Allowances

It's fun to drive a bunch of scouts to an outing. Besides a sing-a-long of What does the fox say, you get to learn a bit about the boys. Yesterday the topic of allowances came up. This is since recent an important topic for my son as he is responsible to pay a portion of the monthly cellphone plan. He saved and paid half of a new iPhone 5c. I added him to my plan with unlimited voice, text and internet. However he has to pay 50% of the $30 monthly service plan for his phone.

Both kids have been receiving a weekly allowance since last year. Saving is important. At this age, I want to also teach them how to spend. I use the iAllowance iPad application. I love the fact that you can set up an automatic interest for the savings account, so they can appreciate the magic of compound interest. Also it is not all about the money: you can earn stars and free ice cream.

Until recent, both kids were able to earn $3 every week. It was not tied to any chores. Now that obviously my son is coming up short to pay his monthly cellphone plan, he asked to revise the allowance amount. We are changing the allowance upwards, though with strings attached.

Here are those nasty terms and conditions:

1. You do not earn any allowance if you do not participate in the regular household chores. If you do not do any of the basic chores such as making your bed, cleaning up your room, cleaning of the table, there is no allowance this week. 
2. No allowance is given if you do not practice your music instruments or sports. 
3. Your allowance includes a big portion for you to spend and learn how to spend wisely and another portion to save. 
4. You can earn extra allowance by doing a special chore such as planting vegetables in the planter box or cleaning the car.  
5. It is your responsibility to make sure your allowance is credited to your iAllowance account. 

Based upon an article in the Huffington post, the amount is raised to about $0.75 per year of age.