Pocket money (merged)

summerday

You may have to try a bit of trial and error to get it right for your personal circumstances. I started on £30 a week, then got down to £20, now I tell myself my spending money will be whatever I have earned that week in my self-employed job I do one night a week which varies.

sarah

troll35

Hi there folks, thought I'd pick your brains/survey other MSE'ers as to how much pocket money is the norm for a 9 year old.
DS earns between £2 and £3 per week doing jobs around the house - emptying the dishwasher, emptying the bins, vacuuming etc. He's paid by the job so if he wants more money then he needs to work more (just like mum and dad!). DS feels we don't pay him enough because his mates get more (perennial story! and probably for doing less) but mainly he wants to save up for a nintendo DS and doesn't want to wait quite as long as he would at the rate we pay him (and his birthday has been and gone for this year).

He came up with a great get rich quick scheme though. He came home from school and asked if we would pay him 1p to empty the dishwasher once, then double the amount paid each time i.e 2nd time he emptied it he would get 2p, 3rd time 4p, 4th time 8p etc etc. After pondering his request we said no, 'cos after two weeks we'd owe him £162.83, if I've done my calculation right. The cheeky monster!! :rotfl:

impy78

Iused to get £20 a week, but that was until my parents found out I'd lied about how much my friends got!

After that I had £5 a week pocket money and another £5 from a paper round and £10 from working in my dad's mate's shop.

Mado

Pay our 8 year old £1.50 basic wage, goes up to £2.50 for extremely good behaviour, especially nice things she does without being asked.

deecy

My 9 year old gets £3 a week IF she keeps her room tidy - she doesn't so gets nothing & doesn't have any problem with that! lol

chriz1000

I used to get £1 a week, and £5 for school lunch money until I was 16. Personally I think that was a little tight of my parents, but it made me appreciate money and get several jobs at a young age

CharleneUK

I give my 9 year old £1.00 a week, £2.00 if her bedroom is kept reasonably tidy. and £3.00 if she does three helpful jobs (e.g. hoovering)

troll35

When DH, DS and I discussed pocket money one of the things I wasn't prepared to give DS money for was tidying his room, on the basis that if you pay him for tidying it then it is an incentive to mess it up to start with. It does sometimes get messy but generally he keeps it pretty tidy without being told. Mind you he doesn't do a lot in his room except sleep.
Having read all the other posts I feel quite generous as DS also gets bonuses for excellent school work - 50p for 100% in his spelling tests (nothing if he gets any wrong) and another 50p for achievement awards the school gives out. With everything he gets about £15.00 per month to spend as he wishes. He buys one magazine a week (£1.60/week) and saves the rest. We also pay his football training fees so he does quite well.

Thanks everyone

loopylass

i have 4 children
eldest 17 earns his own money p/time and he goes to college so i buy his clothes and shoes etc but no pocket money as he gets a lot but he is good dont waste it he saves until he wants something as his doing IT at college his bought his own pc etc
next son 13 gets £3 a week and any job he does another 50p each job
daughter 11 gets £2 a week and any job 50p each job
son his 7(nearly 8) gets £1.50 each week and extra 50p for each job
they usually do two extra jobs each so they can get extra money like 13 year old goes down the shop to get my tv mag each week my daughter might unload dishwasher
and my youngest will help tidy his room
i have always done it that way different age different money because then the oldest feels more grownup same as bedtimes are different they have never complained they save if they want something but as i buy all their clothes etc they dont need anything apart from treats for themselves and as they dont eat a lot of sweets its saved up in their wallets/purse for months on end so then they have got quite a bit to get something really nice for themselves
i think some children get far too much and then they waste it because they know they will get more and havnt got a clue about money

troll35

Have to agree with you loopylass about some children getting too much and not having a clue about money. One of DS's pals got a mobile phone simply for scoring a goal in a footie match at 9yrs old!!!

We helped DS learn the value of money from an early age. We've never spent huge amounts at Christmas or birthdays because we we both brought up in homes where we had to do without because there was no money (but also no debt). DS has always been encouraged to save for the things he wants especially as his birthday is 8 days after Xmas and it's a long time to next Xmas. He did get a 1/2 birthday present until he was 7, usually an outdoor summer toy. He was really proud of himself for saving up for a TV because we don't really like TV's in bedrooms and wouldn't buy him one (and it has made life a bit easier as we no longer have to listen to his PS2 running commentaries on our only other TV in the lounge). Equally he was devastated when the local shop overcharged him 10p because to him it represented emptying the bins.(I fought his corner and got him his 10p back)