Thier allowance is the shelter I provide, the food I cook every night, the laundry I do and the house I clean. My love is boundless and my children are happy. If they want money they have to earn it. No set allowance.

I never paid my daughter an allowance. She would do extra chores to earn the privilege of doing something special or getting something that was not a neccessity. She never went without though and she usually did a lot extra so she could go places and do things with her friends

I LOVE your way of thinking CAT... that is one of the problems today.. kids expect money above all else. They should be doing chores and helping out as much as possible, not for money, but to try and lighten the parents load, and to show them that they really do appreciate them!

Each child is different, and each child's parents have different values. It's good to read the thought that has gone into making decisions.

Whatever you choose, as long as you've made the choice consciously and deliberately, your child is likely to benefit.

In my mind, we are doing our kids - and eventually ourselves - a disservice by connecting allowance to chores in the first place. They are two completely separate issues.

When it comes to chores, everybody has to help out. Whoever lives in the house has to help manage the home with no expectations of pay.

Paying "effective" allowance is our best tool to help our kids develop the skills they need to responsibly use money and respect it before leaving the family nest. Practicing money is too important an issue on its own to gum-up with chores.

I did my own laundry starting at age 6. I didn't get an allowance. I had to save birthday money and lawn mowing money if I wanted extra things. It seems to me, at college age, that the students who are the cleanest and healthiest are the ones that had to do chores simply because it's the right thing to do. I'm not a psychologist though.

160-200!? Who would give their child that? I want some too!

I tried an allowance tied to doing chores, that didn't work. I think mainly because I agree with CAT. There wasn't anything my child needed that we didn't provide. As she grows older we may try again, but it usually works out that she doesn't want to do the chores regularly or is not as focused on earning the money as she thinks she will be. I'd like to hear from parents of kids who are older who gave/didn't give allowances and thier children's fiscal responsibiity.

$1 per year of age starting at 2 yrs old

We're switching to money for chores & grades starting this school year (tomorrow).

$3 for putting away the dishes
$2 for unloading the dishwasher
$1 per day for keeping her room clean
$3 for putting away the laundry (her own)
$5 for baby sitting a little brother for a few hours
etc...

But most importantly:

$25 for any test 90% and above
$10 for any test 80% and above
$5 for any test 70% and above