To Allowance or Not To Allowance:

I grew up in a family where being paid for work was having a roof over our heads and food on the table was our payment. So when my children started asking for an allowance, I didn't like the idea. My husband agreed and we decided against paying an allowance. As the kids have started to get older, I have started to rethink my stand. We tried the chore list and payment for chores completed. This didn't work very well as it required my daily attention to what they had done and then remembering come "payday" who had or more often, had not done what. We tried a few different options, and have finally come up with our solution, we call this "Bush Bucks."

Bush Bucks are plastic gold and silver tokens. A silver token is 1 and a gold token is 5. Every Sunday (sometimes Monday) I hand out 15 coins each. Then throughout the week they are expected to live by the rules and standards of our family. They must do chores daily, keep their rooms clean, have good personal hygiene (without complaint,) do what they are told the FIRST time, and get along. In exchange for doing these things they get to keep their coins, but there are times they must give them back. They each have their own bag of  "tokens" and there is a glass jar we call the "bank." The bank holds all extra coins. If Brady walks through and over hears me having to repeat myself or raising my voice to one of the children, he will say, "Obey your mother the first time, go pay us a silver." When I find the kitchen not clean when Katrina has insisted it was done, she must pay me coins, for lying and for not doing her chores. Then she has to finish the chore. There are no set rules on these payment, it is completely up to us as to how much they will pay for different infractions.

In addition they have to pay for the extras and privileges in their lives. The coins have a monetary value of $.50 each. The boys pay for their monthly WofW subscription, and we have put limits on how much time they can play. There is a total of 2.5 hours free per week, and they can buy up to 2.5 extra hours per week. Eating out is no longer part of our budget, so when the children want to eat out they pay 10 tokens each.

A few weeks ago we decided to go to the movies. There was lots of discussion as to what they would like to see. Brady and I agreed on a $40 budget and we laid out what that would pay for. Either 5 tickets to the 3D matinée of their choice, but no snacks, or 5 tickets to a matinée (Percy Jackson), a tub of popcorn and 2 large drinks to share, or a Red Box rental, snacks from Maceys and dinner out. With their new understanding of the value of money, they began to negotiate. We settled on Percy Jackson, us paying for concessions, and they bought us all dinner out (with coupons) at Arbys.

At the moment Bush Bucks are working for us, today when Katrina interrupted a conversation I was having, my quick, "pay me a coin for interrupting me" sent her scurrying to the bank. I went back to my conversation, then she stood patiently waiting for me to be done talking to ask me her question. I know not every one believes in the allowance thing, but as we have moved further down this road we are encouraged by the respect our children are learning to have for money. They are paying tithing, having to pay for all their own toys and 1/2 their clothes. It's amazing what is no longer ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY when they are the ones paying for it.