Our Thrifty Piggy Bank And Allowance

This last week we decided that now that Marley is 6, it is time to start giving her an allowance.  Up until recently, she has never really asked for anything or wanted to buy anything outside of her birthday and Christmas.  Recently though, she wanted some smelly pencils from school that we let her use money from her piggy back to buy.  We decided that she is big enough to do some simple chores and learn to keep up with her daily tasks on her own without reminders and learn to manage her own money.  Here is what we did:

1. We set up a calendar with her daily and weekly tasks clearly written at the top.  This way the expectations are clear.
2. We let her know how much she could earn.  She has the chance to earn $.25 each day for completing her daily tasks and another $1.25 for some weekly extras for a possible total of $3.00 a week.  This way, the reward is clear.
3. We chose things that would encourage her to take ownership of her space, foster independence and teach her to give her part to the running of our home.

I have seen several cute banks online that foster our values of giving first, saving and then spending but I really didn’t want to haul out the cash for them.  I decided to craft my own out of a box and then let Marley decorate it on her own.  As you can tell, I did not even step in and try to make it pretty:)  I let her do it all on her own.  I just took and old box and put strips of cardboard inside to make the compartments, making sure to run some tape along the bottom to keep the coins from sliding underneath.  I then used a glue stick to make the box sticky and wrapped it in plain brown paper, taping down the edges with clear packing tape.  I then measured and lined off three sections, used a razor blade to cut slots in each section and write the words for her.  I got out her craft supplies and let her go at it with stickers, crayons, glue, glitter and anything else she wanted.  The box flips open, making it easy to get her money out when she needs to.

I was so happy when I gave her her first allowance from last week and she put $1.00 into give, $.25 into save and $.25 into spend.  I am sure it won’t always be that way but it brought a tear to my eye and when I explained that tear, I was able to praise her for her love for God and His people. 

Do you give your kids an allowance?  How much and how do you do it?  Share in the comments section below.