RSS
Home
Jon Gosselin's allowance: is $5 a day that unreasonable?
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
The latest news in the Jon and Kate Gosselin controversy is that Kate had Jon on a $5 a day allowance. The details surrounding when the $5 allowance are minimal--for instance, was this before or after the fame? Was the allowance his "fun" money, or was it supposed to cover all necessary expenses like gas? And what was Kate's daily allowance during this time frame? These details may seem small, but I have a feeling that these details would change people's opinion as to whether or not this allowance was reasonable.
What is the definition of a reasonable allowance? Certainly that entirely depends upon each family's financial situation and responsibilities (employment, debt, mortgage, kids) as well as the importance of having pocket money. Additionally, the household's income would play a role in defining what is "reasonable". You wouldn't expect a millionaire to have a $5 a day allowance, just was you wouldn't expect unemployed mother of 14 to have a $200 day allowance. There are way too many variables to even determine if this amount of money made sense for the Gosselins. Certainly if this was when Jon was working, before the show, and Kate was at home with the 8 small children, this was more than generous. If it was more recent, then maybe it's a bit small relative to their income.
But whatever reasonable is defined as, there are a lot of families out there, mine included, that live on a budget. Factored into that budget is some amount of "fun" money, designed for the sole purpose of buying small items, lunch with friends, quick stops at Wawa, etc. Each family sets its own designated amount; some are more generous than the $5 a day, some are less generous. But the bottom line is that having a daily allowance is not only uncommon, it certainly is not inhumane. Having an allowance does not, in and of itself, make one spouse controlling and the other submissive. It is an example of being fiscally responsible and is recommended by financial experts such as Dave Ramsey.
So why is it a big deal that Jon had an allowance while the family was living on one income with 8 small children? It is because we have forgotten that at one point, this was just a normal family, trying to pay the bills? It is because Jon, at first vilified for allegedly cheating on Kate, is now being portrayed as an innocent victim to Kate's controlling and horrific behavior? Is it because women are seeing Kate as an empowered woman, able to reign in her husband's spending? Is it because it's a slow news week? Or is it because this is just another in a series of carefully constructed tactics being used to garner an audience for the show (and Kate's books)?
Whatever the reason, I think it's absolutely absurd that the media is making such a big deal out of the fact that Jon was on an allowance. Even Alice Cooper has an allowance, and he's way more famous than Jon! But the main question is this--is $5 really that small of an amount of money? I know that I can go for days without spending anything, and I know I'm not alone (a visit to the MSN Women in Red message board will tell you that). So why is $5 a day not enough money for Jon Gosselin?
