We have tried over the past many years to find an allowance system that works for our family. Unfortunately, nothing has really come close to working well. My children tend to think of money as the “stuff” that Mommy & Daddy dump into the big glass jar in the bathroom each night to which they feel entitled to raid at whim and then waste by sticking into little machines at the front of grocery stores and party supply stores and restaurants. The prize: a rubber ball. Candy. Gumballs. A necklace or ring if they get really lucky.
Can you say “Waste of Money”? Yes… that’s what my children do… waste money.
So the idea of giving them money each week in the form of an “allowance” really wasn’t at the top of our list considering we would be better off taking that money and dumping it overboard into the middle of the ocean. My children think that if Mommy & Daddy don’t have cash to purchase something, we can just take out our “pastic” (cute little word the 8 yr old conjured up when trying to tell my best friend she should buy her candy with the plastic in her wallet). Oh dear.
But now… I think I have hope. A new company called “Three Jars” has launched to teach children about managing money. The beauty of this new business is that it is all done online, with each child getting their own site to manage their own money (with a little help from the parents, of course). The real beauty of it all? The site is like a virtual bank, the money comes in the form of an IOU… so there is NO CASH changing hands between parent and child… until the parent and child are ready for it. The kids get three virtual jars: SAVE, SPEND, SHARE. The parent decides how much “allowance” the child will get each week and together they decide what percentage will go into each jar.
I just recently signed up on the website and can’t wait to get started. I’ll be sure to let you all know how it’s going and how my kids feel about it all. I really hope this will be our last effort in handling the allowance situation.
If you want to try it with me, log on to Three Jars. They even have a 2 week free trial. Can’t beat free.
I was offered a free one year subscription to Three Jars in exchange for blogging my honest opinion about this new allowance program. I am not compensated in any other way and was in no way told what to write or how often to write. All opinions in regards to Three Jars are my own.
I'm looking forward to seeing how this goes. I really want to start putting some type of allowance system in place for my kids now (They're 3 and 5), so that we don't have battles over it when they get older, like I did with my parents LOL
I have tried giving Jenny (14 yrs old) an allowance many times through the years. We have tied this to household chores - some chores are part of being in the family (no money attached) and others she must do to get the allowance. It has never worked because homework or other commitments always take precedence. I hope you have much success!