Monday, October 13, 2008

A Little Shopper

Emily saw lots of princess things recently on Daddy's computer screen and mentioned that she wanted to buy them! We told her she would have to save her own money to do so. We got out her piggy bank and counted what she had, took out her offering and gave her a job of cleaning the bathroom for a quarter.

She had $10 to spend - so the next day, we took her to the store complete with her own purse:

bag of change...

and let her pick out what she wanted: princess cell phone and purse and a pair of fun dress up shoes! I was so pleased with how she handled the bigger ticket items she could not buy and did not complain about and that she shared the shoes with her sister! It was so cute!

How do you handle money with your children? We are just venturing into this territory - so I'm learning as I go!

30 comments:

Katy said...

Aww, that is so wonderful and totally cute! :)

Edi said...

Our theory is that children need to have some money of their own in order to learn about how to handle $.

We give our children an allowance with a savings incentive plan...the allowance is based on a set amount plus their age. The $ is to be used for stuff they want to buy (ie. toys) or special edible treats that they suggest (if the family is going out to eat - they don't pay but if one day they really want to go to DQ and have a blizzard - they can pay for one themselves). They also use the $ to buy family gifts for birthdays, Christmas etc.

The incentive - how ever much $ is left in their allowance account at the end of the month (I keep track of it all on a spreadsheet), we will give them an additional 5% interest on that amount.

This program has been working well thus far...there are times the kids will all be set to buy something and then change their minds b/c they don't think it's wise. Or they might want to buy something large and they come to us and want to know if we think it's a wise way for them to spend their $. My 9 yr old is the saver and my 6 yr old is more of a spender - but they both have pretty good nest eggs going. For my dd she is getting more $ in interest than her allowance is now - so she is excited to see her $ growing by just leaving it alone.

Christi said...

We do much the same as you mentioned. The boys have regular things they're expected to do (that they don't get paid for - like taking their plates to the sink, dirty clothes in the basket, etc). Then they have things that they earn "commission" for - like helping load the dishwasher, putting away clean clothes neatly, feeding the dog/cat.

And when they want something out of the ordinary (for instance, my oldest recently wanted a new pair of cleats, but his old ones were fine) he had to pay for half of them himself.

It seems to work fine - the biggest challenge is when they're spending their own money, but wanted to make a poor choice with it.

Wendi said...

Your little shopper looks like she had so much fun!

So far we are in the save only zone. Any money received goes into the piggy bank. I am sure very soon she will want to start spending that money!

Anonymous said...

I am anxious to read the comments. When do people start giving allowances? Brianna 3.5, is really starting to understand how you need money to buy things so maybe now would be a good time to start. Now, granted she thinks because she has a quarter and a penny that she is set to buy most anything :)

Anonymous said...

Oh, she is so cute! You can see how proud and happy she is to be such a big girl and pick out her own things!

I loved it when my Mom and Dad let me pick something out:)

Take Care,

Trixie

homeschooldawn said...

We assign payments for chores and for their homeschool assignments. I pay more for tests (usually a quarter for an A) and less for daily assignments (a penny, maybe more- depends on difficulty). I have coin rubber stamps that I use to stamp the "money" on their assignments and I keep a chart on their bedroom wall for keeping track of chore money. I also pay a penny per page read.
At the end of a six-weeks grading period, I sort through their work (I do this anyway to create a portfolio and to do grades) and calculate the amount they have earned. They are required to tithe 10%, save at least an additional 10% and invest 10%. They currently have a savings bond they bought last year. The rest they are free to spend as they want.
At the beginning of the school year, I let them pick out a big-ticket item as an incentive to save. Last year, they wanted a tree display for their plush toy birds. They saved the majority of their money all year for it.
Also, Edward Jones has a great piggy bank for kids. It is divided into four sections, one each for save, spend, donate, and invest. I bought the one we use at our local Edward Jones office for around $7. They also have an activity packet on money management. Our local office did a free workshop for kids.

Anonymous said...

It's time we started, too so I'll be watching this thread. My son (5) says he need[s] to learn to read really good, so he can get a job and buy a corvette like Nan. It's good to know he has his priorities.

Your daughter is way too cute. :)

Paige said...

I gave Noah 10$ for helping me with four days of watching little girls. That was about a 3% paycheck out of what I was given by the mother. The boys get money from their gran's for losing teeth, and for getting good grades or scoring well on tests. We don't pay for chores. Never have and likely won't unless it's something BIG like painting the house. They are very tight with their money. Right now they've pooled their cash and are saving for a new video game. Just a few more teeth to go!
P~

angie said...

Our kids just saved long-term for something for the first time this summer. My daughter wanted to buy Kit, an American Girl doll. The price of these dolls is not for the faint of heart, but she was willing to wait to earn that much. My son saved his $ for a Wii baseball game. Fortunately they reached their goals at nearly the same time.
They earned their money with an allowance this summer. They each had 5-10 chores to do each day.

Anonymous said...

Dave Ramsey has a junior program that may be worth looking into. It teaches spending, giving, and saving money as well as that you need to work for your money. (I think they have chores you get paid for and chores that you do because you are a part of a family).

Jen said...

We tried a lot of things but we are currently doing Dave Ramsey's (Total Money Makeover- for adults) plan for kids. He even has a book for kids (Financial Peace Jr.) and his methods are very simple and he breaks it down by age...what you should do based on their age. I highly recommend it. His program not only makes it possible to bless others through your finances but also teaches you how to teach your children about finances in a way that honors God and keeps them from getting into debt when they are older. It's wonderful!

gail said...

good for you, monica. sounds like you're handling it just right. i have not ventured into this area not knowing if my son knows the concept of money, but someday we might do the same as you. we just set up a savings acct for him and the bank gave him a little savings bank, it has a dog on it! not a piggy.

Anonymous said...

I also highly recommend Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace Jr. It teaches the kids to give, save & spend. This is a great age Monica to begin teaching your kids how to handle their money. You're doing a great job!

I wish we had that when our kids were younger. I don't think we did too bad, it just would have been nice to have some guidance like Dave teaches.

Anonymous said...

We started giving allowance to our 7 year old son when he turned 3. He has a set of chores that he must do everyday. He must make his bed, take his dirty laundry to the laundry room, set the supper table, do his homework, and feed his calves and our dog (we live on a farm). I have chore clips (clothes pins mounted to a piece of a yard stick) and on each clip I put his chores. He can read now but before I would use photos of his chores. There are days when I might need him to do something extra for me (pick up toys, etc). We pay him $7 a week. We give him a dollar for each year of his age and as he gets older he might have chores added or changed. Every Saturday is payday and we make it a rule that he has to save a month's worth of pay before he can do anything with it. Half of it has to go to his savings account and he can do what he wants with the rest. Most often he sticks it all in his account. He was able to purchase another calf this summer. He now has a small herd of 4. This works out really well for us. It's a very simple plan to follow. He gets his chores done the minute he gets off the school bus because chores must be done before he can play.

Kristina

Anonymous said...

Sorry Monica...I forgot to leave my name on the last comment about Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace Jr.

Devonne,ID

Jenny said...

I guess I'm a mean parent, because I don't pay my kids for anything. I'm starting to feel guilty now. :{

Maybe one reason I haven't considered it is because they're all still very young.

I want my children to do things around the house because they're part of our family, and not employees. Where does one find a good balance? I'm going to have to start thinking through some of these things as we emerge from diapers and sippy cups!

Anonymous said...

Aww.......how precious! :):):):) What a cutie-pie! You can see the pride in her face :)

*carrie* said...

Enjoyed seeing what Emily picked out. I'm confused as to why there were princess things on David's computer?

Saver Queen said...

What a great idea! Your kids will be so good with money when they grow up!

Anonymous said...

A easy way to do it is have a set amount of chores (something that is age appropriate for the child) It might take more time than you just doing the tasj yourself but it teaches them responsibilty and that they are part of the familyt and need to help. We dont do an allowance for chores because they are part of the family and need to help. However if they decide to help with a project that is nota daily chore we pay them. Whatever money they makes goes in three jars (you can designate what percentage you want to do) Jars are labled God, Savings, Spending. This helps them learn that they need to give first off all to God.

Quirky Cottage Owners said...

She shared her shoes with her sister. That's so sweet. And I, too, wondered why there were princess items on Daddy's computer.
:-)
Rita

Rmomof3 said...

What a smart little cutie you have! We know a little bit about the PRINCESS fascination here too!
Sweet blessings!
Renee

3boysmama said...

We do much the same thing you are doing. My only problem is when my son takes his change in to pay it takes so long to pay that everyone gets annoyed. What did you do?

Monica Wilkinson said...

Great ideas here! Thanks so much for sharing!

I was especially interested to learn that there was a jr. Dave Ramsey program as I did not know about that.

Our ladies are getting a bank from Crown Financial Ministries for Christmas that has three little building - a church (giving/tithing), a bank (saving), and a store (spending). I'm excited about that!

Yes - why did David have princess things on his computer? PS: I think you are all funny for noticing I said this! :) He was helping me look for a cake kit to use for Emily's birthday cake - princess theme - princess things were on his computer.

We also have decided not to pay for regular chores but only over and above chores. I completely agree with several of you who said that there are certain chores that must be done because you are a part of the family!

We haven't settled on an allowance yet - or how much to give. That area feels scary to me - just to know what is right. But I loved the idea shared about offering interest on the saved amount to encourage saving and growing money a bit.

We also have savings accounts for each of our children - but they are not really allowed to spend that money! I put rebate checks into them and try to take turns depositing into different accounts.

How did we handle change at the store? Yes, it took a while. We did the self-checkout so that it would not hold the line up as long and I fed the money in. I'm trying to decide if that is best or if we should try something different next time.

Vintage Mommy - I'm with you too on the paying for things. This chore I paid her 25 cents for was a first. I've never paid her for anything. But, she worked very hard on cleaning the bathroom! I am not sure yet how to find the balance...

Thanks for the great ideas/discussion!

Monica

Unknown said...

I don't have any children (yet), so I can't answer your question, but I will say this...

Watching a young child ever-so-carefully count out their change with their parent giving good instructions on the "please" and "thank you" never fails to make me smile. Works every time, even when I've been impatiently waiting in line for what seems like eternity.

letterstoelijah said...

My daughter is now 8 years old. We give her $2 for allowance per week. 25 cents tithe, 50 cents savings and $1.25 she can spend or save. Most times she buys gum or saves it.

Cute photos!

Paige said...

I love the Jar idea "God, Save, Spend" that's fantastic and would work well here w/ all the jars we've got.
Monica, I remember as a little girl saving my money up for white roller skates with red wheels and red laces. My mom took me and my jar of coins to the bank, who back then turned it into dollar bills for me. Nowaday's they've got the coin star which I know you've used before. Maybe Emily could use that, and you put in the amount of money that is paid for that service so she comes out even.
Oh, those skates, happy times.
P~

Danielle said...

No allowance here. We do pay for special chores but very few! Our boys get lots of money for their birthdays and have learned to hold onto it through the year.

I do like the idea of giving them interest!

Jane said...

what a big girl!