Child Benefit

[bithotinit]

A friend of mine mentioned that she gives her DC their child benefit each month to use for their spends so a bit like pocket money then she doesn't need to give them anymore money each month other then for essentials. I thought this was a good idea so wondered if anyone else does this and if so what are your DC expected to use it for, also obviously the first born gets a higher amount so do you split equally or does eldest DC get a bit more.

[corythatwas]

We were never wealthy enough to give them the whole child benefit: that was just too much spending money for somebody in our circumstances. But we did give them a £30 monthly allowance that was meant to do for both clothes and spending money. Though we did sometimes buy them expensive things like coats and shoes on top of this, and they got basic essential hygiene articles, like soap and shampoo, paid as part of our weekly shop.

We had a sliding scale so they got less when they were younger than they did later, but each got the same amount for that particular year of their age. Otherwise the eldest child would have ended up getting the higher child benefit for far more years than the younger child, which would be very unfair.

[bithotinit]

Did your DC have to pay for mobile phones out of that £30 corythatwas?

My DC have mobile phones, one with a contract for £30 per month and the other as a sim only costing £10 per month so straight away if I did their spends this way it's not equal but I do like the idea and definitely would think mobiles would be included in their spends/pocket money etc

[corythatwas]

No, those were either hand-me-downs or birthday presents. Otherwise I might have thought about upping the sum a bit.