Pocketmoney Discussion Thread

Chezza71

Hi, how much do you give your children for pocket money and do they have to earn it? I've been giving my 8 year old son £5 a week - do you think this is too much? He tries to keep his bedroom tidy, takes out the rubbish for me - not a lot else!! He can spend it on whatever he likes (sweets, Doctor Who magazine) and sometimes saves up for something big.

ailuro2

My DD (aged 9) gets £2 a week paid into her savings account directly.

imho, £5 is a lot of money he is being allowed to squander on rubbish every week. Just my tuppence though.

We pay around £13 a week for her martial arts, gymnastics,swimming, so I'm not a skinflint!And also we pay for the gradings at £25 each every few months.:eek:

DD also gets a clothing allowance to show her how to budget, she buys her own shoes, clothes etc, and is encourged to think whther she needs or wants something. So far she's really savvy, and although her shoes are expensive she spends the rest wisely, and loves a bargain.:D

Chezza71

I do try and guide him as to what he spends it on - telling him not to waste it and he doesn't have to spend it all! He also goes to Cubs which I pay each term (£23). I am going to try and encourage him to save £2 a week in an account so he can watch it grow.

kippygirl

I will be watching this thread with interest as our 7 yr old currently gets no pocket money at all!! He's mentioned a couple of times that other kids get pocket money and I've skirted the issue! I'm not sure that he needs pocket money. He gets a total of about £30 to £40 spending money each birthday and Xmas from various people and usually uses that to buy one thing then puts the rest in his savings account. Occasionally he'll get a pound or two from grandparents, maybe £5 from them for holiday spends. I'm not sure that he'd appreciate his money as much if he just had more of it to spend on rubbish but I can see the value of learning to budget and allocate a regular income.

As for "earning" the money, I don't really like the idea of having to pay him to help out around the house as he should be helping out anyway (and he does) although I know some people swear by this.

We spend a few hundred pounds a year on his taekwondo and money on beavers, swimming etc so it's not so much the money but the principle of it.

I think he does already appreciate the value of money and spends it wisely even though he doesn't get pocket money as such. He probably has about £6 or £7 in his money tin at the moment and, bless him, he came the other day with a Barnados collection envelope from school and was so touched by the story about a little boy that the charity had helped that he got £1.25 out of his tin and put it in the envelope without a word.

Nicola

Garnet_Gem

I'm not sure how much a child should get in pocket money but I think it's good for them to earn it and save a bit of it. Teaching them young may keep them out of the bankruptcy court in the future!

BernadetteN

Our 11 and 9 year olds get £5 a month paid directly into their bank accounts. They have chosen this year to save all of the money, plus the 11 year old got a £150 sports grant from the local council which he has put into his account. The result is that between the 2 of them, they will be buying their own Christmas present (which they will not get until January probably) which is a Nintendo Wii. They have £90 left between them in their savings for 2007.

I also buy them about 50p worth each of chocolates or sweets every Saturday plus for jobs around the house, they get 2 or 3 packs of Match Attack cards each week (that about 50p each). So they get another £1 per week spent on them. As it is, I think I'm perhaps over-generous as I give each of the older boys around £2 a week in total.

I do think £5 a week spent is far too much for that age - just think how much it will cost if your child expects a pay rise every year by the time they ar 16 years old???

I do however spend a whopping £116 a month on activities for the 4 kids - that's 15 hours of swimming, an hour of dancing, 1 1/2 hours of Cubs, an hour of Rainbows and 4 1/2 hours of rugby, so I spend far too much on the kids.

iceicebaby

I think the amount you give isnt as important as what the child spends it on. If you can afford to give then a fiver and they save most of it this is better than the chid who is given say £3 and wastes it.

elmer

My children get 50p per day for keeping their bedroom tidy, beds made etc, and they dont qualify for that day if its not done, and £1.50 for cleaning a bathroom each and hovering upstairs or downstairs once a week. ie we have two bathrooms so whoever cleans upstairs bathroom also hoovers upstairs.
This comes to £5.00 per week if they keep their room tidy or £1.50 if they only do their weekend chores. The house is much tidier if they have lots on, as I wont dish out any more money if they havent earned all their pocket money that week.
My kids are now 12 and 14 but we have been doing this since they were 7 and 9.

Elmer x

amanda40

I usually try to give my two ( 6 & 8) £2 per week if they make bedsveryday, take through dirty dishes, clothes etc - but if it does not get done they don't get the money! They just put it in their piggy and usually save up for whatever they are looking for.

C32AMG

Their age should be the monthly pocket money, IMO. Too much and it gets squandered without learning about money, and too little and they'll just feel upset as all their friends are 'earning' money. Should be paid directly into their account, so as to spend it they have to physically withdraw it from the bank. This means effort and a realisation that their balance will decrease!

Maybe double this amount between the ages of 13-16, as they'll want (read need!) more expensive items, but by 16 they should be earning themselves (even if it is a paper round or part time job!).

Between the ages of 0-5 I would just put the money aside into an interest account and give them access to this at 15/16. (Won't be much, but still a bit).