What is an appropriate allowance for an 11 year old.?

Question

My daughter is 11 years. Me and my husband don't make much money, especially since I'm going to school and work part time. What is an approriate amount of money to give to her as an allowance.

Thanks for the answers. My daughter is already doing a lot of chores in the home. She even does things that she doesn't really have to do. like making breakfest for us. She does that really really well. She is a responsible young woman. I have been giving her $3 a week and sometimes $5 if I have extras. I just though that maybe I was not giving her enough, hence my question. She also has a bank account that she saves some of her money in. I tell her that out of all the money she is getting, she has to save a portion of it and I try to make it into a 401K option. Like if she saves $2, then I also contribute the same amount. I buy everything for her. She buys trinkets with her money. Things that I would not normally buy.

My daughter does not get an allowance for doing chores. Weather she does her chores or not, it's if I have the money to give her. She is a good child, helping out with the younger boys, helping them do their homework, dishes, vacuming laundry and would you believe she even discipline them by sending them to the corner if they behave bad. I know I have a jem on my hands and I really don't want to take her for granted.

Answer 1

i would not give an allowance for nothing, id make her do housework for the allowance $$ for example... i would give $.75 or $.50 depending on exactly how much u want to give to an 11yro for every chore that was done. depending on the chore of course...physical chores, like mowing lawn & outside work should be considered 4 chores, gross chores like cleaning the bathroom 3 chores, teadious chores like vacuming, & dusting 2 chores, daily chores like dishwashing, taking out the trash cleaning room daily 1 chore that of course was just an example ...but set up a chore chart & put the value of each chore on it, and then decide between the 3 (im assuming) of you who does what, and what its value & work factor it is

Answer 2

I owuld suggest 5.00 a week, if you can afford it. There is not much she would need to buy, being 11 yrs old. That starts later when she gets older and wants to go to the movies, pop corn etc. Make-up, etc

Does she have chores? Clean her room, run the sweeper/dust, do the dishes - in other words does she help you out?

5.00 and if she does not do a chore that you want done, than subtract .50. Harsh!! yes, but that is teaching her something.

Or you can do the chores, and pay her .50 cents per chore - Sit down and see what she feels is right - talk it over - that you are not just going to hand her money, unless she takes some responsibility for the money. If you pay her more, take 10 percent, up to 30 percent and put it into a savings account and let her watch it grow - with interest at the end of the month, it will take time, but in one year, she will have 26.00 saved not counting interest. That is based on 10 percent of 5.00 each week.

Answer 3

My mom was a single parent and had both my brother and I, so there never really was alot of money. May I suggest my Mom's formula: allowance by age, she's 11-so $11 a week is perfect. Since you provide everything else for her, she really shouldn't need more than that.

When I became 16 years old I had to get a job and pay 'rent' for my room(rent was $30 a week out of my $100 paycheck-I thought my Mom was ruining my life until I turned 18 and she handed over documents for my passbook savings account where she had been putting my 'rent' in-I had over $3,000 in the bank)...Great formula. Great way to teach real world responsibilities. Great way to trick your kid into saving money! Also get your daughter a piggy bank(they also have mini-ATM machines now, can be found in any Toys R Us, about $30, great Xmas gift) to put her loose change at the end of the week in-it's never too early to teach her to save!

Additionally, if there ever comes a week when you just can't afford her allowance, she can dip into her savings and replenish it again when she gets her allowance back, but be sure to try and double her allowance for the weeks you missed out on-you don't want her to feel as if she's done anything wrong not to recieve her allowance.

BTW-all of this allowance stuff only applies if she IS being a good kid-school work, house chores, etc. Hope this helps!

Answer 4

Since you don't have much money to give to her, I would recommend $5 a week. And that is only if she does the chores you assign her. Have her clean her room, dust, and vacuum. Those are some good chores for a 11 year old. Also doing the dishes after dinner is a good chore also. I would tell her she needs to complete all those chores by the end of the week and she will get $5 dollars. The dishes she can do every night though.
If you can afford to give her more, the most I would give her is $10 a week. She is only 11 years old, so if she does all her chores $10 a week is a pretty good allowance. She can save up her money and buy something she really wants or else spend the money on little things at a time. This will also teach her to save her money to get big things, like a bike or skates.

Answer 5

Well, at 11, I got about a monthly allowance- $25 each month. But that was a while ago, but about 5-10 dollars a week is the right amount for a 11 year old, especially since she's only buying little things.

Answer 6

I do not pay an allowance in the typical manner. What I have done is come up with jobs that I would consider above and beyond the normal expectation of a child. (Example: Cleaning the bathroom) I have a list of these types of jobs and next to the job is a dollar amount. I do not require the kids to do these, if they do not volunteer I just do them myself. If one of the children completes a job on this list they earn money. The rule is that once the job is complete they have to have it inspected and I sign off that the job was completed in an acceptable manner. At the end of the week I add up the figures and pay accordingly. Some weeks my son's earn more some weeks nothing, it's pretty much up to them. The jobs I consider as part of being in a family (taking out the trash) I do not pay for. I am trying to teach my kids that as part of a family there are expectations and for those the reward is being part of a loving family.

Answer 7

5$

Answer 8

$10

Answer 9

I am so jealous, it sounds like you have an extraordinary child. God has sent you an angel in a child's body. She sounds very smart. What you are doing seems just fine, if she is anything like what you just described she knows what the situation is and is fine with it. If you are like most parents she has what she needs and more already at home. If you want to do more, leave the smaller boys at home with someone and occasionally take her out. It does not have to be a lot, pack a picnic and just the two of you go to a park. Play on the swing with her and ask her how her day was. She is still at that age where time is more important than money. It sounds like you don't need any advice at all though. From what we have heard, you are doing a wonderful job. Now the boys, ohhhhhhh. Good luck, boys will be boys. That is about all we have in our family. We still love them though. LOL!

Answer 10

I think you're a very caring mother and it sounds like you have a responsible daughter. I would have killed for an allowance when I was that age. My parents also didn't make much money and worked long hours. The deal we had was, I would do chores and get good grades to show I earned some rewards, then I'd ask them when I wanted something and if it was reasonable, they'd buy it for me. If I wanted to go out with friends (and I had to ask them if I could), they'd give me some money. I'm incredibly grateful now that they did that because it taught me responsibility and the importance of earning something. Too many kids nowadays grow up thinking they're owed something.
It sounds like you're trying to teach your daughter the same values. Hopefully she'll appreciate what a good mom she has. :)

Answer 11

If you give her $5 a week for the next 3 years and she saves it, then she'll have almost $400 to spend on marijuana by the time she is 14. Think about it. Why does an 11 year old need an allowance at all? If you absolutely must, give her $2 a week and take her to the dollar store or WalMart and supervise her spending.