Allowance Planning

The boys have been asking to get an allowance for a while now. Billy and I discussed what we thought were reasonable amounts, then we assigned them some chores. Jacob's "new" job was to unload the dishwasher (usually twice a week) in addition to daily things like picking up his toys, his dirty clothes, and his dirty dishes - without being told to do it. Caleb's "new" jobs included helping with the laundry (loading the washer and the dryer) and helping with the Sunday trash-gathering. That's in addition to his dailies, which are the same as Jacob's. They were agreeable to that for the first two weeks, then things were quickly forgotten.

I got tired of having to remind them to do their part so I could get around to doing my part. Sometimes they'd get right to it, but if they were in the middle of a school assignment, I'd go ahead and do it just to get it out of the way. Now they seem to have forgotten we even made the chore assignments. Every once in a while, one of them (usually Jacob) will mention allowance, but it never goes any farther than that.

Enter Pinterest. I found a great idea there where kids can choose the chore they want to do and earn the allowance that is associated with it. Harder chores = higher values. (This is based on Dave Ramsey's idea of kids working on commission instead of giving them an allowance: Teach them to work, to earn money. Don't just give it to them. That's welfare.) I loved it, so I pinned it to my "The Boys" board.

Source: kimboscrafts.blogspot.com via Ashley on Pinterest

Unfortunately, the link goes to someone's "shout out" to the idea/product that they found on Etsy. I had to click her link to get to the Etsy page to find out anything about it, which ended up being a description of the product, not a list of chore ideas and corresponding amounts. I guess I'll have to come up with that on my own...

This year is my year to get organized - and that includes getting the boys an allowance system in place - but one where they choose to work and how much they'll earn, not one where I have to stay on them to get something done. Earlier today I was browsing friends' pins on Pinterest and found something else that looked great: detailed job cards.

Source: madsmemories.blogspot.com via Ashley on Pinterest

I want to tailor this idea to fit the Dave Ramsey commission idea. I think laminated index cards with the specific tasks and the amounts for them would work. I have a few card file boxes I'm not using, so that would be a great place to keep them. When the boys are wanting to earn some money, they can choose a card from the box. Maybe I'd include a checklist or specific instructions so they could be sure to do the job correctly. I could check it off when I see it's done. Then we'd file their completed task cards until "pay day".

I still need to noodle on it, but I think that's a good start!