this wasn't in the plan |but life is still pretty good

Bug (my four-year-old) has been getting an allowance for a few months now. He gets seventy or eighty cents a week (depending on what I can scrounge up - must get more change at the bank). One dollar just seemed like too much, in the sense that he would too quickly gather up enough money to buy things and therefore our house would be full of unnecessary things. When we first talked about what he might want to spend his money on, he really wanted to go to the Children's Museum, so each week we'd count up his money and talk about how much more he'd need.

Another item he had talked about wanting is some sidewalk chalk, and eventually we got to a pivotal week - the week where he could afford the chalk but not the museum admission. When I told him he didn't quite have enough for the museum, he asked if he had enough for the chalk. I told him that he probably did, but that if he spent his money on chalk, it would take him a lot longer to save up for the museum. He thought about this and decided to wait for the museum first.

The next week he had enough, so he gathered up his pennies, nickels, and dimes (really he did - The Tall One said that the cashier, a young teenage boy, wasn't too thrilled) and headed off to the museum with TTO. I love that he's starting to make decisions about his money, and I love that his first purchase didn't clutter up my house.

Want to read more about our allowance background?
Teaching My Kids About Money I
Teaching My Kids About Money II
Teaching My Kids About Money III
Teaching My Kids About Money IV
Teaching My Kids About Money V