Pocket money

When ds was that age I think he got £10 from us and £5 per week from my mum and dad. It increased with age from us and from mum and dad. Also paid all his clubs and for clothes, toiletries, phone and guitar lessons. We also paid into Parent pay each month for lunches and paid bus fare. I don't thinks children can be expected to pay for their school lunches and food and for the fare to school. Pocket money was fun money for treats and trips out with friends. If you can start at £10 Op it will be better as he will need more than £5 to socialise with friends.

mine get £20 a month on their card then if they are going out £20 unless they are going to get some clothes and bits then I'll give them £50 but can add to their card when they are out if needed.

I'm stingy, my kids get double their age x10p per week so my 11yo gets £2.20 but I still pay for all her basics so it's actually intended for the sweets and trinkets she wants on holiday etc. she also saves for bigger things.

I have an instant savings account under my main account and transfer money in and out when I pay for things for her and I'll give her cash if she wants it. Add birthday money to it.

She'll have her own account when she's 12.

A while ago I started pocket money for my four grandchildren, at the time 10,11,13 and 15. Opened accounts and monthly paid. The main idea was that they didn't have to ask or persuade parents, they could do well or make mistakes but when it was gone it was gone

One granddaughter used it to take her mum out for tea and cake monthly. Other granddaughter bought keep fit equipment. Youngest boy didn't spend a penny for ages as he was saving for a huge Lego, I was delighted when he broke that self imposed rule and started buying stuff when out with his friends. Oldest grandson ... granny, could i have it in the middle of the month, that's when I'm broke!

All 3 DDs 7 to 13 get £2/week and earn extra for chores, they can earn upto an extra £6/week.

I think it’s ott to police a high school child on spending their pocket money on sweets, if this is the first time having their own money they are going to want to spend it on what they want, especially as they get more freedom and want to fit in with new friends. Plus it’s either their money or not! In today’s money £5 won’t get them much in the way of sweets anyway.

All 3 have GoHenry accounts they manage themselves, have had them since 6yo, oldest 13 has her card and our bank card linked to her phone. DH also added his McDonald’s rewards to her phone, she goes once a month after school with friends and uses his rewards rather than make her pay herself. She uses public transport which is unreliable so can use our bank card if she needs, public transport is also paid with from our card. We will be making sure our 11yo has the same options when she starts highschool.

All 3 are good at saving a portion of their money, they regularly set savings goals for themselves, my 7yo has just bought herself a gaming chair with her own money, she hadn’t been spending her pocket money and that mixed with left over Christmas money she decided to get herself a chair because DH and I said we weren’t buying her one. There was obviously a novelty of having their own money at first, spending because they could, but that wore off quickly.

Id definitely recommend incentive pocket money and give him freedom to enjoy him self before encouraging him to think about saving and what he spends him money on. We never pushed our DDs but after a while if they asked for something we’d say we can’t buy it but you can save your pocket money to buy it, eventually they just started to do it.

My DS just finished Year 7 and I keep him topped up so he always has £5 but max £5/week. Most weeks he'll spend £3-5 at the local chicken shop. I alternate between Revolut or cash. Most local shops prefer cash.

So as I said, you must know that you're 'overly generous' as you put it?

COL impacts people differently. Not everyone needs Child Benefit to cover day to day costs. I was always the child with no money on days out with friends and vowed that my children wouldn't be that child.

Well yes, but surely you know this considering the COL has been going on for years?

That is super generous. We put cb in child trust fund every month from birth to save for university. We give 10pds a week pocket money but probably pay for more things directly and dd gets quite a lot of birthday and Christmas money from relatives.

I must be overly generous because I've given DD £100pm from y8. She's going into y10 now. It's the child benefit and I have to get used to not having that money soon just as much as she has to get used to budgeting. Benefits like that don't last forever.

My 6yo gets £2 a week. She’s pretty good at saving up for stuff which surprised me, she has her own bank account and I update her with how much is in it, then she’ll usually use it to buy a few sets of Pokemon cards or a plushie every so often. She saved for two months for one of them! £5 seems a good start if he hasn’t had it before.

I am going to give my nearly 8 year pocket money but not yet sure how much. I was thinking about £1.50 a week? We aren't on a high income.

I would link the £5 PW to a regular chore - one of mine unloaded the dishwasher daily, another kept his shared bathroom clean & tidy, nothing onerous.

Just for balance, we started pocket money last year when DD1 turned 5, and she got £1 a week. If we have an ice cream out and about, I pay, and I don't want her buying a small toy every week – we'd be overrun (especially as she's got a younger sister who we'd need to be fair to)!

A year in, that feels like about the right level for her – yes, she's bought some sweets and some pocket money tat (and that's part of what it's for!), but she's also been able to buy some small toys that she's really enjoyed and learnt the magic of secondhand to get some bigger things she specifically wanted.

What is wrong with buying sweets? Isn't that the point of pocket money.

My 16yo gets £25 a month.

12 & 14yo get £20

But my 16yo helps a lot round the house as well and picks up extra chores without needing to be asked so she gets more. But if she wants to go to the cinema or anything we still pay for her.

She mostly saves up for specialist art supplies. My 14yo rarely spends so has saved £600.

12yo it burns a hole in her pocket and she tends to buy sweets.

They all have a bank acct.

My 16yo also earns money when she teaches at my karate club.

We gave DS17 and DS15 about £8 a week at that age but now they gave £20 a week plus more if they wash the cars or do other gardening jobs.

It’s really not, I spend way more then that on her every week, and ice cream, snacks before her activities, a toy she likes when out in a day trip, the odd magazine, a new book she sees, hair accessories. It adds up to a lot. I’ll be buying less of those things myself and she will be learning to budget and pick things that she can afford.

No pocket money up to now seems a bit hard but still- we went with £1 per week at about 5 yrs old so about £5 pm give or take in 1999. Grandparents said it was too much, my response was that it wouldn't even buy a Magnum ice cream. As DD got older it went up accordingly. £5 won't buy much, it depends what you want DC to be able to buy for themselves.

I used to use the local authority children in care guidelines. Children in care have to be given a small amount of personal pocket money each week to allow them to be on a similar level to their peers. It varies by local authority but mine is currently about £5 per week for an 11 year old and £6.40 for a 12 year old.

Basic phone, clothes, toiletries etc are meant to be covered by the carer but specific wants (branded clothing/toiletries etc) can come out of pocket money.