Tell RoosterMoney your thoughts about pocket money - £250 voucher to be won! NOW CLOSED

[JustineBMumsnet]

Following the release of their latest Pocket Money Index, RoosterMoney would like to know your thoughts surrounding pocket money. RoosterMoney is a pocket money app that’s designed to help parents take kids from their first steps in understanding the value of money to their first bank account.

Here’s what RoosterMoney have to say: “The Pocket Money Index is a fun glimpse into the habits of young pocket money earners in the UK. Every Family gives pocket money differently and ultimately it's up to you as to how you approach it. As the world of money becomes more digital it can be harder to teach kids about money, so RoosterMoney aims to provide some structure along the way."

So, take a look at the Pocket Money Index and post your thoughts on it below. Also, if you’re a regular pocket money giver, RoosterMoney would like to know if your children are on par with the index, and what your children do to earn their pocket money – do they complete chores, have a reward chart, or maybe they get it on a regular basis without strings attached?

All those who post below on the thread will be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £250 Amazon voucher.

Thanks, and good luck with the prize draw!

MNHQ

[Sammyislost]

I love the idea of giving my children pocket money...A perfect tool to teach children how money has to be earned before it can be spent, also how money has to be saved before they have enough for something more expensive, and also teaching maths etc!
At the moment, my children aged 3 and 6, I don't give physical money for chores etc. Instead we reward with marbles, and 50 marbles can be exchanged for an activity. When i give proper money, it will be for homework, chores and behaviour!

[MrsMarigold]

My children are keen to have pocket money. My dd is 4 and a spender, my ds is 5 and a saver. I think that the figures suggested by rooster are quite generous especially for chores, I feel paying children for everyday things like making their beds is risky, but if they go the extra mile fair enough. Apparently as children, I was a super saver but Dh frittered away his money on sweets, nowadays he is the saver and I'm the spender. I'm all for lessons in budgeting and cash flow for teens. Financial education should be a priority for every teen.

[ILostItInTheEarlyNineties]

I have young teenagers and we give pocket money when we can afford to. It averages out at around £2.50 a week but I pay for their phone contracts (£5 a month) myself. I don't reward chores with money but will give some extra money if they do well in tests or exams at school.
It's an important lesson in life to save for something you want, look for the best price and buy it yourself.
My children also receive money from a few relatives at Christmas, on birthdays.

Most money is spent on Xbox games, going out, food/drink when out with friends and fashion clothes/trainers etc.

[jobnockey]

My DS is 7 and gets £3 a week, usually paid on a Friday. He gets it for 'being good' which is a bit vague but basically gets docked if he is rude or moans too much about doing homework. I sometimes offer a bonus for helping out with housework but usually helping around the house and garden is included in the £3.

He generally chooses to spend it on phone games (for my phone as he doesn’t have his own), sweets, crappy little toys that I would refuse to spend money on, and this week he asked for me to order him a pokemon book online.

I think he really likes the idea of saving it all up and having a big chunk of money but he’s always tempted into buying something! I try to let him be independent with how he chooses to spend it but put my foot down occasionally especially if he wants to buy stupid in-app purchases – I try to explain they’re a waste of money and just sucking him in to spending more time in the game… not sure he agrees with me but tough!

He likes being able to just go into a sweet or toy shop and get what he wants without me having to agree to it – it gives him a sense of independence and he knows that once the money’s gone, that’s it, so hopefully he’s learning a lesson.

[SerenaVanDerWoodsen]

I like the marble idea Sammy. I might give that a try for my DC when they are a bit older. I think my DC are a little young for pocket money at the moment. DD1 often gets given birthday money, so she understands the concept of saving and working out what she can afford. I think the pocket money index is interesting although it does seem a bit high for some basic tasks. I do intend to link pocket money to tasks and good achievements and behaviour when they are older, so will watch this thread with interest.

[WowOoo]

Mine get less than the national average according to their research.

They will only get this if they've done what they need to in the house which includes tidying their rooms and setting and clearing their plates from the table.

I will give them a little bit extra now and again if I'm feeling generous on payday and I think they deserve it.
My eldest is very good at saving. The younger one is far more impulsive and thinks spending £4 on a magazine for the plastic gift on the cover is great value.

[AliciaMayEmory]

I think that we are a little behind with pocket money . We have 2 DC aged 9 and 7. We give the opportunity to earn up money by doing household chores, but don't give any other money. I think may be we should give them a nominal amount and then give them the opportunity to earn more if they wish.

[BabyGanoush]

Oh, mine are right in line with the graphs!

My 13 year old gets 5 pounds a week, on a Saturday.

he does not have to "earn" this money.

he is expected to help a bit around the house, walk the dog when needed, wash up etc.

However, I don't use it as a reward or punishment.

I recently set up a debit card for him so he can buy things online, which he loves. Cash is a bit old hat! So now do direct debit

[whirlywhale]

Have never given regular pocket money as tend to give when needed (within reason lol!) this is a nice idea, knowing how much to give is always a problem as all families are different so having an app to go to and use is fab...

My dd (14 ) has started a paper round so I tend to top that up now so she has money when she goes out with her friends. My ds (11) has more money than all the family put together as never spends birthday and xmas monies...

The app as looks like a fun to use money management tool that is bright and cheery and easy to use!

[asuwere]

I don't give regular pocket money yet but they do earn treats by good behaviour. I do enforce the value of money when shopping so they are aware of how much things cost. They also learn from any money they get for their birthday and when they want something, they do have to save up for it.

I generally don't like to reward chores around the house as I want the DC to realise that they are jobs that need to be done and it's for their benefit too (I don't get paid for housework so neither should they!)

[Quills]

DD (7) gets £2 per week, and DD (2) gets 50p per week. They're both expected to do age appropriate chores for that (tidying up room, dirty clothes, washing up etc) and can each earn a little extra if they go above and beyond what's expected of them.

The youngest saves hers religiously as she loves her 'shinies' and doesn't want to hand them over to the shop but DD1 is always saving up for something she wants. I don't like her wasting it on sweets (though I will say she can have a comic etc instead of her weekly pocket money) but I encourage her to save by offering to match her savings towards a big ticket item.

[forkhandles4candles]

My DC would love pocket money but I say if they have it I won't buy them things as and when. So they prefer as and when. They get £1 from their nan and do save.

[marymanc]

My DC receive only £1 each every Friday, but £5 every fortnight when they see their grandma without any special behaviour. They also receive rewards in form of gifts for good reports, for completing points charts for good behaviour and academic achievements.

[bettythebuilder]

Hmm, I have been thinking I'm a bit stingy with dd's pocket money, and it seems I'm right! Dd who is 13 gets less than half the average, I've mentioned increasing her pocket money by a couple of pounds a week BUT only if she helps around the house a little. She currently does nothing but create mess

[KAKADU2001]

AW & FW don't get direct regular pocket money as such but for doing jobs around the house they get points. They also get points for doing well at school. The bigger the job around the house the higher the value of the points that they earn. I set targets and unless they hit them they only receive a minimum token. If however, they hit the points targets they get a bigger reward but it is not always a financial one. To manage their score we use a chart on the wall. It's great because it puts a bit of a competitive edge to it.

[kslatts]

My dd's are 17 and 14 and they get £10 per week pocket money paid directly into their bank accounts. There are no strings attached to the pocket money.

I also pay for their monthly phone contracts. If they want to buy more data during the month then they pay for it out of their pocket money. To earn the phone contract they have to wash and dry up every night.

[lorka]

The grandparents tend to give our children pocket money and we put money in to savings for them. However, we do buy them bits and pieces when we are out and about and we give them a cash reward for a good report or when we are going on holiday.

[lionheart]

Mine get pocket money but often forget to ask for it.
They remember if they happen to be saving for something in particular and sometimes petition for back-pay.

[WuTangFlan]

We haven't quite figured out pocket money... though we let the kids "earn" by spotting things on car journeys. Keeps them quiet!

[Tonkatol]

I have four children - the eldest three are 21, 19 & 17 and the youngest is 10. My attitude has changed since my eldest three were younger - they didn't receive pocket money until secondary school, whereas for the past few months my youngest child has been receiving £10 pocket money per month. The main reason was she was asking for something every time we went shopping. When the older three were around her age, they knew money was tight and understood that, if I bought one a comic/sweets/toy, then I would have to buy all three something, which would soon mount up. Obviously they did receive these things occasionally, but they weren't generally expected. They were all rewarded for good reports, being particularly good/helpful and other similar things. Once they went to secondary school, they received £25 pocket money a month, which was paid directly into their bank account. I also paid for phone contracts for them once they were at secondary school. My youngest daughter seems to think money grows on trees, even though she knows that we struggle. I give her the £10 pocket money when I get paid each month and, for the first couple of months, it was spent within a couple of days but she is beginning to realise she needs to make it last, which can only be a good thing.

[Saltlake]

Mine are below par. From junior school they get pocket money each week. Half us theirs, the other half they have to earn through child specific chores, although as a de facto I work on the basis they will be getting the money and doing the jobs/homework rather than optional doing it for more money. Seems more positive, and I think makes more of an incentive because it's theirs and they lost it rather than "not this week thanks."

[SouthWestmom]

I love the visual.
I think pocket money is really important for independence, budgeting, freedom etc.

Ours get 10 a month til secondary and then it goes up to 25 and then 50 at 16. Plus phone contracts on top.

We buy all essentials and they buy the frilly bits:

[bambooleaves]

We give our 4 and 6 year old £1 a week... Well, when someone remembers! We started it as a way to physically show our materialistic 4 yo the value of things and appreciate worth and have to say it has worked on a basic level (appropriate for her age.)

The index is odd. Why is Lego not classed as a toy? And the sample size is crucial to know how accurate the figures are- presume they use mean average and is that pushed up massively by a few anomalies (rich people?!)?

Not sure I agree with giving money for activities I'd seen as normal like helping with housework and doing homework.

Pocket money for us is about teaching our kids the value of money, self control and responsibility. Not about a reward- I'd do something else to reward them... Tho may change as they get older!!!

[PickAChew]

My 12yo gets just £3 a week, unconditionally, to do as he pleases with. He went through a phase of buying sweets, but stopped after he ended up chucking most of them away. Went through a phase of blowing most of it on a £2.99 magazine. Stopped when he realised he never had any money left for anything else. Lately, he'll buy the odd pen or notebook, but mostly sits admiring his growing pile of small change!

Last year, we experimented with putting a tenner a month into one of those tins that can't be opened. He bought himself a shiny new MP3 player with most of it, but then got birthday and christmas money and was a little overwhelmed. It ended up sitting in a drawer for about 6 months until the old laptop he'd been using disintegrated. We put what was left of his money, plus this year's tenners, towards a shiny new one for him. I went into shops with him to work out what he liked and disliked about various laptops, but he was intimidated by the 3 figure pricetags, so DH and I ended up choosing him one after we happened upon something suitable in John Lewis' refurb sale.

[purplepandas]

We ask them to make their bed and tidy up clothes etc. Still small here though. All for 50p.