Pocket money (merged)

Valli

KatP and SSB ooh just noticed your locale..care to be (a bit more) specific?
I'm in 'spiretown'


to you all I really appreciate your input...some brilliant ideas and advice. It's doubly difficult IYSWIM when my children have such very different money handling capabilities. DD will do as I do and get her phone credit in Boots, thus building up advantage points for present buying. DS will top up in the local shop with no additional benefits whatsoever...

MrCarrot

I remember when I was young, me and my mate would go washing cars. The going rate was about £1 per car, but we figured if we charged 50p we'd get much more custom from people with "nothing to lose".

We could quickly earn £6 in an afternoon (£3 each, which seemed like a lot back then).

Sadly, children are not safe doing this kind of thing any longer. Back in the day it was the old people that feared us, not the other way around. Also I don't know if I would let a little kid near my pride a joy with a gritty little sponge and bottle of fairy liquid

remembered_nights

That's how it was done for us It's a good idea too because when they do start work, they'll most likely be paid monthly - so they can get used to the idea of money arriving once a month now.

pretzelnut

I give my DS (6) £3.50 per week but he has to stick to his routine that we made for him as he can be a little monkey at times. If he breaks his routine then he loses his pocket money for the day.

His routine includes things like tidying his room, doing his homework as soon as he gets in from school, going to bed on time, all things that we have problems with.

It's working for us as we have tried everything else.

At 6 he thought you could get as much cash as you wanted fromt he ATM, so we have had to teach him that we have to work for it and it doesnt last forever.

At 1st he just wanted to waste money on stickers and comic's. And for a few weeks i let him. then i said what have you got to show for all your hard work? When he said nothing i explained that if he saved some of his money he would be able to buy a bigger item that would last longer he was rather interested in this. Looking through the argos catalogue he was like i want that and its £16 that will take me 8 weeks to save for. Helps with his maths skills too. Usually by the time he has saved the money up he has lost interest in the item he has been saving for.

So now he save's £2 a week and has £1.50 to spend on what he wants. Although he has now learnt that amazon is better value for money as he can buy a book for a few £'s in stead of a comic and he loves waiting for the delivery man to arrive.

DD is almost 2 and she is savings mad, if she see's a coin (or quids as she calls them) lying around its straight in the sealed pot. Occasionally i catch her emptying all the coins out of my purse into the jar. My family no longer leave loose change lying around.

We are having to teach her that she cant just take the money as it not hers.

I hope im starting early enough that they will have a good understanding of money when they are older, but part of me worries that they will reach a certain age and just rebel.

Valli

MrCarrot wrote: »

I remember when I was young, me and my mate would go washing cars. The going rate was about £1 per car, but we figured if we charged 50p we'd get much more custom from people with "nothing to lose".

We could quickly earn £6 in an afternoon (£3 each, which seemed like a lot back then).

Sadly, children are not safe doing this kind of thing any longer. Back in the day it was the old people that feared us, not the other way around. Also I don't know if I would let a little kid near my pride a joy with a gritty little sponge and bottle of fairy liquid

DS (at 5' 11") and his mate do do this sometimes BUT they borrow my bucket...and last time they washed 1 car for a fiver - he dropped the bucket and broke it so he lost his money as I made him pay for a new one.
For 99p they can buy a builders bucket from Focus and then they would turn up with a bucket and sponges each. But they will have to do this...
He's 16 in Sept so could go for a shelf stacker p/t job in a supermarket - would be a good time as the students will be off to Uni then so I would guess there'll be vacancies.

I wish he would work - when I was 13 I did papers and then I started with p/t shop jobs at 15 (under age but not a responsible shop LOL)

blueberrypie

Valli wrote: »

I wish he would work - when I was 13 I did papers and then I started with p/t shop jobs at 15 (under age but not a responsible shop LOL)

It is much more difficult for under-16s to find work now than it was 20 or 30 years ago. There are so many rules about employing under-16s - background checks on those employing them or working with them, for example, and child protection policies to be written and abided by. Often the employer's liability insurance will not cover under-16s. There are also rules about where they can work - e.g. they aren't allowed to work in commercial kitchens - and how many hours, and when those hours can be - and employers are supposed to get approval from the local education authority before employing anyone of compulsory school age. There are so many disincentives to taking on anyone under 16 that most employers just won't consider it now.

And that's before you even consider the economic situation. Tesco creates 90 new jobs and gets 1500 applicants - even without the legal/admin issues, it's very unlikely that an under-16 would get one of them.

aylithuk

I really think it worth doing this. My Mum/Dad oly gave me and my bro 3.50 per week as pocket money but when we were old enough it stop and we had to get a paper round.

Money wasn't bad on the paper round and allowed me to buy school dinners rather then the pack lunches that my mum would give us.

Then when I hit 16/17 got a job in a hotel washing pots and I had to pay my mum/dad house keeping money for meals etc etc

My family never got me anything apart from stuff at christmas and my birthday however not all bad on the paper round I used to get 150.00 in tips at christmas.

I might of hated it at 1st but given I moved out when I started collage I knew how to 'handle' money and I was earning 60-80 per week. Enough for meals, going out and cothes etc etc

Valli

blueberrypie wrote: »

It is much more difficult for under-16s to find work now than it was 20 or 30 years ago. There are so many rules about employing under-16s - background checks on those employing them or working with them, for example, and child protection policies to be written and abided by. Often the employer's liability insurance will not cover under-16s. There are also rules about where they can work - e.g. they aren't allowed to work in commercial kitchens - and how many hours, and when those hours can be - and employers are supposed to get approval from the local education authority before employing anyone of compulsory school age. There are so many disincentives to taking on anyone under 16 that most employers just won't consider it now.

And that's before you even consider the economic situation. Tesco creates 90 new jobs and gets 1500 applicants - even without the legal/admin issues, it's very unlikely that an under-16 would get one of them.

I know he can't get a job now - but he's 16 in September so can then...

barnaby-bear

peachyprice wrote: »

he's realising that if he spends it on tat he's got nothing left if he wants to go to the cinema with his friends :rolleyes:

.... I see a flaw until he learns you get the moody teenager hanging around the house.....:rotfl:

Valli

update

contracts will be written
they are to pay for their own 'fancy' requisites (Lynx/Impulse) and top up their own phones. DD would like a cashbook; DS 'can't be bothered' - but I will get them each one and give them a copy of their contract which will include no borrowing; no 'advances' and that they are to buy 'token' xmas gifts...
Just waiting for DD's card to come through now!

Would anyone like an update as we implement this ?