Thursday, April 5, 2012

Allowance and Chores

Okay, I have found that Chores are not something my children want to do! I am sure it is not something your children want to do either! Really, who wants to do chores? I know there are days I don't want to do them! So, I had to come up with an incentive.

I went online searching for ways  to entice my kids to do their chores. When I came across this great website called Allowance Manager https://allowancemanager.com/ . When I first started looking at this websites home page I thought to myself it looks to simple to be anything worth taking a look at. Well, I ended up looking and was really impressed with this simple little page. So I signed up and started exploring.

What I found was a great way to get your kids to do chores for their allowance. Allowance Manager has free chore sheet printouts that you can hang on the fridge and let your kids be responsible for the chores they need to do. The kids have to be responsible for not only doing them but marking them done on their chart.  The site gives you great tips on how to keep your kids motivated with doing their chores. It tells you to set up an allowance that you will give to your child on a specific day of the week if their chores were completed.

My kids, being 9 and 10, are given the following chores. They will keep their rooms clean, set and clear the table at dinner each on opposite nights. They will do their homework without whining or complaining. They will keep all their belongings picked up in the main part of the house. Lastly, any sporting equipment will be put away when practice or a game is over. On Fridays, if all of their chores on their chore sheet are marked as done then they will get $5 to put in their piggy bank.

Now this is what I really love about Allowance Manager! When I give them their money, they get to enter it into the website on their personalized bank record. So, they get to keep track of their earning and spending. It teaches them responsibility with money.  I am not saying it works miracles! My son's money burns a hole in his pocket like nothing else. But, he gets to see where all of his money goes and he loves to try to spend it down to the last penny!  My daughter is a saver and loves to watch her money grow. She loves to think about what she would like to buy and then says "Well if I save a little more I can buy something bigger and better!" My son will probably be living at home until he has to put me in a home and at that he will probably ship me off to my daughter because he will be broke, HAHAHA! And my daughter, from being such a saver, will be driving a Mercedes for her first car!

All kidding aside this is a fabulous way for them to not only do their chores but to learn what saving is. I recommend this website to everyone!