No! This is the first step in teaching your child that he/she is entitled. Being a responsible member of the family is a fact of life. Kids should make their beds, clean up after themselves and have additional household chores, especially if the Mom works outside the home.

Allan , I agree with you. I too believe it's important to teach the kids the value of money and for me I believe so at a particularly young age. It teaches them , as you said, how to manage money and this is extrememly important.

You do not need to give money to kids to teach them its value. How about when the child gets a gift of money take them to the bank and put it in the account I assume you opened for them when they were born. This is where you will have put Christening gifts and other monetary gifts that they received before they were old enough to know what money is. Explain to them the banking procedure. Show them each time and when enough money has accrued start an investment plan, with their knowledge, such as a IRA. Kids who are taught this way learn the value of money. As far as giving them what they need - lunch money, yes, dance tickets - no, you are the parent and you get to deceide. To give a kid $40. a week is crazy. A ten year old doesn't need it, and a teenager, at certain times, needs more. Also, the last thing any savy Mom wants, is her kids screwing around with her washer and dryer. I am not say don't teach them how to do laundry, just don't let them operate heavy machinery.

I have certain chores that my daughter does on a regular basis and other chores for which she can earn some allowance. I believe in both methods. She should learn to take pride in our home as well as learn how to take care of our 2 dogs. In addition, she is learning how much money she earns and half is always put in her bank account. As we are Jewish, there is no Christening money or money she has gotten as gifts. She knows how to budget her money, at age 9, and will look for items she wants in the store that fit with what amount she has in her wallet. I feel she is learning the best of all worlds.

@Growupsaucon, sounds like your girls are on the right path.

They are Mary. My girls are kind and loving. They put others before themselves. Two of my girls do volunteer work with children who have severe disabilities and my older daughter volunteers at the hospital. Thank you for saying something kind.

My oldest gets an allowance and does do chores everyday around the house. He saves his money and he does a great job at that! We have told him that if he wants certain things he has to save for them himself, and shockingly he does! He saves the money he earns from us and goes out and tries to earn more - ie. cutting grass, raking leaves, shoveling snow. We started giving him an allowance when he turned 10 and set up some rules with it (like can't buy candy), and it has been working for us great. I think people should do what works best for their family.

Lisa Merk, Your last sentence is the absolute truth in ALL situations.

Like EFischer, my kids have certain chores that they do on a regular basis and other chores that they can earn a (very small) weekly allowance. I feel that it gives them some choice and control in the matter. We have also instituted a monthly "plus chart" where the kids get pluses all month for doing things that are above and beyond, and also to acknowledge behaviors that we are trying to reinforce consistently. At the end of the month they get a small monetary reward for how many pluses they have earned. This is currently how we are keeping them mindful of overall expectations.

My 19 year old is a lazy bum. Out all night sleeps all day. He had a job but was too stupid to follow attendance policy so he got fired. He is too big to spank . When asked constantly to get a job he blows up and angrily says I am nagging him. I give him money to do chores only to avoid a real blowout. I think he is depressed and sees no hope for the economy, so has just given up. Hoping some day he will come to his senses. Any ideas anyone.

Absolutely not. Its about home ownership. Its about taking care of things that need to be done. Its about having pride in where you live. To this day, I do not have a problem with them not wanting to do the work, which I most often am helping and with them doing. And this is translating into their good grades, and the community and charity work they do for organizations. And, more importantly they are learning the value of the dollar. They will shovel snow around the neighborhood. They will cut grass. They don't ask for money, but neighbors do give it to them. They understand how to work and why it is important. Money is the benefit, along with a healthy lifestyle and good morals and ethics. In turn, we have great family outings. They receive money for the movies when they go with their friends. They get the clothes and sneakers they want, because they have earned it. I have never had to say "if you want this, then you have to do such and such at home." Never.
And guess what? For some reason they always have money in their wallets. For that I am very proud.

I actually give them an allowance, that is based on them doing chores, however, they have chores that they must do, regardless of their allowance. They need to know that being part of the household is chipping and helping out, which is a chore of sorts. So, they have 2 -3 daily chores they must do to get their allowance, but their main job is to keep up their grades and do that to the best of their ability. There are a few things, like helping with grocery bags, that they MUST do whether they want their allowance or not. If you haven't noticed, I am a firm believer of in the middle of the road with all my answers LOL....but it's true - I think a lot of things need addressing and compromise....just like this question. You shouldn't do it to the point of making them as responsible as we are, because they still need to be kids and still need to make choices, but they need to learn how to get to be as responsible as we are as adults and still be kids.

Has anyone ever read "The First National Bank of Dad: The Best Way to Teach Kids About Money" by David Owens? Kids can put their money in the "bank of Dad." Dad pays interest at whatever rate you choose - 10 percent is easy math for younger kids and allows the interest to add up relatively quickly and really shows them the benefit of long-term saving. Everything they want to do outside of family activities comes out of the "bank of Dad" as well as any purchase they want to make. It's a fun and interesting way to teach kids about money. They can also help to keep track of their account and compound the interest!

We have paid small fees for chores that go above and beyond. The best thing we have done thus far is help our oldest daughter start her own business. She is learning the value of money while learning about business. She saves her money that SHE earns and buys things she really wants!

Greetings All;
In agreement with many of you (I'm 6-0) , as a teen, I needed counselling. I started with a great social worker, who caught my parents (and myself) that I should get an allowance.

They agreed, and I felt it was right, too. HOWEVER, chores were chores, and we still had to empty the wastebaskets, mow the lawn, help Dad, etc. The two were independent of eachother. Today, I still believe that was good parenting, AND, we did our chores.

P. S. Earning income set allowance aside (mowing neighbor lawns, and other summer jobs).

Before going off to college, I was touched by late night TV ads from Save the Children Federation. Thinking :" at least I have food, and a roof over my head," I sent my last two paychecks to the more needy children, and have forever felt good about that.

--Allentonian, fmr. Western Salisbury firefighter

Just use upsees.com. It makes chores run smoothly.