Here are some allowance strategies from Axios Austin readers.
Shane T.'s offspring get a weekly allowance equal to their ages (e.g., the 8-year-old gets $8) and are expected to do chores like putting away dishes, taking out trash, setting the table and feeding the dog.
The kids then decide how much they want to save, and the parents throw in 5% interest.
Margaret J. eschewed allowances "as some chores were considered the price of living in a family (no one paid me to cook and clean or transport children to activities)."
But she let her kids earn outside pay. "Yes, even an 8-year-old can get paid by neighbors, friends, and family for dog walking, watering plants, taking out garbage, weeding, dusting baseboards."
Asher is now thinking of requiring his 8-year-old to undertake the very Victorian-sounding duty of dusting baseboards.
One loyal reader, who asked to remain anonymous, told us that she and her husband began giving their daughter — now a prominent ethicist — an allowance at 7 or 8 years old after discovering she was shoplifting.
Finally, this bit of advice from Bob S., who helped manage a state pension fund: When dining out, his kids were given a choice — order a drink or keep the cost of it for themselves if they didn't get a beverage.
"It was to start the association that there are trade offs with our money. They could save that money and buy something they valued more than a lemonade or shake."
