Hellobee

While Ace was three, and I was at home taking care of him, our home, our pets, a preschool co-op, and a newborn, we fell into some bad habits. Too much tv in the car (baby hated car rides and that minivan dvd system is oh so convenient), too little outside time (our summers are just so brutal and winter mornings are frigid!), and too many new toys (bribery, yup). He was used to getting new toys or trinkets for a variety of reasons, and it became quite overwhelming. His room was starting to fill with junk. The wooden toys, the open ended manipulatives, the beautiful things that I had so carefully picked out for him during his first few years were abandoned in favor of Paw Patrol and Power Rangers. I was glad he started to have his own likes and dislikes, but I also knew I had to set some limits. Ace’s room is super tiny, and our house is small in general, we just can’t fit loads of toys. After his birthday in October, when he became the owner of quite a few news toys, I decided to make some changes.

We talked about how turning four comes with new privileges, but also new responsibilities. While Ace had always helped out with things around the house, it wasn’t consistent. We decided once you turn four, you get a responsibility and chore chart. Responsibilities are household tasks that are just part of life. They don’t come with a monetary reward because the reward is seeing your home run smoothly, your pets get fed, etc. So at four, Ace has four daily tasks. He feeds the dogs, feeds the cats, makes his bed, and sets the table for dinner. There is a cute little chart involved, because we like marking things off, but I hope that in a few months it will just be routine. He is also responsible for routine stuff like keeping his room clean, his clothes put away, and his toys organized, but since he has been doing those for a while, they aren’t part of the chart.

I know this might sound harsh, but we have decided against doing an allowance for our kids. So to earn spending money (which ties into my first rant above about bad habits, but I’ll get to that in a moment), Ace is able to do chores. Chores, unlike responsibilities, are extra tasks that can be done and that come with a monetary reward. At four years old he can earn up to $4 per week doing extra chores. He can fold laundry for 25 cents, or do yard work for $1. Other choices are sweeping, cleaning the bathroom, washing windows, and so on.

Any money that is earned by chores goes into Ace’s bank, and it has to be divided between “spend” “save” and “share.” He gets to decide how much goes into each category, as long as some of it goes to each. And all of those little toys and extras that he wants, he now has to purchase with his own money. My hope is that he will begin to learn to buy less and save up money for larger purchases that he wants, instead of spending $1 on some junk piece of plastic. I struggle a bit, because I want him to make his own choices, but at the same time I am drastically reducing our family’s use of plastic, so I have had to find a middle ground.

This is the bank we use, and I love the system. It even comes with a checkbook to help keep track of everything.

Since implementing this system, we have seen some good changes. No longer begging for toys every time we go to the market. Getting excited about going to the thrift store to look for something we need, instead of shiny new things at Target. Completing all of his responsibilities each day, and taking it seriously. Ace is getting ready to donate some money (and some older toys) for the first time, and I am really proud of how seriously he takes all of it. I am excited to see what kind of charity or organization he picks.

How do you handle money for your kids? I think I have a strong desire to do things differently than how I was raised, because I really struggled with understanding money and credit, and I had terrible financial habits for a long time. I hope that I am doing the right thing!