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Pocket money...?

43 posts & 33 voices | Started 2 years ago by FoxyChick | Latest reply from ebygomm

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FoxyChick - Member

Just curious what other parents on here do about pocket money for their kids.
My daughter is 11 and is really chomping at the bit for regular payments of cash being handed out to her. At the moment she has any birthday money she receives to spend throughout the year.(Although some of it is put into a saving account)
If I take her shopping I give her some cash to spend for herself. I tend to buy all she needs, and sometimes things she wants!
Now I know she has to learn how to take responsibility for money etc. I'm not sure about the whole paying-for-jobs-to-be-done-around-the-house thing as I do expect the kids to help out for free!!
(I think I'm really struggling with watching my hard-earned cash being chucked at Claire's Accessories every Saturday!

So...any advice really welcome.
I'm totally open-minded about this so am really looking to find out what others do.
Thanks in advance.
FC

Posted 2 years ago #
wombat - Member

My Daughter's 10 next month and she gets £1 a week , so does my son who's 7 1/2. Most of their friends get about the same.

We also put £25 a month into a savings account for each of them but they only use this a spenidng money for holidays (about £20 for a week).

Both of them tend to save for things they want rather than buy stuff but they're a bit younger so I've probabl;y got that to look forward to.

I agree completely about them helping out for free around the house

Posted 2 years ago #
tails - Member

hmm i was thinking more like a fiver, at least that'll buy her a pack of fags why not do something fun rather than house jobs but also teach her something, so say scrabble or maybe she could do 100 star jump to get the cash

Posted 2 years ago #
emac65 - Member

My 10yr old daughter gets about £1 a week,it's not set & some weeks she gets more,some weeks nothing.My teenage lads just get their phone contracts paid for(£20 a month each),but htey hve to do paper rounds for their own money...
Everyone helps around the house as & when it's needed,they all moan about having to do it though.......

Posted 2 years ago #
uplink - Member

Our 12 yr old gets a fiver
It's maybe a tad much but I never got any as a kid so could be compensating a bit, I dunno

Posted 2 years ago #
2unfit2ride - Member

My 10 & 12 year old daughters get a fiver each a week, but it is made clear that if they have 'pocket money' then they don't have any more spent on them that week, so if they need school stuff, or clothing they get jack. They also do as their told around the house, that's a given, no incentive there, they know they have to do as their told.
They are much to much into fashion for their age though, & spend unfeasible amounts on things like bags (£70 for a school bag anyone?), but I guess thats part of where we live, & thats my fault rather then theirs.

Posted 2 years ago #
tails - Member

They also do as their told around the house, that's a given, no incentive there, they know they have to do as their told.

When 2unfit2ride is around

Posted 2 years ago #
joolsburger - Member

My 8 yr old gets a fiver and I expect several chores done for the money, room clean and hoovered, helps with the dishy, takes his own clothes to the washroom etc. Failure to do chores loses cash as does bad behaviour.

Works well. A quid really doesn't buy much these days, IMHO a fiver is a good incentive.

Having said that I tend to be a big soppy thing when it comes to the boys.

Posted 2 years ago #
2unfit2ride - Member

No need to hide around the back of the sofa, I'll find them regardless, so that would be a waste of time ;o)

Posted 2 years ago #
alwyn - Member

At 13 my parents told me if I wanted money to get a job, so I did. Most valuable lesson ever.

Posted 2 years ago #
FoxyChick - Member

alwyn...I too had a Saturday job at 13.
BUT my kids are younger than 13 and I really don't think they'd find any suitable employment!!

Posted 2 years ago #
alwyn - Member

Yeah that is true, maybe small payment until then. In fact it might even be until they're 16. Apparently it's pretty hard to get a job at 13 now.

Posted 2 years ago #
neverfastenuff - Member

When my daughter was younger (27 now) we gave her weekly pocket money and she also had 'her' family allowance (as it was then) as soon as we drew it for her... (I think it was paid once a month ?) cannot remember now.
It worked well, as we also obviously brought her clothes and paid for any other school bits and bobs that were required..
But she always had money in her purse.. (and she saved)

Posted 2 years ago #
miaowing_kat - Member

at the age of around 13, I got £20 at the start of each month. it meant that we had to manage our money for the entire month and didn't buy snacks or sweets because I wanted to save it up for something special.

we didn't do anything particularly for it - helped out around the house, doing dishes, mowing lawn, hoovering, keeping tidy etc. we would have still done those things even if we didn't have pocket money though. no way would we cross our mum!

Posted 2 years ago #
lyons - Member

Well, I think a pound sounds a bit tight really. It wont buy you anything to be honest. I was allways bitter, as that is what i used to get, whilst my mates all used to get at least 5 pounds. WHich meant they could go to the cinema etc when they wanted, but it would have taken me 7 weeks to have enough money to do that.

Im (luckilly as im only 22) not a parent though, so my opinion isnt really valid

Posted 2 years ago #
mastiles_fanylion - Member

My two nieces get £3 each per week (12 and 11 yrs old) - they get that from their nana. Their mum and dad don't give them anything, although they are spoilt rotten at birthdays - they got iPhones each this year, but still have another phone as they 'can't take the good phone to school'!!!!

Posted 2 years ago #
chakaping - Member

Wow, is £5 a day the going rate?

*Wanders off to look at vasectomy brochures

Posted 2 years ago #
meikle_partans - Member

oh the pain of trying to mountaibike on pocket money:

i want a rockhopper (400 pounds on a bike, thats insane!) = a year and a half of saving to get about two hundred quid before the parents cave in and top up the rest

ive broken a wheel = aaargh, ive only got twenty quid, thats another two months of saving before i can ride.

a whole summer of paper rounds at 11 pounds a week got me enough to buy a specialized mountain man helmet

thank god for mbuk stickers and lizard skins for cheapo pimping.

Posted 2 years ago #
PeterPoddy - Member

i want a rockhopper (400 pounds on a bike, thats insane!) = a year and a half of saving to get about two hundred quid before the parents cave in and top up the rest

ive broken a wheel = aaargh, ive only got twenty quid, thats another two months of saving before i can ride.

a whole summer of paper rounds at 11 pounds a week got me enough to buy a specialized mountain man helmet

Well done, kid, that's the spirit!

Posted 2 years ago #
neilsonwheels - Member

My eight year old can earn £3 pound a week. 1 for keeping her room tidy and putting her dirty washing away. 1 for putting her fresh cloths away and another for not leaving a trail of her clutter through the house. It took a few weeks for the penny to drop but now I have a easy life and she has money.

Posted 2 years ago #
uplink - Member

a year and a half of saving to get about two hundred quid before the parents cave in and top up the rest

Get around to your neighbours & see if you can pick up some odd jobs - careful of those frustrated housewives mind

Posted 2 years ago #
thisisnotaspoon - Member

I used to get £1.something a week, but anything worthwhile was paid for by the parents, eg cinema tickets, bus fares, dinner money, clothes (invariably from matalan) etc.

I'm 23 and didn't buy a anything with a recognisable lable untill I was 22! Although saying that primark/matalan jeans/t's etc are a false economy, the t's shrink and fall apart, the jeans just dont last. TK-tothe-MAXX baby!

£2-£3 a week, linked to housework sounds fair. I got £5 a month mowing the neighbours lawn (it did take a whole afternon though!) and got a job when I was 16, no point pretending you were a hard pressed yorkshireman on your way to your first million by the age of 13, there are pretty much no jobs below that age (can't work with machines, money, school days, and the minimum wages are shockingly poor even if you do find a job you can do, if your working alongside someone earning 2x what you are for the same job, and they get fag breaks, it doesnt give you a good impression of work!)

Posted 2 years ago #
BlobOnAStick - Member

My two (7 and 8 ) get a fixed £2 on a Friday. They get this whatever, but if they've been naughty or refuse to help round the house (if it's needed) then it is revoked.

Occasionally, we will pay them to do more unusual jobs around the house (especially if they are saving for something worthwhile or we're going away on holiday).

It works well, and if we have withheld the weekly payment on the Friday, then they have the opportunity to earn it back through good manners and behaviour over the weekend.

Ben

Posted 2 years ago #
BlobOnAStick - Member

On a related note, a couple of my son's footy team get a 'prize' of £5 per goal that they have scored.

I can't believe that they do this - some of them are earning about £15 a week! I think paying your kid to play a game they like is warped somehow, but it would be nice to get paid to ride my bike.....

Ben

Posted 2 years ago #
rootes1 - Member

think the going rate is £1 per cart of coal hauled or bag of loom lint removed...

Posted 2 years ago #
Gary_M - Member

I give my 12 year old son £25 a month (just gone up from £20) and his gran gives hime £10. His mum also gives him a fiver a month for keeping his room tidy, etc.

He does save most of it though, saved up last year for an ipod touch in fact. So it does give him a sense of what money is worth.

And I got **** all when I was a kid so I'm happy to 'spoil' him.

Posted 2 years ago #
NikNak7890 - Member

Can find work at 13?

Some people still have Chimneys you know!

Posted 2 years ago #
Tracker1972 - Member

When I was little, many moons ago my brother and I used to get 50p or something (can't really remember) but we also got a raise every birthday. 10p on your own birthday and 5p on your brothers. Would consider something myself once the need arose. Relied on doing your jobs on the jobs list (polish school shoes, empty bins, hoovering etc) but if we were saving for something specific (and big) we could usually get away with saving/earning half and parents matching it.

Posted 2 years ago #
MrsTricky - Member

When my daughter was 11, I opened a child bank account for her, and pay her pocket money directly into that. It means that she has to actively take money out if she wants to buy anything. She’s been quite happy to let it mount up, and pays her birthday and Christmas money into her account.

She’s now 14, and gets £30 a month, plus £30 clothes money. She buys all clothes except school.

MrsT

Posted 2 years ago #
jon1973 - Member

Can find work at 13?

Paper round

Posted 2 years ago #
Practical Matt - Member

I got a quid for every year of my age given to me on a monthly basis to budget with until I was sixteen and at collgege thirty miles away whereupon I got £50 a month to budget on- buy clothes, lunches etc.

Alowing for inflation maybe £2.50 for every year of age paid monthly?

To be honest I still use the budgeting it taught me now with all my monthly DD's coming out on the same day and a big online food shop being paid for having built it up over the previous month which has me living off £150 a month for any other expeindture such as dinners at work or bike bits.

Posted 2 years ago #
Munqe-chick - Member

I can't remember the figures for pocket money however when I was a kid from the age of 12 I had to buy EVERYTHING I wanted except for things relating to school (uniform, pencils, bags etc). I think it started about £8 a week (Not sure though as it was a while ago.. 30 now!). I was expected to do certain chores around the house for free, tidying up room/washing/drying dishes/laying dinner table etc. However I had the opportunity to earn extra by doing other chores every now and then, mowing the lawn or washing the car.

I remember the first thing I ever saved up for was a Tom and Jerry furry rug for my bedroom when I was 8, I remember it was £8 and took me a good few weeks to get the money. When I had enough Dad took me there and I was so chuffed I could afford to buy it, Dad even mentioned to the guy at the shop I had spent weeks saving so he gave me a 50p discount! I thought I'd well lucked out I was so chuffed!

At 13 I got into MTbin and spent 18 months saving up for a Kona Fire Mountain which at the time was £400! went to buy it so super excited and Dad surprised me saying since I'd saved the money he would put £100 towards the cost! So it taught me the value of saving up and then was rewarded for making the effort by a bit of parental support. 16 years later I still have that Kona ... on it's last legs not but so much sentimental value there.

I am a firm believer it makes kids aware of the value of money and think my parents taught me some valuable lessons. At 16 I got a christmas job in BHS on £2.11 an hour doing 16 hours a week for maybe 6 weeks in run up to Christmas. Didn't stop me pis**ing a lot of it away on booze at uni and getting an overdraft! however I certainly worked my butt off after unit to get rid of it and certainly value money now and not wasting it!!!

I don't have kids though but it's worked out well for me.

Posted 2 years ago #
TandemJeremy - Member

I had regular pocket money from much younger than 111 but reallly small amounts. Raised with age and after my parents knew what I was doing with it - ie if I saved it or used it for something other than sweets.

a 15 the money went up greatly but I was expected to buy all closthes and so on with it.

My guess would be to start with a couple of quid and see how it goes - increase it if she uses it well.

Posted 2 years ago #
cubeboy - Member

Our 2 (7 & 12) get a mix of the above.

12 Year Old - £5 per week paid monthly. But it is school and home behaviour linked. If he manages to get £20 then he also gets £10 top up for his phone. He doenst have to buy his clothes unless he wants somehting specific. It pays for CD,s sweets cinema etc.

7 yr Old - £4 per week but he gets the option each week to have the cash or "mum to hold onto it" he has invariabley worked out that the returns of leaving it with mum are far greater!

Posted 2 years ago #
njee20 - Member

I started working in a bike shop aged 13, can you say child labour...

Posted 2 years ago #