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Probably not until at least age 6. First, he has to earn the money, then he needs to learn how to budget and save. I have no prior experience, but I really don't think there's any perfect age, as long as parents start sometime!

I'm not sure, we really never got allowances, but if it would help them clean then I might consider it. I definitely want to teach savings with my children. I wouldn't do it until school aged though, 6-7 minimum. I don't want them expecting they will get paid everytime they help out.

@Mrsbells: Sounds like your parents did what mine did! We'd get money for lunch, but there was always some change and that was our allowance. Before high school though, we had lunch tickets, so our parents had to buy those directly, so they had to give us our allowance separate from lunch money.

Not until they are old enough for "chores". We agreed that they have to earn their "allowance". Whether it be cleaning their room or taking out the trash or clearing the table.

We want them to know you have to work for your money!

DH and I haven't talked about it, but I think 4's a good age. They're mini adults at that age and old enough to help around the house.

We want to teach our LOs to give, save, then spend. They'll tithe 10%, save 10% and can do whatever they want with the remaining. If they're anything like DH, they'll save the rest!

It'll be when they are 5...probably $5/month? I'm not a believer in paying for chores or good grades, but will probably be willing to give them extra if they want to do more than their regular chores.

We had allowance intermittently growing up, it was like a habit we never really kept. At one point when we were little my parents had us pick something and they bought it and we then had to earn it (it would take a few weeks) which I kind of liked (we didn't get it until we earned it.)

I think around 3 or 4 I would like to start so they can learn about money from a young age. I love the moon jar idea where you use a bank with three compartments: save, spend, and give. I want to figure out a way to incorporate saving for Christmas gifts too. We always bought gifts for our siblings and parents and it was such a source of pride to be able to do that.

I am not sure how much we will do yet but I like the school of thought that it is their take in the family share if you will, chores will be expected regardless but some work will be available to make a little extra. I saw a blog post where the kids in that family would occasionally pay a sibling to do their chores and I thought that was cute-it showed me they understood currency. I could see there being a fee if they didn't get their chores done though.

when DH & i have discussed this, we don't think that chores should be linked to allowance. chores are something you do because it is a way to contribute to the household, not because you will get paid to do them. i feel like by offering a reward for doing them, you are giving them the choice whether or not to do them- do them and get paid or don't do them and don't get paid, it doesn't encourage the chores to get done simply because they need to get done. we'll give opportunities to earn extra though- like washing the car.

i love moonjars! they're a bank with three compartments- share, save, spend. i think once they're 5 or 6 we will give an allowance, early on something divisible by 3 so they can put money in each section of their bank equally.

I should clarify, because I did write that my son would have to earn his allowance first.

He will have chores to do that are age appropriate and he will not get paid for them. As an example, at age 6, I'd expect him to be able to put his laundry away or clear the dinner dishes. There will be things that he can do on top of that to earn some pocket money, such as pull weeds in a flower bed or help wash the car. It could also be academic, such as reading a certain number of chapters in a book we select at the library. Ideally, I'd like him to pick an item that he would like to purchase and work towards that. I am not comfortable with giving an allowance just to give one, it agree that you have to teach children how to handle money, but in the real world, you don't just get an allowance, you have to work.

I guess I should clarify by previous post. Chores aren't optional in our home. The 'payment' for them is based on completion and doing the job correctly. If they slack on it they don't get the full amount back. They are aware of the total amount that job is going for and if they can perform the task to the best of their ability that is the rate they get.
They should have initiative to want to do more around the house then just the bare minimum.
I have to say it's interesting to hear other opinions about this when your LO's are so small. You will almost certainly change your outlook on some of this when the time comes to execute it.

I was never given allowances as a kid, and neither was DH. Our parents always said, "you get a place to live, food to eat, clothes to wear, and a an education - I'm not going to pay you!"

We just finished the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace study and I think we'll follow his idea, which is commissions instead of allowance, which is rewarded for choosing to do extracurricular jobs in addition to regular chores.
http://www.daveramsey.com/article/top-3-kids-and-money-qa/lifeandmoney_kidsandmoney/

dont think we will give our lo a allowance when he is young, maybe when he is a teen?!? maybe we will do rewards, but i fully expect him to help out on little things