To think £5 a week is enough pocket money?

[Childrenofthestones]

12 and 15 yr olds.
We pay everything else, phone contracts, bus fares when they go out with friends, treats etc. They do no chores for this.
Is this enough?
I guess I am asking is what is the going rate?

Because really that's what pocket money is about. Wants rather than needs.

No, pocket money is about whatever the family involved make it about.

There are lots of different attitudes and styles and views represented here.

Some parents give children more money and more responsibility to pay for their needs as well as their wants. that is no less valid than your view.

As for the not giving them money in order that they then moderate their spending on random stuff, it really doesn't necessarily work that way. DS1 has managed to accumulate the best part of £1k from pocket money, Christmas and birthday money and the odd tenner that his Gran gives him when we visit. He rarely spends anything, never asks for anything but on occasion has made himself large purchases (a TV and a laptop). DS2 gets pretty much the same although he is a year younger so technically has had less birthday and Christmas money to accumulate. He is lucky if he has much more than £50 at any given time as he will buy new PC games that his friends have etc (he has a lot of "stuff") However again he very rarely spends it on consumables such as snacks, magazines etc. and did save enough to buy himself a PC at one point.

Both brought up the same and with very different habits. I'd ideally like there to be a happy medium. I think it's important to learn to treat yourself from time to time - we only get one life and all that, but also you need to live within your means.

DH and I don't buy a lot of "stuff" either but don't have anything against it.

I don't think there is a right or wrong, just differences.

My boys get $1 for each year of their ages each week, so the 14-year-old gets $14 per week, and the 16-year-old gets $16 per week. The 16-year-old also works. For their spending money they have to clean the kitchen, the upstairs bathroom, the dining room, the living room, and cut the grass (summer) and shovel snow (winter).

We pay for the 16-year-olds cell phone contract (14-year-old doesn't have a phone), but he pays the monthly fee for the purchase of his phone and he pays if he puts us over our data useage. We buy their "necessary" clothes - school clothes and shoes, underwear, socks, etc. They buy anything extra they want. We buy all toiletries, pay for groceries and family meals out, and family days out. They use their money if they want to go out with friends.

DD gets £70 a month. We pay for school stuff, underwear, shoes, coats and basic toiletries. Anything else she pays for herself.
It has really helped her to learn about budgeting and stopped her wasting money on crap.

The thing is, DC's room's are full of rubbish which they managed to accrue on a mere £3/week.

Black you missed the 'or things you REALLY want'.
The issue here is about learning to nit but anything and everything and to decide if you are really keen on something or just fancy it.
IMO having something you are really keen in will bring you some very nice time. Something you kind if fancy feels sort of good for the two mins after you've bought it and then join the huge amount of tat children/people can have. It doesn't give the buyer any real pleasure.

myo I don't think that I've ever said people are wrong to think differently. I've just put cross my view which is that pocket money is for wants not for needs.
That's how it works in my house and other people are very welcome to do it another way.

I also agree that it's not because you are giving them very little that they are learning to spend little.
The it thing you do us to avoid seen money been wasted in front if your eyes wo been able to say anything

We base it on a quid a week per year of age. So DHs 15yo gets 30quid from us and her DM pays her phone. Apparently she is getting a job in a couple of mths so we are a bit unsure whether to keep paying pocket money or not? I'm not working so that bit could go towards other things.

Our joint DC use their pocket money for saving up for Lego sets or sweets, a little something from the zoo gift shop when we go there. Things like that.

What a miserable life only buying things you need, though.

I wouldn't like it and I don't expect my DCs to.

That matches my school of thought. I would feel quite miserable if I couldn't buy things that I really like occasionally. Nothing I buy is ever wasted or unused. If my handbag wears out and I need a new one I would rather spend £50 in tkmaxx and get something I really like than buy one for £10 in primark that I don't really like and will be reluctant to use. Likewise DS will buy a book that he really likes and he will read it more than once. DS also saves in a bank account; he buys what he really wants, saves £1 a week towards Christmas and puts anything else in his bank account when he has a surplus (less regular now he is getting older). My DS waits in anticipation for the release date of new books in a series that he is enjoying and I quite like seeing him enjoy reading so much.
If he was buying £7 worth of sweets every week then I would consider that he only needed £1 pocket money.

^What a miserable life only buying things you need, though.

I wouldn't like it and I don't expect my DCs to. ^

That's just your opinion and your values though. I don't buy unnecessary "things" but I do spend money on eating out, days out and holidays because I get more pleasure from these things that buying items that sit around the house. Buying physical things doesn't give me pleasure (genuinely, I am nightmare to buy presents for). As another posters said upthread, we've brought the DC up to understand that we can spend small amount on things here and there or save up (as a family) and go on a nice holiday.

That's just my preference though - other people do things differently - doesn't make it miserable.

If my handbag wears out and I need a new one I would rather spend £50 in tkmaxx and get something I really like than buy one for £10 in primark that I don't really like and will be reluctant to use.

You are still buying a handbag you need, not another one on top of the others you already have and that you don't really need.

Learning what you like spending money on and what you value as an individual is a really valuable lesson, I think.

But then, does anyone need a handbag?

I've not had one for about 30 years :o

I know loads of people who don't use handbags, I use one because I like doing so but my life wouldn't be that difficult if I didn't have one. Big pockets or a plastic bag or a canvas shopping bag could do the same job perfectly well. A nice handbag = a treat / luxury IMO.

I'm surprised at the number of people who just give their DCs money for going out or mobile phones without an expectation that they "earn" it by doing chores, especially if they're teenagers.

My DS is 10. He has a Go Henry card and earns up to £5 a week by putting the bins out, emptying the dishwasher, tidying his room. The more he does, the more money he makes.

He'll use his money to buy crap like sweets and magazines but also saved up for football boots or nerf guns. Because it's not cash, he tends to forget about spending it. I checked on the app yesterday and he has £30 saved up.

At a recent trip to Harry Potter Studio, he was checking all the price tags and refused to pay £8 for a pack of jelly beans!

But not all teenagers are sat up in their rooms playing games and watching movies.

I don't ask mine to do a lot beyond keeping their rooms clean and tidy and generally cleaning up after themselves but do expect that they will help with other things (helping to put the shopping away, changing their duvet covers and sheets, splashing a bit of bleach down the loos etc) when asked to do so without moaning. My reason being is that they should contribute to the house without the expectation of payment and also that I appreciate that they also do a lot of other things such as volunteering at scouts and beavers, work hard at school, behave generally, do other activities for their DofE, do homework etc. and so don't necessarily have a lot of fee time. They also do things just because they are life skills such as their ironing (school shirts mainly) making their lunch, cutting the grass, but i don't pay per job as that's not the way that I think they should look upon domestic chores.

I appreciate that other people do things differently and I am not saying my way is right, just that that is how it is viewed in our house.

So, they do get pocket money without it being based on chores, it's more based on attitude and behaviour (DS2 has occasionally lost some for cheek and disrespect) however, there is an expectation that some chores will be done that isn't tied to the pocket money. There is a crossover I suppose in that refusing to do a job could be construed as having a disrespectful attitude..... :o

When I was 25 (12 years ago) I got £100 per month. Parents paid phone bill and for lunches etc.

My DD has just turned 14, she earns £10 at her Saturday job, I give her £5 and then her job tips which can be up to £5 so far.
I pay for her phone, basic clothing and toiletries, she has to pay for the rest.
She does loads round the house as she is my carer, she is not paid for this except for when I get her to clean/tidy my room.

Sorry, that really doesn't like much at all. My brother (11) gets 10 a week for treats and he doesn't pay for anything. I know once he gets to year 10 he will get 100 a month (maybe more as things are getting/will be pricier when he reaches that stage) but my parents will stop buying him clothes at this stage.

Paul do you mean 25 or 15? Not judging just trying to see if I have a leg to stand on when I approach my parents

At 14 we gave ours their family allowance (chb)
They had to manage it themselves and pay for everything that they didn't need.
So they fancied a new pair of trainers but didn't need them, they bought them themselves.
They soon learned how to budget and the value of money.

I'm surprised at the number of people who just give their DCs money for going out or mobile phones without an expectation that they "earn" it by doing chores, especially if they're teenagers.

I'm the same as myotherusernameisbetter in that pocket money isn't linked to chores but I have a general expectation that the DC will all muck in and do whatever is necessary to keep our lives and home running smoothly. And they do They help around the house, look after DD3, do bits of shopping, cook, etc. as well as doing homework/revision and get involved in community stuff.

If ever I couldn't afford to give them pocket money I would still expect them to exactly the same as what they do now.

Blackcloud

I suppose it's what you value in life. Do you live to work or work to live.
do you find a job/career that pays a large salary because you like stuff or do you choose something you love doing that maybe pays less, and you aren't bothered as you don't want stuff.
For us it's the pay less, but we do have some wants as well as needs.

I'm the same and don't really link pocket money to chores. Depending on age mine lay the table, empty the dishwasher, tidy up after dinner, change their beds, put their washing away, clean their bedrooms and Hoover the house. The older ones are happy to nip to the shops or pick up the younger one from school, also cook the odd meal.

Haha! 15! I wish I was still getting money from them!