Chore Chart

A few years ago my husband and I took Financial Peace University by Dave Ramsey and I must say that it changed our financial lives.  I won't get into all of that right now, but I did want to share with you one of the good habits that we continue to use daily.

Dave Ramsey talks about kids and money and giving them an "allowance."  He does not "give" money to anything ;), so he suggests having your kids work for a commission.  My kids are nerdy like their mama and they loved this idea.  We discussed what the word commission means, how to earn a commission,and what to do with the money you earn (give, save, spend).  If you want to learn more about Dave Ramsey, Financial Peace University, or how teach your kids how to handle money at a young age with Financial Peace Jr. you can go to the link below:

PS: I am not in any way affiliated with Dave Ramsey or his company and I do not get paid to endorse his products.  However, I am a firm believer in the practices he teaches.

Now, I must come clean and say, we started Financial Peace Jr. with our children, worked on the chore charts, and we were incredibly successful.  Then...life happened.  We moved, the chore charts were never unpacked, and we stopped keeping up with them.  So, this past weekend my husband and I talked about starting chore charts again and he urged me to make our kids charts this time.  The ones with FPU Jr. are effective and simple, but we wanted something a little "spicier" and interactive! :)  

Chore Chart How-To

Materials:  

scrapbook paper

bulletin board

thumb tacks

glue

access to printer

white paper

craft sticks

1.  Make envelopes or pockets to hold the craft sticks/tickets (whatever you use to show your child completed the chore).  I used the template you can find here: http://www.earthmothercrafts.com/images/BasicEnvelopeTemplate_1.jpg

2.  Cut out envelopes and arrange on the bulletin board.  I used thumb tacks in each of the four corners to hold the envelopes securely in place.

3.  Label each pocket with a chore.  Our labels include: Pick up and put away laundry, Clear dishes (this means after supper), empty dishwasher, pick up toys, put away silverware.  These chores are the ones my kids are expected to do daily.  We add to this by giving each day a chore of its own.  (We have just started doing this as a family.  I am really hoping it helps us to stay on top of cleaning throughout the week so we do not spend all day on Saturday cleaning).  

Monday-Clean Bathrooms

Tuesday-Dust

Wednesday-Vacuum

Thursday-Sweep & Mop

Friday-Catch-all Day (whatever has been missed throughout the week)

Saturday-Straighten Bedrooms

You can find other chore ideas here: 

Age Appropriate Chores

4.  When the child completes a chore, he/she place a craft stick in the corresponding envelope.  My daughter uses red sticks and my son uses blue sticks.  This helps me to keep up with who did the chore, especially in the extra chore pocket.

5.  Our kids are motivated by money.  We teach them the principals from FPU.  They earn commission based on each chore.

25 cents for each chore completed daily

25 cents for the weekly chore (daily)

10 cents for any extra chore above and beyond what is asked of them

Our kids are taught to GIVE, SAVE, SPEND.  They give 10%  to the church as a tithe, SAVE 10% or more for something they really want (a special toy, an outing, vacation), and what is left over they put in their wallet as SPENDING.

We also have FINES.  Fines are -25 cents for infractions to house rules.  My kids are 10 and 5, a girl and a boy, respectively.  Let me let you in on a little secret...they LOVE each other all of the time, but they don't LIKE each other all of the time.  Many times, their infractions come from not getting along with one another.  Also, our daughter is ten thinking that she is going on sixteen! Ugg!  Sometimes attitude and pre-hormonal hormones take over that child's body!!!!  Need I say more?! :)

6.  On Saturdays, we tally the number of chores complete and figure the amount of money that is owed to each kid.  They could earn a minimum of $6.25/week if they complete all of the chores as outlined on the chart.  If they chose to do extra chores then they could earn extra money, but I like to cap it at $10.  :)

Here is our completed chore chart, hanging, and in use:

I hope you enjoy this and find it useful in your home, too!

~Kim

PS:  I know this was not school related, but you may able to modify this in a way that would be useful for behavior.  I am thinking, smaller pockets inside a binder with a good choice/preferred behavior on the envelope.  The student can earn tickets to place in the pockets and earn rewards based on the number of tickets.  Just a thought ;)  I had to make it "schooly" somehow!