6 ways Greenlight makes chores and allowance easier for families

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. With Greenlight's debit cards built for kids¹, you can link your kid’s debit card to your (parent) account to automate allowance payments for their completed tasks. Plus, if you have a Greenlight Family Hub, the same chore list shows up on your family’s shared touchscreen display, so nobody has to open an app to remember what’s due.

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

1. Assigns and tracks 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. Automates 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 or scramble for cash to pay them.

3. Offers 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.

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4. Sends instant notifications and reminders

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

5. Turns 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.

6. Puts the chore list where everyone can see it

Chores can be easier to remember when kids don’t have to open an app to see them. Greenlight Family Hub is a shared display for your family’s calendar, photos, lists, and chores. Even kids without phones can check what’s theirs to do on the way out the door and tap it off when it’s done.

Kids can also ask the hub’s family AI assistant what’s left: “Hey Greenlight, what are my chores today?” Chores you assign in the app show up on the hub, and the hub keeps them front and center. Allowance payments stay in the Greenlight app, where they’re linked to your kid’s debit card.

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, how much money you pay for allowance, and what other rewards you want to give. Use the tips below to find a system that works for your family.

1. Start with age-appropriate chores

You don’t want to make chores 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.

• If you have kids at different ages, give each one their own list. What’s a stretch for a 6-year-old is an afterthought for a 12-year-old, and separate lists let you scale the difficulty, and the allowance, per kid.

• 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.

2. 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.

Visibility helps as much as automation. When the chore list lives on a shared display like the Greenlight Family Hub in the kitchen, kids stop asking what they’re supposed to do and you stop reminding them. While the app handles the payday, the hub handles the reminders.

Once you automate your recurring chores, make them visible to everyone, tie them to allowance or rewards, and choose your child’s payday, it won’t take any more effort on your part to stay consistent.

3. Decide if you’ll separate family chores from paid jobs

Some families draw the line between what you do because you live here and what you do to earn.

• Making your bed, clearing your plate, and putting laundry away are all part of living in the household, not a transaction.

• Washing the car, cleaning out the garage, or watching a younger sibling for an afternoon fall on the side of paid chores.

Both can live on the same chore list. Use recurring chores for the daily baseline and one-time jobs for the extras, so your kid can see which tasks come with a payout and which are just their share of the work.

4. Determine how many recurring chores each child should have

Two or three daily tasks is plenty for a young child, and older kids do better with three to five than with a long list they’ll abandon halfway through. Time is a better gauge than count: 10 to 15 minutes a day for elementary-age kids, 20 to 30 for teens.

Start with a list short enough that your child can finish it every day for two weeks straight, then add one. A list that gets done builds the habit. A list that’s too long teaches them that finishing is optional.

5. 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. Want the chore list out of your head and onto the wall? Take a look at Greenlight Family Hub.

FAQs

How much allowance should I pay for chores?

There’s no set amount. A common starting point is $1 per week for each year of your child’s age, but what matters more is that the amount matches the time and effort the chores take.

Can I pay an allowance automatically in the Greenlight app?

Yes. Set a weekly, biweekly, or monthly schedule and Greenlight transfers the money from your parent wallet to your child’s account on payday. You can also set the rules, like paying a flat rate per chore, paying based on the percentage completed, or paying only if everything’s done on time.

What if my kid doesn’t finish their chores?

Choose an age-appropriate consequence for kids who slack on chores. Greenlight lets you pay a percentage of the allowance based on how many chores got done or withhold payment until the list is finished. Kids get reminders as payday approaches, so a missed chore is rarely a surprise.

Can I assign chores on Greenlight Family Hub?

Yes. Chores show up on the hub’s shared digital planner display so kids can see what’s theirs to do and check it off, and they can ask the family assistant what’s left. Allowance payments run through the Greenlight app, which is where your child’s debit card and account live.

Which allowance rule works best: fixed, partial, or all-or-nothing?

Partial pay is where the allowance scales with the share of chores completed. A flat rate per chore fits when jobs vary in size or come up irregularly. All-or-nothing teaches follow-through, but it can backfire. If your kid does four of five chores and earns nothing, the fifth one starts to look like the only one that counts. Plenty of families mix them: partial pay on the recurring list, flat rate on the one-off jobs.

¹The Greenlight® prepaid card is issued by Community Federal Savings Bank, member FDIC, pursuant to license by Mastercard International.

The Greenlight Family Hub requires WiFi connectivity and is available for use with all Greenlight plans. Some features require a subscription. See Terms for more details.