How much pocket money should I give my children.

[NewPositiveYear]

My children are 5 & 6. They think money grows on trees. Entirely my fault. I want to nip this in the bud and teach them all about money now.
So how much do I give them weekly? £1.50? £2.00?

My child is a little older but has not grasped the concept of money - addition etc.

Do you think your children will understand?

I guess I have no idea until I try. This will also be a good lesson In lesson in learning how to add and subtract. What money looks like and the value of it etc.

Mine spends pocket money on roblox or mine craft. £5 per week.

Older did this and is now very careful with money as she knew once it was gone, gone.

I didn't start with pocket money till my son was 7. I started at about £3 a week but now I give him £5 a week. Is there something your child would like to save and get or a weekly treat they are after? When I started with £3 it was because that was the cost of a lego or playmobil surprise figure. That was the only reason I chose that amount.

Posted too soon younger is much more impulsive.
Not sure it will sink in with her.
5 and 6 is a good age to start teaching about money but it may take a long time for them to understand the value it it.

Started DD at age 7 and she got £7 per month. When she turned 8 it went up to £8 per month, etc.

You could try totalling the amount they spend on trips to the shop over a week and go from there?

Eg My children like ice cream or chocolate. The ice cream shop’s cheapest ice cream is €3.50. While they don’t have ice cream weekly, I’m unsure if one ice cream would suffice as their weekly treat if they are used to getting a lot more?

My kids are 11 and 7, both get £1 per week, but we do buy them extras sometimes like books etc. Grandparents also give them some money when they visit (roughly £10 every 3 months ish)

Mine are 9 and 10 and get £5 a week. But this is on the proviso of tidy rooms, helping with household chores and general good behaviour!

I give 1$ per week per year of age. Stole that from my BIL. It works well and even though it might seem a lot, $20 for a 5yo, I save a lot by not buying extra toys, it has to come out of PM. Same with my older 2 who use it for computer games, roblox etc… which I wouldn’t particularly want to buy, so they budget their PM

My 7 year old gets £5 a week as long as she helps with chores and keeps her room tidy. She also gets money from her grandma every couple of months.
She keeps it in a jar in her room and does dip into it now and then but is really good at saving when she wants something.
I’ve found it’s really helped her understand the value of things and she’s far more likely to save than spend money on junk now.

I think they are too young- it’s not that they think
Money grows on trees as they don’t have the concept of money, the issue is you are spoiling them. Sir yourself and when they are 7/8 start pocket money

I gave £2 a week at that age, bit it was really just for sweets, magazines or other tat I refused to pay for. I still paid for activities and the occasional treat when out.

I don't agree @OnlyFoolsnMothers It's never too young to teach them about money, saving to buy what they want or getting themselves a weekly treat.

I love your idea @HerRoyalNotness I think I'll roll with that one but on the understanding they have to earn it.
They love magazines which are like £3.99, so I could explain that they could buy it with their money and other treats like coloring books etc

@Stompythedinosaur

I gave £2 a week at that age, bit it was really just for sweets, magazines or other tat I refused to pay for. I still paid for activities and the occasional treat when out.

This is a good idea. Its my thinking. Then if they want something bigger, they'll have to save for it and then they can feel the achievement of knowing they saved hard for it. A bit like when I bought my first home.

My 4 abd 6 yr okds get £2 a week. They can spend £1 , and put £1 in their money box to save up, for magazines, or whatever else. They went through a phase of buying sweets/chocolate with the £1, avs a magazine as soon as they had enough. Now they often put £2 in their box, or buy a big bar/big pack of sweets to last longer. They also like getting change. They've bought sweets I'd normally not allow and discovered they're not worth the money!

You first need to decide what it needs to cover, because that helps detemine the amount.

Personally, we keep it totally separate from chores - if you are part of the household, you help out, no incentive.

20p per day, for a daily task. For DD it's tooth brushing. So teeth properly brushed, 20p. We check, regularly.
Brushed properly all week = £1.40 plus a 60p bonus for doing a whole week properly, so £2.
4 weeks in a row = £8 plus another £2 bonus, which makes it a maximum possible of £10 every 4 weeks.
So if she regularly misses, for example, Friday nights because she CBA or is having a tantrum over something, it cuts her pocket money in half. We've explained this to her. She's doing better at brushing them now. She had to have dental work last year, & I've just bought her a new electric toothbrush in her favourite colour.

You could do this for any daily task. Making their bed, homework, housework, anything you want.

We do buy her books, weekly comic, various treats etc in addition to this though. If we fancy a packet of biscuits or some nice fruit at the supermarket, she gets to choose something as well.

This is going to sound daft, but it worked for us.

When they were 7 they were taught how to use spreadsheets. We put together a worksheet that allowed capital and interest to be logged and shown separately. We taught them how that worked and how to deduct from the capital if they wanted any money out. The ones that took out less earned more interest. We set the interest at 10% - high I know but it was a lesson and easier to deal with.

The physical money was kept in boxes and we would add the interest in pounds and pence at the end of each month. The kids would update the spreadsheet and count the cash. That taught them tangibly that money makes money.

Blimey. My 7yo DD gets 50p a week. Admittedly it covers the occasional toy/magazine only (mostly I pay for treats while out) but I think birthday might be a time to up the rates!

Mine are expected to do some basic household jobs 20min an evening and tidy after themselves to have £10 (12yr) and £15 (15yr) a month from me and their dad gives them both £15 a month at his house.

I pay for all basics, clothes, travel, daytrips, and food. They save for things they want or use for extras, e.g. vending machine sweets (11yr) and Costa coffee (15yr).