Pocketmoney Discussion Thread

ailuro2

~I agree it's important they earn their money,and/or at least do something to help round the house. DD has to set the table, tidy (but not clean) her own room once a week, and helps out with food preparation - but that's not a chore for her, just something she wants to contibute to. She also has to put away all her clothes once I've ironed them for her. Her dirty laundry gets put in front of the machine by her too. She's pretty good, really.:D

With two parents working none of us can really leave stuff at our backside for too long, if we do the weekend disappears in tidying up.:rolleyes:

If we all keep the house a bit tidy during the week , we all get to play at the weekend.:j

kazmeister

Interesting thread as I had this dilemma a little while back. this is what I decided

Each child gets a pound a week for every year of their age so DD gets £8 and DS gets £15 equating to £92 every 4 weeks - so I pay it out of my child benefit money on the same day.

I initially had nightmares that I would be able to afford it and worked out what I had spent on them in the previous 6 months - and it was more.

Out of their money they have to pay for all clothes, magazines, sweets, cinema, sports, presents etc, basically everything except schoolstuff. This has saved me loads in sanity as I no longer get 'mum can i have, mum can I have .....' . Its a case of 'have you got any money left - No then you cant have it'. Simple and it works. DS is better and really tries hard but DD was a nightmare but is learning.

For that they have to do the following
Everyday
Make their own bed
Tidy their stuff away in their bedroom
Tidy their stuff from living room

Then they have to do jobs they swop each day
Swish/swipe kitchen after tea or Swish swipe bathroom
Sweep floors downstairs or walk doogie
Clear and wipe table after tea or unload dishwasher

For 1 job not done they get either 50p/£1 deducted
For 2 or more not done they get £1/£2 deducted

Each job takes no more than 5 mins (except dog walk and I have to go with DD) and they have a max of 6 to do.

This helps me as I work full time (and still cant get the house clean) and teaches them to budget because they have to account for what they are going to spend on their tae kwon do before they spend on anything else. It also makes them aware of how much things cost. And the biggest thing - I am actually spending less !!!!

vixarooni

kazmeister wrote: »

Interesting thread as I had this dilemma a little while back. this is what I decided

Each child gets a pound a week for every year of their age so DD gets £8 and DS gets £15 equating to £92 every 4 weeks - so I pay it out of my child benefit money on the same day.

Cor! They are lucky!

Trouble is, if i were getting £15 a week i would have never got a job cleaning at 14, or got a job at 17 in boots earning my own money. If mum was giving me that i would never have the need to go and get a little job id just be a lazy bum.

i guess that works for you and your family, but i could see that making some kids see no point in going out and earning a few pennies themselves.

kazmeister

vixarooni wrote: »

Cor! They are lucky!

Trouble is, if i were getting £15 a week i would have never got a job cleaning at 14, or got a job at 17 in boots earning my own money. If mum was giving me that i would never have the need to go and get a little job id just be a lazy bum.

i guess that works for you and your family, but i could see that making some kids see no point in going out and earning a few pennies themselves.

But they ARE earning it, and I get stuff done in the process which I wouldnt do if they were working for someone else, and if they cant be bothered to work they dont get paid.

kitschkitty

I have to agree with everyone else that it is about the value of the pocket money not the amount.

What they have to do for it, and what they are expected to spend it on (or save it for).

I must admit though that at 16 I think kids should have some sort of part time job, or those still getting an allowance should realise it is a cloths/food allowance or what have you.

I can't understand parents who pay for everything (literally) for children aged 17 - 18 and when I hear parents giving their children age 20+ money (not talking about loans) I think it's total madness!!!

Chezza71

Thanks for all your replies. I've now set up an account so that £2 every week goes in from his £5 so it's not all wasted!

The only extra I pay for is Cubs.

ckerrd

TBH our DS gets £4. Just because he is our DS. We ask him to tidy up after himself but it is not related to his pocket money in anyway, just something we give him.
He saves it up and uses it for things he wants. He has more money than me at the moment

RHYSDAD

I got nothing at all in the way of pocket money when i was younger and neither did my siblings (We never went without anything though) so i'd be reluctant to offer any to our little man and his Brother (on the way) anything like regular cash (they won't go without anything either) however, we do save around £75 a month for his future in his CTF and Halifax saver account. His Great Grandma also gives him £5 a month for us to use for him for days out etc. I wouldn't consider giving him money in his hand each week though.

izoomzoom

Interesting thread

My two boys are 8 and 6, and they get 80p and 60p respectively each week. They can buy anything they want with it although I do refuse to allow them to spend it on absolute rubbish (like those £1 toy vending machines).

Half the time they seem to spend it on junk, and the other half they seem to actually save it up. In recent months, they have both bought £20 / £ 25 big toys that they wanted. Admittidly they both had starting money (from toothfairy / birthday) but it wasn't enough for what they wanted so they saved for about 2 months. DS2 even lost £5 because he opened a 2nd tin of chocs that we had bought as a gift for someone else. He only had about 3 chos, so really expensive lesson learnt.

I do help them to save up their money too, because if they don't ask for it each week, or I don't have the exact amount readily available, it rolls over until the next week. They both have 5 weeks of accumulative money owing ...

We obviously buy all their clothes, pay for lessons, and they get treats (when the whole family gets), and DS1 gets £10 put into a savings account for him monthly - he started this when he was 7 and when he was 8 we went in to have his balance updated and he was chuffed at how much the bank had paid him. DS2 will get his account when he is 7 too.

FriendlyJ

:hello: Hiya all
We are currently in the process of reviewing the way our 15yr dd has money - at the mo it is on a pocket money/chore related system.
What I want to do is to get her to learn how to control her money by giving her an allowance per month - based on what she needs :rolleyes: not wants.
At the mo we pay for clubs trips out to town with mates, bus fares etc.
I want her to pay for these as well as clothing, presents for friends I will still pay for food & costly items like coats, shoes & uniform for school, but she can get the rest.
Clubs cost about £5.00 week & if she goes out she is usually give £20.00 :eek:
Does anyone else do the same thing & how did you work out how much to give per week?
Thanks J