Chore Money vs Birthday Money

Chore Money vs Birthday Money

By Keith Bunn Jr.

November 11, 2013

You have heard me say plenty of times, that we as parents, have to teach our kids about money. It is not the school's job to do that! 

If you are new to this blog, I have said that we need to teach our kids that money comes from WORK! Not from our pockets, & differently not from the governments. They also need to learn 3 things right from the start. How to Save, Give, and Spend. The sooner we teach them these things, and they get it, the sooner they can become productive, and self reliant adults when they get older. 

Commissions, not Allowance!

We put our kids on commissions when doing chores. Work, get paid. Don't work, don't get paid. This is so very important these days, because there are tons of people today that think they should get money while sitting on their butts watching TV. And then complain when they don't get any money. 

We made up a Commission Pay Sheet where we listed a bunch of chores and put the amount of money we would pay for that chore right next to it. Once the child was done with the chore, they would then put their initials in the box provided. 

Commission Pay Sheet

Now, if we checked to see if the chore(s) were done and done right and they weren't, then they would have them do it or do it again for FREE. At the end of the week, we would tally up the amounts and then pay them whatever they earned. This amount would be split up in the 3 categories mentioned above... save, give, and spend.

Birthdays and Gift Money

Now there is a difference between chore money and birthday or gift money. If your child receives money from a relative or friend for a birthday or just as a gift, that is separate from the chore money. Meaning, give your child the choice of what they want to do with it. If they want to divide it up in the 3 categories  then divide it. But if they want to put it all into just one category  including spending it all, then that is their choice. This however does not mean you have no say in what they do with it. Let's say they want to spend it all on a toy or something that is cheap and will probably break in 2 days, talk to them about it. "Johnny/Susie, I'm not sure that you spending all that money on that thing is such a wise choice because its not made very well and it will probably break quickly." You get the point. The same goes with just doing one of the other categories  If you don't see an issue, then let them do it.

I hope this was helpful and I hope this gives you some ideas on how to teach your kids about money. If you want, I can send you copy of the Commission Pay Sheet we made up and used with our kids. Just send me an e-mail with the word "Commissions" in the subject line and I'll send you a copy of the Word document we have for FREE. With it being in a Word document, you'll be able to make changes to fit your family's needs.

The reason I do this, is to give people hope and to try to inspire others. To make people think about their finances, whether they are young or old, so they can win financially.

If you have any questions for me about my posts or if you need help learning how to live on less than you make and creating a budget, you can call me at (616) 454-2046 or e-mail me at cavuscoaching@gmail.com. I’d be happy to help! 

You can also find more money news, facts and ideas, on my Facebook and/or Twitter pages. I'd be grateful if you followed me. Thank you!