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I will give an allowance but it won't be earned. I dont want them to think they have to be paid for chores. I expect them to do their chores and that wont be related to any weekly allowance they get

I also never got an allowance...... and I think I turned out ok I'm not against them though, it's something DH and I will have to discuss when the time comes.

I'm not okay for allowances for chores... *we* are a family & *we* take care of our home. Noone gets paid when they grow up to do their own dishes or take out the trash so why would I teach my kids that by doing those things they get monetary reward?..

There have been a couple times we've given G a $ reward for going above & beyond in cleaning our car (vacuuming, etc) and we will let him start earning money mowing the lawn (after he pays off a debt of some windows he broke womp womp), but the normal day to day house stuff?.. nope!

I do know there was a bee over on WB that had a system I REALLY liked! Her kids earned "money" for doing chores but it went to paying their "bills" (the amenities like cable, internet, & phone usage). The would "work" by doing chores adding so much "money" and then they would sit down & delegate their earnings to pay their "bills" IF they hadn't earned enough to pay then they would lose the privilege (get turned off) until they had done extra to earn the extra funds needed.

I thought it was fantastic but I never got anymore more detail than that...... DH and I should sit down & do something like that for G's game/tv/youtube time! hmmmmmm.

I don't know what I'll do when the time comes, but I know they will have chores that they are expected/required to do as a part of the family that has nothing to do with allowance.

I think I will try to teach them money management skills with money they receive as gifts. I don't see us providing a weekly allowance.

I think we will plan on providing them with clothes and experiences as we feel they are necessary. If they want something above or beyond that, they will have to pay for it themselves.

They will also be encouraged to get a job if they want additional spending money. The job could be doing something for us above and beyond their expected chores, or mowing the lawn for neighbors, etc.

We haven't discussed it much but neither DH or I had allowances.

I think what we will do is assign standard chores like unloading/loading the dishwasher, cleaning their room etc for which there are no compensations. But our kids will have the option to work extra "bigger" chores that aren't normally assigned that will be compensated a set amount if they want to earn money.

Of course all their needs will be met and I will be more than happy to supply them with a set amount of fun money for going out with their friends each month. But anything extra they will have to earn. If they want an $80 pair of jeans, they have to raise that money on their own.

When I was an older kid (this started at 13) my parents would give us a set amount ($100) every month. It seemed like a HUGE amount of money at first, BUT we had to buy all of our stuff- clothes, toiletries such as shampoo/conditioner, makeup, shoes, gifts for others, gas money to things we wanted to go to that my parents weren't going to and was way out of the way, and all extra stuff that we may have wanted (a special food that my mom didn't buy or something like that). My mom said she knew it worked when she saw me at Fred Meyer- apparently, I picked a shampoo off the shelf, checked the price, then put it back and got a cheaper one. When my kids are older, I think we'll do something like that.

@meganmp: That's smart! I really like that idea... I think that would definitely teach budgeting!

DH and I were just talking about allowances last night. He never got one, and it irritated him because it meant he went without a lot of stuff he wanted, since his parents wouldn't buy it either. I got one, and frankly was a bit spoiled. I want to balance it as 'here's some money, we want to teach you how to handle it properly' but not frame it as a reward for doing chores, because I expect those to get done regardless.

I never got an allowance but I got money when I asked for it (small amounts of course). We will probably do the same but regular chores will need to be kept up.