Allowance for 5-year-old?

Question

Is five years old a good age to start giving allowances? What kind of tasks should we give him for it? And what amount of money for those tasks?

Answer 1

What does a 5 year old need to buy????

Answer 2

Five years old is a bit young to start to give him an allowance.  Let him be a kid, and not have him worrying about chores and the tasks he needs to complete around the house.  I mean once in a while, if he does something nice around the house like helping you cook or cleaning his room then give him a buck or two to reward him for his good doings.  But I wouldn't make an allowance for him.

Answer 3

Contrary to other people's replies, I don't think that 5 is too young to start an allowance or be helping out.    

I think an allowance is a great way to help kids understand the value of money and saving versus spending for immediate gratification.   I think a 5 year old can definitely grasp some basic concepts here (obviously you're not going to have them "investing" or anything!!!)   At this age, $1 is probably sufficient per week.

With regards to chores, setting or clearing the table, making his/her bed would probably be good little jobs.  The only thing to keep in mind is that you don't want to pay him/her for *everything* they do.    They need to understand that as a member of a family, everyone needs to pitch in and help out.

Answer 4

I started my kids at 6.

They get their age as an allowance which works pretty well.  I make them save 1/2 of it every week and put it in the bank.  Occasionally, if they want something "big", they make a withdrawl and have the money to go buy it.  We talk about what they want and why they want it before I go for it.

Their other money is there's to spend as they see fit.  I don't say a word if they want to blow it on c**p.

Money is for emptying garbages, getting mail, watering plants, taking out recycling and garbage to the curb, keeping their rooms picked up, etc.

Answer 5

no, 5 is too young. but he isnt too young to start helping around the house.  you can reward him when he does a chore, or is good at a park or something.

Answer 6

When I was about five or six, what my mom did was have me do chores.  I had to do little things, such as making my bed, feeding the cat (with a cup in there to measure the food out), helping dry dishes (kid friendly dishes, not breakables), separating laundry into my clothes and her clothes, putting away my bath toys, and matching socks.  You know, just little things.  She said that I was "mommy's helper", and I've seen from babysitting that kids love to help, and tend to be better at things like chores later in life if they start "helping" when they are little.  What our deal was, we had a big jar, and it became our "change jar".  As long as I was a good helper when she asked me to be, all change went into that jar.  Once it was full, we would trade it in at the bank (she'd always have me count it first, to work on my numbers) and then make a trip to Toys R Us!  Really, change jars could ad up fast.  It used to get full in about a month, maybe a little more, and would add up to at least $15.00-$20.00.  I believe rewarding kids for doing things like helping out, or doing chores, is a more effective way of showing them the right thing to do then punishing children for bad things.

Answer 7

$2 a month :)

Answer 8

great age to srtat learning responsabilities and the value of saving.

maybe do half to him and half to an account to save

choose maybe 1-3 tasks a day and if all compleated he gets so much like $2 a week.  $1 for him $1 for the bank.

Answer 9

Calm down, that's way to young to even think about giving them money, you start at that age when they are older it's going to be even worse.

Answer 10

I think a five year old as no idea what to do with money...however, putting money aside for him until he is older while he does chores now is good. Or, you could just go to the store and buy him what you something for the amount that you would give him in allowance...

Hw can't mow the lawn or anything like that right now (obviously)

But teaching him to clean the dishes might work...make the tasks progressively harder as he gets older...

Hope this helps, Frank.

Answer 11

We give our son an allowance (he is also 5). He cleans his room, and makes sure all his toys, DVDs, XBox games, and any other toys are picked up. We give him $80.00 a month but it goes into a savings account for him. We started this January of this year, and you would be surprised how fast the money adds up. We still spend our money on him for the stuff he wants...that way his allowance can add up in the bank.

Answer 12

no allowance at 5.  its ridiculous.  it only shows him/her they have to be rewarded to do something good.  and theyll expect money from there on out.  start later with allowances

Answer 13

I think you should start at age seven. But if your start at five, that's fine, to. Just give him easy tasks, like putting away his toys, turning off the lights when leaving a room, things like that. The money is up to you. The older he gets, the more money you'll probably give him, so start off small.

Answer 14

I'm not sure what he'd use the money for lol. So probably just like a dollar or lower than that if you really decide to start @ 5. I'd probably start around 7 or 8 maybe. But that's just me...

Answer 15

For a five-year-old, there's not many tasks for them to do. Perhaps you could give him a dollar every Sunday if he makes sure his room is clean and his toys put away in other parts of the house.

It would teach him about money and how that being responsible gets rewarded! :] Five years old is the perfect age to start allowance!

Answer 16

5 is to young

Answer 17

he does not need to learn about money at this point in time. Let him enjoy his life as a child without money matters.

Answer 18

Give him a dollar a week. my dad did this when i was four. i always lost the money he would find it and give me the same dollar over and over again . No JOKE

Answer 19

i think 5 is too young wait until he/she is at least 8.

Answer 20

I think cleaning up his room should be good and all, but thats about it.

Answer 21

5 is too young. way too young.

Answer 22

that's too young for an allowance. an alternative would be to use a token system.

everytime he does something good (cleans his toys, etc) he gets a token. The token can be a pokerchip, a little cardboard bear, paper clips, etc. If he misbehaves (doesn't clean up when asked) he gets a token taken away.

When tokens are given, put them in a glass jar. when the jar is full he gets something fun (a trip to the movies, a friend can spend the night, etc).

Hope this helps!

Answer 23

Setting the table,  making his/her own bed, putting away laundry (with help), feeding pets (with supervision), and matching socks are all good jobs for 5-year olds.  My son gets fifty cents a week for doing his chores.

Answer 24

teach him how to make his bed

put his dishes in the dishwasher

brush his teeth day/night

pick up his toys

be kind to any siblings

5 dollars a week if he does everything every day

Answer 25

start at 10 with $10/week in my opinion

Answer 26

I ALSO HAVE A 5 YEAR OLD AND WONDER THE SAME THING.  MY DAUGHTER HATES DOING ANY THING THAT RESEMBLES A CHORE.  I USUALLY JUST STICK TO MAKING SURE SHE PICKS UP HER ROOM THE WAY THAT I WOULD.  I DONT GIVE HER ALLOWANCE BUT I DO LET HE ROAM THE HOUSE AND COLLECT LOOSE CHANGE.  I NEVER COLLECT THE COINS AND THEY JUST SIT IN VARIOUS DRAWERS.  SHE PUTS THEM IN HER PIGGY BANK AND WHEN SHE IS READY WE CASH THEM IN FOR DOLLARS AT MY BANK AND SHE BUYS WHAT SHE WANTS AT TARGET.  USUALLY 2-3 MONTHS OF COLLECTING GETS HER 30 TO 40 DOLLARS.  I SAY YES TO CHORES FOR A 5 YEAR OLD AS LONG AS THEY ARE NOT OVERWORKED.

Answer 27

Being everything went up giving him a dollar just doesn't seem right in my book lol.

Take out the trash. prep dinner setting(take out the forks, plates napkins). mop. vacuum. (of course you may have to redo or touch up his jobs) Each job should have a separate pay. like 2.50-7.50. I would give him 15 bucks a week, and take 5 and put it in his own little bank account.

I would not give money for cleaning up his room or picking up toys. That should be something he is suppose to do.

Answer 28

I think 5 is too young. Let him stay a child for a little while longer.

Answer 29

I started earning 3 dollars a week for doing chores when I was like 7. Start  with 2 dollars a week for making his bed helping with laundry like help folding and putting away clothes. If you ask something out of the ordinary give him and extra 25 cents