My Kids Pay the Maid With Their Allowance!

Tuesday night I had the privilege to attend a frugal living class presented by Pary Moppins and her friend.  I was inspired to try many new things at home to be more efficient with our time and money.  At the close of the class it was suggested that everyone share a frugal tip.  I was at a loss because so many of my frugal ideas had already been shared by Julie.  So, I shared how we handle allowances and “pay the maid” at our house.  When asked how much we gave for allowance, I gave the wrong information (my husband set me straight when I was telling him about it later) so I thought today would be the perfect day to share with you.

We believe that kids should learn responsibility, but that they should be given some choices and freedoms as well.  It didn’t sit with us very well to give an allowance with no strings attached at all, or to withhold an allowance completely either. Neither seemed to teach responsibility. At our house, the kids buy their own stuff, meaning extras.  We give them 3 gifts and a stocking at Christmas, birthday gifts, and provide all their necessary clothing and personal care products.  Their rooms are decorated with the basics.  If the kids want anything extra, it has to come from their own money.  We’ve found that this stops the majority of whining and also teaches them to value their things, seeing as they pay for those things themselves.  Here’s how it works:


We give allowance based upon age.  We are about to start giving our 3 and a half year old a whopping quarter a week.  He has a large bank that he will not be allowed to spend money from, so we’ll be getting a smaller bank that he can put his weekly quarter into.  He can spend it or save it, but can only spend money from his small bank.  When he turns 4 we will give him $.50 weekly in nickels (I’ll explain why in a moment) and he’ll be required to make his bed to keep most of that $.50. (this idea came from my friend Joy’s parents)

With our older children we had a similar system in place.  Starting at age 5 we would give allowance  of their age minus $4.  So at age 5 their allowance for the year was $1 a week, given in dimes.  At age 5 their only responsibility connected with their allowance was to make their bed before school (or by lunchtime during the summer).  If they chose not to make their bed, then they paid the maid (me) to make their bed.  This took away the disgruntlement from me because I then had a small spending fund for frivolous things myself.  I also saw the kids start to make real choices.  Some days they would decide that it was worth it to pay the maid and would bring me their money and let me know they were paying me to make the bed (sounds like when we decide we’ll order a pizza instead of cook, right?) Other days they would run back upstairs to be sure their bed was made.  It was great when they wanted to buy something but realized they were short and had they made their bed that one day….lessons were learned.

As the kids got older more responsibilities were added.  At some point the kids were given a wallet and we required them to save a portion of their allowance each week for a larger purchase.  This way they could still have freedom to spend a little, but see the progress toward their goal. They were given opportunities to take on extra chores for extra money.  We would both be in agreement on what the tasks were and what they would be paid for them.  Not to say that we didn’t ask them to help out from time to time, we just only connected their allowances to the chores that were assigned to each child.  Some times we all just need some help and they were mostly happy to oblige.  Every once in a while one would ask how much they would be paid.  Sometimes we’d say “nothing, I just need your help and that’s part of being a family”  and other times we’d reward their efforts with some extra money.  For us this was a perfect mix of spending money, saving money, and responsibility connected with money.  All without overwhelming the kids.

Now back to that $.50 given in nickels.  At age 4 our little Turkey is quite capable of pulling the covers up over his pillow on his bed.  If he chooses not to do this he’ll pay the maid (me) a nickel that day.  At the end of the week if he’s chosen not to do it at all, he’ll still have $.15 left over.  Not a lot, but he can do something with that at a garage sale.  We also use the coins to teach the kids to count by other numbers instead of just counting dollar bills.  As the kids’ allowance increases we’ll give it in a combination of coins and dollars to really make them practice their math skills. 

This is close to what we charged the older kids to pay the maid.
$1 allowance = $.10 to pay the maid (.30 left over)
$2 allowance = $.20 to pay the maid (.60 left over)
$3 allowance = $.25 to pay the maid (1.25 left over)
$4 allowance = $.30 to pay the maid (1.90 left over)
$5 allowance = $.50 to pay the maid (1.50 left over)
$6 allowance = $.50 to pay the maid (2.50 left over)
$7 allowance = $.75 to pay the maid (1.75 left over)
$8 allowance = $.75 to pay the maid (2.75 left over)
$9 – $10 allowance = $1.00 to pay the maid (2.00 – 3.00 left over)
$11 – $ 12 allowance = $1.25 to pay the maid (2.25 – 3.25 left over)
$13 – $14 allowance = $1.50 to pay the maid (2.50 – 3.50 left over)

Since we provide the necessities, if one of the girls needed a new pair of jeans and they could be bought for $20, $20 was the budget.  If she wanted to buy the $35 pair she had to pay the difference.   If she wasn’t willing to pay the difference we knew she didn’t value it enough.  Again, this really helps to stop so much of that begging for things.  The kids are provided for and they are learning important life skills in the process.  Hopefully when they go off on their own most of if it will carry over

If you’re wanting to take the life lessons a step further with your teens, check out this online activity to show them just how much money life in the real world costs.