Mom Bucks – Guest Post by Angie

Mom Bucks!

As a mom of four, things can get crazy pretty fast around my house.  It feels like I’m always getting onto this one, or that one, putting someone in their room, or in time out, I always feel like the bad guy.

I won’t lie about the idea. I got it from the second Diary of a Wimpy Kid movie. In the movie, the mom gives the boys Mom Bucks for hanging out, and generally getting along, then she lets the boy’s trade in for real money.
Although, I’m sure my kids would love the idea of me handing them cash for every time they earned a mom buck, our budget just doesn’t allow it. So I tweaked it to fit our family, our budget, and our rules.
This is a picture of the Mom Buck’s I printed off the Internet.
(http://grocerygitr.com/2011/05/27/organization-of-moms-asks/)

We start each day fresh with 10 bucks. The kids (ranging from 4-10) know their rules and what is expected of them daily. When their rules are broken, they will have one Mom Buck taken away.  (I don’t take any on first offense unless it’s hurting someone, they usually get a warning or two that, if they don’t turn the behavior around, they’re in danger of losing one.) Generally, the warnings work, but of course, there are times when they don’t.
Even with the danger of losing their bucks, they also have the opportunity to earn them as well. If they go out of their way to do something nice for someone, extra chores, etc., then they also can earn bonus bucks. The bonus amount is up to me.

At the end of the week, we tally up their daily bucks earned, (we have set Sunday as our designated day to redeem their bucks) and they have a chance to take their Mom Bucks to the Mom Store.  The Mom Store is just a plastic tub I have filled with various items. Almost everything came from The Dollar Tree. There are finger paints, whoopee cushions, army men, hair bows, play-doh, puzzles, pens, coloring books, bubble bath,  cool shoe strings, etc.  There are also coupons that they can buy to redeem for extra computer time, movie night alone with Mom when the others are in bed, chore free day, and even a later bedtime.  Here is a picture of my store.

On the front of the tub, there’s a price ledger taped so that they can see for themselves what each item costs.  Not only does this help them with their behavior, it’s a great way for them to learn math. They’ll also learn how to save money, since they DO have the option of saving up their bucks for a larger item. ($25 and under)

The great thing is, the idea is so versatile, you can adapt it a thousand ways to fit your family, and is great for any age!
Today is our first redemption day, and the kids are so excited to get to visit the Mom Store. It’s still a work in progress, but I can see a huge difference!
I hope if you decide to use this idea, it works as well for you as it has for us so far!   If you have any feedback/suggestions, you can send it to my email at adhazlett@roadrunner.com! I’d be happy to hear from you!