Well I am looking for some input here. How much pocket money do you give, or do your children get either weekly or monthly. And how old are the children and do they have to work for it.

Karen

£20 a month then additional money for babysitting. Yes chores are done around the house when required :) 13 yrs old :)

HTH

I never gave any pocket money.  I encouraged my daughter to earn her money in different way from a very early age.  It works!

I have an 8 year old and a 6 year old, and they get a pound a week each for emptying there bins and keeping there room tidy :-)

My eldest (12) gets £10 per month.  (This is providing he keeps his room tidy,homework is always done etc)  £2.50 goes into his bank account and £7.50 left to spend.  He does have an opportunity to earn more by doing extra jobs.  (he rarely gets extra ;) :D )

I also take a £1.00 off if he gives me serious attitude (each time).  I don't mean general 'Kevin Like' stomping and grumbling but if he is rude/obnoxious (which is rarely if ever :D) then money comes off and it is not earned back. 

My youngest gets £5 per month and I put £2.50 per month (extra)  into his bank account.  Same rules regarding behaviour.  General grumpiness is allowable because we all have off days, don't we HG ;) :D , but disrespect is baaaaaaaaaad.

Also the Child Benefit is paid into a high interest savings account for when and if??!!! :D they want to go to College.  Got a lovely few grand in the bank ready when the Uni Fees hit us!! :D 

If neither of them goes teh college route then It's money towards a first car/deposit on a house etc.

My daughters now aged 29 & 31 only had to keep their rooms tidy.  My eldest went to Uni at just 15 on special dispensation so things were slighly different on the allowance front.....my youngest struck a bargain with me....I hate/d ironing...she charged me 20p per item and 5p per handkerchief....Just before her 17th birthday, she had saved up enough to buy her 1st car.  I did give her an allowance as well, but cant remember what it was...I think possibly £2.50 per week, but that was 15 years ago

Please can you all remove the figures from your posts on this thread and pm them to Kazz so my 12 year old doesn't see them! 

He gets a magazine each month, a McD each month, football fees paid for and £1 from his Nan.  I've never even given a thought to pocket money for him but he certainly doesn't go without.  He doesn't even spend what he has each week, let alone birthday or xmas money.

Lets just hope he doesn't catch sight of this thread!!!

:D  :D

To be honest, you sound very sensible, I think Kids can get too much these days and I am guilty of that too.

Just to say we have deductions in force if the 13 yr old misbehaves and the current punishment means she is on for 40 free babysittings or no pocket money for 10 months

She also has to buy her clothes and anything else she wants from the money she gets :)

10yr old daughter, totally overdone and doesn't know it.
£2 a week plus occasional mags, sweets and treats, subs for st. Johns, dancing and drama fees, also outfits for those. Now of course all dog related paraphenalia, and as handling will cost getting off island, that too. Big brothers had similar expenses but are now out of education so have to sort them selves out.

17 year old gets £50 a month. He has to pay for everything from this, treats, bus fares, shoes, clothes the lot. He plays a lot of competitive sport which precludes him form getting a Saturday job, but if he was working, we would reduce it and pay the difference in to an account on his behalf.

That is oh so sensible, does it work though or does he look for top ups?

At 16 our daughter got £12 a week but she was responsible for paying for everything out of this. She had a Saturday job as well but had to buy all her own clothes, magazines, bus fare to job, presents etc. She is really good at managing her money now and appreciates the cost and value of things. A lot of her friends have never - ending supplies from their parents and she hates the way they "waste" their money!  it is quite hard to get the balance right between having enough to get by on ( with a bit of planning and restraint) or always being unable to do /have the things that  other kids do. She got her money monthly and sorted out her own budget. What she spent her money on was entirely up to her but once it was gone it was gone and any more had to be earnt by doing jobs other than those she already did to earn her pocket money.

Oh, that's a biggy :D

Personally I didn't do the chores thing - my daughter made a reasonable attempt at keeping her personal space tidy and that suited me :)   IMO chores are for grown ups but perhaps I would have felt differenty had I had a large brood ..... I don't thinks so, but who knows!

She's in her early 20's now but from about 10/12 (can't remember now exactly)  used to get £5 a week to buy magazines or whatever extras she liked but pretty much everything she needed or fancied was bought for her on top of that.  We increased it by a few pounds as she got older ;)  To be fair she took herself off into town at 15 and got herself a full day Saturday and half day Sunday weekend job in a hairdressing salon but she still got her allowance plus of course chauffeured into work and back so it wasn't used up on fares :D

At the end of the day I guess it's down to personal preferences in the chores stakes and family finances re amounts.  I think it's a good thing to ensure they can afford little luxury items but does no harm to remind them that more expensive gadgets or designer labels etc should really be saved up for outwith Christmas, birthday presents etc.

regards, Teri

I'm 15 and I don't get a specific amount each week.

I work at a hairdressers nearby for £10 minimum but I get extra if it's busy and in the holidays, I give her the option of ringing me if she gets busy and needs my help. I also work Christmas week so that's a nice lot of money for me to earn.
I do the occasional babysitting too, they ring me up a week or so in advance and I'm happy to babysit, I usually earn something from £10 to £15 for 5 or 6 hours.
I also dogsit my gran's neighbour's Jack Russel (12 yrs) when she goes on trips for the day and I just go in, watch telly, sleep and feed Penny. It's an ideal oppertunity to get some peace and quiet, spend time with my two favourite dogs and earn some easy money (£5 as well as a gift back from her trip).

With my parents, I don't get money for just whatever I want. I get money for school (a pound for break times, pack lunch, trips, folders and stuff needed etc.). Only my dad works so it's not as easy to give us (me and my older brother) money. We get the odd fiver or tenner when parents are feeling generous but most of the time when we see something we like, say, we're out with parents and I see some jeans I like, mum will offer to buy them as a little gift or something.
Oh, I also pay £10 a month for my contacts...

Blimey Kazzie you are being exploited for babysitting The going rate per hour here is £5 an hour ;)

Or is it that we are being exploited :rolleyes: :D :D

Lol, I'd charge £20 but it's like, I hate saying "you don't pay me enough" because I get on with them really well, I just wouldn't know how to raise the question of getting a bit extra...

The fact it isn't a regular thing, I should get a bit more, ringing me out of the blue and disrupting plans occasionally, well, I should be worth more!
I don't sit there and watch telly, I help with homework, play games and keep the 12 year old entertained!

Thanks all quite a wide range of figures there. Much appreciated Karen

You sound very sensible Kazzie - entrepreneurial tendencies there!  We like that :D

Teri

Mine get $5 a week 10 and 13 years old and they must do dishes, take out garbage, and clean their rooms. They also sort their own laundry I wash and dry it and they fold their own laundry. If I am cleaning I ask them for help sometimes, oya responsible for their own animals my 10 year old has 2 ferrets and my 13 year old has a rabbit and a hamster I buy all feed and bedding....

My daughter had a school dance cost $5 to get in plus money for canteen like pop and chips, I paid the way in and told her she had to buy her own goodies. Should I have made her pay her way in as well?

Nah, I think what you did was alright, it kind of shows that she's growing up and can't have aeverything all the time whenever she needs it.

But that's just my opinion, :).

You sound very sensible Kazzie - entrepreneurial tendencies there!  We like that :D

Why thank you Teri :D *slight blush*

It's nice to know what people think, especially if it's good! :P

I have two girls age 8 and 6.  They earn their pocket money by:
keeping their rooms tidy EVERY day
cleaning their teeth properly for 3mins morning and night
getting ready for school
general good behaviour is expected

They get 3 stars if they achieve this and if they get all their stars then they will get £2 for that week.  They don't get their money til the end of the month though.  If they miss 4 stars in the week they don't get the £2 for that week.

We started this in January cos my eldest would not keep her room tidy at all - and it's been great - I give them a warning when I'm going to check tidiness of rooms just in case a mess has occurred!  Also by getting it at the end of the month means they can either save the money or spend it on something worthwhile.

If they do extra chores they have the potential to earn extra pennies too.

Nothing for mine. I buy them what they need and give them money when they need it ...cruel parent ;)

I didn't link pocket money with chores or behaviour although if anyone behaved atrociously then there were other sanctions imposed! From 13 onwards my two sons had allowances of £25 a month each paid into their bank accounts. From this I expected them to fund their social lives and "incidentals" like computer games, sweets, mags, etc. I still bought their clothes but if they wanted anything daftly priced purely because of "designer" labelling then they'd be expected to make a contribution. They both had Sunday paper rounds which topped their allowances up and as they got older and had a more expensive social life they took jobs which paid for it. I paid for any school-related activities although extra spending money on school exchanges, say, was to be saved for from the allowance or jobs. I also paid for their footy season tickets but that's because we all went as a family anyway.

My basic rule has always been to support anyone at school, college or university and fix that financial support at an affordable but sensible level. Once you've stopped studying the money stops too!

I agree with your basic rule re support whilst educating....My daughter I think is really well off. My eldest went through Uni asking for little but getiing plenty, he did value our help and didn't try to take advantage, but my younger son....is plain lazy...he has decided school isn't worth it...managed to get through as levels but wouldn't carry on. He is lucky that now they are savable should he do another year and get full 'As'. He has had a couple of jobs but no longer turns up.
His employer was so good even sent him a letter to sign to say he had resigned.  He doesn't sign on or do anything. He would rather go without than bother earning, he has no idea what to do but the root is that as we kept his brother going til he was 22 we should do the same for him................Oh boy what do you do? I cant just throw him out. That is what we have been advised , but how can you.
A domestic rant sorry...

i sympathise with you, my eldest son is also a lazy so and so. Having just funded him through to his final year of UNi, he has now told us that he is applying to work on the cruise ships because it will be like a paid holiday!! Since when did that need a degree?

Sorry to be glad to hear of another suffering like me .What is so strange is that with my three offspring they are so very different in their outlook. I'd guess only at daughter as she is still rather young to judge.

Hi,
While my son was working hard at school and College, I had £20.00 every
week payed direct debit into his account. If he needed anymore money,
he had to ask for it, and I decided if he really needed it and for what.
It helped him manage his finances, he used to save and not withdraw
it, if he wonted to buy somthink special. He had to make the effort to
go to the cash point also. He saved to buy Christmas presents ect;
For all the family. He is 19yrs now and manages his bank account very well.
This should also pay off in years to come.
Regards
Denese

I get £25 a month from my parents straight into my bank account.  I have to buy all my own clothes etc etc unless Mum is feeling generous.

I have a feeling they will be taking teh £25 a month away from me as soon as they remember to cancel the SO!!!!

I got £5 a week from my parents until recently, it's stopped without any explaination. Maybe I should ask why!
I'm 17, I'm in college and I don't have a job but I make a bit of money through my art. I have to pay for everything myself except food. Occasionally my parents will buy me clothes, and sometimes new pencils/paper.
I'm going to be broke once I've got my next dog though

This is a very personal thing, but I don't consider chores should be linked to financial reward.  Chores are things that have to be done for the smooth running of the house and if you want to live under my roof you have to contribute!  As a single mum I don't run a hotel but a home and I don't get paid for running round after others, but for going out to work.  It's part of life that you all have to learn to play your part, whatever that may be.  We all play a valid contribution in our house and I expect my offspring to do that without financial reward.  Whilst helping out at home, my children are increasing their independence skills so should be paying ME for the opportunities given to them!!  :-)

Edited to add:  I'm also not in a financial position to give mine the financial reward that some of you are able to, hence we need creative thinking!

Doesn't matter what financial position you are in :)  you are doing what is right for you and your family and nobody has the right to say it is wrong.

There is no right or wrong.  All that matters is that your kids respect you,thier home,  help you when you ask, don't take things for granted and are grateful for what they receive, how they get it and how much and for what doesn't really matter.

We all do what we think is right for our children.

Doesn't matter what financial position you are in :-)  you are doing what is right for you and your family and nobody has the right to say it is wrong. Ditto Ali.

I never paid the Boy to do routine chores either, just as I didn't pay himto clean his teeth or wipe his bum. Washing-up, putting his dirty clothes in the basket, tidying his room etc is on the same level IMO. He got a small amount of money (about £1 a week when he was at primary school) to learn to budget with, and spend how he wanted.

I don't give my daughter pocket money as such, she gets an allowance of £5.00 per week. This is enough  to pay for for the odd magazine and anything from "Claires accessories" :rolleyes:

Everything else, like clothing, Gameboy games etc, are funded by us.

When she wants a top-up, she volunteers to do anything that she knows I hate. Like unloading the dishwasher, washing the dog bowls every night, making the beds etc. These self inflicted jobs are paid at £2.00 a time. This is entirely her own idea because believe it or not, she is the most helpful, happy, contented child that I could ever wish for ;)

I'm of the opinion that kids will have chores and responsibility soon enough, so why inflict it upon them in childhood. But I'm certainly not going to turn the offer of help down if volunteered :D

I based this on my own childhood. If I wanted to sneeze, I would have to ask permission and then pay for it so I vowed that I would do it differently and so far, it's paying off....so to speak :)

My little brothers, on the other hand, aren't given any money but have to do chores for the things that they want. There is no negotiation when they want something out of the ordinary. This is where their "big sis" comes in...:D I work on a point system and when they get to 10 points, they get that "must have" (within reason) item.

Mollie gets things she needs bought for her, but any extras she earns by helping out - ie she gets a fiver for poo picking the fields, £2 for mucking out etc etc. She gets it all written in a book and saves it up until she wants something :)

Zack gets an extra £1 here and there for helping out.

They are expected to keep their rooms tidy though for no financial gain - ie if Moll doesn't bring her washing down it simply doesn't get done :D

i have to admit holly 11 does not get pocket money as such, but she trains 3 nights a week with her puppy i pay for that then there is the pop and crisps at club, then she comes to me with her entries for agility and breed shows and i pay for that, she also goes to the pics, and gets her beano comic at the weekends, she never asks if she can have any money she knows that when we go to shows she is always given a couple of pound to spend on what she wants.
carol

I do think that giving pocket money to children is very important. Children do need to learn how to manage money - even if it's only a little. We always made a point of giving the children a little more than they actually needed - but made sure that a saving habit was instilled into them :) Once they were old enough to open a young person's account at the building society, their money was paid monthly into this (I think that these can start from age 11). Then they had to go to the building society periodically and withdraw the money. They also always had a 'one-way' building society account into which birthday/Xmas money etc was paid. We had control of this which was handed over to them when they got to 18 :)

IMHO just buying things for children as they need it doesn't teach them anything apart from money comes from parents :D

Daisy

My sons were certainly happier knowing that they had money of their own and didn't have to ask for things. And for sure, I was a deal happier being able to avoid constant requests for little things like comics and sweets. Learning how to manage a savings or bank account is an excellent lesson for the future and if children don't get into the habit of budgeting it comes very hard when they are released onto the wide world without the safety net that is the parental wallet!

Life has a weird way of turning the tables on you though because on Saturday after footy I was in Sainsburys with my oldest son (now aged 24) and the OH who disappeared off to buy some ciggies and the newspapers while Dave and I queued at the checkout. Knowing I hadn't got my purse with me, OH said he'd only be a minute or two but unfortunately (and rarely!) our queue moved like lightning whereas OH had got stuck behind people buying their own weight in lottery tickets. As our shopping was totalled up I realised I had no way of paying for it but Dave immediately, and willingly, handed over his debit card so shame was avoided! Although he took great pleasure afterwards in saying "Come along, Mother, you know that if you haven't got the pocket money to pay for things, you have to wait until next month's allowance comes in" :D

This is something I haven't had to think about in years. Daughter goes to her father at weekends and he gives her pocket money :D Though I did hear that he gives her £40 a month (she's only 11 ) Far too much I think. BUT she is saving to go to Crufts this year ;) I told her she could come IF her pup qualified and IF she paid for her room for the night (horrid mum, aren't I? ;) ) She's got more money in the bank than I do Her dad buys her anything she wants as well, so why give her pocket money? I never did understand him. :)

Here's a question when my kids have pizza day, hotdog day, popcorn day, bingo day ect at school do I pay for these (which I have been, but if I just can't afford it cause it didn't fall on my payday my daughter gets mad where my son understands) or should I make them use their allowance?  My children eat lunch at school everyday which they make here at home, they take a sandwhich 3 times a week and a warm up meal twice a week as I do the same for work.... My daughter has a very hard time saving money it must burn holes in her clothes :D My son on the other hand is pretty good at it....

Sorry, we don't have these days here - what are they ?? We have no-uniform days here where the children have to pay about £1 to charity NOT to wear uniform. I usually paid for these - not sure that I'd pay for my children to eat popcorn, if that's what it is :D

Daisy

Basically they had a popcorn and bingo day at school just a fun day and to raise money for stuff at the school. The pizza and hotdog day is just a special lunch day, but of course cost more lol so I think that too is to raise money usually the grade 8's put it on... They don't wear uniforms at the school, actually as far as I know non of the schools wear uniforms, my children are in a catholic school too. I did have them in public but I prefer the catholic system much better...

I think it just depends how often these days are :) I usually paid for the no-uniform day, which was once a year. If my children did anything else, then they paid for it themselves :) Virtually all children over here wear uniform to school (at least until they are 16). About 20 years ago it became fashionable in some schools not to wear it, but parents and even children asked for it's return :D

Daisy

I think that could have been a 'heart swelling' moment for you.

Oh sugar, I am going to be the worst mother in the world I guess.. being honest my daughter probably gets about £100 per month.

I still don't give me daughter pocket money as such although I flaming should I know. She gets a fortune off me week in week out , BUT she is a good kid,polite, well behaved and doing well at school and is respectful of others.  She will do anything for anyone at the drop of a hat.  Maybe a bit spoiled in terms of getting her fair share being an only child but I think she isn't a too bad kid. She is nearly 16.  I think she understand quite well that what she gets is because I work hard and have always worked hard all my days and hopefully have set her a good example.

I was brought up by incredibly strict parents. Whilst I dont want to be the exact opposite , somewhere in the middle works for me.   I think being a parent is about common sense, pull the rains in when the need it.

You won't spoil a child by giving them too much if you teach them and make them understand also. Well that is what I think IMHO. :-)

My 15 yr old gets £11/wk.  Not a great deal but with that and gift money at Christmas he manages to buy the away matches tickets and transport costs to watch town FC team.  He too, is a good kid and has so far not given any problems.  He doesn't hang around street corners and consequently his biggest vice seems to be MnMs :).  As I am still getting Family Allowance for him that's what I buy his clothes with.  He rarely asks for extras and because he rarely asks I never begrudge topping up if it is for something he really wants (recently FA cup tie matches)

as a child i never got any pocket money if i wanted any thing within reason my mum would buy it for me ( i am now 25 and brillent with money)

Exactly why I don't give my younger 2 pocket money ;) My older 3 never had it and they are far better with money than me - I had pocket money from the age of 8 ;)

Edited to add: I pay for school trips and pens pencils, clothes (but NO designer gear ever), a comic now and again and the occasional sweet treat but that's about it. Birthdays and Christmas mean something here lol