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Posts Tagged ‘allowances’

by Kristen Burgess

Many experts advise that you give your kids an allowance to teach them responsibility about money. They say that it will teach your children about saving and spending. Is an allowance really a good thing? Or could it actually be hurting your kids?

Money does not hurt kids – but an allowance does. Many families are suffering in the world today because there are not many jobs available. People are sitting around at home, often starving or going without electricity, because there is no job to be delivering a paycheck every two weeks. These people don’t get up and do whatever it takes to feed their families. They complain about unemployment and wait for a check to be handed out.

An allowance is a handout. Sometimes it’s an exchange for work. Then it’s essentially a paycheck. You teach your child to be a good little employee. They know that the next check is right around the corner, so it’s OK if they spend this one. Even if you have them save part of their paycheck, they’re still developing an employee mentality.

Children should not learn to sit around waiting on their paycheck (allowance). You don’t get paid to do your tasks around the house and they shouldn’t either. They need to learn that they’re part of the family and they must contribute to it. They learn valuable skills – cooking and cleaning – all skills they’ll need as adults. These are also skills that help to make your load lighter. You did not have children to serve them, or to pay them for their help.

Teach children to look for opportunities to make money. Extra work around the house – such as cleaning windows, dusting baseboards, etc. is a good thing that children can learn to look for. Working in the yard is another good opportunity. Lemonade stands and mowing the neighbor’s lawns are traditional activities children have done to make money.

Your kids are clever. If you teach them and encourage them to look for opportunities they’ll find them. Teach them that if they want something, they need to do the work to earn it. Many children, especially older teens, can start successful projects that bring them immediate income and may even turn into recurring assets. Think of how many major players have been started by kids barely out of their teen years (Google and Microsoft are two that come to mind).

Do teach your kids about money as they’re making it. Require them to save some of their money and teach them about investments. Teach them how to judge character quality and decide if someone would be a good employee or business partner. It’s much easier for your children to learn these lessons now and master these basics now – when you’re there to give guidance.

An allowance does hurt your kids – but money offers a lot of opportunity to learn. Teach your kids to look for opportunity. As adults they’ll have good financial sense – and they’ll know that if they want opportunity they need to get up and find it. You won’t have to worry about them sitting around waiting on a paycheck – or worse – a handout.

Kristen is an avid writer, constantly working on new ideas for articles and sites. Visit her site on Nutiva coconut oil and find out where to buy coconut oil.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kristen_Burgess

by Rachel Paxton

A couple of nights ago we had some relatives over for dinner and they mentioned that they give their 7-yr-old son an allowance of $7 a week. At first I was really surprised that he was paid so much to do household chores. Then they explained what the money was for.

Their son was allowed to spend $3 of his allowance any way he chose. The other $4 he was saving to buy a car. A car! You might think what in the world is a 7-yr-old doing saving for a car. His dad said that when he was a teenager his parents told him that when he was old enough to work he would have to go get a job and then save the money to buy a car. He was frustrated that he had to find a way to get to work so he could earn the money to buy his car!

He decided that he wanted his son to be able to buy an inexpensive car before he went out to find his first job. He also wants his son to pay for the car. If he starts saving $4 a week now, he will have almost $2000 to buy a car when he is 15 years old! It’s amazing how saving so little can add up in time. It is a great lesson for kids to help them understand that if they really want something that they can save the money that they earned to buy it. Especially with cars, I think it is very important for them to contribute to the purchase of their car, the gas they use, and even their car insurance. We required our daughter to pay for her own gas and car insurance, and she really appreciated the work that went into making the money to pay for those things.

Of course it may not be a car you want your child to save for…that is just an idea. You may want your child to help save for college and/or give a tithe to your church. What your child does with his or her allowance is up to you and your child. Just don’t miss this opportunity to teach your child an important life lesson.