News Flash - $ burns holes in kid's pocket!

[GunnFixr]

In 2004 I bought my son 2 guns (to add to the one he already had...), several steel targets, and tens of thousands of rounds of 22lr. I told the boy that the free ride is over. The next gun he buys, will be with his own money, and he needs to kick in when the hat is passed to buy ammo.

The trouble is, money burns a whole right through his pocket.

The boy has just moved in with me for the summer (and in all probability, for good), and I plan to give the boy an allowance in return for chores down around the house. I'm trying to teach him the value of a buck. He now gets $10 weekly allowence. I have an ammo can in the gun room that serves as his money box. The box will be locked, and I'll have the only key. There will be a ledger posted to the wall next to the box. For every $1 he puts in, I'll add a dime (don't balk, that is 10% interest - a sight better than any bank). Once his balance gets over $100, I'll put in $0.50 for every dollar. So, if he puts all of his allowence in his savings, I'll add a dollar to it, giving him an $11 a week allowence if he squirrels all of it away, and a $15 allowence if he puts it all away after saving a C note. The box will only open once a week on Friday when he recieves his allowence. That will be the time for himm to add to the savings or make a withdrawl. I'll never tell him he can't pull money out of the box, as it is his money, but the bank only opens once a week for withdrawls.

I'm sure once he gets a bigger balance going he will like to see the totals rise each week, but the trick is getting him to put it in there in the first place. If he has $5, he will look for a $5 piece of crap to spend it on. A smart boy to be sure, but he has no money sense.

I thought about how to get the ball rolling, and came up with this...


Lay a $1, $10, and a $20 on the table when he recieves his first allowence. I'll give him the $10 and tell him to put it in his pocket. Then ask him which bill he would rather have between the 20 and the single. He will of course prefer the $20. I will then tell him that he can have the $1 right now, and walk away with $11, or he can put the $10 in his bank, keep the $1 bonus from me (a dime for every dollar) free, and I'll add the $20 to the bank to help get things rolling. It will surely torture him to no end. But, if he saves his $ he will have plenty of his own dough to spend at gun shows, gun stores, or any other place he wants to blow his cash.

[SouthernMoss]

Teaching patience and delayed gratification is a hard thing (my 25-year-old is still working on that ). Good luck with this project, and keep us posted on your progress.

[llama.45]

sounds like a good plan

[inplanotx]

Good luck Gunnfixr! Hope it works out. My daughter needed tires for her car ~$200. What did she do? Bought a new phone and Dad bought the tires also ~$200. She was 20 years old at the time.

[armedandsafe]

News Flash....Dads are SUCKERS! Ain't it great?

Pops

[rosierita]

sounds like a good idea gunnfixr!

i've been trying to teach my 2 as well & it may have worked too well. they are both tight w/ their money, so tight that the things they want, they expect me to buy so they can continue to save their $$. of course, moma dont always give in.

[GunnFixr]

He took the $30 for his bank, and literally snatched the $1 bill from my hand.

He said, and I quote: "Gun Show ain't till next Satuday anyway." Little ****.

I pointed out the length of several of the neighbors' grass, and told him that he could probly make a buck mowing lawns in the neighborhood.

It is presently 9 minutes past 10 on a Satuday morning, I'm still in my boxers, and he has mowed two lawns with an oppointment this afternoon for two more. His rate is $10 per lawn (these are pretty small city lots -- takes me about 40 minutes to do my whole yard, front and back, and that includes moving stuff, and weed whipping).

I can't wait to see what he does when he runs out of gas. I won't buy the fuel for him, and he only has a buck. Gas here is running $2.19/gal, the mower will hold 1.5 gallons, and I can mow my yard 4 times on a tank.

[Kasatka]

$10 allowance? Jesus, I remember my allowance, it was called working for the sake of helping out the family. Monetary compensation? Don't make me laugh.

[GunnFixr]

Balk if you will, he is learning how to manage money.

He will make mistakes, and I'll let him. When he hits the bricks on his own two feet as a man, he will be ahead of the pack who are filing for bankruptcy by 21.

[Marlin]

Wise, gunnfixr.

You sound strangely just like my parents. It's all a part of doing the right thing and doing the RIGHT Parenting.

[Kasatka]

I wasn't criticizing your techniques, I think instilling a sense of financial responsibility at an early age is a great thing, as my parents instilled it in me as well.

And if it wasn't as obvious as I'd hoped, my comment was just a friendly little jest.

[IShootBack]

Sounds like you are onto something. I tried something similar, but not as creative. My 4 kids put their heads together and almost run me in the gound putting money in their tills