Charity

Every week the boys get one dollar for each year of their age for allowance. Ten percent comes straight off the top for charity. Then the rest is cut in half between savings and spending money.

In the past, we've taken construction paper mittens off the Christmas tree at our library, and used the boys' charity money to purchase the gifts requested on them. They have always enjoyed shopping for someone close to their age, and continue to do so.

This year though, R rounded up his charity money each week before dividing his savings/spending, and ended up with a lot more than usual. We talked about some of the ways that money could be put to use. And he decided he'd like to help animals.

Well as these wonderful connections typically happen, a few days later I saw an advertisement in our local newspaper requesting help for a dog pound. And R decided a trip to BJ's was in order.

One hundred fifty pounds of dog food, and a drive to the next town over, left us all feeling pretty good about why we do this every year. Even B who does not willingly donate money on his own, liked the feeling and commented on how cool it is that the boys are growing up with this habit.