Pocket money (merged)

spike7451

When I was growing up in the 70's,I got 15p a week pocket money,but back then you could get a lot for 15p! A copy of the comic of the day,Look In,was iirc,4p (Just looked it up,they were 8p in 1976!) & a Mars bar was about 2p with Blackjacks or Fruit Salad chews were a hapenny...
Good memories of a simpler time,sometimes I wish I was back there!I think nowerdays,£15 a week would be about right.

balletshoes

darlyd wrote: »

This is the question I have been wanting to know.

My DD is 12, I give her £10 every Monday to put on her finger (electronic) for school dinners, But by the Friday I am having to go into the school and put more on as she has spent it all . We also give her money for guides and youth club (twice a week) gives us some piece as she can be a handful so we don't mind this.
She does not do nothing in the house, never keeps her room clean, So We don't give her anymore cash. But she is off to Switzerland with the guides in the summer term and she has £0 saved up for spends, I have said to her to help more, even if it's just washing plates and cutlery, keeping her room clean, picking up after herself, taking the washing in, anything. But she to lazy. Of course I been putting few £ away each week for her spends, But she does not know this, And to be honest she does not deserve it, But as a parent it's the right thing to do, as couldn't see her go away with £0. Luckily nanny and grumpy paid for the actual trip.

How can I get it through to her she needs to do things to receive money?

I can't help but think you're giving your daughter very mixed messages - you want her to do chores around the house to earn some money for spends, but you'll give her the money anyway. Do you really think she doesn't already know this?

shellsuit

spike7451 wrote: »

When I was growing up in the 70's,I got 15p a week pocket money,but back then you could get a lot for 15p! A copy of the comic of the day,Look In,was iirc,4p (Just looked it up,they were 8p in 1976!) & a Mars bar was about 2p with Blackjacks or Fruit Salad chews were a hapenny...
Good memories of a simpler time,sometimes I wish I was back there!I think nowerdays,£15 a week would be about right.

I loved the Look In!!

I remember my Mum bought me it one day along with a cheese and onion pasty while we were out.

I put them both down to take my coat and shoes off and was distraught to discover that the pasty grease had gone through some of the pages and had totally ruined the Bucks Fizz lyrics to 'My camera never lies'.

I was gutted.

libbyc3

you dd sounds very similar to one of mine (age 12) in terms of money and food!
since january I'm trying this tack - with some success - she get £3per week cash and at the beginning of every half term i top up her dinner money card with £2.50 per day (her school can put a daily limit on the card even if you top up for a term). at the end of the half term whatever change is left on the card she gets transfered into her bank which she has a cash card for.
first half term she got about £2, but the one after she got £17 and the printout of what she had eaten showed she had picked the dinners instead of the snacks and stopped buying the junk. a dinner is between £1 - £1.50 whereas snack food was nearer to £2.
this is definately teaching her to make the sensible choices - same as i have to when i go to work - can i be bothered to make a packed luch - or tesco for a sandwhich - or more expensive subway?!?!

sock-knitter

i need to show my twin 16 year old boys this thread, they have £90 pw to spend, and have to pay some bus fares, activities such as youth clubs, gym membership, personal trainer, phone contract etc, not sure where rest goes, and they still ask to borrow from me

rachbc

sock-knitter wrote: »

i need to show my twin 16 year old boys this thread, they have £90 pw to spend, and have to pay some bus fares, activities such as youth clubs, gym membership, personal trainer, phone contract etc, not sure where rest goes, and they still ask to borrow from me

blinkin eck thats more money than I have to spend on myself a week - do 16 yos actual have personal trainers??

balletshoes

:eek: £90 a week?

spike7451

Bl00dy Noar !! Ninety quid a week!! How can you teach kids the value of money when they get that much per week & then ask to borrow money of the parents! The are some people,like myself last year,who are unemployed for genuine reasons (not scrounging off the state) who are bringing up a family on half that!
Not having a go at you sock-knitter,but sixteen year old's with personal trainers & gym membership?....what's wrong with a youth club or after hours school sports clubs.
I joined the RAF at the age of 17,I had a pay cheque for the first time & quickly got myself into debt,debt that took a long time to get out of.Going by your post,I'm afraid that in my opinion,going by what happened to me,your kids are going to end up the same way when they're not much older.As I said,I'm not having a go at you,but my advise would be to reign in their spending or they're never going to learn the value of money.

**curlywurly**

My daughter age 12 gets £4 per week + £10 per month for phone. That money is hers to spend as she chooses. I buy her "essential" clothes, if she wants designer labels she has to save up. In exchange for the pocket money she has to do everything I ask her to do. This consists of doing homework, stacking dishwasher, keeping room tidy, and a few odd jobs. For more taxing odd jobs eg cleaning car, I give her a bit more.

Now, so far so good, she does her jobs, she gets the pocket money, and if she does something extra, like get a good school report, try hard in an exam, gets a gold award at school, then I buy her an ITunes voucher.

I am fully aware that the tides will no doubt turn when she gets to 13 ...

pigpen

sock-knitter wrote: »

i need to show my twin 16 year old boys this thread, they have £90 pw to spend, and have to pay some bus fares, activities such as youth clubs, gym membership, personal trainer, phone contract etc, not sure where rest goes, and they still ask to borrow from me

What do they do to 'earn' the money?

And I hope you have the good sense to say no to their demands for more?!

My son had less than £90 a week for himself, his gf and their son!!! and it sure as heck wasn't disposable money!

I actually think it is incredibly irresponsible to give them that much money to fritter on themselves. What do you hope it will teach them? It obviously isn't teaching much in the way of budgetting or any life skills if they are asking for more.I know what my oldest would have spent it on had he had the opportunity and it would probably have landed him in an early grave!