money i had left ic ould do whatever i wanted with it. Saved my paretns alil money at the grocery store not having to buy my things. Because say i like herbal essance but they would buy suave to save money so if i wanted that shampoo i woul duse my paychecks to buy my shampoo. but younger and having an allowance is more of earning money for the things they want rather then getting ti handed to them.

i think its the parents responsibility to buy the basic stuff such as soap shampoo all that kinda stuff even if the kid is working until the child turns 18.

i think that children should have to earn an allowence by chores, then buy extra things that they want such as toys so that they learn about budgeting

getting money for good grades i don't think is fair, some children are just not that bright and if you have one smarter child and they get paid more it could really damage the others self esteem and make it feel like the other is favoured.

I think the problem for me now is that I used to get allowance. It started when I was about eight. I got the amount of money equivalent to my age ever week. I didn't have to do chores at all. It taught me that money was just an object and meant nothing until I actually got a job and learned what money was, and how important it is.