My girls work on commission. Your productivity and attitude determine your pay. If helping me with putting your clothes up pays $1, you have the option of making the full $1 or much less. I plan on continuing this as they get older to teach work ethic.
They put their money in a piggy bank and when it is all full, we go to coin star. Then they get to go to the toy store and pick out a toy. They look forward to chances to earn money for their toys and I am seeing a early interest in saving money for the bigger toys.

Yes, they are very young but I believe it is never too early to teach financial responsibility.

C-Dub...that is a fabulous idea! So, you give a chore a "price tag"...and depending upon how they do, you pay them accordingly?

CW- we do the same thing!  We're actually big Dave Ramsey fans over here.  But even if we weren't, we still believe in instilling a good work ethic in our kids at an early age.  My son is already tithing his own money for chapel offering (he goes to a private school) and figures out what he wants to save and what he needs to do to get there.  And he's only 6!  Nice thing, I haven't washed a toilet in 4 months!

Yup..got it from Dave Ramsey. Chores are given a price tag that will fluctuate as their chores change. Right now we deal with coins mostly.

Feed dog .25
Water dog .25
Help with laundry $1
Help set table .50
Put up clothes $1
Offer help without being asked $2

No pay for cleaning room. This is your responsibility for living indoors.

We do the same thing.  Only we keep 5$ of quarters in a jar for each boy.  Each day that they don't clean room/ do chores they get money taken out of the jar.  So they know, that if they do all that is required of them they will earn $5.  But they may also earn less.  It has been a great thing for them.  To physically SEE the quarters being taken out of the cup at the end of the day for chores not done has been a real motivator! wink wink 

My nine year old has been cleaning the "boys" bathroom for about a year now.  It's amazing how much better his aim got when he had to clean his own toilet!! he he

we do not pay them for everyday chores. but if they want something then we will let them earn money buy doing something around the house that is extra.  ther are days when if i catch them doing something extra i may pay them. i also am willing to put change in or under paper to see who cleaned up the paper without asking

My daughter gets $10 a week if she has done her chores, her room is clean, and we didn't get a note on Tuesdays saying she has incomplete work.  My sister gives her girls $10 a week too but they have to earn them daily.  So she keeps dollars and pays them daily for doing their chores and homework.  I don't remember ever getting an allowance when I was little, but when we where teenagers and my grandparents had custody of us, once a month we would get $75 from the child support payments to spend on new clothes or activities that we wanted to do.  I like the paying per chore, we might start that instead.  

Our kids get $15/month for above and beyond chores.  They do not get anything for the daily chores that they are required to do since they belong to our family.   If they don't go above and beyond or have good attitude about it, the money does not fall into their cute little hands. 

Out of that money they are required to split it up into 3 jars.  They have a tithe jar, a spending money jar and a savings jar.  Currently my 9 year old is saving to buy herself a new quilt set for her room (since hers is still good and is this is just a matter of changing taste, we will not be buying it for her).

we actually do something similar, but your "program" is better designed than mine, "stealing" your ideas and will start them tonight! THANK YOU!

I agree with you Mama M. chores are part of being a family. I figure that rent and food are allowance for now. Of course my kids are 7 and under.  It may change but I doubt it.  I never got an allowance as a kid.  I started working when I was 16 and pretty much have supported myself since then.  It has made me independent and ambitious qualities I want my kids to have.