# Appropriate allowance for a 10 year old



## ZDog377 (May 31, 2015)

So the wife and I have been discussing giving our 10 year old an allowance lately. She feels that he should be getting $5+ a week where as I feel $2-$3 a week should be enough. I also feel there are things that he should be doing w/o expecting an allowance. 

Any other parents out there that have 10 year olds?


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## EnigmaGirl (Feb 7, 2015)

> So the wife and I have been discussing giving our 10 year old an allowance lately. She feels that he should be getting $5+ a week where as I feel $2-$3 a week should be enough. I also feel there are things that he should be doing w/o expecting an allowance.
> 
> Any other parents out there that have 10 year olds?


I don't think it should be a specific amount and I agree that some chores are free. Everyone in the house has to help with certain weekly tasks...so one or two standard tasks should be free. (My kids had to empty the dishwasher, wipe the counter and clean their rooms).

What I'd do after that is make a job jar. He can get paid for the extra jobs he does and how difficult they are. You list jobs and a dollar amount based on difficulty. And he can make as much money as he wants weekly depending on what work he actually does.

That's how the real world works too. If I do a little work...I make less money than if I bust my hump that week. It will teach him about the relationship between work and money. Its a great incentive program for him.

I'd also make a rule that he's required to save a percentage portion of the money he earns into an account. The sooner kids learn about savings, the better...so maybe 20% of whatever he earns goes into his account. The rest, he decides what to do with.


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## Lila (May 30, 2014)

We have a 10 year old and we give him $20 a week when he helps out with yardwork/outside jobs/helping dad. $10 goes into a piggybank (savings) and $10 is his to spend on whatever he wants. His $10 pays for his recreational activities, toys, and sweet treats (kid loves going to the gelato shop). 

We do not pay him for cleaning up his room, or putting away his clothes, or his share of the household chores.
@EnigmaGirl, you posted while I was writing my post. We have a very similar system.


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## ZDog377 (May 31, 2015)

Lila said:


> We have a 10 year old and we give him $20 a week when he helps out with yardwork/outside jobs/helping dad. $10 goes into a piggybank (savings) and $10 is his to spend on whatever he wants. His $10 pays for his recreational activities, toys, and sweet treats (kid loves going to the gelato shop).
> 
> We do not pay him for cleaning up his room, or putting away his clothes, or his share of the household chores.
> @EnigmaGirl, you posted while I was writing my post. We have a very similar system.


This is where my wife and I differ, we pay if he goes to see a movie with a friend or a friend asks him to go to a high school football game. I say that he needs to realize that us doing this is his allowance.


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## EleGirl (Dec 3, 2011)

When my son was 4 I started giving him $1 a week for each year of his age.

So every birthday he looked forward to his raise.

He could also do some work beyond his normal chores to earn a bit more.

Once he started to get an allowance, he had to buy a lot of his stuff out of his allowance.

My idea was to teach him how to handle money.

For the first 6 months or so he wanted to go to buy toys as soon as he got his allowance. So I took him. He wanted a power ranger figure that cost about $25. He'd been looking at it for a while. One day at the store, he looked at me and said "Mom, I figured something out. The good toys cost a lot. I'm going to save my money." So he saved up for 2 months for the power ranger. After that he saved up for a Nintendo. He bought a used one so he could get games too.

At 16 he got a job and saved up to buy his own car.

He learned the lesson of saving on his own at a young age. At 27 he's got a nice savings and he has a few nice big boy toys now too.

To me, that is the reason for giving a kid an allowance... so they learn how to handle money while it's still small sums. Small mistakes are better than big ones later in life.


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## Spotthedeaddog (Sep 27, 2015)

For my parents it was about learning to value money, and that it was important to do the right jobs properly. My brothers and I could have done with more free tutoring about cooking etc but we didn't have money to waste on ingredients so only a few breakfast recipes were permitted. And clothes were way too hard to replace to let children wash them (plus the washers were very dangerous).

It is a matter of budgetting. Find out what your kids like, what they'd find it worth saving for. What your basic helper (vs self care) chores are, and tell them that's what they need to do, and what they'll get receive at the end of it - and importantly it's not a "reward", they will be expect to do these jobs whether or not money was involved so it is their choice to do the jobs because they have to, or do them with being forced/nagged and receive the payment. Then that there are extra tasks they can do or think up, but the tasks will be paid according to how helpful they are to parents. encourage them to look at jobs outside the family home too as this will help them break comfort circle, and look beyond their personal boundaries for opportunities.


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## EleGirl (Dec 3, 2011)

I would make up a chore list that has chores that go beyond your child's basic chores. And I'd assign a monetary value to each chore. And industrious kid will end up doing a lot of work around the house and yard. Kids can do a lot more than we often give them credit for.

At age 10 my chore several days a week was to cook dinner for a family of 11. I also baked cakes, made breakfast and could do anything in the kitchen. My mom would show me a recipe once and after that it was easy.

When I as a kid we used a wringer washer and/or washed cloths in the tub with a wash board. And all the kids 10 and over helped out.

When each of my kids turned 10, I taught them to use the washer and dryer. From that point on they were responsible for their own laundry..to include clothing, sheets, towels, etc.

I also taught all of them to cook at a pretty young age.

My point? Kids are very capable if not coddled. 

They can learn to manage money very early. Then can learn to do anything that needs to be done inside or outside the house that does not require a power tool at age 10.


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## Holland (Aug 20, 2012)

We never gave the kids pocket money based on house hold jobs. It has always been expected that everyone in the family helps the household to run, they don't get paid to do what they should be doing anyway. If extra things need to be done then so be it, for us it is all about running the house together. 

As a separate issue we have taught them about money, credit, saving, the con of advertising etc. We are now a two household family but co parent and part of that is about continuing how we started out in regards to pocket money. We pay it to the kids each on alternate weeks, their dad gives them cash and when it is my week it goes straight into their bank accounts, this was a family decision from the start. My guys are pretty good at saving and even on their cash weeks they will often save it up.


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## kag123 (Feb 6, 2012)

Everyone is different, but we don't plan to do an "allowance" as in a regular weekly amount of money. Right now at ages 5 and 6, they have their own "chores" to do for no payment. If I would like them to help with a particularly difficult task that is above and beyond normal every day tasks, I will tell them that I will pay them X dollars for it. This is stuff that is difficult for them for their ages. My 5 year old helped me fold and put away 5 baskets of laundry and she got $2. 

At your son's age a list of jobs and their dollar amount might be good. And yes, I'd consider the fact that you give him money for his outings with his friends as his "allowance". And you should explain that to him. If he wants additional spending money above and beyond that I would use the job list to give him a chance to work for some extra money. 

When I was 13, I started working a part time job. That was when my parents transitioned me from providing money for my outings with my friends to expecting me to fund all of my leisure 100% on my own. 

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk


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## Adelais (Oct 23, 2013)

We do use Dave Ramsey's system, and call what we pay our children "commission." They get $2.50 a week no matter what. They are not paid for normal chores because doing chores comes with living in a family. We rotate chores every 6 months so they learn their job well. We also have extra chores they can do for $. For example they can wash a window and its blind for $2. They have created categories for saving for various things and divide up their commission into the different categories. Of their own volition they save 10% to give away, and they all want to give it to orphans and widows through a ministry that visits our church called "Father to the Fatherless."

Teaching a child how to budget is as important as giving them money. Teaching them to work for the family as a team member (and not be paid) as well how to work for $ are valuable character builders.


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## ZDog377 (May 31, 2015)

EleGirl said:


> I would make up a chore list that has chores that go beyond your child's basic chores. And I'd assign a monetary value to each chore. And industrious kid will end up doing a lot of work around the house and yard. Kids can do a lot more than we often give them credit for.
> 
> At age 10 my chore several days a week was to cook dinner for a family of 11. I also baked cakes, made breakfast and could do anything in the kitchen. My mom would show me a recipe once and after that it was easy.
> 
> ...


I've had him help me cut the grass the past 2 years or so, but I still do weedeating and other things. He doesn't 100% do it. I wouldn't mind giving him something for it if he would do it once without whining or taking the extended bathroom breaks. 

I do think the budgeting money aspect would help more. He doesn't understand why it's hard for him to do the traveling basketball team or why we have to bring food from home on tournament weekends.


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## Hopeful Cynic (Apr 27, 2014)

IMFarAboveRubies said:


> We do use Dave Ramsey's system, and call what we pay our children "commission." They get $2.50 a week no matter what. They are not paid for normal chores because doing chores comes with living in a family. We rotate chores every 6 months so they learn their job well. We also have extra chores they can do for $. For example they can wash a window and its blind for $2. They have created categories for saving for various things and divide up their commission into the different categories. Of their own volition they save 10% to give away, and they all want to give it to orphans and widows through a ministry that visits our church called "Father to the Fatherless."
> 
> Teaching a child how to budget is as important as giving them money. Teaching them to work for the family as a team member (and not be paid) as well how to work for $ are valuable character builders.


I'm not too familiar with Dave Ramsey, but that's exactly what I do! I give the kids $10 a month, whether they do chores or not. They have regular chores they are expected to do, just as part of living in the household. Lately I have been contemplating a good attitude bonus though, due to how much complaining there is!

I believe this teaches them the nature and value of money and saving for things, as well as the importance of looking after yourself and your house, without the two being linked.


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