Making Allowances for Your Kids' Dollar Values
Sound like a lot for a little person? Godfrey's plan takes 10 percent off the top for charity. The remainder is divided into thirds and put into jars. The quick-cash jar "is for instant gratification." This spend-as-they-choose money means that candy bars, Pokemon cards, and other impulse buys are no longer paid for by Mom and Dad, which causes kids to curb many impulses. Says Godfrey of her 17-year-old daughter, Kyle: "Her Starbucks bill is her own."
The second jar is for medium-term savings, meant to be spent on medium-ticket luxuries like in-line skates or a CD player. The final jar is invested for the long term, such as for college.
Kelly Grant, 13, thinks that is fair. An eighth grader in Greenville, S.C., Kelly and his brother, Christopher, 15, each get $15 a week. The tradeoff: "I have to walk and feed the dog, and I have to do the recyclables," Kelly says. He spends but still saved enough to buy a Sony PlayStation.
Christopher, who has a girlfriend, spends most of what he gets; he supplements his pocket money by doing extra work, like mowing the lawn. "I'm supposed to do a load of laundry every night." He has, he admits, a tendency to forget. "They charge my allowance sometimes," he says. "But they don't really remember to do it."
The Grant boys are still learning about earning and show signs of valuing money. They wouldn't stop to pick up a dime, but both say there are coins they would rescue from the sidewalk. Says Christopher: "You can do a lot with a quarter."
WHERE TO LEARN MORE
Money talks, but the trick is getting kids to listen. Here are some helpful tools:
The Allowance Game, ages 5 and up, lets players collect an allowance and spend it. The first to save $20 wins. Cost: $16.95 plus $4.95 shipping. To order, call 800-542-8338.
Site seeing. Jayne Pearl's www.KidsAndMoney.com shows kids how their parents' allowance, adjusted for inflation, compares with their own. Take a money-related quiz at www.kidsenseonline.com.
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