Who is? Ds, fishing cost and pocket money

[loopylou6]

Ds (12) gets £10 a week pocket money. Most Saturdays he goes fishing with his grandad and occasionally he goes to a lake which costs £7, this is happening tomorrow.

DH thinks he should pay for it himself this time now he gets regular money, I think we should pay, or at least go halves.

What do you think? :)

In my opinion paying him for taking his brother to school is okish, but I really don't think he should be paid for washing up or walking the dog.

A 12 year old doing the dishes !.Do you mean that he loads the dishwasher ?

Why wouldn't q 12 year old do the dishes?

But what if he was having music lessons or ballet? Would everyone say that should come out of his money?

OP, I'd pay half. If you think £10 is reasonable, then to take £7 away for one fishing trip seems harsh. If he only goes once a month, fair enough, but if he's going weekly, then pay half. I'd want to encourage him to spend time with his granddad.

I would have thought £10 a week was fairly standard. It's not a lot of money IMO, but enough for him to at least go halves with you when he goes fishing. I think it's really rude that so many people expect Grandad to pay when they go fishing together - maybe Grandad simply can't afford to, but is happy to take his GS who may otherwise not get to go.

Back to Gransnet for me then.

Yes he does them by hand :)

seeker. you're like a dog with a bone ffs.

imperial, have decided that we will chip in 3 quid.

No wonder he's crap at managing money if he gets that much.

... and yes - spending time with his Grandad is well worth going halves on.

Chipping, that's very true, ds adores fishing and he wouldn't get to go if it wasn't for my dad. They have a fab time lighting lil fires and toasting marshmellows etc :) plus its good for my dad too as he's had a lot of health problems recently :(

Plus all food, sandwiches crisps biscuits flasks of drink etc is provided by my parents, ds and my dad are extremely close :) infact both my dc stay every weekend with my mum and dad.

I didn't ask about the dishwasher! It was me said that kids shouldn't be paid for washing up- they should just do it because they live in the family.

if he was having music lessons or ballet? Yep, I'd still expect him to pay for odd extras. DS is buying his own swim googles,Not essential but he wants them, doesn't want to wait till christmas and he has the money in his piggy bank. I pay for the lessons and transport to get there. His ballet class so far has not incurred any "optional" extra costs but I can see the tap class he wants to do when he's old enough might involve the odd extra costume accessory which I will expect him to pay for if he has the cash in hand.

Seeker - sorry, I was replying to maras about the dishwasher thing.

Bloody hell - £10 a week?! Mine (12 and 14) get half that, and by God do they work for it - they save me a fortune on a cleaner. If he's getting £10 a week then yes, I'd expect him to pay for his fishing. He's still left with £3 a week, which is pretty good going I'd say.

UniS talks sense.

My only reservation would be if he started to choose other things to spend his cash on than spending time with his grandpa. It's such a lovely thing that the two are so close, I'd be prepared to backtrack.

But Unis, the £7 is surely the equivalent of the ballet/music lesson?

My ds is 10
He does jobs around the house.
He gets £1 each week

So therefore of course your ds should pay for his fishing costs!!!!!!

I'd have thought that £10 a week was about average. It certainly doesn't excessive to me.
I got £5 a week as a child and that was back in the 90s,and a Mars Bar doesn't cost 35pence anymore. Even a Freddo is 20pence now. A £1 won't go far now surely?

I don't give my children pocket money as some weeks I am skint and some weeks I have more to give them. I don't want to set myself up for either having to let them down or leave myself skint. If I have it - they get it, simple. If my teenager asks 'can I have....' if I can spare a few quid I give him the money, if not I tell him that I cannot afford it. With my 10 year old, he gets bits and pieces bought all the time, if I can afford to treat him I do, if I can't then he struggles by without noticing!! IF I was giving my children £10 a week I would expect that to contribute towards their extra curricular, or ask them to take a cut in it at least! Parents are not money cows, irrelevant of how much you earn, your children should recognise that money is hard earned and should not be thrown around. It is a life lesson.

I bought comics,stationery,magazines,books and sweets with mine,and other assorted crap. And I was buying cds with it when I was 11/12.

I didn't think a pound would get you much now,but that said there's Poundland,and you can get three bags of gummy things from Asda/Sainsburys for a £1. And they're good,especially Eric Elephants and the apple frog things from Asda.

Anyway OP, it seems fair that he should pay as it's just an occasional activity.