My kids are too little for these lessons, but I have thought about this issue. I like the Suze Orman suggestion, but understand your hesitation. Maybe you could set a cap on the money and they could start earning "adventures", like a trip to the library, or a picnic, or a trip to the park, etc. That might help limit your expenses.

Not to mention that money is not always a big motivator for kids OR adults. There are many reasons people do things they don't really want to do. Suze wants a generation of money-educated children, which is great, but I would also hope they can be motivated by a feeling of self-satisfaction and accomplishment.

There's also a school of thought that kids should do chores without any sort of compensation. The idea is that they should have certain standards of care for their space and their things and not be paid to maintain them. Everyone is part of the family and therefore contributes to the household chores. Good in theory, but I can't attest to whether or not this actually works.

Since there a ton of ways to look at it and they all make a little sense, I would stick with the one that works for you. If everyone is continuing to do their chores, then maybe you should stick with the allowance method. It certainly doesn't hurt anything. They will learn the lessons of hard work and payoff - life will make sure of it.

I never really believed in paying a child a regular allowance like a Friday paycheck. They are part of the family and are expected to do their fair of the chores for that reason, they're part of the family. We have, however, paid our kids for work above and beyond the everyday chores and that pay was on a "per project" basis. The kids had the choice to accept or decline, but they usually accepted. I know it's important to teach kids about earning money, but the regular allowance thing bothered me because it seems like kids expect it whether they have earned it not.

Speaking of kids earning money, and this goes off track a bit, but I always cringed when parents paid their kids for good grades. An "A" for example would be worth $10, a "B" worth $5, and so on. A trip to the ice cream shop for all A's or ordering a pizza for the whole family is okay, but not money for earning good grades.

I actually heard the opposite--that you shouldn't make allowance an exchange for work because they should help out because they're part of a family and have personal responsibility for their own things. I give mine a set amount every week. They dint gave to do anything to earn it but it can be taken away since it's a privilege. They are also expected to do things around the house as they are part if a community--in this case a family. They also have to divide into 3 parts--savings, spending and spending on others/charities. My daughter has saved 700 .00 over the past 3 years from allowance, birthdays, etc. and has donated money to several animal charities. My son learned lots of math skills through figuring out how many weeks he'd have to save to get a certain item or adding up what he got each week. This method has worked well for our family. While yes, they should learn that people work for money, they should also learn that it's nice to share with the others in your community/family if you are the one with the money and power.

As an aside, I don't see the difference between being rewarded with money for grades or rewarded with food. We don't do either because as homeschoolers, we don't grade. The kids' learning is internally, not externally, motivated and we value the learning process and things that inspire it as much, if not more, than the end result.

Taking the entire family out for ice cream or pizza to celebrate one child's achievements, in my opinion, builds self esteem and gives the child a sense of self pride in his accomplishments. The other boys, who have their day too, are happy about each other's achievements because they are invited to share in the celebration. At least ours have said, "Way to go dude, you did awesome!" Now that they are adults they still share each other's accomplishments (and failures), sometimes with and sometimes without mom and dad -- and that's okay. At least we know our sons can count on their brothers for a pat on the back, and likewise a kick in the ...

I'm not saying it's a bad thing--only that it seems like a reward, as does money. You may see value in one as a reward and not the other, but both money and a trip for a treat with family are rewards.

You're right, I guess it does. I think we're on the same page but money for good deeds has always been an issue with me. One of the boys once said, when asked to do a routine chore, "How much will I get?" The answer, "You get to live here rent-free and receive three meals and maybe some snacks every day. And, I'll even wash your clothes and drive you yo school ... FOR FREE." I made my point.

Ha! I never like to guilt my kids, but they do sometimes need to be reminded of everything they seem to take for granted--like home-cooked meals, clean clothes and lots of not-so-necessary luxuries. I think the only job i've really paid for is for my oldest to babysit for an hour or so. Sometimes she'll do it for a bagel run. Since it's a big responsibility and I would pay someone her age to do it, I'll give her something for that but all other basic things are expected as part of being a household member.

Amen to all that!

@ Renee-- I heard the 3-way money idea from the same place I heard the no money for work. I feel like I can insist on the three categories because I am the one doling it out and it isn't an earned thing, I like the idea of earning $ for doing things that aren't expected. I think some combo would be great--still give a small amount every week for discretionary spending but also offer opportunities to earn more for doing extra. In our case getting an allowance w/no strings has led to so many lessons and discussions about saving v spending, multiplication/division,addition/subtraction, taxes, etc. that it is its own reward. They are not just buying stuff they are learning life lessons.