Pocket money - ideas

[Beansandneedles]

DS has started to ask about pocket money. Hoping for some inspiration!

DH and I don't want to financially incentivise generally helping out around the house as at present we do most of the 'chores' together after dinner each day and everyone is happy to do their share. This covers basically all the standard daily/weekly tasks you can think of (inc recycling, ironing school shirts etc). It may not last forever but at the moment it's working for us. They think recycling and ironing are super exciting, little weirdos!

However, we both think money should be earned rather than us just handing over x amount per week. So...if the DC are already doing the chores and we don't just want to hand it out cash for nothing...how does anyone earn pocket money?! Been reading websites like gohenry which suggest it should be a regular, weekly, thing and a regular amount. I'm a bit stumped for ideas.

Feel like we've inadvertently check mated ourselves 😂

DD works hard at school and she's well behaved and never causes any problems so I'm happy to give her pocket money for that.

In terms of how much I use the amount recommended for children in foster care and that's for her personal spends and then I cover everything else.

• Under 5 years-old — no minimum amount
• 5 to 11 years old — £5 per week
• 11 to 15 years old — £8 per week
• 16 or 17 years old — £10 per week

With my kids I try to pick a job that they wouldn't usually do. So I don't give them pocket money for tidying up after themselves , tidying their rooms/sorting out school stuff or helping with animals but I would give it for hoovering the car,bringing logs in from outside, doing a bit of weeding, mopping the floor. That kind of thing.

@Singleandproud that's actually a really nice idea, to have pocket money for being a generally good kid. I was always a good kid, and it felt like if you were naughty you got attention, if you were exceptional you got attention but if you were the type to just get on with things and work hard you weren't really given anything.

Thanks for the amounts too!

@Newuser75 Thanks for the reply. I guess maybe I might just have to relinquish the idea of not paying them for stuff they're already doing happily (like mopping, recycling etc). Otherwise the best idea we've had so far is to start doing the weekly shop after school rather than once they're in bed so the kids can help unload everything and we can offer some money for helping. Feels like a bit of a masquerade though to do all this for the sake of giving the fiver year old a quid! 😅Also I give us a week before we forget and go back to enjoying the blissfully empty aisles of Tesco at 10pm!

I did once pay him for weeding, 1p per weed he pulled. He managed to earn about £3 in one very diligent afternoon :P wouldn't say it's a regular one though!!!

I don't give DS money related to chores, it's just a regular £5 into his account weekly. I don't want him to think the chores are optional in any way! This money sits in his account and he uses some occasionally to buy a toy but mostly it sits and accumulates.

I do occasionally offer him 50p/£1 in cash for one off jobs which he LOVES because then he spends it on sweets 😂 I think this makes for a nice balance.

This really resonated for me from Sarah Ockwell Smith https://sarahockwell-smith.com/2018/04/16/when-and-how-should-you-handle-pocket-money/ so it’s basically what we do. Keep track of it with a rooster app (free) but I’m wondering if I ought to increase to £15-20 per month given inflation. They’re now 6 & 8- currently on £10 per month.

@MoneyAndPercentages this is where DH and I started. We have family after dinner jobs that we all do because we all live here and we all contribute. Has been that way since they could hold the dustpan and brush (maximising on that age where they love to help!). At the moment it's working so nicely, both DC are really keen to sweep, mop, recycle...anything which involves a spray bottle is a huge hit. It's one of the nicest things, how well we're all working together at this stuff, I don't want it to be associated with money (or for that to mean it's ever viewed as optional).

Do you use gohenry? Or what account do you mean?

@Elpheba that's such a helpful article, thanks!! DH and I have read it and both nodding profusely.

I give my DD8 £5 a week but sometimes more if she's done something really good. Eg she folded all the dry clothes and left them in neat piles the other day whilst I was making dinner without me asking. She doesn't have to do anything extra for her regular pocket money. I ise to ise Go Henry but have since switched to a child account linked to my bank.

We did use a GoHenry account for a while but it's a bit gimmicky although useful if they go on a school trip where the gift shop only accepts cards.

I think cash is better as they can physically see it and handle it, and count it out as they hand it over to the cashier opposed to tapping the magic card and the toy belongs to them.

DD still likes cash but has an account with NatWest, she keeps a £100 float in her current account and transfers everything else to the savings one, pocket money is now just transferred. I left it until she was old enough to set up her own bank account to do so so that she could research it and make a decision on which one was best.

I also saved separately into a SIPP for her, I like the idea that when I'm no longer around I'll still be able to treat her and buy her a coffee or whatever from the money I put into her pension as a child.

@Beansandneedles it's great when they enjoy chores 😂

Yes we use GoHenry. Honestly I like it for the automation, but we don't use any of the features so it's not really worth the £5.99 a month. Hanging on for the convenience, and the idea we might use it more in future. But for right now, I would've been better off transferring into a Monzo account or similar in my name, and saving the ££!

Monzo now do child accounts if a parent banks with them - I've found it really good and my DD enjoyed setting up the app and receiving her card

@Singleandproud that's also a very warming thought about the SIPP.

With cash, do you lend some and take it back out of their moneybox later? The kids get cash for birthdays etc but we never seem to have it with us when we're out, so I end up buying it for them and then I forget to repay myself. So it's not working brilliantly right now. I do agree though having tangible money is much better as a visual, also learning how to handle cash etc. I know I am more spend thrift when I use cash rather than card, card still feels like fake money even though I'm nearly 40 😂

@Hayley1256 good to know!! thanks!

@Beansandneedles it depends on what she spent it on. As she got older and into the teen years when she wanted to buy a gift for someone then we went 50/50. If it was something for herself but under a tenner I'd probably forget about it as it's something I may have just picked up for her as a 'just because...' anyway, if it was over £20 I'd probably ask for the money when we got home back as it would have been something specific - it seems mean but actually children feel grown up when they buy their own things. Plus I normally owe her money as we always end up raiding her cash for the hairdresser's and other cash only places.

For my birthday this year instead of buying me a present teen DD got us cinema tickets she booked online with her card and then treated me to a popcorn and slushie 😂 at the kiosk which was funny for us to be the other way round as obviously I normally pay.

DD generally tidies her stiff away but money isn't linked to chores as she is at school for long days and then plays sport one morning so I think it's important to let her have her rest time but equally know that you have to work together as a family to keep your surroundings nice and tidy. They can never decide that lying in bed or doing something different is preferable to the money they'd get for doing chores and me or their father ending up doing the chores.

For me it's more that she knows how much things cost, a new toy or lipgloss is often discounted when it's going to come out of her money rather than us just buying it for her. Does she want it enough?

We take all of their birthday money and put it into savings. She get's enough at Xmas and birthdays to not need to fritter away money given to her on such occasions and for the older ones it's built up to a substantial sum over the years and they've been able to fund travelling and big purchases themselves.

So my children are now adults, but we also did the everyone into the kitchen after dinner to clear up and no one gets to leave until everything is done. They also set the table and helped prepare food just so they could see exactly what effort is required daily to make food.

My children were never paid for chores because it is not negotiable and no one is paying me to empty the dishwasher so they need to learn fast that there are just responsibilities. As they get older you start to delegate chores specifically to them ie Ds1 did the kitchen bin and Ds2 did the recycling. They emptied them on set days, never overflowing bin in this house.

With that in mind, my children got money no matter what. But for a good attitude, whether that was helping unpack the food, or a good attitude toward school work, coming out as a family sometimes to completely boring places like shopping for sofa etc they were instead rewarded with daily tech or activities of their choice for this polite, amenable attitude. That had far more weight when they were younger than money.

It worked for us.

Great idea!

Really useful thread. Thanks OP!

I'm a foster carer and at 16 it's £12.50. I agree if DC are well behaved, try hard at school and help with chores that can be rewarded by pocket money.