Help! My nine-year-old has a job...

Throughout my daughter's nine years, we have tried different allowance policies. Somehow either we parents couldn't remember to follow through and pay her, or she couldn't follow through with her chores. We finally decided that, until she was older, we would just pay for her clothes and other needs, with an occasional special "treat" thrown in.

I knew that we weren't really giving her an opportunity to learn about money. At this point in time, we have little in the way of finances ourselves because my husband is a student. All of our kids know that we don't have much money, and many of the things that they want to have (a dog, a Disney vacation, a new car, etc.) need to wait until "Daddy gets a job." I'm pretty sure that this is not a great way to teach kids about money either.

To my daughter's delight, she recently worked out a situation with our upstairs neighbors. She would clean up each day after their three dogs, and they would pay her $5 a week. While this isn't a huge amount of money (particularly for the kind of dirty work she is doing!), it is quite a bit for a nine-year-old. How should I go about teaching her to make good choices about money now?

Here's what I have figured out so far...
1. For what we have been given, we need to "give back." My daughter will be giving 10% of her earnings to our church's offering, which goes to support variouscauses. Just because she has been fortunate enough to land a great job, doesn't mean that everyone is experiencing the same kind of blessing. We need to be conscious of ways that we can use our blessing to benefit others. Thankfully, she is more than willing to donate a portion of her earnings in this way.

2. Make a spending plan. My daughter is often subject to the tyranny of the immediate. When she is at the dollar store, or the thrift store, and sees something that she is attracted to in the moment, she is likely to spend any money she has available on that item. I've encouraged her to pick something large that she has been wanting for awhile (an American Girl doll or and Ipod) and save up for that each week. I am looking forward to the feeling of success she has when she can walk into a store and purchase something special with her very own money. Hopefully that feeling will make a lasting impression that will influence her future spending decisions.

3. Follow through on your commitment. Occasionally, she will have a day when she doesn't feel like heading outside into the heat to do such a distasteful job. I remind her that she has made a commitment to our neighbors to do the work. Even if she doesn't feel like it, she made a promise that she needs to keep. The money she makes is a good reward for faithfully doing a job day after day.

What else do I need to teach my daughter about money? What are your best tips to raise financially responsible children?

photo by borman818

Melanie blogs at tales from the crib and at (after)life.