How much allowance to give a 6 year old?

Question

This is an exciting time for my daughter- graduating from kindergarten and gaining more responsibility around the house. I'd like to start giving her an allowance but I'm unsure of how much.

Originally I thought that $6 would be good- keeping it even with her age, and every year from now on she'd get a dollar raise...

BUT, is $6 too much???

Answer 1

We just started an allowance with our girls at New Year's and it's working great! Yes,  we went with the $6 a week for 6 and increase by a dollar to match their age. But there are responsibilities to go with the allowance:

1. They are now responsible for buying the things they want. My girls wanted a dollhouse for Christmas but since I was starting the allowance thing it became the first thing they saved and bought themselves.

2. They are also responsible for buying birthday presents for family and friends (we don't have that many parties). If they can't afford it, they can't go to the party.

3. They are encouraged to save their money so they can spend it per 1 and 2. I suggest 10% of the allowance go straight into an envelope marked "savings". They find it easier to go ahead and put in a whole dollar a week - more if they are saving for something big.

4. We encourage a 10% tithe as well, which again they just give a dollar a week to our church. Of course, you may have other money management ideas for your kids, but between this and #3, she's down to $4 a week for fun stuff like vending machine rings and cotton candy at the fair.

5. We've always had the rule "You do what I say when I say it," so now the allowance is an opportunity for punishment. When my eldest daughter puposefully threw her program over the balcony rail at the last theatre performance we went to, it was a dollar docked from her allowance (plus an apology downstairs, of course). But instead of handing them the allowance less the dollar that week, I make my girls PAY ME the dollar back as soon as I give them the allowance. This reminds them of whatever they did wrong, so we can go over WHY it was wrong - again. This punishment so far works better for my eldest, who understands how expensive things are.

So far my youngest has deposited about $50 to her savings account at the local bank (which is a free interest-bearing account for each of them since it's linked to ours - we started it with $100 each).

Because I'm no longer budgeting for party gifts or indulging them at the toy store, the $200 startup was well worth it. And she is learning a lot. So far she hasn't learned to remind me to give her the allowance, but she's getting there!

I also had my Mother-in-Law give them a purse and a wallet to hold all that money in at Christmas. That was a fun, grown-up gift! And you'd be surprised what a teaching tool it's been to keep up with a purse when you're out and about - let alone three!

Answer 2

Are you giving it to her every week or every other week. I started a chart for my 6yr old girl and 7yr old boy.  They have the same amount of chores. They have four each, like using good manners, clean room , put dirty dishes away and brush teeth. I know the last one is not really a chore to some, but at my house I have a hard time getting them to brush at least once a day. Now that I have the chart it has helped. The chores are worth .25 cents each. If they only do one of the chores that is what they get. If they do all four they earn $1 for that day. It has worked well.

Answer 3

I think 6 bucks is good. And it will make sense to her cuz that is her age. You can both be happy. No I dont think its too much. My kid is 9 going on 10 and I give her 20 dollars every 2 weeks. Aww so cute her first allowance. You should think of getting her a bank account of her own or at the very least a piggy bank:)

Answer 4

Ha $1 or $2 at most- what the heck is a six year old to spend $6 on?! Plus mirroring her age with money is not going to work- she's gonna be annoyed when she gets to 13 and only gets $13 to go to the mall with :p

I think you should give her money according to how well behaved she is- like draw up a chart starting with $2 and she loses 10 cent everytime she misbehaves- its a great insentive to keep children well disciplined and positive :)

Answer 5

Yeah $6 a week is too much for a six year old. The only thing she will spend it on is lollies, and $6 buys way too many lollies. Also I don't think a linear progression is good way to increment it. As she gets older talk to her about what she spends her money on. Only when she can justify why she needs more should you increase it.

Answer 6

it all depends on how much work she does. don't pay her allowance just to clean up her room and make her bed - in other words stuff she should be doing anyway!!! I have a "chore chart" in my kitchen, and it has stuff like - put away dishes, take out the garbage, help clean, take care of pets. Everytime the kids do something - they get a star on the chart. at the end of the month we count up the stars. I give them .50 for each star. So if they did 20 chores that month they get $10 for the month. just make sure you have her realize there is stuff that is her responsibility and is expected from her daily, then there are extra chores she can help with and earn money.

Answer 7

I think $6 a week is good for this day and age.. thats $24 a month... BUT I would make her save half in the bank though.. have her start one of those savings accounts for children at your bank.

Answer 8

I personally would consider basing it on how much she is helping around the house. More she helps, the  more she can make. Nothing wrong with children learning the basics of work = pay. On that note, I do highly recommend you teach her how to save! Including getting her her own savings account where SHE (not you) makes deposits, either weekly or monthly. She can keep a portion to spend on something so she can feel rewarded, but its important she learns good banking habits.

My 6 and 8 year old have been working hard at their lemonade stand this year. We have a trip to Orlando in 2 weeks and both have been saving to have some spending cash while at Disney. Both are also to the understanding they can only take half of their savings with them, which equals to about $50 each. They have done excellent jobs at running their own little business, both are great at making deposits....they know exactly what to do, I just am there to make sure they are safe for the most part.

Good luck to your daughter!

Answer 9

I have a daughter that is graduating Kindergarden, too. She is 6. I got 5 dollars a week when I was 8. I don't think 6 dollars is too much.

Answer 10

I think $6 a week is a bit much..Here's what we do..We have our kids on commissions. IF they work, they get paid..If they dont, they don't. Also, we dont pay for regular stuff like cleaning their rooms. They should do that anyway. It is only for other things..

Answer 11

I think an allowances for a 6 year old is a great idea. 6.00 seems like a fair amount. My daughter gets paid by the chore 1.00 to vaccume.......2.00 to get her room cleaned...... 1/00 to wipe mirrors.. and so on.

My daughter actually learned alot by getting an allowances. We have an ice cream man come in a truck a few times a week. She learned how much money she needed for a given ice cream and how much change she would get back.

She also learned the value of a 1.00 when she spent all her moneys the same day and when the ice cream man came the next day. She had no money to buy her ice cream. After a year. She decided my ice cream was just fine..and she would rather spend her money on the dollar store or going skating etc.  

When it comes to skating.........I pay her way in and she gets her 5.00 allowances to pay for snacks and junk....spend it too fast and your just out of luck.

Sometimes when she wants things now at 8. She will ask what she can do to earn the money for XYZ. Just recently it was a skip it jump rope thingy.

Lately , we been saving for our big trip to colorado..she has her own piggy bank we made and she puts every nickle she makes so she can buy things she wants on the trip ;-)

Answer 12

My kids (who are still young) get their age in $ per month, with the ability to earn more for doing special chores or just being extra helpful. I direct-deposit their regular allowance into their savings accounts, and the rest is in cash unless they ask otherwise. My kids have saved up hundreds of dollars and are very smart about using their money, so this has worked well for us.

Answer 13

6 is fine but make her do chores for her allowence dont just give it to her cuz then when she gets older she will just expect money when she wants it so like give her 6 bucks a week and like make her make her bed every day and like clean her room a lil each week and as she gets older make her do more

Answer 14

It depends on how often you plan on giving it to her.

Answer 15

I've always given $1 per year of age, with the caveat that certain daily chores are attached to that allowance and if they are not performed, the allowance is not given.  The chores are not taxing or difficult, and are age appropriate.  Also, to teach fiscal responsibility, we require our children to put 25 percent into savings and 10 percent into a separate account to give to a charity (of their choice) at Christmas time.

It worked really well and our adult kids are very fiscally responsible.

Answer 16

eh,

its ok.

Answer 17

$6 is the right amount it you have her do up to 5 chores.

Answer 18

No, I wouldn't exceed 10 for her age. That is what I always got and I was able to save that way for items I wanted.

Answer 19

I think $6 is way too much for a 6 year old.  Try $2.  That's alot to a kid that age.

Answer 20

My daughter is 6 also and she gets $6.... But when she goes a day without completing ALL her chores- I take away $1....  But if she is having a rough week and not doing what she needs to be doing I only give her a quarter- sounds a little mean on my part but I do not want her to go without when she did do something!! I think your idea of amount by age is a good thing- and 6 year olds are not too young for that amount!!! Apparently some people do not really understand what  a 6 year old wants anymore- That Hannah Montana stuff is expensive!!

Answer 21

When I was 6 I got 1$, a week and put it in my piggybank. I never really knew what to do with itt until I was 7 or 8. By then I was rich!! I think a loonie is a good way to start, and raise it every year. My parents also always made me help clear the table so it was more like I was being paid for something.