With five children ranging in age from seven to seventeen, kids and their chores have been at the forefront of my mind for over a decade. I could write a book on all the varying strategies we have tried and implemented, our successes and failures, but finding something that works for each individual family is only going to come through trial, error and a lot of accountability. Developing a good work ethic in our children isn’t about just giving a “task” list and then being done with it. It’s about setting goals, motivating, and following through on checking the work they’ve done. (Yes, that’s the hard one for me.)
There was a small moment in time when I thought I had “arrived” with the whole “training my children well in character and responsibility” thing, and then I realized that there are continual seasons of teaching and growth because sometimes I question if they remember anything I taught them. So much of child training is about staying the course over the long haul. It’s taking advantage of the knowledge and wisdom of those parents who have gone before us, but also incorporating great hands-on learning tools that can encourage and support our parental modeling along the way.
When it comes to chores, I have found THEE answer using an amazing hands-on learning tools.
When I first heard of My Job Chart, I quickly questioned what every good frugalista wants to know –  how much would the subscription cost for our family. When I found out it was not only free, but an incredibly motivating on-line tool, I was thrilled to tell you all about it.

I am one of those visionary type people who lays in bed at night brainstorming practical tools for families. This is something I might have dreamed about, but the problem is that if you all waited for me to develop any kind of tool like this, you would all be empty-nesters. I am so glad that Gregg Murset, financial adviser and father of six, took the time to develop this revolutionary job chart tool for kids.
He was desperate to find an effective way to motivate, engage and get his kids doing their household chores (or for me, it’s without nagging them to death to just FINISH what they’ve started). So when he browsed the web trying to find some kind of on-line tool to meet his family’s needs, he realized there wasn’t one available, and decided to create this own. Now he is sharing this amazing tool with families like us…who desperately need something to give us guidance.
When I saw that My Job Chart’s mission included helping children learn the value of a dollar, while teaching them how to work in a fun and positive way, I knew I could whole-heartedly endorse this.
My Job Chart is revolutionizing the way parents teach children about money! Gregg’s whole philosophy revolves around one that we teach our own children – to SAVE, SPEND and SHARE.  He incorporates the job chart in a technologically engaging way, and uses these three principles to form a foundation that will benefit a young person for the rest of their life. Now for our family, the question of a monetary allowance is a different post, but what I love about My Job Chart is that you can choose to have them save up their points to spend, or you have the option to designate privileges instead. It’s very versatile.

I know by now, you are all chomping at the bit to get this set up for your family. I know I was, and it only takes a minute to create a family file.
So let’s stop procrastinating and get those chores under control. I am going to do a follow up post about how we’ve tackled the issue of allowance and chores throughout the years, but I’ll start with my printable for the kids bedroom checklist.
What have been your biggest challenges in your home with chores and the kids?