what is a reasonable allowance for a 12 year old girl?
Forums:
do you just hand her money? do you make her "earn" it with special tasks around the house? do you have a bank account for her or is just cash to her hand? do you have a say about how she spends her money?
Use it as a way to teach her
Use it as a way to teach her about saving, earning, and working. In my case, my parents gave me $5/week standard. There was also a list of chores (from about the time I was 5 or 6) with a dollar amount attached to each one. When I was little, it was things like pulling weeds out of the yard-10c per weed, with roots attached. As I got older, it was things like scrubbing floors, dusting, cleaning bathrooms, vacuuming, mowing the lawn... whatever it is that usually needs to be done around the house. The more labor-intensive or difficult the task, the more $ it was worth. They also wouldn't (generally) buy me any of the things *I* was supposed to use my allowance for if I spent it all. I was always encouraged to put at least 20% of my earnings (esp once I got summer jobs) into savings.
There were definitely also standard chores that were expected and not paid for.
We don't currently do
We don't currently do allowance, but I brought it up once to SO and he went and told Skids that we would start giving them an allowance soon. I'm regretting it now.
Some people do $1 per year. So a 12 year old would get $12. We won't do that, because we have 4 kids and it'd add up to over $100 a month and we can't afford that. So, I'm going to just say they each get $5 a week. I realize it's not much for most kids these days, but it's better than nothing. We've suggested saving, but really haven't discussed it in detail.
Well we have offered SS11 and
Well we have offered SS11 and allowance of $7.00 per week if he doesn't get into any trouble and does all his required chores. We had also agreed privately that we would give him extra money (with a cap of $10 per week) in the event that he goes above and beyond in anyway. The plan was to encourage responsiblity and teach fiscial responsiblity at the sametime all while not giving him enough money that he could end up using it to get himself into trouble but...
As of yet, we have never given him a penny but he's okay with it because he usually just takes whatever he wants from my purse or DS's piggy bank when I'm not looking. OR my favorite tells my father when he's with him after school that we owe him and allowance and must have forgotten so my dad gives him money (typically $20).
I give my kids $1 dollar for
I give my kids $1 dollar for each year of their age, every week. Anything they want to buy with their money is their decision, and once it's gone, they don't get anymore from me. This is actually cheaper than them nickel and diming you here and there, and they end up spending less money because they are more careful with it because it's THEIRS and they know it's not a neverending supply. They can also earn more money for extra jobs around the house. I use an online program that keeps up with their allowance that I LOVE. It's FamZoo.com . You don't have to give them their money each week, but it keeps track of how much they get each week and adds it into their "bank" so you know how much you owe them. You can also deduct from it when you give them money. This system has worked very well for us.
$1 per year and 1/2 must be
$1 per year and 1/2 must be saved.
I give my kiddos, 14, 12, and
I give my kiddos, 14, 12, and 10 money when they need it. They do not have "set" chores but they help around the house alot. They are expected to do whatever we ask. IF they want to have guests over-it is THEIR responsiblity to clean the house (the whole house!) alhtough we all help some. We tried allowance for awhile, but I found it too labor intensive for ME-to try and assign specific chores, determine whether they were done, and then have cash on hand to pay them (I rarely carry cash). I feel like I spend less just giving them money when they want to go to a ballgame or something
My DW gives SD17 $20 a week,
My DW gives SD17 $20 a week, which is also expected to cover her lunches. However, the money is a "given" because SD17 does not have to do any chores for it. Personally, I think that this sends a really bad message, as SD17 has developed an entitlement attitude about money, and has never learned anything even resembling a work ethic.
Also, SD17 usually runs out of money pretty quickly, because she likes to look like a "big shot" by buying meals for her friends. Of course, she runs to DW for a "refill" when this happens. To her credit, DW has been better about not forking over more money every time, but she still sometimes gives her more.
I don't give allowance. I
I don't give allowance. I wait til they really want something and they have to ask earn the money for this? I also believe that chores are them pulling their own weight in the household so that means they have to do something above and beyond their chores to earn that money for said item just like if they worked a job.
My SS12 does not live with us
My SS12 does not live with us so no he doesn't get an allowence from us. I am not sure about home but he has had a paper route for almost 3 years. Honestly this does not teach HIM the value of money because his mom and granddad constatly chip in on big things he wants TVs, Cell Phones, any thing. So I dont believe he gets it.
My point is if you give an allowence to teach the value of money or how to save money they should be given no extra money. When i was 10 my parents gave me 10 dollars a week to do with as we pleased. My brother spent the whole thing on comic books every week. I saved enough to buy tow round trip tickets to Montana from New England plus spending money. I didnt have to pay for a room and board because we stayed with my Aunt.
My 7 year old also has a paper route he makes about 7 dollars a week. In the summer he wanted a WII something we dont have the money for, I saw an ad in the paper for youth paper carriers. We had also just finished HENRY AND THE PAPER ROUTE , any how i asked hime if he wanted to do it and he said yes. WE got it and he does it twice a week. I do a lot of the work in reality but he brings the papers to the doors and helps fold ext.
He bought the WII with in 3 months. He also pays for his guenie pigs food, hay , and bedding. Put his own money in a Sunday School collection and has a savings account. I think if they know money is not free and that every thing cost money it helps put things in perspective.
I personally dont know that chores and money go together lots of people say yes but i dont get paid to do the chores around the house wh yshould the kids. i think chores are maditory and an allowence is for teaching about saving and spending. I would give my kid enough to do one thing a week like public skating here i think it is 5 dollars. Movies are 10. So I would give 5 enough to do something with their friends and if they wanted more they would have to save or work out a way to earn money.
I think the whole cs and such
I think the whole cs and such has helped to make entitled kids. My ss13 is a perfect example-he gets a disability check from ds-well technically mil does-but gee, ss knows exactly how much it is and talks about how he has xxx amount of money each month. He sees this money as HIS. All of the other kids in this house also get Social Security checks and yet strangely not a one of them know how much it is and certainly dont think any of the money that comes into dh or my accounts belong to THEM. Back when ss lived with bm and we did pay cs-he knew exactly how much that amount was as well. I dont even understand why adults would share this sort of info with children.
SS14 has £10 a week, as long
SS14 has £10 a week, as long as chores are done and room is tidy. He soon wised up to the fact that if he wanted something more than 10 bucks he needed to keep his money back for more than a week to buy it.
We never gave SD allowance,
We never gave SD allowance, but then again DH gave her whatever she wanted, every day was Christmas for that kid.
My DH and I are going to Foster to Adopt. The state gives Foster kids $1.00 per day that they are in care. Out of that money, they must open a bank account and save a portion of it. I think $7.00 a week, provided they do their chores isn't bad. you can always increase it later.