I love ideas.
Ideas that help make our home run smoothly. Ideas that teach my children something. Ideas that make our home a more enjoyable place to live.
That is a part of the reason I enjoy reading other's blogs so much-for good ideas.
God gave me an idea that fit all of the things I mentioned above. I made it a part of our family, thinking we would do it until the "fun" wore off...but that has yet to happen. So, many months later, we still have Mommy Moolas.
My children each have their own household chores. Everyone has their areas of responsibility. We do not pay allowances for these. Everyone does their part to care for our family and home. However, I have always wanted the children to be able to earn money for things they wanted to save for if they wanted to do extra jobs. They would often ask if they could earn some money as they wanted to save and buy_______________. I was glad for them to learn to earn and save--except I had no ready cash to give them. We tried a few things here and there over the years with no one idea really working for us.
Then, several months ago, God gave me the idea to start our own currency. My husband helped me on the computer to design some money with different denominations. He put a picture of a child on each different denomination. We printed it on card stock to give it more durability and did each money amount in a different color to make it even easier to distinguish apart. I wanted a cute name for our currency and liked the sound of Mommy Moolas.
We then established ways to earn moolas and ways to spend moolas.
This chart is a bit out of date and I plan on updating it before the end of summer. It does give an idea of how our moola system works though.
1.) We have earning opportunities. This allows a child to do extra jobs and earn some extra moolas. I put a new sheet of paper on my desk each morning and this allows the childen to record their name, the job they did and what time they did the task. At the end of each day or at the designated store time I pay the children for all the tasks completed on the chart.
2.) We have buying opportunities. This allows the children to buy things with their moolas. They are able to purchase: privileges (like staying up late with Daddy and Mommy after the other chldren go to bed-this is the most bought item!), special snack items, toys (more about this later), breakfast in bed served by the parents, or items from our "store".
3.)We have losing opportunities. You lose moolas for not doing a job correctly. For example, if you had the job of emptying the dryer and I find a shirt that should have been hung up, you owe Mommy 2 moolas. If one of your siblings finds it and cares for it then you must pay that sibling 2 moolas. My thinking is if you do not want to do your job correctly then you can pay someone else to do it. ;)
4.) We have different special opportunities. For instance, Thursdays are double moola days. This is especially exciting during the school year as children work extra hard to earn moolas on that day. We use moola incentives in school as well as in our household chores. The specials change from time to time-which explains why they are called "specials".
Now if you are not thoroughly bored, you may read on for some different thoughts and ways we use our Mommy Moolas. (Don't you just love the name?)
The children can buy new toys and books from a real live store or Ebay. 210 moolas will earn them $10 in real cash money. (420 moolas equals $20 and so on.) You see, I rarely have extra cash money to give them throughout the week so we give them moolas to earn. If there is something they want, they pay me in moolas. They know that I will then budget that item for them on my shopping list. They know they may have to wait a couple of weeks for Mommy to be able to budget and pay for this item. (I do this out of my money my husband gives me for the household each week.) I then get the item for them as soon as I am able. They also know that I may bargain shop for the item on Ebay. (Don't you just love Ebay?!?)
A fun thing we do is have silent auctions. If I have an extra of something-like a last piece of cake that everyone wants- I simply say "silent auction". Anyone who wants to participate gets a scrap piece of paper. They proceed to write down their name and how many moolas they would be willing to pay for the item. After the papers are all turned in I award the item to the highest bidder. The first few times we did this the bids were very high. 100 moolas for an ice cream sandwich! Now they think about how much they would be happy to have paid once the item is eaten. I have to admit though, sometimes the possibility of beating out all their siblings still wins out over common sense! ;)
A benefit of this sytem is I have a lot of willing helpers if I want or need something done. For example, we had a library book due today that no one seemed to know where it was located. And no one really seemed to care. I could have made everyone stop their playing to search, but the effort in those situations always seems to be minimal. So, I said that I would give 20 moolas to whoever found it. I instantly had five children searching diligently. Three minutes later I had the book and one child was 20 moolas richer. That is a win-win situation to me!
When children have to pay moolas to Daddy and Mommy for not doing jobs correctly or for having bad table manners I keep a tally. I have a 4x6 card by my desk and I simply add to our running totals. More on what we do with those later...
Another way the kids can amass moolas is by selling things to Mommy they do not want anymore. Toys they have outgrown are the most popular things to come my way. I love how it helps them not to be pack rats. When they do not want something they sell it to me. They get moolas and I get toys I can sell in our "store". With approval, the children work out selling things amongst themselves. No deals go through without being approved by a parent though. It would be far too easy for an older child to take advantage of a younger one.
Our store merchandise changes all the time. I try to pick up inexpensive items when I grocery shop like cracker packets and granola bars. Sometimes there are toys or books I picked up at yard sales. Two things we always have though are Surprise Envelopes and Mystery Tins.
In both cases there is the element of surprise. Envelopes are 40 moolas and contain big surprises and the tins are 15 moolas and contain smaller surprises. The surprises are written on 3x5s. I do not seal the envelopes; i just tuck the flap in. That way I can reuse the envelopes and the 3x5s after the prize is redeemed. The tins are leftover from mints and such. The kids love these! We change these up all the time, but here are some of the items they contain:
Surprise Envelopes:
100 moolas
Win all of Daddy and Mommy's moolas (sometimes that is ALOT!)
Stay up late
Box of treats from the store
Moolas of various amounts
Pick your favorite supper for Mommy to make
Your own double moola day
Go out for hot cocoa with Daddy
--and many more. The possibilities are endless.
Tins (which always contain a minature candy bar):
Play fan your money
Recite a verse-win 25 moolas
Win a Surprise Envelope
--and more
Our store is open a couple of times a week. You may only buy up to one tin and one envelope per store time. Of course the children can also buy snack items and other things out of the store at that time.
And here is a picture of my cash box...I'm rich! ;)
I love that God has given us a way to teach our children some money values even though I do not have extra of the real thing. As a teacher I have been happy to see the younger children learning to add up their moola amounts. I have admired the character and determination the children show as they save up for something they truly want. It is hard when the store is open to
not buy a tin or envelope. It teaches them to have self-control and save for what will be most meaningful in the long run.
A few other things that I pay moolas for are as follows:
--My children drink water, juice and milk throughout the day, but they do not tend to drink as much water as I would like. If I say water is the only option the kids tend to drink little or none at all. I now pay a moola for every cup of water they drink. I showed them how much I considered to be a cup and we go on the honor system. I saw a wonderful jump in their water intake and no one was foolishly drinking 50 cups to earn some fast cash. ;) They record each cup they drink on the chart we put out daily.
--With six children, we go through a lot of cups each day. I pay one moola at the end of the day to any child who uses the same cup all day long. In the morning they each pick out a cup for the day (I have lots of variety so it is easy to pick out something different from everybody else.) and they leave it on a certain area of the counter all day long. I now only run the dishwasher once a day. Yeah!
--We rarely allow our children soda, but they do get to go out to eat from time to time and they would get soda during these times for a variety of reasons. I wanted to encourage them to order water on their own instead of a sugar drink. To make it worth the "sacrifice" I pay 20 moolas anytime they willingly choose water at a restaurant as their beverage. They drink water now about 80% of the time they eat away from home and it is no longer something that has to be discussed when we go out. They want the water because they want the moolas! This is also nice because my older boys are having more opportunities to go out and I am glad to hear they are making wise choices without Mom.
When we first started this system I thought it would be temporary. I planned on stopping it at the first sign of boredom. But they love it so it lives on.
And another side benefit...on their own the children have often used moolas as gifts for each other on birthdays. Much like we exchange money and gifts at birthdays, they give moolas. I find it amusing, but I am also thankful to see their generous spirits.
I must admit that I am a bit embarrassed to show you our currency as my husband and I made a far superior one for my Patch Club(Patch Pesos-my church kids
LOVE it!). I thought about remaking our moolas-but it seems like a waste of the paper and ink we used to make the original moolas.
So...why did I share all this? I realize no one will probably duplicate our exact idea, but thought some part of this may spark an idea for your home that would be a success and help to you. I love ideas and read others, so I guess I ought to share some, too.
And after that very long post, I truly want to say...
Thanks for stopping by,
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