How To Decide on Allowance for Your Child

Have a look at what he or she is doing around the house already. Are they taking out the garbage? Helping with the dishes? How about cleaning their room? At this age they're probably not doing much in the grand scheme of things, but to them, I bet it's of great importance. Make a list of all their chores.

Decide what each task is worth. Let's use taking out the trash as an example. Nobody wants to do that chore. Maybe it's worth 2 dollars. Some people might suggest 'a dollar for each year of the child's age', similar to the 'time out equals 1 minute for each year of the child', but that can get expensive over the years. You could try 1 dollar per bag of garbage....and then watch as your child attempts to fill up 10 bags with stuff that isn't exactly trash. (Kidding...er, I think.) For something like putting the bowls away when they've dried, might be worth a little less, whereas cleaning his or her room might be a little more.

Also keep in mind how well they do the task. If they do it halfway, cut the amount of money in half. Make sure you tell them that if they do it fully, they'll get the full amount. This will spark enthusiasm in them, and make them want to, well, finish the job.

Don't go overboard. It's easy to say 'That's great! Here's five dollars.' But keep in mind, they're not spending anything yet! They don't need 10 bucks a week (see step 4). I would recommend keeping the amount around 6 dollars or less, again, depending on what and how they're doing. As they get older, and start getting more chores, feel free to give them a 'raise'. Still, don't go over 10 dollars!

Decide how often you're going to pay your child. Once a week, or once a month? Once a week is fantastic. It keeps your child remembering why they're doing chores, and it gives you a chance to keep track of what they've done. If you want to keep a journal of everything they have done, and give them a larger amount of money at the end of the month, that can be okay too, depending on the child.