Pocketmoney Discussion Thread

sticher

LOL my children also tell me I am the only Mum who does not give them pocket money unless they do chores! In fact I rarely give them pocket money, as they seem unwilling to do any chores they are asked to do. They do however unload the dishwasher/washing machine/tumble drier/empty the bin each day (there are 3 of them though) - which I think they should do without payment. If I offer them a deal of more chores for pocket money they are not interested (eldest is 14, others are 10 and 9 - all boys). I think it costs me more in effort to get them to do the little they do than it would to do it myself, BUT I feel they should help out.

ailuro2

50p per year of their age has been bandied about before- but not if they're working. This money is then docked if they don't do their fair share of chores.

For the parents of boys who do make them learn how a house runs I applaud you- there are so many apprentices who come through our department at work who have it all done for them at home, I tell them one day their lovely mother will have a daughter in law who resents her and the 'boy' will be left in the middle!:p
It seems to be a gender split society when it comes to chores,still.
I'm so glad my hubby had to do his share at home- I had a terrible time with a previous boyfriend who didn't even know how to separate a clothes wash, couldn't cook or iron.

bushcaro

ailuro2 wrote: »

50p per year of their age has been bandied about before- but not if they're working. This money is then docked if they don't do their fair share of chores.

For the parents of boys who do make them learn how a house runs I applaud you- there are so many apprentices who come through our department at work who have it all done for them at home, I tell them one day their lovely mother will have a daughter in law who resents her and the 'boy' will be left in the middle!:p
It seems to be a gender split society when it comes to chores,still.
I'm so glad my hubby had to do his share at home- I had a terrible time with a previous boyfriend who didn't even know how to separate a clothes wash, couldn't cook or iron.

They will empty the dishwasher..daughter keep her bedroom tidy - boys don't. 13 yr old paper round is only £4 per week ..would not be fair if he did not get any ( because he is working) as he is the only one getting out of bed at 6.30 on a Sunday morning..Daughter could get a paper round but has until reently done all the ironign for £10 a week - now seems to have gone off the boil..I work full time so used to be glad to pay her.

Kimberley

bushcaro wrote: »

They will empty the dishwasher..daughter keep her bedroom tidy - boys don't. 13 yr old paper round is only £4 per week ..would not be fair if he did not get any ( because he is working) as he is the only one getting out of bed at 6.30 on a Sunday morning..Daughter could get a paper round but has until reently done all the ironign for £10 a week - now seems to have gone off the boil..I work full time so used to be glad to pay her.

Can't they increase their money by getting a free paper round for after school? My two eldest have the free paper rounds, i won't let them do morning ones especially when it's still dark, so how about getting them one for after school as well? If not how about dog walking etc to add to their wages? My kids know i cannot afford to give them pocket money so in order for them to have money they have to earn it and look for these jobs. It also gives them a taste of working for their money.

Gingham_Ribbon

LOL the old 'my friends get money for nowt' trick!

You are doing the right thing. I have a 4 year old who gets 20p when he sweeps the living room floor, clears the table etc. He's been 'helping' since he was tiny and doesn't know any different. He asks to help so he can see the money in his penny jar growing. He nearly has enough for a bike now with the money people have given him for Christmas to add to his chore money.

Edit: he's totally rubbish at tidying his toys away though! It's an uphill struggle!

teecee152

I am another "horrible" mum who doesn't give pocket money! My DD is 9, I do give her £1 a week if she keeps her room tidy and feeds her rabbit (most weeks she doesn't get it!) however she understands that I simply cannot afford it. If there is something in particular that she really wants she will clear out her room and I take her to do a carboot sale. Any money she makes from her things she gets to keep. She really wanted a Nintendo DS for Xmas but i told her that as i couldn't afford one if she saved up half i would put the rest. Bless her she did 3 carboots, getting up with me at 5am and within 5 weeks had saved £55 towards her DS. I was so proud of her!

Newgirl_2

I don't have children but I suspect that all the ones who (alledgedly) get given pocket money for nothing will be the future members of the DFW board - in adulthood you have to earn you keep so I think it should be compulsory to teach children this.

Well done for doing this, you are giving your children a good start in life.
Newgirl

Wonder_Girl

Our 2DD's are 7 on Thursday, we operate a token system, they don't get tokens for doing what they are asked, they earn tokens by doing something without being told to (IYSWIM), they can however lose tokens for not doing what they are asked or being naughty. :rolleyes:

When they have saved up 20 tokens (This takes about a month) they can trade them in for pocket money, they get £1 per year, so it's just about to go up to £7! :eek:

This seems to be working well for the moment, I’m sure they will grow out of it at some point and we will have to come up with something new. Either way they won't get rewarded for helping round the house as they should do this anyway.

TAG

I agree with Newgirl she has hit it right on the head.

My 17 year old DD lives with her Dad. She left school in June of last year and quite frankly doesn't want to work. Why? Cos he's always and still does hand everything to her on a plate.

Idea 1 was to buy her a motorbike to help her activley seek work etc etc. So he bought the bike, paid for her CBT, paid the insurance and always kept it filled with fuel. She in turn was supposed to find work and keep the house up together etc until such a time as she gained employment.

Idea 1 came to an end when she failed to ensure the bike had oil in it and consequentley blew the engine. And, after 6 months still didn't have a job.

So, he is now on to idea 2. Driving lessons every week at £20 a pop. He's paid for her theory test (which she passed), bought her a car for £800, will pay £500+ to insure it for her, get it taxed and kept in fuel, if she passes.

I am absolutley livid over the whole thing. She has never had a job. Is not actively seeking work, because if the truth be known she doesn't want to work. And why should she when her father has failed to teach her the value of money by making sure she has to earn it to get what she wants.

Our DS who's 13 lives with me. He has a chores list every week from which he can earn £7.50 plus if he wanted to. It's just the basic empty or load the dishwasher, hoover your room, put dirty washing out etc etc. If he doesn't do it he doesn't gets paid. At the moment he's rolling in cash from Xmas so isn't doing any chores.

But I would far rather be called a meany mum, which I am on occassion, than set him up for one hell of a fall when he's older.

looby-loo_2

I was always hopeless at giving out pocket money but just bought things as and when they needed them. The first two accepted this and realised that they probably ended up with more this way, however, the now youngest has pester power off to a fine art, GCSE at grade A at least!

We have no idea why such a difference but decided that he should have pocket money and set up direct debit for all of them. As soon as the youngest could see his money growing in the BS account every month it was amazing how all those 'must have' 'really need' buys were not needed any more! At £20 a month he has almost £1000 as he has added birthday and Christmas money himself.

They get a birthday increase and will do so until they finish uni - and that will be age 25 for two of them!!!:eek: :eek: :eek: