a raise and a bonus

Lately, I find myself enjoying reading Family Magazine. I love getting new ideas for ways to teach my children fun things, and or valuable lessons. They are always sharing creative ideas to do with your children at home with what you have. Making family time priority, fun and less expensive.

After all, we are all about saving a buck these days, right?

Well, ironically I recently read this idea on how to teach my children to manage their own money from gifts, allowances and misc.

However, I read this idea from another moms blogs that my friend also posted about on her own blog.

How does this relate to Family Magazine?

It doesn't, but it could... as this idea was so creative, I thought I should have read it out of Family Magazine.

It goes a little something like this:

My son originally was getting $2.00 per week for doing his chores and helping around the house. This includes taking out the recycles, putting fresh food and water in the cat bowls, helping clean up his sisters play area from time to time and putting away his clean laundry.

All age appropriate chores for a boy his age. He does try to make his bed from time to time, in which I being the good mom that I am, takes a deep breath and leaves it made just the way he did it himself. However, most of the time I prefer to make up all the beds in the house myself. Something I do every single morning as soon as possible. Its one of those things that I feel, or makes me feel that this house is a little more in order. I am the same way in hotel rooms. I can't get up and get ready without first making up the bed. A made up bed automatically brings the stress level down in any room.

Agree?

However, when he does attempt to make his own bed. I smile and say "good job" while cringing underneath, desperately wanting to go remake the bed myself.

Anyways....

Now, I know some of you are saying "only $2?"

Yeap. I think that is plenty. Times have changed and so has the dollar amount I know. The lesson to be learned has not. My son spends, spends, spends with any amount of money that touches his hands. He doesn't have interest in saving. Its been a struggle with me to get him to save his $2.00 each week so he can then have $8.00 to spend at the end of the month or $24.00 after three months of saving it.

Then I read this idea and I thought "how brilliant." I couldn't wait to share the new idea with Hunter. He loved it and to him he felt like he was getting a raise and a bonus each week.

I got him 3 containers.

See below:

Each week, he now gets $6.00 instead of $2.00. Sounds good right?

However, he has to place $2.00 in each bin.

Serve - $2.00

Save - $2.00

Spend - $2.00

At the end of each month he has to give his "SERVE" money to the church or a charity of his choice. Its has to be to help something or someone. Teaching him about giving and thinking of others and not always about himself.

At the end of every quarter (3 months) whatever amount he has in his "SPEND" bucket, I will match.

His "SAVE" bucket is just that... a save bucket!!! It goes untouched.

He loves this idea and couldn't wait until I got him these buckets.

This was the first week to start this new little idea.

Great right?

Yea, that is for you to say.....

As mom didn't think it through that he would get all this money and gift cards for his birthday and now has $50.00 in his spend bucket right away. If he doesn't spend it between now and February, Ill have a pretty big number to match up.

Looks like I better start my savings bucket to afford his spend bucket. HA!