My kids "earn" points. Each point is worth 1/2 cent. They get 200 points for doing the dishes...40 points for each can of trash that they bag up and take outside. They get 15 points for loading the washer, taking the clothes from the dryer, putting them in a basket... And since no one in our house LIKES folding laundry - at the end of the week we fold that weeks clothes and put them away and that is worth 100 points.
(I have 2 girls living with me at home....My son lives with his dad) The girls get to spend their points when we go out. They have to save up their points to do certain things. If they want something and I say "no", they have the power to "override" my decision and spend their points on it, and get it, or do a certain thing (like go out to eat) anyway. If they don't have the points, this encourages them to think about "saving up" for what they want.
So what are everyone's thoughts about this system? I REALLY want input here. Please give me your "2 cents". **Cheeky Grin**
[/i] I am delighted to know a fantastic system to motivate your children in partcipating to your family. Generally speaking, every system would have its advantages and disvantages....
A good point this system achieve is that children have learnt every thing they have got in hand isn't a free lunch to them, they have to put their own efforts there to exchange for them. Teenagers nowadays indulge in their own business or interests while ignoring some responsibilities during their development.
However, I think you should further impose some terms or conditions in the "contract" so that you can deny their wants, in case of being disadvantageous to them. They should not be trained to be self-centered in the due course.
sounds like a great idea. i would be careful on the override though, unless you have a system in place for them to know exactly what they CAN override?
I never got anything for doing anything lol 
Maybe like $2 on rare occasions when I like washed my parent's car or something, but not for doing minuscule things like washing dishes or putting dishes away. Was always understood that I was gaining more than money is worth by learning how to manage a household (in a way) and also help around to ease the stress of my parents. It certainly sounds like a reasonable system (though I suspect you'll have to increase the "wages" over time - as I grew up, my siblings and I came to the realisation that the few dollars pocketmoney we got for our week's chores around the house didn't go very far.... then again, as we got older, our responsibilities increased too...). I would be careful about what they can "override", though. However, I do think that children should be taught to work and save up for the things they want, rather than just have it given to them - it encourages financial independence and careful use of money in the future.
it sounds a great system to me, with reasonable payment and encouragemet mechanism. Does it include a punishment mechanism or you know the kind of anti-inter-locking mechanism? But never mind, too complicated system will do no good to education.
| cloudship wrote: |
| it sounds a great system to me, with reasonable payment and encouragemet mechanism. Does it include a punishment mechanism or you know the kind of anti-inter-locking mechanism? But never mind, too complicated system will do no good to education. |
They get a chance to do the assigned chores, with no fight, for their promised pay (which they do get), and if they don't do their chores they get toldto do the chores. They still get paid if they have to be told to do their chores, but if they have to be ordered to do their chores (which makes me have to revert to the "evil mommy" (Yeah right)) they do not get paid, but they still have to do the work. We RARELY if EVER have to get to the stage where they actually have to be ordered to do their work...told yes...ordered, no. If they are going to have to do it anyway...they go for the "I might as well get paid for it" attitude...at least I think they do.
Is this what you meant? I hope that I answered your question....I really am getting a lot out of reading everyone's answers, and I hope to read more answers..... Post away....Earning money when doing house chores... Well, this system do encourage them doing those chores.. But, i think that it will affect them in some negative way. It will become money-oriented family.
"I do my chores because i get paid"
And is not
"I do my chores because it is my responsibility."
They will learned that, money is everything for them. They dont understand why they need to do chores. In liljp617's post, chores is to ease the stress of parents. By this system, They do chores for money not for love.
Is still up to you, whether you like to turn your family into money-oriented or understanding family. However, this is a good system to keep your house tidy. 
It's a good system. They will learn to make money.
But if you say no they can "override" this. I would make it a bit stricter because maybe they want to buy something really bad or something.
I'd have to agree with sky. These things can definitely backfire, especially if you try to stop paying them for chores because of budgetary constraints.
I personally think that starting them off on the responsibility track at an early age, with non-monetary compensation in the event of satisfactory fulfilment of tasks and the removal of these compensations (such as later bed times or extra biscuit with cup of tea) in the event of unsatisfactory completion.
I think your system is a great one in terms of training your kids to save and a 'think before you spend' habbit.
My only concern is that what will happen if the girls are not getting points for chores? Would your house work left undone, in a mess and your girls just wouldn't care? My parents taught us sharing house chores as our responsibility. Because we love each other very much, we really wouldn't mind to do a little extra to help out our parents.
Maybe you could adjust the system a little, such as giving points to major works, while sharing housework without points like we do with our house mates?
I think it's good since it encourages them to work for a reward (like real life) and also because it gives them opportunities to make choices how to spend/save with their reward at a young age. I think you should give them some sort of opportunity to invest too where compound interest is involved in a realistic way. Show them that skipping on buying a cd with their points can give them nice cash in the future.
I talk with a woman at college all the time who's a retired professional economist at school she loves to point out how younger kids 'frivolous' spending on luxury goods does really neat things when invested. (like buying 30 cds in a year vs investing $300 for example).
I think that is a great idea to motivate kids to give them some kind of reward whenever they do something good. It is important to teach kids to work and to take care of what they have.
i think that it is a good idea........
There is always 2 sides to a coin. I do agree that the system encourages the children to learn that there is no free lunch in this world and that they have to earn what they want. However, do take note as to not "overdo it". Sometimes its more than money. There are things like kinship and love that can never be bought with money. If helping out in the house equates to getting paid, in the long run it wouldn't be heathy to the family ties as everyone would become very calculative and selfish. They would "expect" to be paid for every little thing they do for the family and it erodes the "value" of what could have been a chance to express care and concern for the loved ones.
Just giving an example, imagine you had a hard day at work. You are pretty tired and simply sits down on your sofa and switched on the television to "switch off" your mind. At this moment your son/daughter came over, offer you a cup of coffee and some cookies, and ask about your day at work. Does it warm your heart that your family member care for you? Now after you had your coffee and cookies, your son/daughter demand money for the "service" done - it simply spoils the whole mood. You now feels that he/she did it for the money, not that he/she truly cares for you.
Very silly of me to give that example but at least that's roughly what I think.
I think its good kids earn instead of get. Its good to learn you have to work for stuff you want. you definitly get spoiled brats if you just give every time they should for ice cream and so on..
| thejam wrote: |
| I think its good kids earn instead of get. Its good to learn you have to work for stuff you want. you definitly get spoiled brats if you just give every time they should for ice cream and so on.. |
Perhaps to a certain degree "yes". But they may get programmed to always expect something in return for what they do for others. It could enforce some selfishness along the lines of always asking "what's in it for me?" So that when they go outside the home environment and some volunteering is expected, this may go counter their system at home. Probably need some balance where there has to be a certain amount of volunteering done and perhaps that has to come from themselves, rather than according to rules and regulations.
Wonder who is doing all the calculations? Must be quite significant along bookkeeping and auditing lines? I think that can be a nice idea.
But... when your kids will get over a certain age they won't want to do these things. I'd say... over 13-14 years old they will not want to play that kind of game with you and they'll want more.
You should take care with this.
Really nice idea though!
I'm still a kid myself. I get 5 EUR/week from my grandfather. If I need money, I can just ask my mother. If I'm going to a party, the gives me some money. I'm not a money waster, I have 800 EUR that I can access if I would like to. I'm not saving it to buy something big like a new computer or something...
To be honest, my parents always tried to use the points system when I was a kid, but it always went way over my head, and it was hard to keep track of for a long time, especially with inflation. (25 cents just doesn't mean the same to you when you're 12 as it did to you when you were 10.)
When I become a parent, I plan to give them actual minimum wage for their chores. Like if they thoroughly scrub down and mop the kitchen for about an hour, I'll go ahead and give them 6 bucks. Same with the bathroom, tidying up and vacuuming.
Of course if they get sloppy or take too long, their work value goes down. Which means they get less than minimum wage. Which is pretty realistic, actually.
I love this system. You could even keep track of their points in a ledger, which you could teach them to read and use, and thus teach them bookkeeping at the same time!
Yes, you'll probably have to increase point values, or eventually make them worth a cent each. (Or just start calling it money).
When I was younger my Mom kept track of my earned money in a ledger and I rarely saw it unless I decided to "cash in".
As they get older, you could even give them investment options. Such as: You've saved 1000 points, if you choose, you can lock them in a Point GIC and then in one month, you'll have 1500 points! Seemingly for free! But, if you take out your points before the month, you lost 250.
I don't know if that would appeal to them or just confuse them, but I would've loved that as a kid (I was a weird kid).
And, as everyone has said, the override thing could get to be an issue... but by making point cost correlate to override request, you'll probably be fine.
I think, it is not good for the kids whether you give pocket money or you give them money for what they do at home / school. In either case, you are trying to tell the kid that money will come in either by itself or by doing is normal routine job like teaching himself or experimenting himself. The best is to make him earn if he wants more money than what you give for his or her real expenses.
What would the limit be to the extent to which they can override you?
when I was really young I made one cent for cleaning the dishes so any system for rewards would be appreciated but depending on the age... your point system seems a little confusing. It's great for your children to understand this as our reward system is similar (like credit cards etc. with points, etc). You should definately fill the reward system with disclaimers though like expiring points. Maximum points. blackout dates, exclusions on using points. A good lesson can be learned here... :P
Work more to learn more has said Sarkozy President. I prefer work less to laugh more : Money is a good servant but a bad master.
I earned my allowance by doing chores. Was not "paid" per chore. Sometimes more chores in a week than others but nothing extra for them.
I think if done right, shows responsibility. I personally would lose the "points" deal though.
i think it's a great idea. if that works for you, congrats. my parents, however, never have paid me on time and are about as likely to start as i am to explode. i'm just expected to clean the kitchen family room, rec room, bathroom, and my room. i need a real job
My parents did something similar with my brothers for a few years and it worked very well.
They bought a set of poker chips and gave each child a jar. The child started out with a certain number of chips, and could earn them by doing chores, and lose them as punishment. Then they had to pay a chip for every half hour they watched TV or played on the computer, or did some other 'special' activity. It helped keep them in line (they are both very energetic little boys!), encouraged them to do chores, and limited the time they spent doing thing like watching TV, which in turn got them to spend more time out of doors and playing imaginative games. Occasionally, if they were very good, my mother would let them cash in like 10 chips for a trip to the ice cream shop or take them to the toy store to buy something with the money in their little piggy banks.
The system was discontinued as they got older, and they do not see chores as something they ought to get paid for. The eldest does his chores because he understands they are his responsibility and as the eldest boy other than our father, he feels responsible for doing the things my mother (who is a bit frail) can't do, like carrying heavy stuff and taking out the garbage. The youngest (9) is an absolute sweetheart, and he does his chores to help mommy. He actually will ask to do the dishes for her and such. he's really darling.
