Why I Pay My Kids in Monopoly Money

Last week I posted on housekeeping with the kids, and mentioned that I pay my kids their "allowance" in Monopoly Money.

Why?

Glad you asked!

You see, several years ago I decided I wanted to teach my kids the importance of money. So I made up a small chore list and gave them three piggy-banks each: one for savings, spending and church.

We had agreed on a certain amount per week. I think it was three dollars, but really its unimportant, because it only lasted about a month or two.

The problem is that I never have cash. I spend 98% of our money using a debit card. Every week I had to be sure that I had the exact cash for each kid, and then I had to check the chore list all the time and be sure that they had done their jobs, and so on and so forth.

So, I never really kept up.

This summer, while playing Monopoly Jr. with my kids I had an epiphany: pay your kids using this money.

I figured it would save me the trouble of finding one dollar bills every week, and I can use it to teach the kids a little bit of the "economics" of this household, while also learning some autonomy regarding spending.

So here is how I handle it:

Each child receives $4 a week on Monday. (Yes, they get paid in advance.) At the top of the stairs I have their daily schedules and their chore charts pinned to a board.

There are also two little envelopes that I place the money in each Monday morning.

If they do their jobs to the best of their ability, and without more than one reminder a day, then they keep all their money. BUT, this gives me a lot of room to teach them both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation.

For instance, a certain youngest child, who shall remain nameless, had a very difficult time understanding that money (of the real kind) doesn't belong on the floor, or in a shoe, or under the bed, or...well, you get the idea. I want her to learn that money has relevance in our life, not just to have it, but to use it well. To be (financially) responsible.

So, Rule #1 was born:  if I find it anywhere else than in the envelope, its mine (even if you had it all crumbled up in the mini-van last Thursday because you thought we might buy something, and forgot to bring it back inside, but you really meant to bring it back to the envelope). Finder keepers, losers weepers.

Rule #2: If I have to remind them to do their chores more than once, they owe me a dollar.

Rule #3: They are not to loan out  their Monopoly money to the sibling. You may give the other sibling money if you feel the need to donate to a cause (and this has happened with both children), but a gift is something that must be done without strings attached; it cannot be held over as collateral when the time suits you; and must be done without the expectation that the other will reciprocate.

Rule #4: (This was new rule added a couple of weeks ago, and honestly hasn't been entirely enforced) If  I find shoes, toys, or articles of clothing laying in the middle of the kitchen... school room... hallway... den... my office... the stairs ... any place that I must pick it up and deal with it, you owe me a dollar, or more, depending on how I feel at the moment.

At the end of the month, they may choose to do several things. They may go shopping, or they may save  their money. Or, when I am out shopping and they want to buy something they can pay me back in Monopoly cash, then they may buy it. Essentially, my bank becomes their ATM.

This is a win-win situation.  I don't have to feel irritated that I am spending my cash on junk from the dollar bin, and they learn that spending "just a dollar" on items they don't really want (and break before we get home), is like throwing money away.

This also helps me because my kids are at an age when the old ways of disciplining are less valuable. I am hoping that through the lesson of Economics, learned in the safety of this home, they will learn a valuable lesson for all of life: You can choose your actions, or you can choose your consequences... Generally, you can't have both.

Some of you may wonder about how we teach our kids about tithing.

I hesitate to write about it, because it can be a hot topic.

This is what works for our family, and yet, we understand that our philosophy isn't the end all-be all.

Here's the deal. We believe it is very important to tithe. We also believe our children need to learn the importance of generosity; that all good things come from the Lord: and that as we are given the opportunity to do good, we should (Gal 6:10).

However, the reality is, my kids have limited resources. We want to cultivate in them the desire to give of what they have, and right now they have a lot more time than money. So they might "do good" by writing to the Compassion child we have sponsored for 10 years in the Dominican Republic. Or they might visit someone in the hospital, or bring cookies to a neighbor, or serve tea to a friend. We want them to learn that giving should always be more than a required 10%. And sometimes, it might not have a financial value.

There will be a time in their life when they have to make their own decisions about giving. We want them to learn to give in the way the Lord leads them, not in what we make them do. Much of their learning will happen as they watch their parents.

At the end of their day, they will learn generosity by watching us. If my children are greedy, the consequences of my actions will be blatant.

That, is the very round and verbose nutshell, of why I pay my children in Monopoly Money.

Do you give your kiddos an allowance? Would love to know what works for your family!