Chores, Work, and Money

We're starting something new in our family right now, and I'm really kind of excited about it.

Lately, I've been impressed with the importance of teaching my children how to deal with money. I've seen what happens when people don't grasp the importance of money management, and it's really sad. It can tear families apart, make life so much harder, and really eat away at your self-worth. Bradley and I have created a plan to start to teach our children about money and work.

Everyone in our family has certain chores that must be done on a daily basis. For the kids, these chores include picking up after themselves, clearing their dishes after dinner, putting clean clothes away, etc. These are "personal" chores, and the children don't get paid for them.

They can, however, get paid for doing my chores. We made a list of twelve "paying" chores:

1. Clean up toys with which the younger kids played
2. Help with the dishes after dinner (clearing and wiping the table, putting the chairs in place)
3. Vacuum the kitchen floor with the dustbuster
4. Vacuum the dining room floor (especially under the table) with the dustbuster
5. Pick up trash in the yard
6. Help with one load of laundry
7. Find all the dishes in the house and put in the kitchen
8. Make your own bed
9. Unload the dishwasher
10. Empty room garbage cans
11. Help clean one bathroom
12. Wipe down walls of one room, including baseboards

For each of these chores, the child can get 25 cents. Not every chore will be available everyday, and they will have to check with me before starting a chore if they expect to get paid for it.

And (this is my very favorite part), the flip side of the plan. If they don't complete one of their personal chores, after I have given them fair warning, and I have to do it, then they have to pay me 25 cents. (For some reason, this delights me beyond all that is logical.)

I picked up $40 worth of quarters at the bank today, and, using baby food jars, we made little banks for each child. Every time they do a chore, they get 25 cents in their jar. Once a week, we will split up the money in their jars for tithing, saving, and spending.

When I told the children about the opportunities they will have for earning money, their faces lit right up. If they had been a cartoon, their eyes would have been dollar signs. Remember the pillow pet? It's on all their lists. (Also: donuts, computer games.)

This is going to be FUN. (I hope.)