Pocket Money for kids

kazd

I know this has probably been done to death but out of curiosity, how many of you give your children pocket money, what are their ages and how much.

I am thinking about giving mine pocket money as dd had a paper round but lost it as paper went to once a week and round was reduced to one person.

My husband was of the opinion that we just give them money when they want it but I am thinking that they should learn to manage it. For instance I always buy the sweets for the sweetie tin which they have twice at weekends along with a fizzy. I am planning to stop the purchase of sweets ( or maybe sell them to them, only because it is cheaper for me to get them frm Tesco than from the local mini mart.

I have seen people post that their kids are expected to buy their clothes as well out of the allowance which seems a bit extreme when they were nay talking about £35 per month.

Interested on your thoughts.

pinkclouds

My kids are 3 and 5 years old. (Hence the insomnia!) But they will eventually get pocket money, once they are able to manage it. (At moment I manage their financial affairs on their behalf - even their money boxes!) Personally, I started out with enough to buy a comic and some sweets, with some change to save, (weekly) rising up to about £250 (monthly) by university age with responsibility for savings, entertainment, clothing, etc.

If your daughter has a paper round, she must be at least 13 years old - definitely old enough for an allowance and some responsibility for personal expenditure and savings. My mom also made us keep a log of our accounts (for our own records, not for parental snooping) using single column cash books. I assume she also has at least one bank account? And is responsible for managing it? Whatever allowance you decide on, it should be enough to cover whatever you'd like her to take responsibility for buying - plus some extra to save. It doesn't have to be clothes: you could give her responsibility for buying her own books, stationery, toiletries or whatever you deem appropriate. You could also issue savings goals or challenges. When she gets older, that could extend to incentivised saving/budgeting e.g. matching her money for a large purchase, paying for a degree if she pays for the first year herself, etc.

I understand your husband's feelings (or I think I do), however, you can't halt the march of time. Tbh, I think she should have had pocket money or an allowance already but it's never too late to start.

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Forgot to add, allowance interval was also gradually increased as I got older. When you're very young, a week seems like a lifetime. However a teen can easily cope with a monthly allowance.

nonnatus

Until my children were 10, they got no official pocket money but I regularly provided comics and sweets in return for chores done around the house or fabulous homework etc.

When they reached 11 they were given a bank account which was deposits and withdrawals only (No debit card) into which I automatically transferred £20 each month.

On 12th Birthday they got the magical debit card and monthly payments went up to £25. I'm quite prepared to (and have done a couple of times!) stop this monthly payment if they haven't deserved it, but on the whole they are brilliant kids and I don't begrudge a penny.

This year, they are 15 and 14 and for the summer hols I have transferred £200 into each bank account to last them the summer hols. This has to cover everything. I wont be paying out for bus fares, fizzy drinks or ANYTHING else. In addition, daughter has found herself pleanty babysitting type jobs and son is working for a family friend (manual labour type stuff - he's a big strong lad!) If there is any money left I expect it to be spent on Autumn wardrobe stuff.

Three weeks into the Hols and Daughter proudly announced she has so far spent just £21.70, son spent nothing (he hasn't had a chance, he's working too hard )

This is an experiment for all of us in managing money in preparation for employment and whilst £400 seems like a HUGE amount, I'm sure I've saved money in the long run. I haven't had to pay for days out, cinema's, pub lunches or anything.

zaksmum

I've got one of those money counting jars for my grandsons, aged 9 and nearly 13, and I put around £5 a week each into it.

It mounts up quickly and if they need any money from it they can have it, otherwise they want to save it for holidays, Christmas etc.

My other grandson's just a baby, so too little yet for pocket money.

kazd

Some interesting replies.

Feeling guilty now, daughter is 15 and son is 12, also have son who is almost 18 but he has retained the paper round although his income has dropped dramatically since it went to once a week.

Have always given them money when they need it, yesterday for eg youngest had £2 just because he was going to friends for sleepover and friend would have money. Daughter got £5 as she has done a few jobs over last couple of days for me, hoovering stairs, cleaning bathroom. Youngest ds asked yesterday if he could have job to earn some money.

Was thinking about getting them the new citizen debit card, like the idea that it is pre-loaded and can't go overdrawn.

Ds would probably just spend the money on sweets and probably Xbox games. Ds would probably be horrified that she has to spend her money on toiletries, she uses liz Earle and mac makeup. Actually bought her a cheap mascara and she noticed the difference in that it bled into her wrinkles:eek:

I buy everything for her, having said that she only uses the bare minimum of makeup and not for school.

So I need to come up with some figures.

Tryagain_2

My son is about to turn 7 and for the last couple of months he has been getting £2 per week in 50p's. This enables him to save 50p each week in a special savings money box for birthday presents etc for parents (we've had some strange presents but they were within his budget & his choice), and he can spend the rest, mostly on comics or small toys from the charity shop. He also knows he has to save money for holiday treats ; i.e in a couple of weeks we are going to the tower of london & he will want to visit the gift shop so he has been saving £1 per week for that. We went to the British museam in half term & he saved up £10 for that, which I matched so he had £20 to spend; he had to make the choices what to buy within his budget & what to leave behind. Obviously he needs a lot of help with it at this stage but he is embracing the idea.
He wants a new DS game which he is going to save up for after the summer holidays. I have said if he can save half I will match it, as I feel it's important to keep goals achievable at this stage.
I plan to increase the amount each year on his birthday along with his responsibilities for saving & buying certian things. At the mo we buy most of his "wants" (within reason obviously-books are pretty much unlimited as long as we can afford them, board games when we see a good one, maybe a new sub-£5 dvd a month), but those small things which are within his pocket money budget he is mostly expected to pay for or go without. Big toys are reserved for his birthday & Xmas etc.
He seems to have learnt far more about money & maths in the last 4 months than in every maths lesson he's ever had!
I really like the idea of a "holiday" allowance, when he is big enough! Well done nonnatus:j
HTH;)

raven83

Mine have no officially pocket money either, I tend to give them a few quid here and there if they do some jobs for me, but to be honest there is no set amount. My older dd 9 is wanting to save for a tablet so I have said that if she helps me and does some chores I will give her £5. Plus their grand parents give them some money every week, anything from a a couple of quid each to a £5. I don't expect them to buy their clothes out of that, it's for them to spend/save on something that they want.

rachbc

Son 14 gets £30 a month. I buy essential clothes or contribute equivalent value if he wants to upgrade to designer he can, I also pay transport to his dads, school dinners and pay for him on fmaily trips. Everything else he pays for

cootuk

DD is 9yo. She doesn't get regular pocket money, but we will give her money to buy comics (if she works out the change correctly) and a small spend if we go anywhere.
When she goes to secondary school then we will give her a token amount each week, rising as she gets older and starts going out on dates.(eeeek)

shortstop

I don't have kids but thought I;d share what I got when I was younger.
Up until about 9 I just got bought whatever within reason and if mum said no that was final. Then when i turned 9 I was given £5 per week for myself, this was just for comics/mags and things that I wanted as opposed to needed. My mum would buy most clothing items etc but if I wanted a new top and I'd just been bought clothes or didn't need them I;d have to save for it.
This continued until I was probably about 13/14 then I got £10 a week and £5 on my school 'smart' card (pre-paid card for lunches) by this time I had a bank account so she would transfer the £10 into my bank and I would have the choice of spending it or leaving it there. This stopped when i left school and got my part time job. I had to fend for myself after that lol.
When I got a job I had to pay my keep, which was a set amount from my basic wage, which (I thought) went towards food etc, however when i moved out and got my first house she gave me a cheque and said she'd saved what I paid her for keep so I;d have something to put towards house stuff which i think is a brilliant idea .

CATS

Hi OP,

I started giving my son regular pocket money when he started year 7. I used to give him £2 per day, however this was a bit annoying for both if I didnt have the £2 on me. Last year I opened an account for him with a debit card (no overdraft credit, only has what is in account) I now put £40 per month on the 1st of every month. He is going to be 13 next week. However I pay £100 per month on his school dinners account so it doesnt come out of his pocket money. I buy all his clothes at the moment but I will start giving him an allowance of £100 every 3 months for clothes. I give him some money when he goes out. So the pocket money is really for games, DVD's, sweets and anything like that..