Run the family. In development
Family Command Center
Turn everyday family chaos into a system that actually works.
- For
- Ages 3 to 12
- The problem
- Routines, chores, schedules, and responsibilities are hard to keep consistent.
Teach money and responsibility.
Money-Ready Kid
Build your child's money habits before money becomes a problem.
A family money system for ages 6 to 16. 20 minutes to set up, 5 minutes a week, 15 minutes a month.
The product is finished and the pages below are real. It is not on sale yet, because the price and the checkout have not been set.
One email when it launches. No newsletter unless you ask for one. Unsubscribe any time.
See 8 real pagesfrom the finished file 
What you’ll be able to do
- Set an allowance that suits your child's age and actually teaches something
- Separate family responsibility from paid work, and hold the line
- Make saving automatic instead of a weekly argument
- Know what to teach at each age, and what can wait
- Have the money conversations without them becoming a lecture
The problem
You want to teach your child about money, but it is unclear what to teach, how much to give, and when to introduce each idea. So it gets postponed, and then they are fifteen.
- How much should I even be giving? Every number I find online contradicts the last one.
- Should chores be paid or not? We keep changing our minds and now nobody knows the rules.
- He spends every penny the day it arrives, every single week.
- I do not know what is age-appropriate to teach right now, so I keep putting it off.
- I do not want to leave this until she is a teenager and it is suddenly urgent.
- We started an allowance twice. Both times it quietly stopped after a month.
The problem is rarely effort. It is that nothing connects.
- Disconnected printables.A chore chart and a routine card that know nothing about each other, so neither becomes a system.
- Generic advice.Written for no particular age, so it fits no particular child.
- Too much at once.A hundred pages you are supposed to adopt on Monday, abandoned by Thursday.
- No review step.Nothing that tells you whether it is working, so drift goes unnoticed until it has collapsed.
A practical age-based system for teaching earning, saving, spending, giving, investing and responsibility, from about six to sixteen.
One system, not six topics.
Money sits at the centre. Six behaviours connect around it as one system.
EarnSaveSpendGiveInvestPlan
The picture is an illustration of the model, not a page from the product.
Money
- Earn
- Save
- Spend
- Give
- Invest
- Plan
How you run it
A short sequence, done once, then a rhythm you repeat.
- Step 1Find your child's age.Read one age band and skim the next. Ignore the rest until you need it.
- Step 2Choose the system.Decide what the allowance is for, what it covers, and whether it is earned.
- Step 3Set it up.One worksheet and a one-page agreement you both sign. About twenty minutes.
- Step 4Practise weekly.Five minutes: pay, split, log, ask one question.
- Step 5Review monthly.Fifteen minutes, six questions, change at most one thing.
The age bands: when each part arrives
You read your child’s band and skim the next one. Nothing else applies to you yet.
- 6–7 Money becomes real First allowance, three jars, one short goal
- 8–9 Choices get harder Comparing, waiting, the overnight rule
- 10–11 Money has consequences A real category moves onto their budget
- 12–13 Pocket money becomes managing money Budgeting, and what investing means
- 14–16 Rehearsing adulthood A real budget, earned income, the handover
What your first week actually looks like
The whole first week, day by day. There is nothing to read first beyond one page.
- 20 min
- to set up, once
- 5 min
- weekly check-in
- 15 min
- monthly review
- 1 change
- at most, each month
- SaturdayComplete the Allowance Setup Worksheet. Decide the amount, what it now covers, and the split. About twenty minutes.
- SaturdayFill in the Allowance Agreement together and both sign it. Pay the first allowance and split it in front of them.
- SundayWrite the two job lists: what is just part of living here, and what can be earned. Put them somewhere visible.
- MidweekThey will probably run out. Say nothing. This is the part that teaches.
- Next SaturdayPay it again, on the same day, without being reminded. That is the whole second week.
What the finished system contains.
The product is finished and the pages below are real. It is not on sale yet, because the price and the checkout have not been set.
-
Read
The manual
- The Money-Ready Framework: earn, save, spend, give, invest, plan
- Money by age: 6–7, 8–9, 10–11, 12–13, 14–16
- The allowance system, in seven steps
- Chores and responsibility, without the "pay me for everything" problem
- Saving, spending, giving, and an age-appropriate look at investing
- The weekly, monthly and yearly family money system
-
Set up
Set it up
- Allowance Setup Worksheet
- Allowance Agreement, to sign together
- Chore and Responsibility Planner
- Age-Based Money Roadmap
-
Run
Run it
- Weekly Family Money Check-In
- Savings Tracker
- Spending Tracker
- Money Goal Planner
-
Review
Review and progress
- Monthly Money Review
- Money Readiness Checklist
- Money Milestone Checklist
- First $100, First $500 and First $1,000 goal sheets
-
Talk
Talk about it
- Money Conversation Prompts: nine conversations as cards
- What to raise when nothing is wrong
- What to do when they will not engage
- What it is
- A 45-page manual and workbook for parents of children aged 6 to 16.
- What you get
- A short manual, 15 worksheets and 9 conversation cards. Each worksheet says who fills it in: parent, child or both.
- Time
- 20 minutes to set up. 5 minutes a week. 15 minutes a month.
- Format
- Two PDF files, US Letter and A4. Print and write on them.
- Delivery
- A download. Nothing is posted.
- Not included
- No app, no fillable fields, no investment recommendations.
Here are the actual pages you use.
These are pages from the finished PDF, shown as they print. The file has 45 pages. These are 8 of them.
-
Cover -
Start here: four things to do this week -
The framework and the money map -
Worksheet 1: Allowance Setup -
Worksheet 5: Weekly Check-In -
Worksheet 8: Money Goal Planner -
Worksheet 15: conversation cards -
Money by age: five bands
Who it’s for
- Parents of children roughly 6 to 16
- Families starting an allowance, or fixing one that is not teaching anything
- Parents who want a structure rather than improvising each conversation
- Households where both parents need to run the same system
Who it’s not for
- Parents looking for investment advice for themselves
- Families of very young children, where money is still abstract
- Anyone wanting a single printable chore chart rather than a full system
- Parents who want a guarantee. There is not one, and we do not offer one
Free, and staying free
You do not need to buy anything to make progress.
The free pages tell you what to do. The system is the complete set of pages to do it. These stay free either way.
Calculator
Allowance by age
The one that pairs directly with this system. Use it to set your starting amount and split.
Money · QuestionHow much allowance should my child get?
A common starting point is 50 cents to a dollar per year of age, each week. That puts a 10-year-old somewhere between $5 and $10 a week. But the…
Money · QuestionShould kids get paid for chores?
Mostly no, for everyday chores. Tidying up after yourself, clearing the table, and keeping your own room are part of being in a household, and paying…
Independence · QuestionWhat should my teenager know before they leave home?
Roughly five areas: managing money end to end, feeding themselves, handling their own admin such as appointments and forms, basic household…
- Household licence
- You may print as many copies as your own household needs. Please do not pass the file or printed copies to other households, post it online, or sell the pages. © 2026 PapaCalcs.
- Support
- Questions about downloading or using the pages: hello@papacalcs.com. We reply within three working days. We cannot give personal financial advice.
Common questions
Does this tell me exactly how much allowance to give?
It gives you a structure and age-based ranges, then helps you set your own number based on what you want the allowance to teach. Our free allowance calculator does the arithmetic. Be wary of anyone who gives you a precise figure: there is no authoritative dataset establishing a correct allowance by age, and the widely quoted dollar-per-year rule is a convention rather than a research finding.
Does it require paying for chores?
No. The system deliberately separates chores that are simply part of being in the family from any work that earns money, and it supports either approach. The chores section sets out the two lists and what to say when a job is skipped or half done.
What ages does it cover?
Roughly 6 to 16, organised by age band rather than presented as one set of rules. You read your child's current band and skim the next one.
How much of it do I have to use?
Six or seven of the fifteen worksheets is usually enough, and you can leave the rest. The first page lists the four things to do this week, and you can run the system for a month having read only that page.
Is the investing section financial advice?
No. It is educational and explicitly says so. It makes no recommendations about products or platforms, and it is careful to present growth illustrations as arithmetic rather than promises. The most damaging thing you can teach a child about investing is that returns are guaranteed.
What format is it?
Two print-ready PDF files, one in US Letter and one in A4, each 45 pages, laid out separately for its paper size, with bookmarks and searchable text. It is designed to be printed and written on. The pages are not fillable on screen, and they stay readable on a black-and-white printer.
What is not included?
There is no app, no spreadsheet and no fillable form. Nothing is posted to you. The investing section explains an idea and recommends no account, platform or product. There is also no promise about how your child will turn out.
How long does it take?
About twenty minutes to set up, once. Then five minutes a week on pay day and fifteen minutes once a month. The monthly review changes one thing at most.
Can I buy this today?
Not yet. The product is finished, but the price and the checkout have not been set. Use the form on this page and we will email you once, when it is on sale.
Teach money and responsibility.
Build your child's money habits before money becomes a problem.
The product is finished and the pages below are real. It is not on sale yet, because the price and the checkout have not been set.
Setting it up takes about twenty minutes. The earlier it starts, the more pay days your child gets to practise with.
Want to know when Money-Ready Kid is ready?
One email when it launches. No newsletter unless you ask for one. Unsubscribe any time.
Three parts of the same approach.
Run the family, teach money, prepare for independence. Most families need one far more than the others. The quiz will tell you which.
Prepare for independence. In development
The Road to 18
Prepare your child for adulthood before they need to be independent.
- For
- Ages 10 to 18
- The problem
- Your child is growing up, and it is genuinely hard to tell whether you are preparing them for independence or just getting through each year.