Our Simple Life

Allowance

M gets $5 a week as her allowance. We link it with chores and it makes it nice that she doesn't ask for us to buy her extra things because she knows that if she wants something she has to use her money. Now, that doesn't mean that she can choose whatever she wants to buy-we still have to approve it first.

Before September when she'd get her $5 we had her save $2.50 in her monthly spending bank (to be used on the last Saturday of the month), $2 in her long-term savings bank (to be used for a larger purchase saved over time), and then she'd have $.50 to spend each week. This worked pretty well. She wasn't buying dolar store junk each week or begging for a $10 item because she knew she could get it at the end of the month.

In September she started saving all of her allowance so she can buy birthday and Christmas presents (In our family there are four birthdays from the end of Nov. through December). For Christmas she is making extended family and friends ornaments. Another reason we had/are having her save all of her allowance is so that on Christmas it will have been a long time since she got anything new.

O.k., so after two and half months of no spending, M is surprisingly MORE content and LESS materialistic than before even though she's getting less. It seems like her play has gotten more imaginative as well. I'm sure my attitude about "stuff" has made a big difference and my including her in donating our excess to the women's and children's shelter has helped too. I think the biggest factor in her newfound gratefulness is the no money thing, though. 

So, come January, rather than going back to giving her some to spend each week, we're going to keep the no spending thing in place and let her save for something large (like admission to the Georgia aquarium). I love that she is changing how she feels about "stuff" right along with me! 

Untitled Comment

8:34 AM, Nov. 12, 2007 .. Posted by barbieheart

Hi! Thanks for visiting me. Looks like we are on the same journey with our "stuff."

Great post--isn't it neat when we learn something through our children?

--Barbara