An Allowance Chart and Buying Candy!

by Michelle Vandepas | More from this Blogger

My three-year-old daughter took her twenty cents to the grocery store and insisted on buying candy.

Twenty cents won't buy much - in fact it won't buy anything, and I really worked on getting her to wait another week until she had forty cents. But no, she was so excited to earn money that off we went to find some candy she could buy with her pennies.

Teaching my daughter about money is going to be fun, - and also a challenge. She can be pretty strong willed. I'm lucky that she is also very funny and generous so her personality is fairly balanced. If it wasn't, I'd be frustrated for sure.....

She wanted to add to her candy until it would have been several dollars worth. I don't want her buying and eating that much candy, and of course she didn't have the cash.

Finally we agreed that a few pieces of bulk candy to be enjoyed slowly as a reward would be perfect for her.

This week we will add a daily chore to her allowance. I'm not expecting much, except good effort, and help cleaning up when her chore creates even more mess (think cat litter box).

Together we are making a big chart full of pictures of her chores and a photo of pennies and her piggy bank. When it is finished I envision a chart showing photos of her various chores - her bed made, cat litter clean, (with help from Mommy), toys neatly put away. The chart will be broken down into days and she'll get a few pennies each day and a sticker, if the chores are completed.

I'm looking forward to seeing what she saves for - I'm hoping books, puzzles, trips to the Zoo will be in her future, but alas, it'll probably be all about the candy for a while.

More on allowances

Learn more about Michelle Vandepas

In a previous life, Michelle was president of a medical manufacturing company, and then in private practice as a holistic business consultant.

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