ALLOWance

Allowance! Do you remember your first allowance? I do, it was $2.00 a month and I thought I was rich! There are as many approaches to allowance as their are parents. My thought is this: I buy books for my children to learn how to read, pay for tutoring, VBS and other activities to help them grow into responsible people. I give them allowance to ALLOW them to learn how to make responsible financial decisions. 

In our home allowance is not tied to family chores, at least not directly. Children can earn more by doing extra jobs. They can also loose money if I have to hire a sibling to do their chore, paying the sibling out of their allowance. I start giving allowance in first grade, when they start learning about money.  My primary aged children save their money for wanted toys, or trinkets at the store. My secondary children start to receive more but in return they are responsible to use this money to balance out their leisure activities such as going to the movies, lunch with friends and all those importance teenage venues.  

Allowance teaches many important lessons when the cost is relatively small. Providing my children an allowance also saves me from being nickel and dimed to death emotionally and financially when we go to the store or some big want bites them.  

How can I afford it? How can I afford not too? 

~  DeAnn