How much pocket money do you give?

fred246

I opened bank accounts for mine and paid pocket money by standing order. £3 per year of age per month. So £36 a month for 12 year old. If you don't give them enough you will keep just paying for them. It's the psychology that's great. They want something useless. "Well it's your money. Where's the cashpoint?" My 14 year old pays for everything with her card. Not sure of minimum age for payment cards.

maman

TBagpuss wrote: »

I thinmk it depnds on what you are expectingthem to buy.

By the time I was 12, I no longer got pocket money, but instead got an allowance, which had to cover
-all non-school clothes ('School clothes' for this purpose included a winter coat, and shoes for school and games),
- toiletries if I wanted something different from what was bought for family use,
-leisure spending (so for instanace if I wanted to go to the cinema, go to a cafe, buy books, magazines etc)
- gifts for friends' birthdays etc.
- hair cuts / styling ( my parents would pay for a basic cut, but if I had wanted to dye or perm my hair I would have had to cover the extra myself)

As far as I recall, the amounts we got were initially based on how much family allowance my paretns received (I'm in my 40s, so that was probably wotrth more in real terms than it would be now)

The amounts were enough that I could afford to buy new clothes evey quarter, but did have to learn to budget - which was of enourmous benefit when I left home as I had already learned about managing money, budgeting etc.

If you go down that route, sit down and think about what you would normally, reasonably spend on your child and what things youare planningwould continue to be your expenditure, and what would be theirs (bearing in mind that part of the plan is to let them chose how they spend their money, so things you want to control may need to stay in the 'you will buy' list!)

That's almost exactly the process we followed with our DDs.

OP's child is 12 so will be at secondary school so is likely to already be going out alone/with friends and needing to spend money. I think that's the ideal age for introducing some independence and choice and real involvement in budget planning. Far better to start now and build on it than wait until they leave home for university or work. I really don't think being given a bit of pocket money for treats is the way to go at this age. That may be OK for younger children who always have an adult with them to foot the bill although even then I'd try to teach the value of money by making them handle a fixed amount of cash and make choices.

Illbedamned

£2 a week back in the 90's/early 2000's

So no idea what thats equivalent to now :rotfl:

Depends on how many kids you have, what you can spare etc

MEM62

How much pocket money do you give?

None. But then I don't have any kids :rotfl:

iammumtoone

svain wrote: »

Mobile phones are a necessity these days and is cost of having children and shouldn't reflect their pocket money.

Personally I don't think a mobile plan comes under the cost of having a child. I agree its a necessity for him to have a phone so I can call him but if he wants mobile data/text his friends etc then I see that as an extra which should come from "his" money.

iammumtoone

Thanks all, lots to reflect on.


I am now thinking of giving him £25-30 per month but this will need to include his mobile (will change to pay as you go) his xbox live and any other spends excluding clothes.


I think I will set him up a bank account and transfer the money each month. He will have to learn to budget, if he doesn't have any money for holiday spends etc then he goes without.


My only concern is I want him to be able to call me in an emergency. Does anyone know a pay and go network where he can ring my number if he has run out of credit (even if I have to pay the cost of the call from my bill).


Re chores I don't expect him to do any I don't believe children should do. I do however expect him to help when asked like if I ask him to put his clothes in the wash or clear the plates, this is different to having set chores he has to do every week.

fred246

We have used Giffgaff as a family for years. Realistically £10 to £20 per month. Kids use data like mad so he would always have minutes to phone you even if he had used up all his data. His Xbox is going to be £40 a year. The big question is phone handset. Ours had built up about £700 in their accounts before they needed new phones. So we got them to buy their own. So iPhones would have wiped out all their savings. So they made sensible choices and they really look after them because if they are damaged they have to buy their own.

username901

We're thinking of introducing pocket money for our near 8 year old, perhaps £5 a week. I was thinking of using the opportunity at some point of teaching them the dangers of credit, eg they could borrow an extra £10 one month but would need to pay back £15 the following month. Does anyone else do anything similar? I was never taught financial management

pimento

I used to give my now 27 year old 50p for every year of his age. So at 12, he'd be given £6 a week.

This carried on until he got his first job.

PuzzledDave

Nothing. I pay them 5% interest per week on the first £X they save (amount increases as they age).

They can also earn a little money for various jobs (e.g. reading books for X minutes)