How Greenlight makes chores and allowance easier for families

Key takeaways

• The Greenlight app lets parents tie chores to allowance to help kids learn the basics of financial literacy, encourage a strong work ethic, and motivate them to help around the house.

• Assign chores in the Greenlight app and automate allowance payments on a custom schedule that works for your family.

• Flexible payment options and reminders help you create an effective chore-and-allowance routine and stay consistent.

Looking for an easy way to reward your child for washing the dishes on time? Greenlight's easy-to-use app for kids' chores and allowance makes assigning chores and rewarding kids for their hard work a simple process. Plus, with Greenlight's debit cards built for kids, you can link your kid's debit card to your (parent) account to automate allowance payments for their completed tasks. 

Keep reading to learn some of the benefits of linking chores and allowance, and how Greenlight supports kids' financial literacy.

Why link chores to allowance?

Linking chores to your child's allowance helps build the foundation for financial literacy. Similar to getting a paycheck from a job, kids can start to see the connection between their hard work and money. Earning money by completing chores can prepare them for the real world, where they will have to earn income to pay for essentials like food and rent.

If your child has something they want to buy, they can do chores to earn the money they need for the purchase. This helps them develop a good work ethic, as well as providing the opportunity to try financial skills like budgeting.

Other benefits of linking chores to allowance include motivating your kids to help around the house, encouraging goal-setting, and teaching them how to save for the future.

The chore app that checks all the boxes.

Chores. Allowance. They’re different for every family. That’s why we let you call the shots. Want to tie allowance to chores? Pay a percentage based on chore progress — or only if they’re all done. Prefer not to? Your house. Your rules.

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5 Greenlight features that make chores easier for families 

Greenlight provides an all-in-one app for kids' chores and allowance. Take a look at some of the key features below.

1. Assign and track chores

Use the Greenlight app to create a checklist of chores for your household. Whether it's basic chores like dishes or something more unique like piano practice, Greenlight allows you to create custom tasks that work for your family.

Assign chores to up to five kids and get real-time updates when they mark them as complete. You can set recurring chores or assign one-time jobs for some extra earnings. It's all up to you.

2. Automate rewards and allowance

The Greenlight app includes parental controls that make paying allowance easy and convenient. Schedule allowances to be paid automatically, either weekly, biweekly, or monthly. It's a simple set-it-and-forget-it feature that means you never miss your children's payday — you'll look like a model parent.

3. Flexible payment rules

You can choose to pay an allowance based on the percentage of chores that are completed. Or only pay if they are all done on time. You might also pay a flat rate for each chore, which is especially helpful for those recurring tasks like babysitting.

4. Instant notifications and reminders

Your kids will get reminders as they approach the deadline for their allowance. And parents can get real-time updates on their kids’ activities and earnings.

5. Turn everyday chores into money lessons

The easy-to-use app lets kids explore the relationship between their effort and income. They can record their completed chores, get reminders to keep them accountable, and track their earnings and expenditures all in one place. Greenlight also uses a streak system to help motivate kids to get their stuff done — great for those times the house gets extra dirty!

In addition to tracking chores and responsibilities, kids also get an introduction to saving money and investing for their future. They can learn about interest, setting savings goals, and how to form healthy spending habits. 

Learn to earn, save, and invest together.

With a debit card of their own, kids and teens learn to spend wisely, keep an eye on balances, and track their spending. Big money dreams? Set savings goals and start investing with as little as $1 — with your approval on every trade.

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Tips for setting up a chore-and-allowance routine that works

Setting up a chore-and-allowance routine depends on the ages of your kids, what chores and responsibilities need to be handled, and how much money you plan to use as a reward. Use the tips below to find a system that works for your family.

Start with age-appropriate chores

Choosing age-appropriate chores can be tricky, but it's important. You don't want to make them so challenging that your child can't complete them, but they should be challenging enough that they'll learn a few skills and fully earn their allowance.

Make sure to consider factors such as safety, accessibility, and attention span. Start with simple, quick chores like picking up toys and then work up to more complex household duties like dishes and cooking.

Be consistent with rewards

Consistency is the key to holding your kids accountable for their chores. Set a custom schedule using the Greenlight app that automatically transfers funds from the parent wallet depending on your family's chores-and-allowance system. 

Once you automate your recurring chores, tie it to allowance, and choose your child's payday, it won't take any more effort on your part to stay consistent.

Encourage money conversations as you go

Choose an allowance amount that makes sense for the time and effort that your kids are putting into their chores, and make sure they understand how the reward is directly linked to their work. 

Once they start building their work ethic, you can talk about more complex topics like saving, budgeting, and even investing. The Greenlight Learning Center has all of the resources you need to work on these trickier concepts with your kids.

Ready to make chores count?

The last thing you want is for assigning chores and giving rewards to become a chore in itself. Greenlight takes the administrative parts out of your hands, so you can focus on encouraging your kids and watching them grow (plus enjoying your clean sink).

Check out the Greenlight app today to set up your chore-and-allowance routine.

Built for them. And for you.

Both you and your kids download the Greenlight app — with tailored experiences. They check off chores, you automate allowance. They spend wisely, you set flexible controls. They build healthy financial habits, and you cheer them on.

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