Pocket money (merged)

Mice_Elf

jackieglasgow wrote: »

I am a bossy old cow I would deduct 10p for every time I got "in a minute" or "do I have to?" Mine would learn quick enough if I pulled that one :rotfl:

I've done that to my daughter. She tires quickly of eating, so after a few mouthfuls you hear "I'm full". If we then say "keep eating" she'll usually finish the plate within seconds.

However, occasionally she will try to get out of it & we'll say "have x more mouthfuls". If she then whinges, it goes up by one. She's learnt very quickly that if she just eats the initial x more mouthfuls, she can finish a lot quicker...

I'm a bossy cow, too!

jackieglasgow

Lol my second child is a bad eater, and I do that too, must definitely be a bossy cow thing

the_cat

IMO dinner money should be a seperate issue from pocket money

Maybe you should consider putting the acceptable amount for dinners only onto her account and give her the balance as cash for her pocket money. If I understand right, she doesn't have access to any cash for incidentals aside from the cafeteria as you pay for clubs etc but give her no actual cash which she has control over?

If she had the choice to spend the money on anything she wanted.... going out, magazines, make up etc as well as junk food, it would probably be less appealing to stuff herself! As it stands she has no incentive NOT to spend the money on junk because if she doesn't eat her quota, her funds have gone

Once its gone its gone though...... no top ups!

bluenoseam

no chores = no pocket money, stick to it!

Man i feel i got stiffed all those years though, i used to get between £7-10 through high school a week for lunch & pocket money, granted that was a 96-02, but still totally stiffed!

System

£10 per week dinner money and a fiver pocket money. Though i used to eat less and save up my dinner money to spend

LadyMorticia

I don't have kids yet so my reply will be based on what I was given and what SIL is given.

For the record, I spent most of my teens in the care system.

Aged 14, my foster carer set pocket money at £5 a week but I would never see it as she saved it up for me so that when I had enough I could buy whatever I wanted. I bought a PS2 in the end. She bought all my clothes/toiletries etc out of the allowance that she got paid to look after me.

Aged 15-ish when I moved to my long term carers I didn't get set pocket money. I got money here and there for helping out or babysitting. I grew up in a family that didn't have much money anyway, so not having pocket money didn't really bother me as I wasn't used to it anyway.

I can't remember what age it was but the local social services had this plan in place where they'd pay young people in care £10 a week. I can't even remember what it was for, to be honest and why I was paid it. It seems so long ago now (even though it was only about 9 years ago!).

SIL who is 16 gets £40 a month and out of this she pays for her own clothes and her phone contract. She also has a job working two days a week when she's not at college and this gives her about £40 a month too.

pigpen

Mine don't get pocket money.

I pay for their activities if they do any.. and they don't need money.. they'd only gorge themselves on sweets and rot their teeth and get fat so they don't need it.

McKneff

I want her to be able to have dinners in school so she can sit with her friends, so dinner money is no problem, I will just have to tell her £10 a week only, if she runs out by the Thursday again then she can take what I have in the fridge for Friday. Soggy cheese sandwiches, Or fishy tuna sandwiches her choice!

Good Idea !!! and stick to it..............

rachbc

pigpen wrote: »

Mine don't get pocket money.

I pay for their activities if they do any.. and they don't need money.. they'd only gorge themselves on sweets and rot their teeth and get fat so they don't need it.

admittedly we had this when we first tried it when he was younger but since high school no probs....its not just about 'needing' money to me its about budgeting and learning responsibility. My son saves the receipt when he takes his cash out and writes on it what he used the money for and saves them - will own idea and better than keeping track than me!!

alwayspuzzled

rachbc wrote: »

How much pocket money for a young teen? My DS is 13 and I have no idea if what he gets compares - I think its about right, OH thinks its too much.....

We have a SO to his account monthly so he has to budget and its for phone credit, treats, magazines, trips out with mates and if he wants to top up the clothes we buy him to designer ones!

Sounds like our house, OH thinks DS1 gets too much aswell:D He is 12 and I've just set up a SO to his account for £62.50/month this is £20 pocket money x 12 + £10 mobile phone (was his b'day present phone + credit 4 a yr) x 12 + £10 dinner money x 39 divided by 12. Originally SO was just £30 for pm+ phone and I was paying dinners by parentpay but he's proved he can budget and be sensisble with his dinners so I'm letting him have the cash and therefore the extra choice as how he spends it.

DS2(9) has gets £1 week if he remembers to ask for it but doesn't normally remember to, we pay for all his extras and he often gets the change if he's been to the shop:) Once he goes to secondary and starts going out with his mates he'll be on same system as DS1 - but I'm not so confident in his ability to budget so it might be a slower progression.