Whats the best way to handle giving my kids an allowance?
From Bonnie Nevel, Environmental Writer, and daughter Rose Newell, 9, of Chapel Hill, N.C. Bonnie: We started giving Rose an allowance when she turned 6. I decided that we would use it as a money learning tool, as opposed to a reward system for chores and things, because it was important to me for her to understand that as a family member she had obligations around the house that were different from being paid for things. We decided to parse it out a little for her, because she was so young. Rose: It’s $2 every week. That’s for my wallet and then I usually get, like, a dollar for charity and a dollar for savings. Bonnie: When she got her allowance, or when she had a few weeks’ worth of allowance, she would just want to buy something with her money. It almost didn’t matter what it was. She just wanted to spend that money. Rose: Yeah, I saved, I spent, I saved, I spent. And I did that for a while. Bonnie: And I’ve noticed recently that she’s actually much more thoughtful now about whethe
