Give pocket money as pay, otherwise you're 'trust fund teaching': blog discussion

racheldawson

when our kids were very young we would save pasta - one child had green dried spirals and the other saved orange spirals. When they had saved 20 we would let them choose a present from a box. This saved us being nagged so much when we were out, because if they wanted a small toy or magazine or something it would go in the box and be saved up for with pasta. When they got to 7 we swapped the pasta for 5p coins and introduced pocket money. They get 5ps for jobs (emptying the dishwasher earns 20p) and cash in every £1 of 5ps earned which is counted once a week. They have a small additional amount of money as weekly pocket money - this is just 10p per year of their lives, so the 10 year old may be gifted £1 and also have earned £1. The gifted pocket money is based on them putting clothes away and keeping their rooms tidy, the earned money is extra jobs. They save 10% of the earned money to have a concept of saving.
Once the primary school took the whole class to poundland to buy anything in the store they liked. this seemed to be a great idea for younger children as it was freedom within boundaries, and the kids had to save £1 first.

shepkaren

When my son age 13 goes out with his friends after school I normally give him £3 and occasionaly they go to cinema on weekend and he has £20.
I recently decided to give him £15 per week and then he has to manage his money accordingly by choosing when he goes out how much he spends. Whatever he has left over he must save for future outings with his friends. He doesnt help out at home unless asked to do us, he then does tasks reluctantly. We do struggle to give him £15 per week, as his friends get so much more. After reading other posts on here I need to sit down with my son and come up with a task list so he can at least "earn" this money.
My 9 year old son gets £1 per day if he goes to the park with his friends to spend in the park shop.
Any advice/comments would be appreciated.

McG_Clan

My eldest son (nearly 8) has just bought his own Nintendo DS Lite after saving up for it since he was 6 1/2. My hubbie bought me a console a couple of years ago, but DS ended up playing it more than me, although only at home because he was embarrassed to play a pink one anywhere else! :rotfl: So he decided to save up his money and 18 months on, has saved £100. :j
I've always been honest with my 3 children about the cost of things, and when we've been in town if they start nagging about some toy or game, I'll explain what we could get instead, for instance, a £45 wii game could pay for half the food shopping bill, or a tank of diesel and I ask what they would do - eat for a week or fill up the car to go places or have a game they might play a few times.

DS gets £2 for getting 10/10 in his weekly maths tests (he's struggling with times tables so I have doubled the incentive!) and £1 for 10/10 in his weekly spellings. If he helps out at home more than usual, tidies the car etc. he also gets 'reward money' (up to £1.50 per week). If he passes an exam/certificate etc. then he gets a one off £5. He also tends to save money from Christmas or birthdays. In the past he's spent some money on a comic or something similar, but realised that he doesn't really read it after the first time, and so told me it was a waste of his money!!! :rotfl:

He is very sensible for his age on the whole, but generous too. He will sometimes ask to take out £2 from his savings pot to get a drink and sweets for himself and his brother and sister from the machines at the leisure centre, not expecting any thing in return. :A His sister (5) has learned from this and has offered to share her pennies and take turns! DD gets 50p a week at the moment for practising her reading and keeping her room tidy, until she gets spelling and maths tests next year!

It's important that kids learn from an early age that money doesn't grow on trees, and they have real-world examples to learn from i.e. wii game v. food bill, that they can't just whinge or tantrum their way into getting what they want every time (though there is always room for an emergency 'bribe'!!!) I also rewarded DS's achievement of saving up and paying for his own Nintendo by paying for a case and skin for it, which was what he was going to save for next! His next goal is a Nintendo game and his own digital camera!

Justamum

haggisheid2010 wrote: »

My son (13) gets £5 a week and my daughter (7) £2 a week, My son empties the dishwasher and helps around the house, on the weekend he swept up the leaves and cleaned the Trampoline.
I thought that this was the average amount that kids got according to surveys, but after reading some of the comments, i might review it, as i struggle to give this amount, but i didn't want him to feel left out, as his friends all get money.

I don't give my children pocket money any more as I can't afford it. However, when I did I gave them 20p a week for each year of their age, so a 13 year old would get £2.60 and a 7 year old would get £1.40.

It used to annoy me as a child when my two older brothers got different amounts (the eldest got most, obviously) but my sister and I got exactly the same (and we're not twins!)

Justamum

shepkaren wrote: »

I recently decided to give him £15 per week

That's a heck of a lot of money:eek:. Do you have that much each week to spend on yourself? If not, then maybe you should definitely think about reducing the amount you give him.

immoral_angeluk

I'm glad that this has come up as my eldest (5) is starting to get interested in money and buying things for herself. Think I'll do her a chore chart and get her to start earning some pocket money...

papoosue

I'm glad I found this discussion now. My DD has asked a couple of times now about pocket money, she is 11, almost 12 and about to go to high school. A lot of her classmates seem to get an extortionate amount of money on a daily basis - most of which they seem to spend on sweets! My DD has never done that and I wouldn't want her to, but I do think she could do with some pocket money as she is getting older and wants to buy little things for herself and also save for things (she is a good saver). I need to decide on what basis pocket money is given though and I find that a bit tricky. I will have to have a think about it and maybe draw up a chore chart for her and her younger brother (9) so they know what is 'earned' and what is expected to be done as part of the family.

Great discussion!

K8ee

I gave a small amount of pocket money per week (5p per year of age), and since we got fed up with trying to find the coins needed we put it into a book each week which was like a bank book. They are now 25, 22 and 19
They could take it out whenever they wanted, provided it was there. If they wanted to buy something useful, or "worthy" then I would give them a percentage extra, e.g. sweets - they paid 100%, books - they paid 25% and I made up the rest, lego toys 25% and I paid the rest. This way they could reasonably afford more expensive things which I felt I would like them to choose to buy, but their spending power for sweets was more limited. They were each expected to do a job to help anyway. I also paid for anything they wanted to do: Instrumental lessons, chess club, Highland dancing, occasional visits to cinema with friends, etc. as well as necessities like clothes. Their friends got quite a bit more, but had to pay for more, so I don't think they felt left out. They said they were happy with the status quo. They now are very good at managing money, and are careful to spend wisely, and they don't feel the need to "keep up with the Jones' ". When they ask for birthday/Christmas presents now, they ask me for the things I would like to give them as they know I'll automatically be more generous!!

soupdragon99

I used to be a bit haphazard with pocket money, but I've recently started giving my kids a monthly allowance-- £1 per year of age. From this they are meant to buy any extras that they'd like, though I do subsidise approved purchases to some extent (eg about 50% for books etc). I get all their clothes for them at the moment. They are meant to save some into their accounts, though interest rates aren't much of an incentive currently!
In return I expect my two bigger boys (9 & 11) to take turns emptying the dishwasher and help with other small tasks around the house, though the tasks and money are not directly linked.
I'm always looking for tips in this area though-- I do think it is important for kids to start thinking about money early on. I always talk about prices of things when we are out-- both at the supermarket as well as the toy shops!
Different personalities though-- one saves and one spends!

angelcakes_smw

My mum never used to give me pocket money which used to really frustrate me! It shouldnt have done really because instead she would buy me the things I asked for (providing she had the money to do so) so it really only benefited me but I used to say to her "what are you teaching me?!" lol now that I have left home and have my own growing family I really want to instill some good financial common sense but just dont know what age to start. My eldest is 4 and does to a certain extent understand about saving but she still doesnt understand about worth (probably my own fault). Also, what 'jobs' do you give a 4 year old??? I just dont know when and how to introduce this to her properly.