Enjoy this excerpt from the March issue of The Family Forum newsletter. 

Allowance is usually given out on Saturday mornings at our house.  We take the opportunity to intentionally talk about money with our boys for a few moments each week.

Our boys know that 10% of their allowance is for giving to God – tithing.  This money gets put aside and is slid into their pockets before we head out the door on Sunday morning.  Then it goes into the collection bucket at church.

Another 10% of their allowance is for saving.  20% is also a good amount for saving, and we’ll work up to that as they get older.  The boys have special piggy-banks for their savings.  When the piggy-banks are overflowing we deposit some of their savings into their bank accounts.  Josh and I are joint account holders with the boys until they are old enough to have their own account (won’t be long now for Josiah who is 9).

That leaves 80% for spending.  The boys have wallets for their spending money.  Again, if the spending money adds up too high, we make a bank deposit.

The boys know that certain chores are their responsibility – like making the beds, cleaning up toys, putting folded laundry away, clearing the table, helping to take out the garbage, and other odds and ends if needed.  They know that families need all their members to pitch in to keep things running smoothly.

Allowance isn’t given based on chores completed, though I’ve heard this works well in some households.

We’ll give our boys $1 for every year they’ve been around up to age 10.  Then they can take on extra chores for extra money (to a certain limit!).  Beyond that paper routes, mowing lawns, etc. are options for them.

We try to focus on teaching the boys about money management.  We try to walk them through Biblical values about money.  We remind our children and ourselves(!) that the money we have belongs to God and we discuss how He wants us to handle it.

This always proves for interesting conversation as we learn about money as a family!