Learning Good Money Habits
Since I posted last, Kara has turned thirteen. I have always said Kara was a teenager by about eleven. She was eleven-teen and twelve-teen. She sleeps a lot, stays up late, has very little energy, and is very independent. All normal stuff! She is a great kid.
I think she is old enough to try to learn allowance. Until now, chores were just a mandatory thing. Now we are going to try to teach her how to handle money.
Just like it is expected for us to buy her clothes, food, electricity, it is expected she will brush her teeth, put her clean clothes away, put her shoes away, etc.
I began by adding up her expenses. She has a cell phone (which is mandatory - we don't have a home phone), she has a Minecraft server (which was a birthday/Christmas present one year - she plays online with her friends from Maryland this way), and she has Spotify premium (we got the first free month for her trip, then kept it while Hulu comes free with it).
Next, I assigned each monthly chore a dollar amount, making sure her bills will be covered. (Yes, that means her chores are each like $10/month! It's a new millennium, folks.)
She must do enough chores to cover her phone bill. I told her it was like us working to make sure we have electricity. That bill must be covered. Since she will only be paid for a job well done (as well as she should be able to do at 13), she may come up short during the month. I have another list of extra chores she can do to earn more money. If she doesn't do them, or forgets (part of this is I will not be reminding her after the first month), Minecraft server or Spotify premium will be canceled.
While this will teach her managing money with a safety net in case she fails, I'm hoping she will also learn saving and tithing. I also hope she learns generosity. (She brings money to youth events sometimes and I'm hoping she is very willing to share with her friends who forgot their money.)
When I first presented this to her, she felt very empowered and could see right away the real life applications I was trying to mimic with this.
I'm excited to see if this is the right time for her. So far she is doing well, but I'm still reminding her this month. lol. Unfortunately she is not very money-driven, so this will be more of an obedience/responsibility thing. Even if you don't want to work an extra job for flashy clothes and vacations, you need to work to pay your bills. Know what I mean?
I'll keep you posted!
I think she is old enough to try to learn allowance. Until now, chores were just a mandatory thing. Now we are going to try to teach her how to handle money.
Just like it is expected for us to buy her clothes, food, electricity, it is expected she will brush her teeth, put her clean clothes away, put her shoes away, etc.
I began by adding up her expenses. She has a cell phone (which is mandatory - we don't have a home phone), she has a Minecraft server (which was a birthday/Christmas present one year - she plays online with her friends from Maryland this way), and she has Spotify premium (we got the first free month for her trip, then kept it while Hulu comes free with it).
Next, I assigned each monthly chore a dollar amount, making sure her bills will be covered. (Yes, that means her chores are each like $10/month! It's a new millennium, folks.)
She must do enough chores to cover her phone bill. I told her it was like us working to make sure we have electricity. That bill must be covered. Since she will only be paid for a job well done (as well as she should be able to do at 13), she may come up short during the month. I have another list of extra chores she can do to earn more money. If she doesn't do them, or forgets (part of this is I will not be reminding her after the first month), Minecraft server or Spotify premium will be canceled.
While this will teach her managing money with a safety net in case she fails, I'm hoping she will also learn saving and tithing. I also hope she learns generosity. (She brings money to youth events sometimes and I'm hoping she is very willing to share with her friends who forgot their money.)
When I first presented this to her, she felt very empowered and could see right away the real life applications I was trying to mimic with this.
I'm excited to see if this is the right time for her. So far she is doing well, but I'm still reminding her this month. lol. Unfortunately she is not very money-driven, so this will be more of an obedience/responsibility thing. Even if you don't want to work an extra job for flashy clothes and vacations, you need to work to pay your bills. Know what I mean?
I'll keep you posted!
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