Pocket money (merged)

coolio_2

The most I ever got was £4 a week at 16, and that was only 10 years ago, and all of that was dependant on doing chores.

Anyhow, for clothes, school clothes, and anything else my parents felt I needed was bought for me. However, if there was anything I liked I had a £60 every 6 months allowance to use.

ditzymuppet

At the age of 16 I was getting £20 a month pocket money. I was also working every weekend..... I was expected to pay for pretty much everything....

Sounds like kids these days have pretty much got it easy x (she says at the ancient age of 21!!!!! )

savingpennies

I have two DD's aged 14 and 11. I don't give out regular pocket money as such but if they want to go to the cinema/youth/club I run through the jobs they have done/not done that week. If they've completed their jobs I cough up. I make it plain that the money is dependent on whether they have completed their jobs. To earn money otherwise they have to clean both cars inside and out. My brother also pays them to clean his car. This money they use to save for their holidays/Christmas presents etc. I top up the eldest's phone once a month with a tenner. But this is an old Nokia given to her by one of my cousins. I have another old Nokia waiting for when youngest starts high school in September. Neither of them have ever wanted anything badly like the latest phone, trainers etc. Any birthday/Christmas money they get they put in their savings account for if they want anything - they've never withdrawn any yet! I keep joking that I might want to borrow it if I get a bit short. If they start asking for more money I'll probably start giving them an allowance but for now our 'system' seems to work.

bobsa1

DD aged 12 gets £10 a month from me, £1 per wek from grandma and with this she buys magazines and sweets.

She also buys tons of body spray (no idea why as I buy her deodrant but it seems to be her thing!)

I pay for any trips out, cinema, sports clubs, clothes, mobile top ups and all school stuff.

She has mentioned a friend who gets £25 a month but so far I've just ignored the comment!

savingmum

Have only just seen this and have enjoyed the thread.

we use a similar system here with a dd - 14 1/2 and ds nearly 17 and have done so for the last 3 yrs.

It is based on Mary Hunt's 'Debt proof your kids' book which is based on her debt proof living principles - https://www.debtproofliving.com als very similar to Dave Ramsey's system

basically it gives an allowance montly which is based on what you would have given thoughtout the month anyway. They then save 10 % and ours give 10% to school trip money ( although in the book this 10% is giving - tithe or charity - we are not heavily religious based)

Then the remainder 80% is theirs to use thoughout the month. The first month my ds went out and spent it within 2 days on lego - 13 yr old then and guess what it was a long month til he got more - he only did that once more.

Dd is so different she breaks hers down into envelopes with different categories on them - birthdays, christmas, hair/beauty and short term savings for extra clothes.

There have been a couple of blips where I have given an advance ( we are all human) but basically they know they have to budget for the month.

I don't stipulate certain chores to be done for the money as they know they live in this house as part of a family and are expected to behave as such contirbuting to it's running. However when they don't so things they are reprimanded ( ??? right word) as the message gets across better with grounding, takinf away the mobile etc.

This principle is supposed to teach kids the art of budgeting and you increase each yr what they are resposible for.

We still buy all necessary clothes and set a limit for others and they top up if they want certain things - but ds is happy in jeans and t- shirts as long as he can buy his cd's.

Also we pay for all things like music/sport assoc costs and fund school trips although now they are to places such as california - skiing and Australia ( hockey tour) they are expected to help with spending costs.

We live in a seaside town so both dks have jobs shop/cafe work and they give me 50% of all earning to put in their non touch accs for access to uni/car fund

PP - as your daughter starts senior school I warn you - girls do change however you wish they wouldn't and they mostly do become more interested in things like body sprays ( up to £2.00 time!!!), skin cleansing which involves cotton wool pads etc so their needs do become different as opposed to boys ( well I have found this!!!!) However encouraging her to take control of her own money will help long term as we all now it isn't easy out there when you are 18 and tempted !!!

Good luck in your scheme - let us know how it works

Sorry this has been an essay

BrokeBrunette

I've read this thread with interest.

I have 2 DD aged 14 and 11 (almost 12). I am a single parent and cannot afford to give them a set amount of money per month. I don't even have £30 a month to spend on myself, let alone my daughters. I do however pay for all their karate lessons, toiletries etc and they are allowed one mobile top up of £10 a month. All these things mount up to a sizeable sum.

The girls only had mobile phones once they started secondary school and would be walking to and from school on their own. I didn't feel they needed them before this.

They are always very lucky with Christmas and Birthday money (always well over £100 each occasion) as I have a large family, and this has to be split between some savings and spending on what they choose to spend it on. Eldest daughter spends money like water and youngest daughter always has some left in her money box at any given time. My mum also gives them money so I feel they do ok.

I also cough up extra if they want to go out and I feel they deserve the extra money.

However I'm now toying with the idea of working out exactly how much I spend on karate, top ups, toiletries etc, letting them have the money and maybe teaching them that they have to budget. I feel guilty that I am probably doing their budgeting for them and this thread has jogged my thoughts about this to the surface.

I think the amount of pocket money given is a very personal thing and should vary from family to family. Obviously a high income family will have more money to give to their child and my daughters have friends who think nothing of spending £70 a month on clothes. My daughters have everything they need but don't always have everything they want. I think that is the key difference when on a tight budget. If I had more money I would probably give them more in all honesty but I don't.


Sorry if I'm rambling but I think I'm probably sitting here typing this and thinking aloud

savingmum

BrokeBrunette

I quite agree about amounts - this is personal and the object is really teaching about money management.

I bet you'll be surprised about how much your daughters actually get - I was - as you say more than I actually spent on myself by a long way !!! I found it was the little extras like the odd pkt of sweets, magazine, cinema etc that really upped the amounts.

The only problem is that if they really love the money they'll stop the sport !!! with mobiles I pay for the first £5 then they have to pay so similar to yourself - it gets them to think about spending

Penny-Pincher!!

Thanks again for the replies...its funny how we all differ IYKWIM-I mean that in a good way and its great knowing how others view this subject etc.

My sister said last week I was mad, but then pointed to her that her 2 kids have 2 subscriptions each, she buys them console games (maybe from ebay but still costs), cinema, phone top up and after adding them up without nothing else..is more than £30pm:eek: whats the differnce..lol????

Thanks for the input!!

PP
xx

BrokeBrunette

savingmum wrote:

BrokeBrunette

I quite agree about amounts - this is personal and the object is really teaching about money management.

I bet you'll be surprised about how much your daughters actually get - I was - as you say more than I actually spent on myself by a long way !!! I found it was the little extras like the odd pkt of sweets, magazine, cinema etc that really upped the amounts.

The only problem is that if they really love the money they'll stop the sport !!! with mobiles I pay for the first £5 then they have to pay so similar to yourself - it gets them to think about spending

I was just working out how much it costs me for karate. It's £8 a week each, plus the cost of gradings, tournaments, new tracksuit etc. I would never want them to give it up as I think it's an excellent hobby for them to do. They are fitter and it's a disciplined sport. It's also given them confidence to look after themselves if necessary. However I think I need to remind them of how much it actually costs me and I'm definitely going to sit down and work out a monthly sum. I guess it's no different if I give them the money once a month and then it's up to them to make sure they don't spend it all and have none left to pay their karate fees. This could be an important budgeting learning curve, particularly for eldest daughter - money totally slips through her fingers. Karate is however her total passion in life (apart from make-up and clothes ) so I have a feeling she will make sure she keeps money back for it.

Thanks PP for this thread. It's definitely made me put my thinking cap on.

miaxmia

Just wondering how much the average 15 year old gets in pocket money?