An “allowance” for your kids to learn and grow


 I have a confession to make…a couple of years ago, I use to give my kids an allowance via the tooth fairy. Admittedly, I didn’t know better. I, now, know what a powerful learning tool an allowance can be to my girls as they begin their financial literacy journey.

Giving our children an allowance creates learning opportunities for our kids to use money in practical ways. When our children are small; money mistakes are small (buying too many sweets) when our kids are big, money mistakes get very big (too much debt). I know at which stage I would like them to learn their money mistakes, don’t you? So, let’s start them early!

An allowance helps kids “plan ahead” to make the future more tangible – kids usually think in the here and the now but an allowance helps our children “practice” waiting until they have saved enough to buy what they really want. 

Some pointers parents need to remember before they start to give allowances: 

  • Allowances are a TOOL to teach kids about money and not payment to do household chores, children are meant to do chores without payment like making their bed and emptying the dishwasher because they are part of a family. 
  • Just giving your child an allowance without doing ANY work gives them a sense of entitlement which is also wrong. 
  • Don’t take away your child’s allowance as punishment – remember it is an educational tool and not a disciplinary one!
  • Do not be too generous with the allowance as too much money in a child’s hands can breed careless spending habits.
  • Do not to grant too much independence by telling them they can spend their allowances on whatever they want – give them guidance to try save most of their allowance and to spend a small amount wisely.

As a parent we need to link age-appropriate jobs to our children’s allowance. For example, my one daughter was really struggling with reading. I couldn’t afford a tutor so I made my oldest daughter sit with the young one and practice her reading with her. I created a payment chart with the objective that the eldest kid needed to help her younger sister read 20 books by the end of the term. On this chart, I put 20 stars that were worth R5 each. After a book was successfully read by her sister; she could colour in a star. This motivated my eldest because she was earning money and could see how much she was making. Through this specific assignment my eldest daughter earned R100.. It is important to make money concepts very visual in the early years when a child earns money, it increases understanding of money. That is why I developed the payment chart. 

Payment of a job can be negotiable especially when a task is worth more than R5. A specific activity could be worth R20, so then the child can colour in four stars to reflect payment. I have included my R5 star payment chart and a chart, without any amounts, at the bottom of this post FREE for you to download; use what works in your household!

Remember allowances need to work for your family needs, be administratively simple, and age appropriate for your child. For a younger child, a clear savings jar or money box may be more relevant whilst for your teenager it is easier to EFT their allowance straight into their bank account. Personally, I have found the payment chart works best for ages around seven to ten years old (which is the age range my children are currently at).

Payment charts delay the satisfaction of receiving payment immediately. When our children become adults they will learn this lesson very quickly as their salaries, freelance work or payment from debtors will come in at the end of the month. 

Brainstorm with your child ideas on how to earn money, at an age-appropriate level, a couple of ideas could be: 

  • Helping with garden work, for example, weeding the garden. 
  • Washing cars, if the car is too big for little kids let them vacuum inside the car 
  • Folding or packing boxes 
  • Assisting grandparents or pensioners with chores 
  • Scanning old photographs and converting them into digital 
  • If you, as a parent, create content for social media your kids could help take photos/videos and help with editing. My daughter taught herself stop motion animation at the age of 8! 
  • Sell old notes, question papers and textbooks when a grade is passed
  • Work with an event planner to help set up at functions
  • Face painting, party games, taking photos at kids’ parties or just helping out as a party assistant 
  • Help with photocopying and stapling documents 
  • Older cousins/siblings could watch and entertain younger family members at a restaurant while the adults have a relaxing meal.
  • Tutoring even younger siblings 
  • Collect and sell second hand golf balls  

Remember, let kids be kids, make earning money and saving fun so it is something they look forward to doing.  

👇Download and print your FREE payment chart here:

Payment Chart R100

Payment Chart Blank


#kidsallowance #financialliteracy  #pocketmoney #waystomakemoney


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