Pocket money (merged)

B2B-2008

I never got pocket money as such but my mum would give me £1.50 a day for school lunch, we are talking well over ten years ago, and if I wanted to go out she would give in £10 to go to the cinema or ice skating but this would only be once a week and not every week.

I got a Saturday job when I was 16 to give me holiday money for a trip to Florida with a friends family and the after the trip I would use my wages to buy clothes and everything I needed or wanted. My brother did get me a mobile when I was 16 but there was only contract then and it was in my mums name so I paid her the £15 line rental and calls each month.

To be honest £10 wouldn't get you into the cinema now with popcorn etc, I think you can easily send £20 on a trip to the cinema with bus fares etc.

I think you should write down all that he does need money for and then add some extra for treats but when he gets a job it should be up to him to run his money and pay for the items he wants.

traveller

Dustangle wrote: »

Not sure how spoilnig this child with a contract mobile phone and extra pocket money from two split parents apparently competing with each other counts as moneysaving. Cancel the contract, make him use PAYG, Mum & Dad talking to each other about this, ignore his whining and don't believe what he says about what his pals are getting - there's some ways to save money.

Personally,I don't see how It's implied my son is spoiled by anybody and that myself and my ex are competing with eachother.Maybe he has a contract as it's more money saving than as PAYG in his case. I'm a firm believer that parents who wish to point score, are not having their childrens best interests at heart and I do not wish to be grouped into such a category.

sarymclary

I have a 16 y/o and a 15 y/o (as well as 2 younger boys) and I don't give them anything. I used to give them £20 p/month but I couldn't afford to anymore. It has given them the incentive to try to find some weekend/part time work, although the jobs they got have been a bit irregular, so they don't work each week.

At age 14 pubs/restaurants will take on staff to wash pots/glasses. My 16 y/o was employed as a waiter in an Italian restaurant, his younger brother was only 14 at the time when he got a job at the same place as a pot washer. My 14 y/o also got some ad hoc work in the summer holidays on building sites (for small independent builders), where he was moving rubble, loading rubbish into skips, etc. He even got work doing an early morning paper round to cover for a lad who was on holiday, which gave him a few weeks work.

Last year they organised a dog walking round locally, just by knocking on doors. They've done babysitting in the holidays for some single mums who have to work, and were struggling with childcare.

As I see it, I didn't really have pocket money, and had to get a paper round. I provide everything else for my children, they're well fed and well cared for, but I don't have to give them cash to text their mate 4 doors down the road, when they could get up and out the house and go knock for them anyway!

If mine haven't had much work, and get invited to go out with friends, to a music gig, for example, then they have to earn any money from me with chores. If they want running around in the car places, then I point out I want them to fund the fuel - it makes them think twice about depending upon me for everything, and also teaches them that things don't happen/come for nothing.

The only thing I pay for at the moment, since they've not had any work for over a month, is their subs for football, but if I didn't they wouldn't get up on a Sunday morning, and have the incentive to go out and keep fit!

I hope that helps, at least to give you another perspective.

kr15snw

My mum used to pay for my school dinners and obviously basic clothes / food. I was allowed no fancy cosmetics or shampoos, all of them had to be purchased myself.

But I received £20 per month to buy everything and also pay for all of my days of with friends.

My parents attitude? If you want more then get a job. At 13 I had a paper round which gave me £40 a month (free paper) and at 15 I got a job working weekends so I could earn some proper money. Oh and I got no help with the PAYG phone, that was all me as well.

This is the attitude that I will also keep. Yes I didnt think £20 a month was enough to live off, hence I got a job.

To be honest I would keep it at what its at. If he wants more money then explain he needs to work for it and help him get a job

aliasojo

I have no suggestions with regard to how much but what I would say, is that a kid who can afford to go to things like ice skating and the cinema etc is preferable to a kid that cant, imo, purely because those who either have no interests or cant afford to have interests are usually the very kids who end up hanging about aimlessly. So although I know a lot of parents dont see pocket money as an important thing, I tend to disagree with that.

I would encourage him in his efforts to find a part time job, again, it will give him another interest, occupy him and let him meet new people as well as helping his cash situation.

Penny35_2

My DH gives his 17 year old daughter £40 per month and pays her mobile phone contract, and pays for her bus to college

She also has a part time job...she gets all her clothes, food etc..paid for, the pocket money she gets and the money she earns is for her to go out etc...

traveller

raffe wrote: »

What exactly does he have to pay out of this money, for instance is it all school dinners if so start by costing up how much a weeks school dinners cost, ie £2.50 x 5 = £12.50pw, does it cover bus fares if so how much are they, does he have to buy his own clothes, pay for his own haircuts, how much does it realistically cost him to go ice skating or to the cinema.

Hi, thanks for all your replies. We've worked out that for a decent meal he's looking at 2.50 per day.Cinema/iceskating/socialising between £8-10 a throw.
So we have come up of a compromise of 80 per month all in until he finds a job.Thanks again for all of your suggestions:T

Wicked_witch

My son is 15 and gets £10 per week if he does all his jobs around the house, plus £3 per day school dinner money- if he wants to go the the cinema etc he is quite welcome to make his own sandwiches to take to school and save his dinner money. I think that is quite enough for his age and allows him to make his own decisions on what he wants to do on the weekend and how he is going to finance it. We buy his mobile phone credit (no more than £10 per month) and pay for any school related leisure activities like going to the play or a disco.

anonymousie

Here we pay for pretty much everything- dinner money averages £2.50/day , school travel £100/term (bus and train card thing alao covers any other public transport use though as well as to-from school). Clothes, haircuts etc (though I will pay "basic" prices and any extra for "brands" etc to be topped up- eg I'll pay £20 for trainers as that will get a decent pair, but if you want vans either scour TKmaxx till you see them at that price or pay the extra £20 or so yourself! THat really makes them think about spending and priorities!).

Pocket money is 20p per year or age per week so my 15yr old gets £3, paid straight to her bank account. THat sounds stingy, but it is pure "fritter" money wih no strings attatched and it just gently accumulates till Xmas etc when she will spend some on pressies for friends etc. It pays for cinema visits etc too.

Lunar_Eclipse

anonymousie wrote: »

Here we pay for pretty much everything- dinner money averages £2.50/day , school travel £100/term (bus and train card thing alao covers any other public transport use though as well as to-from school). Clothes, haircuts etc (though I will pay "basic" prices and any extra for "brands" etc to be topped up- eg I'll pay £20 for trainers as that will get a decent pair, but if you want vans either scour TKmaxx till you see them at that price or pay the extra £20 or so yourself! THat really makes them think about spending and priorities!).

Pocket money is 20p per year or age per week so my 15yr old gets £3, paid straight to her bank account. THat sounds stingy, but it is pure "fritter" money wih no strings attatched and it just gently accumulates till Xmas etc when she will spend some on pressies for friends etc. It pays for cinema visits etc too.

Presumably she has a job, given the price of going to the cinema these days?

£3/week is low and sadly doesn't provide her with enough of an allowance to make choices and hone decision making skills whilst the consequences are fairly minimal. For instance in choosing and buying her own toiletry items and (some) clothes perhaps. Do you not feel this would be beneficial, or is money just too tight?

And realistically, how could they/she afford to put say £20 towards a pair of trainers? Maybe their paid-for social activities are rare, but my initial thought was whether giving them the option to contribute for more expensive brands was actually a realistic one?