Our New Additions!

Riley and Alexandra receive allowance twice a month (when Dean gets paid). They get an amount equal to their age, so Riley gets $9 and Alexandra gets $6. They have banks with 3 separate sections that I got from Deseret Book. So when I get their allowance from the bank I get it all funky with lots of change so they can do tithing and savings. I'm sure the bank people love to see me come in! They have to put 10% in tithing and 10% in savings and the rest is theirs to use however they want. When we first started this, I had been buying little things from the $1 spot at Target or just little toys for them. So once we started their allowance I stopped buying little things for them and they had to do it for themselves. This greatly helped our budget and we found that I spent less giving them allowance. Also we decided not to have allowance tied to their chores. The chores and work around the house they do because they are a part of the family. Also, just in case we couldn't afford to pay allowance any more, I didn't want to have to deal with the whole - "Why should I do chores if I'm not getting paid for it anymore". I know those teenage years are right around the corner.......

Our rule for them to use their savings is when they think of something they really want to spend that money on, we write it down on the calendar. If they still want it in a month and have enough money they can get it. So far Riley had used it twice and Alexandra had used it once. My goal is to teach them early how to save and pay tithing. I'm hoping that if they've never known not paying them, that it will be an easy habit for them when they grow up. I didn't want them to feel that savings was money that they put in a box and never used, so that's why we came up with the month rule. I want them to see that if they do save they can get really big things that they want. I have always been horrible at saving money, and I want to give my girls the chance to not be like me!!!

So Alexandra decided months ago that she wanted to save up all of her allowance to get a guinea pig. I was pretty sure it wasn't going to happen, but told her if she did she could have one. She'd never even managed to save more then 2 allowances and this was going to take at least 3 months worth. I told her she could even use her savings to help, since this was going to be a want she would have for more than one month. So she saved and saved (we knew that guinea pigs were about $40 at the pet store). Then last month after they received their amazing report cards (they get $5 for good report cards) we counted all of their money. Alexandra had (between savings and allowance) $58 and Riley had $64. Riley had decided to start saving up her money at the same time to see if she could buy something really cool. So we started looking online at pet stores and craigslist at guinea pigs. We found some at an animal shelter for $10. Riley decided (mostly because Alexandra wasn't going to let her play with her pet - at least that's what she told Riley) that she wanted one too. So I told them if we went down to the shelter and they had siblings we could probably do 2 guinea pigs. (They are supposedly easier if you have more than one). So we went down and fell in love with:

(He doesn't have red eyes - it's the flash!)

They are brothers and the shelter thought they were probably about 5 months old, so not as big as they are going to be. They are so cute and ALL the girls love them.

So we adopted the two of them. Riley named hers (the one with the black and brown face) Squeakers. Alexandra's (the one with the white on the face) is named Reeses. I had wanted Riley to name her's Snickers, but she wouldn't go for it. Riley's has lived up to it's name and is the louder of the two. Not that he's that loud, but when Riley pets him he has this purring squeak going on. They have adjusted quite well to my girls who want to pet them at all hours. And (speaking as someone who really didn't like guinea pigs - I think it's cuz my sister had them for pets) I'm very glad that we have them. They are super cute and the girls are loving having pets that are all their own.

The night we got them, we went to Petsmart and got all that they needed. We already had a huge cage from when our old bunny used to live inside. I told the girls I would provide the food and cage bedding, but they had to buy the rest. So they had a great time picking a house, water bottle, toys, treats, dishes, and the wire fence for letting them run around the living room in. Then the money they had left they split evenly between their savings and allowance boxes. I was very proud of them, because I left it up to them what they wanted to do with the left over money. I know as a kid I would have picked keeping it all in allowance. It makes me feel like they really are getting it. As much as any little kid gets saving up money.