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Original poster

Pocket Money

26 replies

readywithwellies · 04/10/2010 21:54

Have another thread going and lots of people are referring to 'pocket money'. I never had pocket money, I got 20p a day if I did the washing up though and had a paper round from 12.

So I am obviously behind the times when it comes to this pocket money malarky. I have 3 dcs. Oldest is 9, middle is 5 and youngest is 3.

DD, 9, has a contract phone £15 per month, violin lessons (don't know whether this is relevant?) DS, 5, has swimming lessons. DD, 3 does nowt as yet.

So how much pocket money is reasonable? What should it be for? What I mean is, what should I still buy other than basic provisions such as food/clothes etc. Also, do you get more pocket money as you get older? Also, am I out of touch for expecting some 'work' before I dole out cash - simple age specific tasks - picking up toys, wiping up, clearing the table?

OP posts:
cornsilk · 04/10/2010 21:55

I give half their age a week

BelligerentGhoul · 04/10/2010 21:59

Am surprised at a nine year old having a phone, let alone a contract one.

How about 1.50 a week for the nine year old (and kill the phone). Enough to buy something small each week or to save up and buy something every few weeks - rubbers, notebooks, pens, hair bands - that sort of thing.

50p each for the little ones.

We don't give money for helping - that is part of belonging to the household. But yes, I think it does need to go up as they get older.

Tbh we didn't give any specific pocket money until they were past 11.

Hulababy · 04/10/2010 22:02

My 8y DD gets weekly pocket money. It is totally unrelated to other activities we have chosen to allow her to take up. It isn't even linked to chores. Howevr I reserve the right to stop it if her behaviour proved to be bad enough - never actually had to do this.

DD started getting pocket money aged 5y and it coincided with her starting money as a numeracy topic at school. It goes up by 50p on each birthday. DD is now 8y and gets £2.50 a week

DD saved hers up to buy things specifically that she wants at times other than her birthdays - such as Sylvanian families toys, or this year she saved up enough (inc some birthday money) to pay for a keeper day at the local wildlife park - need to book that actually.

We still buy her treats and magazines, etc.

MrsMellowdrummer · 04/10/2010 22:03

Older child (8yrs) has £2 per week. He's expected to save for toys/games/stuff with it - we don't buy him things outside birthday/christmas. Only exception to that is books.

Youngest child (3yrs) doesn't have pocket money. But we occasionally buy her bits and bobs. (Usually when older child is spending pocket money).

Original poster
readywithwellies · 04/10/2010 22:09

What about behaviour? Does this affect the pocket money? Is it reasonable to reduce/stop it if behaviour is bad, with warnings of course?

Belligerent - she has an 18 month contract. All her class mates have phones. Apparently. I agree with you tho.

OP posts:
Original poster
readywithwellies · 04/10/2010 22:12

Hula - please can you explain what the point of pocket money is if you then buy treats and magazines on top? Wouldn't this be alot of expense?
DD, 9 has a magazine every week at the moment if her behaviour is good.

OP posts:
cat64 · 04/10/2010 22:17

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

cory · 04/10/2010 22:22

Mine got pocket money from Yr 1, starting with 50 p/week and going up by 5 or 10 p/year according to a fixed scale, so ds in Yr 6 is now getting 95 p.

Then at the start of secondary they get a monthly allowance (£10/motnh in Yr 7) but then they have to provide more things like any clothes beyond the absolute necessities.

The idea is to get them used to handle money, make them make their own mistakes and give them the chance to practise saving up.

Not linked to chores (after all, my spending money when I was a SAHM was not tied to how meticulously clean I kept the house), but can be docked as a punishment.

mummyofexitedprincesses · 04/10/2010 22:23

I offered my 2 pocket money in exchange for keeping their rooms tidy and doing their homework. Thought it would be a good incentive. They declined.

BelligerentGhoul · 04/10/2010 22:23

Could be docked as a punishment - but never has been. Did threaten it once when dd2's room was a mess but she sorted the room quickly before we carried the threat through!

TiggyD · 04/10/2010 22:27

"On average, seven- to ten-year-olds get £4.92 in pocket money each week, rising to £8.22 for those aged 11 to 15." - The daily mail quoting a LSE report. Can't tell if some of that is 'worked' for in the form of odd jobs though.

Original poster
readywithwellies · 04/10/2010 22:34

TiggyD if that is an average, OMG!

OP posts:
Manda25 · 04/10/2010 22:36

I dont like Pocket Money being linked to jobs around the house. I think they should be doing the jobs because as a family they are part of a team. Our pocket money is linked to behaviour.

My 7 yr old get £1.50 a week - he normally saves this until he has enough for a dvd, cd etc.

My 20 yr old just moved out to Uni but since the age of 11 I gave him all his money at the beginning of the month (small clothing allowance, dinner money , phone money, travel fare, hair cut & pocket money) and let him learn to budget it all himself.

DontCallMeBaby · 04/10/2010 22:41

DD is 6 and we've just gone back to giving her pocket money - we tried it for a while when she started school, but when we forgot to give it to her for three weeks and she didn't notice we realised she was too young. She gets £1 basic plus a £1 bonus for getting a set number of stickers on her chart - all behavioural stuff at the moment, like eating her dinner properly (ie not whinging about it and taking an hour) rather than chores.

She is currently saving for a Zhu Zhu pet, and suffering agonies because this means she can't buy a new Littlest Pet every week. She is definitely old enough this time. :o

Cathycat · 04/10/2010 22:42

Mine get 10p x their age per week, so 80p for the 8 year old. They get it after they've done a weekly tidy of their bedroom, put away their washed and ironed clothes and they all have their own jobs too. They can get more money or extra jobs if I'm feeling generous, such as weeding the block paving, vacing the stairs (things I hate lol). DS1 benefits from this alot as he loves money!

HappyMummyOfOne · 04/10/2010 22:49

We dont do pocket money yet as I still love treating DS but will look at giving him an allowance in secondary school so that he learns to budget then ready for college/working.

LightShinesInTheDarkness · 04/10/2010 23:10

DD (12) gets £15/month, DS £12.50.
It goes up each birthday - but not to a fixed scale, just kind of rounded up.

Not related to chores at all. Its a gift.

DD also has £1 day lunch money - this is for my convenience.If she wants to make her own lunch in the mornings, she can keep the £1.

DandyDan · 04/10/2010 23:21

Ours got their age x 20p - so aged 8 would get £1.60; aged 10, £2. Then after ten yrs it goes up in bigger increments - 11 yrs, £2.50; 12 yrs - £3; 13 yrs - £4; 14 yrs £5; 15 yrs - £6; 16 yrs - £7. With our income, any child who gets to sixth form age gets EMA so we stop their pocket money.

I think we started when they were six yrs - £1.20.

Not related to chores at all - it's a gift so they can learn how to budget and save and have some spending power of their own. We would give extra for special trips - cinema or swimming (now the Tories have banned free swimming for under-18's) or bus tickets (expensive since rural). They would save for CD's, DVD's and for mini=presents for their sibs and friends at Xmas.

But they didn't have phones until they were 13+, and there was a strict £10 per month top-up paid for.

Hulababy · 06/10/2010 13:48

readywithwellies Mon 04-Oct-10 22:12:46
Hula - please can you explain what the point of pocket money is if you then buy treats and magazines on top? Wouldn't this be alot of expense?

DD has a magazine on subscription, it was part of her birthday or Christmas present IIRR. She sometimes gets magazines if we are going on a train or plane trip etc ad I sometimes get her a treat if we are out and about on a day trip for example. I am taking £5 and less.

And we buy books and music out of our money as and when, in the same way that me and DH buy books and music as and when.

Her pocket money is so that she can buy larger items. She has already shown over the last three years that it helps teach about saving up and budgeting, and about opportunity cost - if she spends x now, then she can't have y for longer.

For example, there is no way I would have given her £50 for a keeper day so she can look after meerkats, unless it was part of a birthday or Christmas present. However, she saved really hard incuding using money given to her from other sources plus a cheque from her birthday, to save that money up and she is now in the position to be able to book it and pay for it.

I just like treating her occassionally too! :)

We are fortunate to have never had to link it to behaviour. And she already helps out doing things at home, so I don't feel the need to link it to specific chores - she is part of our household and just automatically will help set and clear tables, keeps her bedroom and playroom tidy, makes her bed, puts clothes in laundry, helps with gardening, offers to vacuum, makes drinks, helps cook, etc. I'd rather she saw those as just things we all do in the house rather than something she does in order to recieve mony.

kreecherlivesupstairs · 06/10/2010 13:56

DD loads the dishwasher for 20 cents a day. She is currently saving up for a teddy that has cherry stones in its stomach. Said teddy costs 10 euros. She'll be a long time saving. this morning she went on a school trip, she will be gone overnight and yesterday brought home a letter suggesting pocket money of between 20 and 50 euro's. I gave her all the money I had in my purse (6.79) and she twisted her face a bit. DH went out last night while I was asleep and got 20 from the bank. I was furious.
I suppose if she manages not to lose the purse it's in or save it she can buy the teddy when she comes back. Otherwise, I'll leave all the dishes for her to come back to.

dmo · 06/10/2010 14:00

oh my poor boys Sad they dont get pocket money

they are 13 and 14

the 13yr old emptys the dishwaher each day and in return i buy his bearded dragon food for the week

both boys do their own washing/ironing and rooms

if they did my jobs they might get paid Grin

14yr old sometimes hoovers and washes the car and after my dh has inspected it he get £5 for the cinema etc

liahgen66 · 06/10/2010 14:04

So what about if dc's have a job such as a paper round?

ds, (13 tomorrow) has a paper round, he gets up in all weathers at 6.30, gets home at 7.30 and gets £20 a week.

dd (15 and half) no job,

Dh doesn't agree with pocket money, thinks it makes them want stuff all the time. I don't agree.

bumpybecky · 06/10/2010 14:10

I give them £1 per year age, per month.

So dd1 (12) gets £12 per month, dd2 (10) gets £10 per month. I'll let you guess what dd3 (5) gets...

oneofthosedays · 06/10/2010 14:24

DD is 6 (7 in december) and gets £1.50 per week and has done since she was about 5 iirc. She doesn't have to do any chores to get it (but does help around the house anyway, wiping and setting table for tea, keeping bedroom tidy and folding her clothes up, putting dirty ones in the wash etc which is expected of her), if she misbehaves though we warn her that she wont get the spends if she carries on, that and losing her DS is usually enough to stop her in her tracks.

DS is 3 and whenever I've got any silver coin in my purse I'll just shove it in his money box, ends up with about the same as DD so that when DD is wanting to buy something with her money, he can too, even though he doesn't really 'get it' but knows it comes from the money box.

lazarusb · 06/10/2010 16:54

My dcs (10 & 7) get £10 each a month and a magazine of their choice. Dd saves hers generally and buys something really nice after 2/3 months. Ds spends his as soon as he can (last month a wooden chess set, this month tech deck). They wipe and set the table, put their washing in the basket and keep their rooms tidy. I think that's reasonable, they appear to agree. :)

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