Pocketmoney Discussion Thread

popularfurball

I got £20 a month from the age of 13, and wasn't bargained with RE: behaviour and chores (I was well behaved anyway haha, although terrible at chores!!)... And from that I had to get all birthday/Christmas presents - which made me learn how to budget ... and now I'm a MSE Addict =D

betterlife

hi i have a question about pocket money and savings for young children, i have 4 but the ones im wondering about are nearly 8yrs, 4.5yrs and 2.5yrs. i find theses thing hard as the younger ones are more grown up because of siblings, i find the 4yr old get treated the same as the older one because they have shared a room from young, and as to not leave to 2yr old out she gets thesame aswell. anyway to get to the point over the last year we have probably spent quiet a bit on treats and toys for the kids when they have been good or wanted something etc. but i have also tried to give pocket money aswell. we have stopped now as its close to xmas and we dont want to make things hard for father xmas, but next year i`d like to do thing differently. if i give one pocketmoney i feel i need to give all to make it fair, but who gets what, i want to stop buying them so many treats throughout the year but teach them to save for things they want and the value of money. any suggestions to what you would do or already do. thankyou.

hardpressed

When mine were little, and that's a long time ago, the amount of pocket money they got was based on their age, so they got an increase on their birthday. Don't know what the going rate is nowadays but they understood that the older one got more.

ben500

hardpressed wrote: »

When mine were little, and that's a long time ago, the amount of pocket money they got was based on their age, so they got an increase on their birthday. Don't know what the going rate is nowadays but they understood that the older one got more.

I think the going rate these days is about £300 per week plus a pick of the latest wii/360 games and mobile top up of about £50 and full access of landline over weekend once top up has run out, don't forget all online mp3 download bills too.

In return you can expect to have two dishes and a cup washed and the toilet seat wiped occasionally after use but if you want to push it then go for at least one errand trip for the morning newspaper a month.

I should add the above guidelines are for a seven year old and would need to be revised substantially upwards in respect of a teenager as they have to be in constant contact with their bro's

arlybarly

ben brilliant !!!!!!!!!!!!!

betterlife

hi i was wondering how much pocket money you give your children and how old they are. also do they spend it or save it. thankyou

shazrobo

my children are 13, i give one £4 a week, as he goes to resedential school, so he spends money on drinks etc, if staff take him anywhere of an evening, the other gets £1.50, and spends it at youth club on a saturday afternoon. anything else they require i buy at the supermarket

genieuk

I started giving my eldest £20 a month last year she was 12.5.
The easiest way form me was to open her a bank account with a cashpoint card and just had a standing order for that amount, so I never forgot or had to worry about change.

If we go out on family days we sometimes give them about £5-£10 each (we have 4 kids) for them to spend on rides or stalls etc, the older two come back with change. As we have technically given it to them they now don't want to spend 'their' money. Also stops us dipping in to our pockets when out.

Loopy_Girl

My daughter will be 7 in a couple of weeks and for the past year or so my Dad has given her £2.00 pocket money a week.

She is allowed to do what she wants with it and give her her due, she has saved up for a PS2 game on a few occassions (with maybe Mummy helping at the end!!). Just now she is buying that 'Cat Collection' magazine thing which is £3.99 every 2 weeks so basically that is her pocket money taken care of.

Every week I buy her the Dr Who magazine instead of giving her pocket money from me as she would only spend it on that anyway so when I am in the shop I get it for her.

I don't mind her wasting it on sweeties or whatever as I do know she has the capacity to save if she really wants something (unlike her Mummy who whips out her plastic!!!!:o )

princess

DS nearly 14 gets £25 per month, WOW subscription, and £10 phone credit. This has to cover all expenses, bus fares, trips out with friends etc. We find this cheaper than just paying for whatever he does and it also helps him to make choices. Today he had to chose between cinema £6.50, football match £10, or both. He chose not to go to football, as that would have been half his months money gone in one day - so well done him! Sadly though most of (no all of!) his friends went to both. They will also have had popcorn and coke at the movie, Mc Ds on the way to football and very likely a pie at the ground. So all in all they will have spent over £25 today alone.