How much pocket money do you give...

[TattiePants]

.....to a 10 and 15 year old? We've never really given pocket money just paid for things / days out etc as they've happened. I've just set up two prepaid kids credit cards and want to start transferring a weekly amount but no idea how much. The app suggests £5 / £8 respectively but interested to know what others give their DCs.

£5 a week.

£125 a month for 17yos covers phones, clothes, toiletries, social life, presents

@TheTurn0fTheScrew
Is it not nice for them to have some freedom
whilst young before the worry of finances set in?
Another pp £5pw? what exactly is that meant to cover? 🙄

Preteens:
€5 in coins that they split up into 3 actual boxes - €1 to save in the bank, €1 to save for family birthdays and other generous impulses, and the other €3 for themselves.

It’s not linked to chores, and they can spend it on whatever rubbish they want, provided they wait at least 24 hours (that’s so they don’t blow it all on an impulse purchase of minecoins when they’ve been diligently saving for something).

13-15
Disclaimer - this hasn’t happened yet, but my plan is to pick 3 things that they can take responsibility for, but that won’t bother me if they choose not to buy (ie I won’t give ds a toiletries budget or he’ll just stink 😂 but I might give him an allowance for books that he could save by going to the library instead) I’m think 2 fun things and 1 a bit more serious (like school stationery)

This will be on a Revolut card, topped up monthly. I’ll let them ask for more responsibility once they’re managing their budget well.

16+
I’d like them to take responsibility for most of their expenses, including budgeting for school expenses, uniform, etc.

I’ve no doubt that I’m being very naive! But I’m hoping to give them enough experience of money management that they don’t get into the tangles I did as a young adult - splurging when I got paid, and struggling with debt.

My ds 15 gets £20 a month pocket money plus phone and earns £45/week at his Saturday job (usually double sometimes more in the holidays as he works extra days). We pay for all the basics inc clothes although if he wants designer gear he pays the extra and we'll sometimes give him a bit of money for days out. He works hard so I don't mind treating him when we can but can't afford much more and he's fine with that. In the past year he's bought himself an Xbox, new phone and ridiculously expensive trainers plus saved quite a bit and loves having his own money to spend as he chooses.

Is your 15yr old looking for a part-time/weekend job?

For years my mum gave my DC pocket money every week - £5 or £10. She passed away recently 😔

Now they are 7 and 11 and I have said they can earn £5 each week if they do a daily chore. The chore is decided on the day so that it’s genuinely helpful. They’ve been really keen to do their chores so they get their pocket money, and they’ve been a great help.

Chores might be - empty dishwasher, put away washing etc so nothing major but still a decent help for me.

Dd1 is now allowed to walk to the local shop so she is desperate to get her £5 to save her dipping into her own savings.

@ChiefAdjusterOfRubensShorts

DS 15 gets £13 a week from DH & I and then he works for BIL on a Saturday and gets £35.

£13 seems an odd amount

none

never did, never will. I don't see the point.
they have everything they need and a lot of what they want.
my 11 yo doesn't go anywhere on his own so doesn't need any money to spend.
my 14 yo and also my 16 yo & 18yo get anywhere between £5 -£20 when they go out with their friends, what they don't spend they give back.

all of them understand the value of money, they've all had various jobs over the years (what they earn is their to save or spend)

I meant to add that the amount varies on what they do - if it's a stroll by the river and getting an ice cream or a snack a fiver is plenty, if it's going out to eat/get takeaway or a have a few beers then £20 is more than enough.

oh and mine don't get paid to do chores either.
they are perfectly capable of taking the bins out, emptying dishwashers, putting away shopping, making their own bed, putting away their clean clothes, hoovering up, tidying their own rooms, mowing the lawn etc and they just have to help out because it's part of being in a family.(especially a big one like ours)

£6 per week, but they don’t seem to ever spend it. They both have £100s saved up.

Kids and teens cant afford to have much regular fun on most of these amounts and I feel quite sorry for them

Nothing regularly
They get money as and when

My DC get the amount per week according to which year group they are in - so 11yr old gets £6 and 9yr old gets £4; from September it'll be 7 and 5.

Both my 15 year olds get £10 each per week. We pay for their phones snd clothes and any clubs/travel.

I’ve set up a standing order to both their prepaid cards this morning, £10 to 15 yr old & £5 to 10 year old. My Dm will also be adding a weekly/monthly amount to both cards and MIL already gives them pocket money which she saves at her house but they can access whenever they want. The youngest doesn’t go anywhere on her own so I imagine she’ll save hers for shopping trips and the odd trip to the sweet shop.

DS has been out with friends 3 times this week, each time I’ve given him £15-20 (although I’ve probably had 40% back) and I’ll also be putting £15 in a friend’s birthday card today but as pp said, plenty of adults don’t have £60 per week to socialise so he may need to budget and make some choices. This week is the first week he’s really gone out with friends (SEN) so we’re just pleased he’s gone out and thrown money at the problem. However, whilst we’ll never let him miss out on things his friends do, he may sometimes need to choose some free/cheaper activities.

£5 for 11 year old

11yo DS gets £40 pcm paid onto his GoHenry. That is for pixel purchases and to save up for non-essential items he wants. He has it hooked up to his gaming accounts so there can't be any 'accidental' purchases on my card.

I pay for his phone (which he barely uses) and sports stuff.

[quote HerMammy]@TheTurn0fTheScrew
Is it not nice for them to have some freedom
whilst young before the worry of finances set in?
Another pp £5pw? what exactly is that meant to cover? 🙄[/quote]
Freedom doesn't mean the ability to go out for meals every other weekend. And having fun doesn't mean spending money. I can see if you're in a circle where everyone does it, it seems normal, but no one on in my DC's circles had parents who were willing to pay for regular meals out so they didn't start doing this until they got to 16+ and had jobs and could pay for it themselves (when they decided by and large they didn't want to do it that much and actually would rather club together for takeaway).

This is what DD has done/is doing this week

1. Go to friend's house for her birthday. DD has bought a personal but inexpensive present. She's also baked cookies and made a photo montage. The 5 girls club together for pizza
2. Meet friends for a walk and chat in the park. No cost
3. Go to town to meet friends (£1 on the bus, though as it happens I need to go to town anyway so will give her a lift). Based on past experience the girls will spends lots of time mooching about and not spend very much. They will probably get Mcdonalds or a sandwich and maybe a Poundshop drink (2 cans for £1 - they all recognise this as better value than going to a coffee shop)

That's of course more than she'd do in a normal week as it's school holidays. (And I have given her a bit more to cover increased socialising in August). But she is generally out at least once at the weekend and a night or two in the week and her money stretches.

DS has been out 4 evenings this week and spent £2.50 in total (I've just asked him).

Sorry pressed Post too soon
... DS has only spent £2.50 because he and his friends would rather just meet up and chat and "hang out" and buy the odd bit of food and drink than do a more planned activity which, to quote DS
"is just a hassle to organise as everyone can make different times and someone always ends up forgetting or being late"
"means sorting out transport/waiting for buses which is a pain"

"It's much easier just to do something locally which everyone can just walk/cycle to and can come or not as they want".

DS is 17 and his friends all have part time jobs so they can afford to do things - I think it's telling that they can spend their money on going out more lavishly and are choosing not to.

These threads make me feel like I'm living on another planet. An ad hoc wander to the shop would blow the monthly allowance of some of your kids.

And we're hard up, as in... I dont work, ill health, single mum.

I spend very very little on myself, covering DD's spending money is pretty much all I do spend. She gets £20 a week and it's way less than most of her friends. I feel forever guilty I can't afford more to be honest

We’re a low income family and we give our teens pocket money that fits our budget. I wish we had more money to give them but we don’t. Both mine are boys so their expenses aren’t the same as what a teen girls would be (I guess) they seem happy with what they get which is mainly spent on V-bucks or the odd trip to the high street when they fancy it. If they need more for specific things we try our best to accommodate but it’s not always possible and they understand that. Being poor makes you feel like a shit parent anyway but they have what they need just not always what they want.

Up to 16, I gave mine £40 a month. Dd is 17 now and gets £60. When she was under 16 she also had a weekly paper round that earned her about £35 a month. Now she does tutoring for £30 a week. I always used to give an extra £40 at the start of the summer holidays and my mum usually gives them a bit in the summer.

Ds has struggled to get a paper round although he’s done some leaflet delivering.

Dd did used to struggle paying for friends’ presents so I would help with those. I pay for their phones and their bus /train passes. I also pay for gym membership, which accounts for some of their socialising. Other than those things, they buy clothes, make up, protein powder and all socialising costs except big events like summer camps and festivals . Dd quickly decided McDonalds was a better choice than Wagamama!

Dd sells all her old clothes on Deepop. They seem to both have a very busy social life, but often it’s free/cheap activities. DD’s friends have house/garden parties a couple of times a week and the only cost is sharing a pizza!
Ds and friends use their bus passes to go all over the city visiting different branches of their gym and playing football! They’ve also managed the cinema/trampoline park/curry house though.