In our current age of plastic money, it’s not just our government that no longer grasps the concept of money & budgets…it’s our families and kids, too.
While it’s no secret that allowances can help kids to understand the value of money, at least in our house we feel that some chores should be done not because there’s money at stake, but because the kids are a part of our family and we all need to chip in chore time without an expectation of compensation.
In our house, we’ve now divided chores into 2 pieces that are compensated in two different ways. The chores that are completed that are either…
- a part of their familyhood or
- are personal hygiene-related
…get compensated with belly art as our way of saying thanks. (Small, washable marker “tattoos”–a visible reminder of how much they’ve done for the family or themselves that day.)
However, we’re still working out how to structure the financial compensation. In my mind, setting the table shouldn’t be compensated as heavily as more time-intensive chores like cleaning a bedroom or sorting dark and light laundry. Even more challenging is aligning allowances with goal purchases since the coins in the piggy bank just aren’t translating into anything more than mini instant-gratification purchases at the grocery store or strip mall.
I stumbled upon FamZoo.com the other day and took advantage of their 60-day trial to see if it can help us teach the kids about money management.
If it works well, I figure upgrading to a few pennies spent on the account will help make sure we teach about pennies saved and earned as effectively as possible. If anyone’s had any experiences of their own with this platform (or any others in this same vein), I would love to hear your thoughts!