Pocket money

[Dee1975]

Hi. Just interested in the ‘going rates’ for pocket money for children and do you make them do chores for it? I have an 8 and a 6 yo.

£2 per week for a 7 year old, supplemented with extra for rubbing my feet after a bad day!

My 7 year old gets £5 a week. No chores apart from keeping his room tidy and taking his plate to the kitchen after meals. It is conditional on behaviour, every time he misbehaves then he gets £1 taken away. I
don't buy him any toys/games any more apart from his on birthday and Christmas. If he wants something he has to save up for it. A lot of it goes on Robux 🙄

Just got a goHenry card for my 6 year old. It's not arrived yet but he's already responding to being able to earn 50p for doing things like keeping his room tidy and brushing his teeth without the usual arguments so hopefully when he sees his money mounting up it'll be even more effective. I'm putting £1 a week in as standard, and then he can top it up by doing chores as he's bloody told. I like that it's an actual contactless card so he can actually track his money and spend it in the shops.

My nearly 7 year old has a gohenry card. Its bloody awesome. She gets £5/week regardless and then she earns extra for chores. She wanted a cat, she has to feed the cat, keeping her room tidy...but we also use it to try and amend poor behaviour traits. So she is a bugger for leaving my parents when I get home from work so if she comes away nicely without misbehaving then she earns an extra £1.

It has taught her that if she wants something she has to work and save for it. It has taken away a lot of the arguments about her behaviour. A simple reminder that she won't earn her extra pocket money is enough of a warning. A lot of people think I am crazy and I have taken some major abuse on shops that she has her own bank card etc but it works well for us

@Tinyhumansurvivalist

My nearly 7 year old has a gohenry card. Its bloody awesome. She gets £5/week regardless and then she earns extra for chores. She wanted a cat, she has to feed the cat, keeping her room tidy...but we also use it to try and amend poor behaviour traits. So she is a bugger for leaving my parents when I get home from work so if she comes away nicely without misbehaving then she earns an extra £1.

It has taught her that if she wants something she has to work and save for it. It has taken away a lot of the arguments about her behaviour. A simple reminder that she won't earn her extra pocket money is enough of a warning. A lot of people think I am crazy and I have taken some major abuse on shops that she has her own bank card etc but it works well for us

How come you've got abuse in shops? My DS's card is due to arrive on Monday and he can't wait to use it! How do people think children learn to use money/banks/budgets if they don't experience them?

£5 per week for my 6 and 4 year old. I started it because my 6 year old always wants more than my 4 year old and she was getting a lot more than him so I introduced it to keep it fair.

They get deductions if they’re naughty.

@sanityisamyth three times in the local big tesco (I no longer use) I have had different cashiers berate me for letting her use my card...it has a massive picture of a cat and her name across it...very clearly a child's card. Apparently ccordojg to the lady in b&m I am irresponsible...i am a mouthy bitch at times and may have put her firmly in her place.

Considering most shops currently refuse to take cash I actually think teaching dd about a card and how to use it responsibly is important. What's the point of giving her pocket money if instill have to pay as she can't use cash.

[quote Tinyhumansurvivalist]@sanityisamyth three times in the local big tesco (I no longer use) I have had different cashiers berate me for letting her use my card...it has a massive picture of a cat and her name across it...very clearly a child's card. Apparently ccordojg to the lady in b&m I am irresponsible...i am a mouthy bitch at times and may have put her firmly in her place.

Considering most shops currently refuse to take cash I actually think teaching dd about a card and how to use it responsibly is important. What's the point of giving her pocket money if instill have to pay as she can't use cash.[/quote]

Wow!! That's really bad!! Hopefully people won't be so rude and inconsiderate when my DS uses his he's bound to be rude back

@sanityisamyth I think its still new and not used much near me. But I don't take well to be told I'm a shit mum for teaching her about money

£5 each a week for DC 9&10.
If they have behaved well and tidied rooms or done some extra reading I usually also buy a magazine or small toy each when I do the weekly shop.
No set chores as such.

@Tinyhumansurvivalist I can understand that!! I'd say you were the exact opposite by giving your DD responsibility and understanding of finance and budgeting from a young age. So excited to get my DS's card!!

@sanityisamyth it has honestly been a game changer. I no longer get pestered for shit magazines because they have some plastic tat on the front, no more "mummy can I have" every time we leave the house and I no longer spend my whole time saying "no". Instead we talk about whether she can afford it and that once it is spent then that's it, no more.

She has over £150 on there at the moment but some of that is a reward from my dp for learning to ride her bike without stabilisers

@Tinyhumansurvivalist that's fab!! DS is in beavers so his badges are incentive enough at the moment for things like stabilisers but him deciding whether to spend his money on plastic tat, or saving it up for a new Lego set will be lovely!!

DD gets £2. 50 per week but I double it is she is buying something more than £10 (to encourage her not to buy cheap tat!) It isn't chore-dependent but she is expected to contribute generally (vacuum house when asked, keep her room tidy, set/clear table etc etc)

@sanityisamyth dd has been terrified of her bike but desperately wanted to learn so dp told her once she could ride 50m without her stabilisers he'd give her £50. I think he thought he'd have a few weeks ...she did it in 15 minutes. Her first words were "mummy can you put it on my card"

I don't have to ask her to help around the house really, she loves dusting and vacuuming. I do question if she is actually mine sometimes! But I do have to encourage teeth cleaning and getting out of bed etc

@Tinyhumansurvivalist That's a good idea. I need to get DS off his stabilisers too!

@sanityisamyth we bought her a frog bike, she is very petit so struggled with the weight of the raleighpne we had. It has helped a lot but mostly getting her outside of her head and focused on something else was the key

@Tinyhumansurvivalist DS has a mental block too. The first set of stabilisers he had kept collapsing every time he went around a corner which completely defeated the purpose of the blood things. His new ones are much better but he still panics every time there is a slight wobble!

7 and 5 year old get £2 each a week

This will be increased with certain chores

I’m surprised at the abuse with the GoHenry cards!

That’s what my two dc have each (the 5 year old is 6 according to GoHenry )

I recently discovered my DM has been giving my 4 year old a TENNER a WEEK. Apparently he spends £5 and saves £5

I heard you have to pay for the GoHenry card. What are the charges incurred?

£4.99 a month charge for the card and then 50p when you upload money that isn’t the usual balance

I get around that by uploading the full months worth of pocket money on to the parent account so it’s one lot 50p instead of several

@SuperPixie247 its £3.99 a month but I looked into the free options and gohenry is the safest and of they ever go belly up you are protected as the account is physically held by natwest.

There is a charge for some top ups so its worth putting enough in once a month to cover the max per week they could earn.

Children in care are expected to get similar amounts of pocket money than their peers. Recommended amounts vary depending on the authority but are roughly

Age 5-10 £1- £4
Age 11-12 £5 -£6
Age 13-15 £7 - £9.50
Age 16+ £10 - £13

I've always used these guidelines for my two with extra for dd when she started to buy her own clothes/toiletries that had previously been part of the household budget.

Just seen this on the gohenry app