allowance was not paying them for household chores, as I hear some families convey (I told them that their household chores was to contribute to the household in which they live), but that the allowance was for them to learn money management.

Once they hit high school, I stopped putting money on their "lunch card" and gave it to them in cash weekly with direction that that is for their lunch, for them to manage - and, hey, if they wanted to make a bag lunch and take it in, I'll not charge them for the bread/lunch meat and they can pocket the lunch money.

And when they moved off-grounds at dear ol' UVA, I gave them money at the beginning of fall and beginning of spring semesters for rent and food per what I'd be paying if they lived on-grounds. We reviewed together the makeup of the check amount I have them and they knew that they had to manage to last the semester. Live as high a life, or as conservatively, as they'd like, it was their fund to manage.