Another day, another allowance survey.
A 2025 Wells Fargo survey reports that the average weekly allowance parents pay kids is $37.
A 2025 StudyFinds survey says children receive about $119 per month on average.
A 2024 T. Rowe Price survey found the average weekly allowance across respondents was $19.39.
Hot take: allowance surveys are completely useless.
The amount of allowance Parent A pays their child is meaningless for Parent B.
Why?
Budgeting is a critical life skill. So, it behooves your child to learn some budgeting basics before leaving the nest. But, like any skill, budgeting takes practice to master.
Unfortunately, few things sound more boring to your kid than: “Let’s build a budget together!’
How do you beat back the yawns? A little AI, an interactive scoreboard, and a cash bonus opportunity.
Try this technique using ChatGPT, Google Sheets and FamZoo. (Of course, you can substitute your favorite AI chatbot, spreadsheet, and payment method.)
In her July “5 Things To Try This Month” newsletter, Gretchin Rubin writes:
“A Happier with Gretchen Rubin podcast listener wrote in with a parenting hack: Offer a choice to children, even if it’s a small choice, such as going to bed at 7:30 or 7:34. Like everyone, kids want to feel some amount of control over their daily lives.”
That tiny bedtime choice may seem silly, but it taps into something profound: kids crave a sense of control.
Not only does a stronger sense of control make kids happier, I believe it leads to better learning outcomes and more effective habit formation as well.
With that in mind, what are some financial choices we can give our kids while still setting appropriate boundaries?
Here are seven examples:
I recently received the following thoughtful question from a FamZoo parent (slightly edited to ensure anonymity):
FamZoo family members often struggle with their cards. Not surprising. Young kids are just learning the financial ropes and discovering the 11 important numbers they need to know. Teenagers inadvertently sign up for subscription services they can’t afford. Elderly family members have senior moments.
Are your family members struggling with their cards? When? Why? Where?
Unless you have activity alerts enabled, you may not know for sure. Even if you do, you may want to collect a handy summary report for a family finance meeting.
Here’s how to capture a quick struggle snapshot across the whole family:
