Chore Chart Ideas: How to Create One That Actually Works

We’ve all tried 100 chore chart ideas, haven’t we? In this post, I’ll show you how to create a chore chart that actually works for your kids!

Do you ever feel like the quest for the perfect chore chart is a little like the one Indiana Jones took looking for the Holy Grail? Ha ha. Okay, maybe it’s not that bad, but it sure is frustrating. So frustrating that many parents just throw their hands up.

We want a chore chart that:

• motivates kids without nagging
• is fun and engaging no matter how old you are
• is simple to use
• works for various ages and numbers of kids
• doesn’t take much management from parents
• teaches good money habits without entitlement

Is that too much to ask for? You might think so, but no. It’s totally possible to put something together that meets ALL those requirements, and I can’t wait to show you how!

Why I Was So Desperate for Better Chore Chart Ideas

All the things on the list above were important to me, but the last one was probably my biggest issue. For me, money has been a personal struggle. I was one of those kids who graduated from college with $30K in debt and a nice sampling of credit cards to go with it.

The culprit? I had very poor money habits, but most significantly, no education about handling money whatsoever. And I’m not alone. Statistics show that 8 out of 10 Americans are in debt. Fortunately for me, I was able to get out. But for many, life is one big debt pit, and they never get a handle on it.

That kind of lifelong struggle is the opposite of what I want for my kids. I’d rather teach them how to handle the hard money lessons now. Better to lose a few bucks than a few thousand, right? The trouble is you can’t teach kids to manage money without giving them money to manage. And I don’t want to pay my kids an “allowance” just for honoring me with their presence. That’s why I needed better chore chart ideas to help me teach money habits while also managing the house.

The Inspiration for My Chore Chart Idea

And then I read Smart Money Smart Kids. I’ve gotta admit that I love Dave Ramsey. His money principles were largely responsible for helping me dig out of debt. This book, co-authored by his daughter, was a game-changer.

Using what Dave taught me, I came up with a totally new chore chart idea that teaches good money habits. I was thrilled when the book addressed the age-old problem of “to pay or not to pay” for chores. Finally! A solution to my struggle. Here’s the secret: some chores are done because you live here, and some are done to teach you to manage money.

Brilliant, right? You do have responsibilities for living here, and no, I’m not paying you an “allowance.” However, I am willing to pay you for work above and beyond those normal responsibilities. Using this foundation and a few other parenting strategies I love, I came up with a brand new chore system we’ve been testing for the last year. I think it’s safe to say the jury is in. It works!

My oldest paid for several camps this summer. All my kids have had the opportunity to donate to hurricane relief funds, buy gifts for their youth pastor who is leaving, and, of course, give a regular tithe. Oh, and the grocery store trip is bliss. They know they have to bring the money if they want something not on my list. And now they are empowered to do just that, instead of being frustrated with the constant “no.”

How to Create a Chore Chart That Works for Your Family

Step 1: Have a family meeting to establish your chore chart ideas

I called a family meeting (something we started after I read another great book, 7 Habits of Highly Effective Families). During the meeting, I taught my kids a few foundational things about money from Dave and Rachel’s book. Most importantly, the Sorgius family doesn’t do debt. (That means no, I won’t let you borrow money to buy gum even if you can pay me when we get home.) I realized this one bad habit was teaching very bad principles about money to my kids. Not only about debt but about compulsive “gotta have it now” spending.

We also talked about the importance of working hard and how everyone has to earn money to buy things—laying the foundation for my chore chart idea. (I’ve recently been supporting this discussion with my new Bible study, Work Unto the Lord.)

Step 2: Make a list of work that needs to be done

As we concluded our family meeting, I told the kids to be thinking about all the work needed around the house because I would be asking again in a few days. When we had another opportunity for a family meeting, we sat down and made a huge list of work (we used this paper). This included everything that EVER needed to be done around the house (inside and out). Everyone contributed things they knew were messy or needed attention.

When the listing got slow, I put it down for the day. Each morning for the next week or so, when we came to the table for family devotions, I asked if anyone had thought of additional things for the list, and we added a few over the course of the week.

Step 3: Determine frequency and workload

As a general rule, the chore chart idea that Dave suggests is giving kids 1–5 jobs to start with and letting them grow to 10 or so. Of course, this will vary greatly depending on how old your kids are. My 6-year-old got 5 jobs right away because he’s been doing chores for years now. My 9-year-old stuck with 5 jobs because I didn’t feel he was ready to tackle more. The teens got 10 each. This worked really well for us, but I’d suggest easing into this kind of schedule if your kids aren’t used to chores.

The other question we faced was frequency. Some chores need to be done daily, like tidying your room and making your bed (also things like loading the dishwasher or sweeping the kitchen). To make this easier, we gave bigger jobs (like sweeping the floors every day or doing the dishes) a better paycheck. Some smaller things, like daily tidying your room, were not given a higher pay because some of that really should happen simply because it’s your space.

I sat down and thought through some of these things before I called the next family meeting so we would be ready to assign jobs.

Step 4: Have an employment day

Finally, the big day came, and we called another family meeting. I brought out the giant list, and we visited it again. I asked for any late entries, and then we counted all the jobs. THIS WAS THE MOST POWERFUL PART. When we got the number, the children were shocked. “Who has been doing all of these jobs?” they gasped.

I couldn’t have asked for a better response from them! In fact, that’s exactly what I wanted them to see. One person couldn’t possibly get all of this done, and that was clear to them. (Score one for Mom!)

The next step for this chore chart idea was to start dividing tasks. First, we made a list of things we thought everyone should do as a part of living here. These are jobs you don’t get paid for but are expected to do. Most of them are things that are difficult to assign to others, such as clearing your plate from the table and putting it in the dishwasher. Also included are picking up your own things from all rooms of the house, helping with groceries, and helping with meals.

With those off the list, I then let the children “apply” for various jobs. They had to state why they thought that was a good fit for them or why they liked it. Everyone really enjoyed this. The youngest got to pick first (so we could make sure some of the easier tasks were given to him). Next was his brother. Finally, my teenage girls took turns picking one job at a time.

Below is what we came up with. Remember, this is just a reference. Your needs and kids will be different!

Step 5: Consistently expect work to be done, and pay accordingly

Probably the most important step with this chore chart idea is setting the standard. With every single chore, TEACH your child the proper way to do it. I chose to do this slowly. Each week when I inspect, I note one thing that needs to be taught, and then I hold them accountable for that the next week. I also use lists to help them know the steps for each job.

The key to making this system work is consistency. If the kids do the work and don’t get paid because you forget all the time, it’s not going to work. Granted, there’s always grace, so be sure to give that to yourself. But be more consistent than graceful, okay?

We do chores on Friday. It’s our best day logistically. From time to time, it slips into the weekend. All chores that are done weekly are completed that day. Then they bring their sheets to me for payday. This is important—> I actually get up and walk around the house to inspect their work.

Most chores are worth $1. If completed to my specifications, that will be given. If not, I have the child correct the mistakes, but I deduct a fee for re-training, usually $.25 to $.50. We tally up how much they earned and then divide it into 3 categories: save, share, and spend. My boys put $2 in save and share, with $1 in spend. This is intentional to teach them first to focus on others and the future, and lastly to focus on that pack of gum. The girls have a similar percentage they follow.

If they lose money for a chore not done or not completed properly, they must still divide their total in the designated order: share, save, THEN spend. This keeps them from being able to spend when they aren’t doing all of the work. And it keeps me from having to deal with a bunch of loose change.

A few miscellaneous rules we make about chores:

1. You cannot work on paid chores if your responsibilities (chores you do because you live here) are not done.
2. School is also a priority and cannot be neglected for work.
3. If you cannot get to your chore because of the above rules or because you simply neglect it, Mom reserves the right to offer it to someone else and pay them instead.
4. If one of your siblings is sick (or if you just feel like it), you can SERVE them by doing their chores for them. We don’t get paid for serving others. It’s a gift. (Need some ways to help your child serve others? Becoming a Servant is a family Bible study focused on Jesus’ call for every Christian to serve.)

Again, I really recommend you read Smart Money Smart Kids. This post has given you a glimpse into how I set up my system and will hopefully create chore chart ideas for you, but for maximum effect, you need to learn the foundations your kids should know. And you will learn the many ways you can influence your children negatively and positively through the process.

How This Chore Chart Idea Will Actually SAVE You Money

Before I started this chore chart, money was becoming a big issue around our house. I had a preteen girl who lived and died by fashion trends (translation: wanted every cute outfit in the store) and a teenager who was becoming more and more active with horses, camps, and activities that required a lot of money. This dynamic was causing great friction as I was always the bad guy for not having room in the budget.

Oh, and then there were the youngest two. They wanted everything in the store. Gum. Toys. Oreos. Even though I have rules against these things (that I do enforce), it was getting ridiculous to even take them with me.

Yes, it’s expensive to pay for chores like this. For me, it ranges from about $30-$50 per week because I also allow them to pick up extra chores on things that don’t get done regularly or aren’t assigned (like pulling weeds, raking leaves, deep cleaning the inside of the fridge, etc.).

Just remember one thing. This isn’t money you are losing or spending. It’s money you are delegating to a specific purpose. Instead of buying clothes for my girls, they are now in charge of that. I was buying them clothes before, so nothing really changed about the amount, only the person who did the spending.

Okay, actually, it did change. Once they were in charge of their clothing budget, I was caving in less and therefore saving big money.

This also applies to summer camp and some extracurricular activities, too. It’s amazing how they race to pick up extra jobs around here to earn the money to do these things. It’s money I probably would have GIVEN them before. But now they are learning to make wise choices, manage their money, and save for big things—something most adults can’t even do!

Materials for Your Printable Chore Chart

• Cardstock I highly recommend NOT printing these printable chore chart cards on regular paper; they will bend easily.
• Printer Of course, use what you have, but if you are looking for a good one, this is my favorite.
• Lanyards and 6×4 lamination pockets These are the ones I bought because they included both and were very reasonable.
• Award badges We added this for fun, and the kids loved having the emoji-like badges on their chore cards. Here’s another set you might like.
• Command Hooks to help hang the chore cards on the wall while not in use.
• Ultra fine point dry erase markers You will use these to check off the chores as well. I’d suggest using washable ones for younger kids since they can stain clothes. If you have trouble with the marks coming off before you can read them, try Vis-a-Vis markers. These require water to wipe off.

How to Put Your Chore Charts Together

1. The first step is to edit the printable chore chart cards to fit the chores your family decided on. Be sure you DOWNLOAD your files and open in Adobe Reader to edit.
2. Print the cards on cardstock and cut them out.
3. Place each card in one of the sleeves and let the kids choose one “emoji” pin. I award subsequent pins for the chore star of the week. That’s the person who did the best job both in action and attitude with their chores. The kids love competing for this. You might also consider giving these out for a certain number of weeks of excellent work instead of making it a competition.
4.  Hang them on a hook or place them in a basket for chore day.

Get Your Free Printable Chore Cards

I’ve created a super fun printable version of our chore system that teaches money habits along with the chore cards. The cards are totally editable and a perfect fit for any age child. Fill out the form below to get your copy!

More Chore Chart Ideas