Have you ever wanted your kids to do their share of the chores? Sometimes it can seem like an almost impossible task, so here are some tips on how to not only get them to do the tasks you want, but actually want to do them for you. This is not magic, although the results may seem magical, these tips are proven effective ways to motivate your children to do chores.
The first piece of advice is to identify what your children’s personal motivation is. Not all children have the same attitude to working at home and not all children want the same things. So the first step is to identify what makes your child tick. To do this, all you need to do is sit down with them and talk about money. Not just any money but your money, your money goals, your spending needs, and your long-term plans. You see, we are all motivated to some degree by what money can do for us. Not so much how much we have but what we can do with the money we have or the money we can earn. Your children are the same.
However, before you do this, it’s a good idea to identify how your children are making money today. Do you give them an allowance or pocket money? Do they receive money working? Do they get their money from gifts from family members? It is important to know exactly what they do to get money. I will assume here that, like most parents, you give money to your children, either as an allowance or pocket money or as needed. If so, stop. Stop giving them money just because you can. Why, because if they grow up thinking that money comes from a hole in the wall or from mom or dad’s wallet, when will they learn how to earn it? Instead, agree with them that they will receive a minimum allowance based on their needs, but will have to earn the rest.
Once you’ve identified how much money you’ll need for your goals, sit down with your kids and identify the chores they can do and get paid for. This will prove to be good for you and good for them. They will learn that money is earned and not just something that is free. The more they want to spend, the more work they have to put in to do so. This is such a powerful tool that you need to be aware of the work you want to do and the rate of pay you are willing to pay for it. Remember you thought that part of this payment is in lieu of your allowance or pocket money. Money you would have given them anyway. The benefit to you is not only the fact that you are empowering your children with financial skills, but you also get back the time you would normally spend on the tasks they are now going to do.
Once you’ve identified the tasks you want to get done and your child has agreed to do the work for an agreed amount of pay, the next step in staying motivated is to set goals with them. Identify with them what they will do with the money and when they want to do it. For example, suppose you want to go to the movies with your friends, and let’s say it costs $10.00. Now they may be making $2.00 a week in combined pocket money and chore pay, so it will take them 5 weeks to earn the $10.00 they need for the movies. If this is the case, just put a chart on the fridge door or somewhere they can see it and list your savings each week. If they can see that the goal is $10.00 and each week they get closer, they will be more motivated to complete their goal.
Another way they can reach their goal sooner is to do more chores or, as some young entrepreneurs do, they can start their own small business and work for others in the family or neighborhood. Naturally, age influences the types of tasks and the amount of money paid. Teenagers can be expected to do more homework than, say, 8 or 9 year olds. Whatever the age, the opportunities to earn money both within and outside of the family are too numerous to list here. Suffice to say that most kids can find some kind of activity that they can do to earn some extra money. The more they earn, the less burden falls on you to provide the simpler things that they will provide for themselves. Financially empowering your children is not about giving them money, it is about teaching them about money. There is an old saying that goes like this: “You can feed a man a fish and he will eat for only one day or you can teach a man to fish and he will eat forever.”
