Gettin' Paid!

Oh, lazy Tuesday!  The kids have been wandering around playing and I have been poking around the house getting some things ready to be mailed, paying bills, all of that super exciting stuff.  I thought I'd share a couple of pics I took yesterday with you.  The kids have started helping out around the house with "chores" every day now.  They have been helping with little jobs for a while now, but this is the first time they have been given specific jobs that are their responsibility.  We really wanted to start teaching them about money and how to spend it carefully.  Ella is such a girl and really loves to shop.  (I have NO idea where in the world she got this from..........okay maybe I have a little idea...) But anyways, while in Target the other day I was trying to put into perspective how much things cost in comparison to each other and got the idea to start paying her for chores around the house so she can have her own money to spend.  We will still be buying her things as well, but we will use this money to teach her how to save for bigger things or toys that she wants.  

Noah's chores are wiping down the dishwasher and oven every day and helping to keep his room clean.  He takes these responsibilities very serious.

Ella's chores are to wipe off the table after meals and wipe down the refrigerator daily.  She also has to help keep her room tidy.  She always gets really into it and wipes down the chairs and everything.  She just likes feeling so grown up or something getting to "clean". Ha!

Every Friday we give them a dollar.  We pay them in dimes and they can trade the dimes in for dollars every time they get ten.  When they get paid they put one dime in "Give" one dime in "Save" and the rest in "Spend".  They are loving this so much and I can't wait until they have the opportunity to do something special with their "Give" money.

I found these little jars on clearance at Target and then we just labeled them with stickers we already had around the house.  I was really torn on maybe wrapping them in scrapbook paper, but I thought keeping them clear would give them a better visual of the money they have in each jar.

One of the fun things about being in a new place is the clean slate to start new routines and habits!  That has been really nice!  My most favorite so far that we have implemented here in WI is a weekly date night!  Yipee!  We have never been very good about making time to go on dates or have some time for quiet conversation.  Mainly because Randy spent the last year working out of town for weeks at a time.  So now that he has a better schedule, we found a great babysitter that the kids really love and have a standing date for Monday nights.  This week we moved it to Tuesday so that Randy could meet with the sound team last night.  So that means I have a hot date tonight! ;)