I’ve mentioned in the past that we don’t pay for chores.

And, we still don’t.

Only, my kids are now 14 and 10. They like to have money to use in town at the candy store and local coffee shop. There are games and music they want for their iPods. They talk about wanting “this”, and how they are going to buy “that”. They want to save money. They have even expressed wanting to treat a friend now and again.

BUT . . . . THEY DON’T HAVE MONEY.

Until now.

Enter: Our new job board.

I wanted to use a little creativity to teach my children that they must earn an income – it won’t be handed to them. I didn’t want to use our daily and weekly household chores for this purpose, for we feel those are the natural part of being a contributing member of our family. So, choosing some “over and above” needs that we have around the house, I went the independent contractor route. Now, if the kid’s need cash, they can check the board. Upon reading the job offerings, they can:

BID on the job
INTERVIEW for the job.
BE HIRED at an agreed upon wage. (Some of their bids are too high.)
COMPLETE the job in the agreed upon time frame.
Examples of current jobs for bid?

Sorting almost 3 years of household statements (utilities, banking, etc.) by year. (I don’t even want to tackle that one.)
Cleaning out the Dining Room sideboard with Mom. (Full of years and years of I don’t know what.)
Breaking down every empty box from Mom’s recent office decluttering project. (Doesn’t sound like a big job, but, um, you were not there.)
The bids are in.

Time for interviews!

Right now, this all seems like a great idea. Then again, I have a lot of great ideas that go nowhere. This, however, has potential due to my children’s ages, their desire to have spending money, and the simplicity of the activity. Choose a job, name your price, talk it over, and get it done. So far, both bid on the same job. And while my son’s bid was lower, I hired my daughter, because my son’s room was completely trashed, and I felt he needed to put his focus there. They both rallied for it, but dibs will definitely go to the one keeping of with their other responsibilities.

See, those bedrooms, the laundry, and emptying the dishwasher? Sorry, kiddos, those chores are still expected – free of charge.

How you you handle giving your older children spending money?