Kids and chores

[kendallt]

Since my daughter will be home during the day a good bit this summer, I am going to give her a daily list of chores to complete in exchange for a weekly allowance.

Does anyone have a good list I could reference? Also, what do you feel is a fair dollar amount? She just turned 14.

 

[rach3975]

I think a fair $ amount depends on how much time she's spending on the chores and what you expect her to be paying for herself. For example, will she be responsible for funding all outings with her friends, or do you give her money for activities and only expect her to pay for extras like things she wants to buy herself?

 

[kendallt]

I think a fair $ amount depends on how much time she's spending on the chores and what you expect her to be paying for herself. For example, will she be responsible for funding all outings with her friends, or do you give her money for activities and only expect her to pay for extras like things she wants to buy herself?

I was envisioning having a list of fairly simple chores for her to do each day. Some things like "make your bed" would be listed every day, while others would depend on the day. For instance, Monday might be "sweep and Swiffer the kitchen floor," and Tuesday might be "clean your bathroom." Just examples, as I'm still trying to finalize the list, but you get the idea.

As for as what I expect her to pay for, I suppose my thought process was just to give her a little extra cash to spend on clothes or makeup or whatever - just extra "goodies" in general. Her dad and I would continue footing the bill for most major activities and outings.

I just don't want her sitting around playing on her phone all day. Not too mention she's definitely old enough and perfectly capable of helping out around the house and learning some extra responsibility, ya know?

 

[Keely~B]

My 12 year old gets $10 a week, my 17 year old gets $20. Their chores are doing their laundry, keeping their rooms and bathroom clean, trash & recycling and picking up dog poop. In the summers they do dishes. Those chores are not tied to their allowance, they're just expected to do them. They can earn extra money by doing extra chores if they chose.

Their money is used for extras and wants. My oldest is also expected to manage her money so she can cover things like small fees for school ( $5, $10 here & there that always seem to come up, fast food meals at competitions etc. and gas. )

 

[Valgal]

First of all THIS is a great book. We follow DR's plan for ourselves and pass a lot of it onto our kids, but great strategies in here to teach them how to manage their own money.

BUT, I get that you're really not wanting to dig in too seriously at this moment. I haaaaate the kids just sitting around all summer too. They're always like, "But it's our BREAK!" and my response is, "and you're point is...?" LOL!

My almost-13 year old get's $10 a week. I think it should be more but am tired of butting heads with dh about it. On Saturday's she

cleans her room
cleans the downstairs 1/2 bath
washes the dog dishes
brushes the dogs

My boys are 16. I have their chores divided into two sets and they switch sets every month. They get $15. They get an extra $10 if they the lawn for John.

clean bedrooms (both,of course)
clean upstairs full bath
vacuum the hallway
clean up gaming area
bag up pop cans and put them in the van when a bag becomes full (for recycling)
water the tree
dust living area
drive Eden to/from church

They also all do their own laundry, but it's not tied to allowance. They just have to do it or they won't have clean clothes

They use this for extras too, but the boys have to use it to pay their gas.

 

[mariewilcox]

Cheyanne (14, almost 15) doesn't get an allowance per se... she gets her cell phone service paid for each month and in return she is expected to:

Keep her room picked up, including vacuuming and dusting
Do her laundry
Get good grades - as in honor roll each quarter (yes, this an expectation since it will be of great benefit when applying for colleges/scholarships and also in getting a discount on her car insurance) This is her full-time job during the school year.
Clean up after herself whenever she cooks (including washing the pots/pans, dishes she uses)
Loading the dishwasher after supper at night
Keeping her bathroom clean

In the summer she does earn $20 extra for mowing the lawn (big lawn with a push mower, not a riding mower) With this money she buys the things that she's always asking me for... mainly books, makeup, and Dunkin Donuts drinks

Next year she'll be old enough to have a real job and she can't wait. She wants to start putting aside money for college.

ETA: As for summer, she's gone most of the day Monday through Thursday, so her chores don't change/become more in the summer (except for the lawn). She actually is up and out of the house by 9 am every day (physical conditioning program for 1.5 hours and then to the gym for weight training and then a lunch break and then basketball practice for 2 hours - Monday through Thursday - and then Tuesday and Thursdays she goes back for 2 games starting at 5 pm. Plus she has some work for her honors English over the summer too, so I just keep her chores the same year round.

 

[kendallt]

Thank you, guys! These are all great ideas. I'll admit I've been very lax about giving her weekly chores, which is totally my fault. She normally stays so busy with school and extracurricular activities, and I've used that as an excuse not to make her help out around the house too much. Since she's no longer doing gymnastics though, she's got more free time during the day this summer since her cheer practices are in the evenings. Perfect opportunity to get started, and better late than never, I suppose!

 

[nesser1981]

Mine are a little younger, 10 & 7, they don't have assigned chores, other than cleaning their rooms, playroom and feed the animals/letting the dog in and out.

I try to give them a few dollars here and there for garage sales, or let them pick out a small surprise at the store.

But I"m loving these ideas, my 10 year old has been asking about an allowance lately.