If you have kids that are basically any age, chances are you have searched the internet for some kind of chore chart or guidance on how to set up an effective chore chart!

Young kids can be pretty motivated to do some cleaning to earn a big sticker and stick it to a colourful sheet of paper – even if there’s nothing else on the paper! As kids get a bit older, they still might be motivated to work for a sticker or a Friday ice cream treat. As they become tweens and teenagers, though, a sticker just doesn’t quite cut it!

But you know what motivates those tweens and teens?

Screen time and money!

So, my husband and I put our heads together and came up with this amazing chore chart system. It’s been working for us, and as I share it with friends, they are all floored and can’t wait to get started on their own. I figured who better else to share it with than you because, at the end of the day, we all just want clean tidy homes and kids who help out, am I right??

Allowance or not??

It sort of started off with a conversation about allowance, which actually started from a place of saying, “All this dollar store stuff we buy them is all junk, and they don’t even want it anyway!” We decided that we would give them enough allowance each week to cover off any of those little random purchases. This would also include candy at the bulk store! Basically, anything that is not part of some list or item that we are intentionally going out to buy.

We landed on $10.00 per week for us, but you can do what works for your own family budget. We felt that we probably do spend a fair bit on them these days, so for us, $10.00 seemed reasonable. We also told them that we are no longer buying them anything that they don’t truly need. So we gave them a few of the same examples above about the dollar store or candy. We also added that if they want some fancy brand name pair of shoes, for example, we would cover the base price of a standard pair of shoes, and they could use their money to cover the rest if the standard shoes weren’t “good enough.” They seemed excited about the regular amount. We told them that they are essentially getting this $10.00 every week just because they are alive! Which got a good chuckle and a wide eyed glance at each other, “Woohoo, free money!”

The bonus structure!

We then added that they had the power to earn some bonus money throughout the year so long as they did 4 basic (albeit, time consuming) chores.

1. They each had to maintain their bedrooms such that they could vacuum their own rooms every week.
2. They each need to clean a bathroom – yes, that means scrubbing the toilet! (One bathroom is bigger than the other one, so we would let them trade each week to keep the task fairly balanced).
3. They each need to clean an easy family/shared space. Again, they would alternate each week. One will do the dining room, and the other will do the front hall.
4. They each need to clean a messier family/shared space. Alternating between the family room and the living room.

Most of these spaces get full and cluttered with their stuff, and my husband and I just felt like we were drowning, so we needed to put more onus on the kids to get these spaces tidied up!

Each task that is complete would need to get parental approval of being done, and all chores have to be done by 8pm on Sunday night! (They can learn a thing or two about time management at the same time!)

We then told them that over the course of 3 months (one quarter of the year), if their chores were done each week, they could get an extra $100!! NOW, they were really getting on board. One of the kids started doing some mental math and said, “Wait, so we could get more than $700 a year??” You got it, kiddo!

What if I miss a week?

Obviously, there will be some times when chores just get missed
– What if we go on vacation? Ok, so there might be a skip week here and there.
– What if I am sick? Here’s where some time management may play a role, or there may have to be special circumstances.
– What if I am too busy with sports or school? Again, time management! You know how much downtime you have, when your extra curriculars are, which means you know when you can fit in your chores. If you need to, do them all Sunday. If you can’t, do them Monday to start off the week!

We tried to think of most of the scenarios, but really, at the end of the day, a week has a lot of time in it! There’s no reason why the chores can’t get done unless they are very involved in extra curriculars or are spending too much time on their phones!

What about my screen time?

We have struggled with the push and pull of allowing or controlling screen time, so we decided that we should have a screen time rule in all of this chore/money management as well.

We decided to focus on the times when screen time is not allowed. We often get to eat as a family during the week (I know, we are lucky!), which means we don’t allow any screen time between 5-7pm. This gives us time for setting the table, eating, and a quick tidy up after eating. Often, it also gives us time for a quick card game too!

We also want the kids to limit their screen exposure before bed, so they can not have any screens after 9pm.

All of this control allows them to have free time to be bored and creative, gives them time for their chores, and gives them time to finish their homework.

If they miss their chores from the previous week, they need to complete at least one task before they can have any screen time at all. So, for example, say they don’t get their room tidied and vacuumed before Sunday. Then, on Monday, they can’t have any screen until they finish their room. If it goes more days before they finish their room, then all of those days are also screen free days.

According to the kids, they actually like this system; ok, maybe like is not always how they would describe it, but, I will say, the house has been more tidy, the kids are happier because they aren’t on their screens endlessly, AND, they are earning money and learning a lot of life skills in the process! I would say that all of that is a huge win!

The other HUGE side effect is that now, my husband and I actually have time to do some deep diving into actually moving bigger clutter around. We can focus our time on some of the other projects around the house that also need to get done but always get put on the back burner because we’re trying to tidy up after the kids!

It’s totally worth trying! I promise!

It’s somewhat complicated to write it all out or explain it to someone, but I have had so much positive feedback from it, and seeing it work successfully first hand, I know that it can help you too!

Think about your budget and what works for you. Think about the rooms that the kids are ‘messing’ up the most, and start using this system to help get your family on track!

Thanks for coming home!