pocket money for a 13yo

Miss_Behaving

I used to pay my son £10 a month which was paid into his bank account. As soon as he turned 13 he went out and got a paper round. Now he earns himself an average of £35 a month which again gets paid directly into his bank account. He seems to spend less now he knows the effort needed to earn it!!

My 8 year old gets £2 a week.

Contains_Mild_Peril

jackieb wrote:

If you give pocket money when do you hand it out?

I normally give mine his regular pocket money each Wednesday because that's the day I get child tax credit, so it's convenient for me. Money for chores (on the rare occasions he does any!) is given immediately after completion of the task(s), and any extra pocket money for school "praise stamps" is given when he reaches certain targets, though I geneally prefer to buy him a present as a reward rather than give him the money. Even if I had loads of money I would avoid giving him too much to spend as he pleases, because I know he'd buy too much junk food, and he's overweight already.

apprentice_tycoon

We gave our kids money of their own at an early age so that they learned to make considered choices. I can't remember the exact amounts, but about age 8 and 10 I remember one rainy day when we were stuck indoors telling them that I was reviewing their pocket money and I asked them to write down why they deserved a raise, I didn't tell them that it was just for fun, they were getting one anyway, it was such a giggle to read, we still have them put away for safe keeping

They both gave valid reasons but just for good measure they added 'worthy' ones like 'saving to get a better education' and 'saving to look after Mum and Dad in their old age' - how could I refuse? :rotfl: :rotfl:

We decided that they should have £1 per month for every year of their age, my son thought this was great and said 'that means when I'm 40 you'll be giving me £40 per month, WOW!' :rotfl: :rotfl:

After a year or 2 of this we decided that they should have a clothing allowance so they really did have to think long and hard about their choices, we agreed a figure with them that was paid into their bank once a month by direct debit, this covered all their clothes & shoes including school uniform.

rjh090384

fabwitch wrote:

Like you I have never giving pocket money but given them treats as and when. But now my daughter is 15 I have agreed to give her £70 amonth , the reason for this is so she can learn how to manage her money effectively. With this money she has to pay for her School dinners and treats. This will be the first month I have done this so I hope all goes well. I heard about this system on loose women when Coleen was saying she does the same with her children but they get a lot more. Maybe you could negiotate something similat for your child. Good luck.

£70 a month ....i wish u were my mum!!!
i got £20 a month when i was that age relaised it wasnt very much and got a job. i got £3.50 or soemthing ridiculous in the local chippy and worked something like 16 hours a weekk (weekends only) . this gave me £56 a week and I loved my independance and having work friend etc. when i turned 16 i got a better job waitressing at £5 an hour. it didnt take any influence off my studies at all and i did great in my exams.

LondonDiva

I had a set amount that included transport, school dinners and clothes. From that my parents sat down with me and worked out what percentage of that I was expected to save 'for uni' or a 'house'.

When I and a group of us started walking to school, they cut transport costs to 25% to incentivise me to carry on walking to school and to take into account social activities and getting about.

Once I hit 12/13, I was expected to know better than to ask for a top up, apart from extra special treats or some stuff when we were on holiday (although I did have my own spending money for mum to change up for me;)

When I got my first job at 15, we worked out my budget and apart from money towards birthday items, school trips or education related things, I stopped getting pocket money or asking for parents to dip into their pocket.

pippamannequin

Ive got a 13year old boy and an 11 yr old boy.
13 year old gets £5.00 a week, all sweets or anything, pictures they wanna see with their friends etc has to come from their money.
He does is fine. He even has £100 saved!!
11 year old gets £4.00 a week, he's forever spending the lot on pocket money day and always wants to wash my car, hoover, or anything else he can do to earn some extra so he can join his brother and go to the pics etc etc, It ends up the 11 year old prob earns about another £4 a week from me!
The 13 year old doesnt, he just spends wisely and never needs to do any jobs!!
All I ask from them to emsure they get their pocket money is that they keep their rooms tidy and on pocket money day I go in and make sure they are and I hold it back if they arent?!
Bit complicated but they never get anything else but their pocket money unless they earn it.
The rate they get is equal to most of their friends.
Dont know if it helps or not??!! I think Im fair and dont spoil them, and they are very appreciative children and i do get compliments often on their manners, always say thankyou, always kind and always gratefull.

Rabbit

We give our 11yo daughter £15 a month. £5 of that to be saved in her building society account for school hols / things she sees out and about. The £10 left seems to be working well for day to day spending. Since we started she has put a magazine back on the racks a few times after getting it to the checkout. Deciding on saving her money for a DS game instead.

I think I will increase it next September to £20 when she will be 12 and at high school after reading this thread. Maybe encourage her to still save some of it.

It is saving me a fortune, as once she knows she will have to buy sweets / mags herself she suddenly changes her mind. I provide a small multipack of crisps a week, yogurts n healthy snacks and maybe a chocolate bar for us all on a Friday night.

She can also earn a few extra pounds for helping out with grass cutting etc but I like her to do some small jobs when she's not up to her ears in homework on holidays / weekends just to help out as a family unit like I used to do for no extra cash.