Payday!

How do we teach our kids about money?  This is a question that we agonized over for a long time.  We prayed.  We discussed.  We talked to other parents.  We discussed some more.  David and I both had a conviction that we didn't want to just give the children a set amount of money every week.  We both thought that was kind of like paying them to exist.  We didn't want to pay them for doing chores around the house.  After all, we are a family.  We each contribute to making the mess, so we each contribute to cleaning up the mess.  We didn't want to just let the girls go crazy with the gift money that they receive from the incredibly generous grandparents either!  So, we were really clear about what we DIDN'T want to do, but we still needed to figure out what we DID want to do.

We tried to come up with some creative ways that the girls could earn cash.  I thought about getting a newspaper route and taking them every day to deliver newspapers.  Then, I was quickly brought back to reality and realized that now is not the time for that.  Hello, I have 10 month old twins.

I thought about collecting aluminum cans.  However, we now have curb-side recycling in our city, so pretty much everyone just puts their cans in their bins and puts them out on Recycling Day.  (For my California friends, there's no CRV here!)

I also thought about handing over the coupon clipping to them and for each coupon clipped and used, I could give them the amount saved.  I thought this was a pretty novel idea, but then I realized that shopping was going to get really complicated.  I could foresee a debate about every item and "why was I not buying the one with the coupon?"  So, I concluded this idea also was no good. 

And then I read about the Payday System in America's Cheapest Family Gets You Right on the Money by Steve and Annette Economides.  We talked it over and modified it to suit our needs and then gave it a trial run. 

The Payday System is a point system.  Every week, there is the possibility of earning 23 points.  We pay a whopping five cents per point.  The point categories that we use are Morning, Chore, School and Evening.  To earn a point, tasks must be completed in a timely manner, to the best of one's ability, without complaining or arguing and with a good attitude.  The current guidelines for points are as follows:

• Morning Point--Set and clear breakfast dishes; get dressed; put pajamas away; brush teeth; brush hair; wash hands and face.
• Chore Point--Load and unload dishwasher; take diapers out of the dryer and stack them; water plants; put clothes away neatly in drawers; fold towels and rags, etc.
• School Point--Do assigned work completely, promptly and with a good attitude.
• Evening Point--Set and clear dinner dishes; participate in Bible time with a good attitude and appropriate behavior; brush teeth; put pajamas on and clothes in laundry or neatly in drawer.

The girls each received these neat piggy banks for birthday presents.  Coins can be deposited in one of four sections:Spend, Save, Donate and Invest.  Right now, we do not use the Invest section.  On Sundays, David first reads a passage from the Bible that relates and we tally up the points earned for the week.  Then, we translate the points into moula.  Of the total amount earned, 10% goes to Donate, 20% to Save, and 70% to Spend. 

We found it helpful to keep a ledger on the computer to track how much is in the different sections of each girl's piggy bank.  Periodically, the girls empty the money out of Donate and take it to church to place in the offering.  This year, the girls were also able to use money from Spend to purchase Christmas gifts for one another (and Mama and Daddy, too). 

We think this is going to be helpful in teaching the children to be wise stewards of their money and also to be hard workers!