One way your parents may help you get what you want is by giving you an allowance.
al•low•ance
verb
1. give (someone) a sum of money regularly.
Most children have to earn their allowance by doing chores.
chore
noun
1. a routine task, especially a household one.
While you are young, your chore may be as simple as putting your toys up or washing your hands before you eat. As you get older, your chores will get harder, and often your allowance will increase.
budg•et
noun
1. an estimate of income and expenditure for a set period of time.
Some of the first words children learn are “Momma” and “Dada.” Words that come quickly after are “I want” and “Mine.” That doesn’t change much as we get older. Wanting your own things is perfectly natural, just as learning to work for them is. Many of you have already learned that if you want something, like a good grade or perhaps a new toy, you have to earn it through either hard work or good behavior.
Your parents may give you permission to use your allowance to buy the things you want. But at this age, it is important that you begin to learn how to budget to make sure you always have enough money to do the important things.
The amount of allowance a child gets varies from person to person and is based on what your parents feel comfortable with and what fits into their budget for ensuring your household runs properly.
If you budget your money correctly, it should be broken into separate categories. Lori Mackey, an author and founder of prosperity4kids, recommends that you should use the following formula for budgeting your money: 10-10-10-70. What this means is that you should save 10 percent of your allowance (if your allowance is $1, then that’s a dime.)You should invest 10 percent (another dime) and give 10 percent (another dime) to charity or those in need. You can then use the remaining 70 percent (70 cents) to do what you want.
The money you put into savings is money that you can use to purchase more expensive items or to spend on vacation. If you learn how to save, you will always have a little money put away in case of an emergency.
Some children save their money in a piggy bank, while others actually have their money deposited in a bank. They may be able to access that money via a debit card, which is a form of electronic payment. Both are great ways to keep track of your money, and you probably will find that when you have to work for your own money, you don’t spend it as quickly and that the words “I want …” don’t come out as quickly.
Did You Know…
Most of you have or have had a piggy bank in your room. The bank, usually with a smiling face, can be ceramic or silver or even plastic. What’s important about the piggy bank is that it is a great place to store loose coins and save them for something special. Have you ever wondered why people use pigs to store their money?
There are many different explanations, but this is the most common:
Containers for storing coins, known as money boxes or coin banks, have been used for centuries. To encourage saving, a small slit was placed on the top of these so that coins could enter but not exit. Because the only way to get the coins out was by breaking the container, they were mostly made of cheap materials. Eventually, these simple containers evolved into piggy banks.
The most common legend of how piggy banks were created dates back to 15th century Europe, where a type of clay called pygg was used to make plates, bottles and vessels. When people threw their spare coins into these types of pygg containers, they started to call them pygg banks. Eventually, through a misinterpretation of the word pygg as pig.
