Trying Something New - Jan. 2008

Monday, January 28, 2008

Trying Something New

The week 2 discussion of FP was really good. One of the topics mentioned some ways to instill lessons in your children to give, save, and then spend from the money they earn. So when I came home I made some new chore charts that are different for each of my 3 oldest children. I think it's important not to reward every chore with an allowance, because some things you should be doing just because you are part of the family. So each child only has 5 chores listed on their chart.

For LA who's in kindergarten I used simple pictures to help her remember what the chores are since she can't read the corresponding big words yet. So I used a picture of a bed for making her bed, a stuffed animal for her to pick up her toys, a trash can to throw away any trash, a washer & dryer so she will take her dirty clothes to the laundry room and fold & put away the clean clothes I place on her bed, and a TV to symbolize any messes she leaves in the living room.

The chores must be completed every day of the week and either mom or dad will place a check mark beside each day it has been completed. At the end of the week, they will receive $1 for every chore they completed all week long. So each child has the potential of receiving up to $5 each week.

Out of that money $1 is placed in their Give folder that will be placed in the offering on Sunday morning. $2 will be put in savings, and the remaining $2 can be spent on whatever they want. When IK was 11 years old we started providing a weekly allowance for him of $3, $2 we saved and $1 was spent on whatever he wanted. Any time he has received birthday or Christmas money we have left it up to him to decide if wanted to save any portion of that money. When his savings reached $100 we opened a savings account for him. He has also saved some of his paychecks from working as a soccer referee each spring and fall, so his savings account has steadily been growing since then.

EJ has been asking me to start a savings account for her, so with this new plan we will open savings accounts for both EJ and LA once they save up at least $10. I'm excited to try this new plan with the kids. Last night when I explained the process to each of them they all seemed very excited.

The class also gave me some new ideas on saving up for each one of my kids to purchase a car in CASH when they turn 16 without having to sign any loans or put themselves into debt. And there were some ideas on teaching your kids to balance and manage their own checkbook when they're about 15-16 years old so that by the time they leave the house at 18 you've instilled in them some wonderful giving and saving habits to help keep them out of financial trouble.

I've already had some of these ideas in mind with plans mapped out to follow with my kids, but it's nice to compare to other plans and implement any elements that will make my current plan work even better. Next month should be very exciting as we begin to implement more of the class techniques into our finances and paying off some unnecessary debts!