Nanci Kuykendall

>What do you think about kids getting money of their
>own...should it be a set amount regardless of what
>they do or should it be based upon some sort of
>earning situation?
>Lucy

I'm with Juli, that giving money for every day chores
is the wrong message. My feeling is that these things
need to be learned as a basic life skills kind of
thing. Allowance is nice, because it keeps a kid
having to beg for every penny, which is demeaning and
frustrating. For those extra funds they may want,
extra work is good. Waxing the car, home repairs or
improvements, doing someone else's regular chores for
them, or babysitting siblings might all be good
examples of extra work, above and beyond normally
expected chores. Another option is to compromise by
loaning the child the money, matching their funds with
yours, or other financial arrangements. After all,
loans, grants and financial contracts are common in
adult life.

The child does not have to stop at home when looking
for extra funds. They can go into business for
themselves walking dogs, delivering papers, weeding
gardens, washing cars, and all the various other tasks
that kids have long hired themselves out for. I think
encouraging problem solving and enterprise is a good
thing. If money is what they want, I do not want them
to learn that it all flows from me and dad, as it most
certainly does not.

Nanci K.

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In a message dated 4/27/01 8:57:11 PM Pacific Daylight Time,
aisliin@... writes:

<< Allowance is nice, because it keeps a kid
having to beg for every penny, which is demeaning and
frustrating. >>

I can see this point. With our kids, their allowance or pay (whatever
we're calling it and however we're figuring it at any given point) is so low
compared to almost everyone we know (only $6 a week for each of the three
older ones) and yet they never seem to be short on money because it seems
like there's not much they spend it on. Justin, my almost 17 yr old, is very
seriously into music so he is getting to the point where he'd like more. But
he has a good acoustic guitar that we got him for his birthday last year (or
half got him...we kicked in about $200 and he kicked in about $150) and he
plays it about 3 or 4 hours a day. And he's getting an electric guitar for
his upcoming birthday with the amp, which he put in all he had for and we
supplied the rest. Jonathan and Kevin (my soon to be 13 yr olds) can hardly
ever think of anything they care to spend their money on so they have about
$100 each right now. Also, they do all get money for birthdays and Christmas
from relatives and from us.
I find that unschooling and living out in the boondocks have brought
about this with our kids. They like getting stuff from garage sales as much
as I do so we hardly spend anything on clothes anymore. We do all love books
so some money goes to that when we can't find something at a garage sale or
library. Kevin loves Civil War history so he has spent money on books about
that.
I feel kind of embarrassed sometimes telling people how low their
allowances are but with the size of our family and our own attempts to get
Matt (my husband) out of the rat race as much as possible by working less, we
just can't afford to give them much more. I am thankful that the kids don't
feel deprived by it. I do want them to value time more than money, overall.

Lucy