five bucks five bucks five bucks

I really love the show Til Debt Do Us Part. Partly because it makes me feel better about my own debt load, wowzers some folks can wrack up the consumer debt, but mostly because it teaches me loads about personal finance. I really cannot believe that personal money management is not a required course in high school. I had no idea what I was supposed to do in terms of making a budget for myself, until Oprah and her debt diet came along. That was a great starting point and Till Debt Do Us Part continues to fuel me to make smarter money choices. I have realized that the burden of teaching the girls smart money management will fall to me and as the saying goes you can never start too young. All this to say we've begun giving Abby an allowance.

In watching TDDUP, children and allowances have come up as a topic of conversation. Gail, the host, says a good rule of thumb is for the allowance to equal their age. Meaning Abby, being five gets $5, with a raise to $6 in June for her birthday. Now I know some will think it's odd to be giving a five year old an allowance since we provide most everything she needs, but I think it's more about instilling good habits so she has a better concept of money as a young adult. So on Fridays she gets her five bucks and she's very excited about it. So much so, she's renamed Friday, Five Dollar Day.



Of her $5, she gives fifty cents to church. Given the choice between adding it to the collection plate or using it for the "celebration bank" you can imagine which she picked. I hope the congregation is ready to hear what Abby will be celebrating every week. It should be interesting. (fyi - today it was her birthday, that isn't until June and Spring since she had two quarters) Of the remaining money, $1.50 goes into her piggy bank for saving and $3 is her spending money, which she is saving up to buy Papa a burger and a beers at her favourite restaurant.

On the flip side of the allowance is chores. Now I realize that some people have issues with paying their child an allowance in exchange for jobs done around the house and I can see the point. I want the girls to learn that we are a family and we all need to work together. Nobody's slipping me five dollars a week to take care of the dusting, which could be why I neglect to do it. But I figured if she was old enough to get an allowance she was definitely old enough to be pitching in. Oh and I'm not leaving Maya out either. She may only be two, but she can still help out. So both girls are responsible for picking up their own dirty clothes and getting them to the laundry room. Some thing that's caused a bit of friction between Maya and myself. She's at the prime temper tantrum age and she's not above pulling one out for something as simple as tossing her clothes in the hamper on her way to the bathroom. Maya also helps out with picking up any toys that the two of them have strewn across my living room.

As for Abby, she's been setting the table. Her settings wouldn't make it past Emily Post, but that's okay. Mike doesn't really mind eating dinner with a Disney Princess fork that has only three fat tines. And some nights she doesn't want to do it. Telling me instead, "I don't want to set the table you can keep my $5." Which doesn't get her out of setting the table at all, since one isn't related to the other. She's also been helping us put away the groceries. It's not something we asked her to do, she just appears and starts unpacking bags. I'd love to have her pick up the vacuuming, since I hate it, but since she has a long standing fear of the vacuum cleaner I don't see that happening anytime soon.