Spending money for a 5 year old??

jo1972

OMG really?? 5 years old?? :eek:

Just think though, if you do decide to give him pocket money at 5, then you'll have to increase it from time to time and by the time he's 15 you might as well hand over your pay packet :rotfl:

flea72

we gave our 5yr old pocket money - she gets 50p a week.

at her age, its more about learning the value of money, and how to control her spending. i know 50p isnt much, but as i pay for everything she 'needs', then the 50p is her money to be frivalos with, and i get no say on how she has to spend it either. if she wants to blow it all on sweets thats her choice, but more often than not, she tends to save it, as she knows that if she only saves 2 weeks worth of money, she can have a real blowout in £land, and buy huge amounts of stuff, i wouldnt normally allow her to have

however, at present she has elected to subscribe to the awful Strawberry Shortcake magazine, so she gets no cash pocketmoney at all. - the magazine costs more than her 50p a week, but im prepared to pay the difference, as she hasnt got stroppy when she wants something, and i point out the choice she made

pocket money also doesnt have to be earnt and it cant be taken away, however priviledges can. chores arent paid for in our house, they are something you have to do whatever, so we dont put any monetary worth on them

Flea

LEWKI

Hi, my 3 kids "earn" any pocket money, they are 8,7 and 5. They each have a piggy bank and actually save their money. To earn the money they have to do little jobs, for example, all 3 were outside on Sunday washing the 2 cars (The fact that I had to come behind them and do it all again was irrelevant). They spent ages doing it and were really chuffed to get 50p each. All 3 of them are saving their money for our summer holiday and each have built up about £20 since going back to school last September.
They do also get "treats" when we go out as a family and they all get £5 each to spend on a siblings birthday present. They love this and get so much joy out of chosing a present for someone else

sweetpeas_2

Some brill advice here thanks everyone!
Maz, made me laugh with the half dead Barbie dolls from charity shops! Kids...!
I know Jo, I did think about that aswell! If you put it up by £1/wk every year until they are 12, it will cost a right bomb!

Strawberry shortcake, oh no. I don't really like it either, I think she looks a bit possessed (sorry to all the fans out there!).
But the 50p a week idea is good aswell. There are some brill ideas on here and it's really interesting to see what everyone else gives there children aswell. I was worried I was out of date or behind the times or something!
I am thinking about a set amount each day/week, and at the end of the week he can either spend it or save it as he likes. Could give him 50p a week to spend, 50p to save..?? hmm.

xx

Horace

Reading this has brought back some memories - my grandpa used to give me 3d a week but I soon learnt that if I spent it all on sweets then I wouldn't get any more money. I can remembery having an heavy metal moneybox from Birmingham Municipal Bank (now TSB) that I would put any money in that I had received as a present and as well as any left over money from my pocket money - I would either buy a few sweets or a copy of Twinkle - I soon discovered that my grandma had a hidden sweetie jar in the pantry where I could occasionally be allowed some sweets thus meaning that I could save a large proportion of my pocket money.....Those were the days.:D

jak

That's a difficult one really. When I was growing up we had chhores to do as standard. If we did extra ones then we got paid some money. 10p or so. I'm not sure what i'll be doing for my little one. Probably putting a set amount away for 'big' savings for the future and giving him a small set amount for his piggybank from quite a young age so he learns the value of money. Also very good for children educationally- eg. coin recognition etc.
Let us know what you decide.
J
X

snoopy_and_woodstock

Hi

We have decided that my DD (9) should earn her money instead of having pocket money, she is currently saving up for a nintendo game and has made it up to £21 so far doing little jobs around the house plus she has really enjoyed it.

I have also said that birthday and christmas money should be saved, she loves getting a bank statement and seeing how much she has saved up, i really hope this will teach her the value of money and to save for things you want.

Snoops x

sweetpeas_2

Horace wrote: »

Reading this has brought back some memories - my grandpa used to give me 3d a week but I soon learnt that if I spent it all on sweets then I wouldn't get any more money. I can remembery having an heavy metal moneybox from Birmingham Municipal Bank (now TSB) that I would put any money in that I had received as a present and as well as any left over money from my pocket money - I would either buy a few sweets or a copy of Twinkle - I soon discovered that my grandma had a hidden sweetie jar in the pantry where I could occasionally be allowed some sweets thus meaning that I could save a large proportion of my pocket money.....Those were the days.:D

Lol, Horace. Reminiscing.
While we're on the subject of the good old days, did anyone else know that they have started showing King Rollo and Button Moon on tele again?
I think what I will do is give DS 50p a week to save up, but continue to buy his bits and pieces as I do now. Like his comic or a few sweeties. He can then save his own money up for holidays to buy something he wants if we go out. I will ask him to start making his bed and folding his clothes up in order to earn his pocket money. (DH used to have an allotment and DS would go with him and help him dig, then come home and I'd give him £1 "wages" as he used to like calling them)
I think it will do him good to realize that sometimes you have to save your money if there is something you really want.

Thank you all for your ideas they have been very helpful, I'll let you know how I get on with the 50p a week idea!

xx

EmptyPurse

I had pocket money from around the age of five. Dad calculated it against the cost of a Mars bar - I got the price of a Mars bar each week. If the price went up, so did my pocket money.

I was allowed to spend my pocketmoney at the newsagent on a Saturday morning; it was my choice whether to spend the whole lot on one Mars bar or to buy lots of penny sweets. I wasn't allowed sweets 'on demand' during the week and didn't have chocolate biscuits or anything like that with my packed lunch. Overall had far fewer sweets than my peers and my parents (who didn't have a lot of money) didn't have to shell out vast amounts of money to a child who didn't really understand the value of money. It worked well.

unhappybuuny79

Personally I think it’s a good idea to give children money, but it has to be done in a structured way, otherwise is just giving the kids free run.

My nephews and nieces all have pocket money and are sensible about it because they respect them money they are given. They have to do chores and are encouraged to save the money in their savings bank, and a big deal is made of actually going and taking the cash to the bank from their piggy banks.

If they want anything (toys sweets etc) they have to buy their own, it sounds mean but they now respect the money they have. One of my nephews even has a spending diary and is making plans to purchase a new computer (he’s 7) he knows which one it is and and how long it will take to save for it, he hasn’t projected for Birthdays and such and so realises that these will bring the date forward) Admittedly it is a long way off,, but he now knows its either a new PC ( he has got my old one) or sweets, and he budgets accordingly (its frightening really to see someone so young so organised but its nice to know he’s got this sorted now rather than racking up debt later in life)

So I think if you want to give kids pocket money you have to make then learn from it. The earlier its done the more sensible they are.