Employment Thursday

Ok, this might seem to sound quite strange but I am looking for ways to let my kids earn a little bit of money to show them the power of saving and the value of work outside of their normal house jobs. I find it hard to pay them to do daily jobs that are expected to keep the house running. Putting away your clothes is just a part of life. No one is ever going to pay you to do that.

So as part of a Mentoring class that I am taking through Kathey Mellor (her site is unleashingyourvoice.com ) I was coming up with a list of ways I could improve my relationship with my 7 year old. Consistency was one of my number one things I came up with. So I developed a list of paid jobs he could do.

Clean out garden box $1
Vacuum one room $.15
Pick up hall tiny trash $.10
Rake hay into a pile $.50
Move Rocks $1
Clean out car $.50
Sweep Bathrooms $.25
Dust Picture Frames $.30

These are all jobs my husband, John, or I would do.

So Thursdays from after lunch till 2pm he can do as many of these jobs as he would like to do (and do them at a high level of quality) and be paid to do it. This will help him with time management also, one of his major challenges. He could earn quite a bit of money or waist his time and earn very little.

Where is the money coming from?
We have a large jar that we put any change in that is found on the street or in the house. Sometimes I even pitch in change from the store if it sits in my pocket or purse for a long time. Hey, we live on a budget. So this is how we are doing it. Plus this makes it so he can divide his money among his different places of saving.

For instance he raked up some hay yesterday (snow day and Daddy was working with the kids in the back yard) and after Daddy said his work was good he earned his $.50

This is how the money went
10% to tithing
20% to mission
Then Milton chose the following
10% to fun
60% to college

We will be learning about he stock marked on Monday and will be working on the idea of investing money so that will become a part of it also I am sure of it. With a generation of lazy people being raised right now I see this as a very valuable lesson for him to start learning now. If you want something you earn it not just ask people for it.