to ask about pocket money / chores?

[M3lon]

I know I am being lazy putting this in here, but I'm fed up of the never ending pocket money battle with DD.

I only considered pocket money in the first place to stop her constantly harassing me for plastic tat and now she is (predictably I suppose) constantly harassing me for more money instead!

In the last few weeks she has made 3 further representations on the topic.

Firstly she said she'd surveyed her friends and they all get more than her - presented data which turned out to be more anecdote than data.

Then she made an impassioned plea that it was only fair if she got her share of all the nectar points accumulated on weekly shops.

Finally she presented me with a scheme by which she could have next weeks pocket money today, the week afters, tomorrow, the week after thats the day after tomorrow etc. I pointed out she would use up the money 7 times as fast and she told me that because both days and weeks go on forever, she was getting the same amount of money whether she got it each day, or each week....

Anyhoo - I have decided I need some market research of my own to turn the tide. What do your DC get and what are they expected to contribute in return for it?

I think age might be important here. DD7 gets £1 a week and has to make her bed and polish for that, but given your DD is nectar card savvy I'm guessing she's older and wiser.

Yup - age would indeed be relevant

DD is 7 also and currently gets 1 pound for doing nothing and another for participating in gardening/tidying.

So I can nearly match her anecdata!

She's cheeky, she can't get her pocket money in advance 😂. I admire her spirit though, doing research and making presentations.

Pocket money should be on an agreed day (weekly or monthly depending on the age of the child), I prefer it being based on certain conditions being met, behaviour, homework, chores, but you'll get others saying they should do those things anyway and pocket money should be separate and just given regardless, that's a personal choice. I think maybe when older they can earn a little bit extra for bigger jobs, clearing out the garage etc. DF and I had a deal once if I helped him sort out all of the junk in the attic and got up early and did a bootsale with him, I could have half the money. I was old enough to actually be useful though. The extra jobs shouldn't be all the time and should be when you need them done rather than them pushing you to pay them extra for things you don't went it need them to do.

Set her up with an Ebay account in your name, and teach her how to photograph and sell her old tat. She clearly has a real longing for money!

DC do jobs around th ehouse becuase home sneed looking after. They aren;t paid for them because adults aren;t either. Housework is just what you do if you have a house. Ditto garden and car. They get pocket money and in return we expect them to work hard at school. They do.

Thats a good point. To focus on the contribution to household rather than payment per task. Will definitely take that on board.

Can you actually sell old plastic tat on ebay? I would have thought the postage etc. was a higher cost than the items?

She wanted to set up selling her origami efforts on facebook, but I dissuaded her on the basis of inadequate quality control - then I saw some facebook tat threads and wondered if I'd made the right call .

Don't have kids but this seems in line with the families with whom I work.

I would make the behaviour bonus a bit more measurable and break it up. You can make the maximim prize a bit higher amd sell it to her that way. So, e.g. 15p for good behaviour 25p for excellent behavior, or 10p per chore done to your satisfaction or wgatever works for you.

DS 14 gets nothing, he earns about £5 percent delivering the free papers and if he’s going out with friends (not often) then i’ll give him some extra cash.

DS (15) gets £5pw, he has special needs so is unable to do the free papers.

They both keep their rooms tidy, do their homework and help clearing/setting the table. No specific chores list.

How is she actually benefiting from only £1 a week? It hardly give her a chance to save and budget which it sounds like she would enjoy.
DS has just turned 9 and gets £10 a week to buy some of his own things such as birthday presents for his friends and extra toys/sweets/toiletries as well as to save with. It doesnt cost us any more than it would if we only gave him a £1 and bought everything for him, we just give him some of the responsability of buying things he needs/wants.

My DD gets £20 per month.Se keeps her room and the bathroom tidy.She does her own washing if I'm too buy(lazy).And will dust,hoover if I ask.She is also expected not to leave her stuff lying about the hose.
I will have to give her more next year so will have to add doing the washing up and tidying up after her self in the kitchen on the list.
At 7 DD got 50p for sweets onSaturday.

upside she does actually save and budget...she saved 24 quid for a set of 4 stuffed toy cats.

The problem is that she gets spectacularly antsy while doing so and starts putting all her energy into 'schemes'.

I'm sort of expecting her to phone me up one day telling me the IRS are after me and to pay 10 quid into an unnamed account to get them off the case....

Dd is 15, she gets £40 per month from me, the same from her Dad and £20 per month from her elder brother. It's not linked to chores at all but she keeps her room tidy and would help willingly if I asked.

My pre-teen DC gets £5 per week. In exchange she has to empty dishwasher, feed pets, and do other occasional chore as asked. She has a small pet of her own that she has to fund herself, plus she is responsible for buying her own pens, stationery, etc. She can earn extra money by doing additional chores.

I know this is missing the point but I'm amazed at her ingenuity at 7! You could offer her extra money in return for extra chores, the kind of stuff you hate doing?

My 7 and 6 year olds get £3 a week. £1 to spend, usually on sweets or they put it in the save jar, £1 to save, they usually save in school time to splurge in the holidays and £1 to donate, this gets used on non uniform days, coffee mornings, church collection etc.
14 yr old gets £30, £20 cash and £10 phone top up.
18 yr old gets the odd £10 but works so nothing regular anymore.

Helping around the house is done for free. My younger two are not bothered by money though, screen time is currency for them.

Thanks for the info. I think maybe I should increase it by a few quid, but then tighten up the rules on random items bought.

My 16 year old currently gets nothing. I've stopped his allowance due until he finds motivation in himself to tidy his room properly and do other work around the house. I've told him he'll get it back as soon as things improve.

My 8yo gets £3.
I don’t personally link chores and money - she’s knows she’s expected to contribute to the running of the house, because she lives here.
I’m damn well not paying her to tidy her room!

I find the £3 useful for her to work out the value of things. She might want something that’s £12, but when I remind her that’s 4 weeks of money, she’ll decide it’s not worth it.

She has £100 and spent £30 in one afternoon on boots and a jumper from New Look. She likes them, but it really shocked her that just 2 items basically wiped out almost a third of her savings.

Mine have a split. My 8yo & 6yo gets £1 a week that's not linked to chores. He has chores he's expected to do as his contribution to the house (all of the kids have them except the baby).

After that there's set jobs that they can do as 'extras' to earn a little bit more. They can earn up to another £1.50 a week maximum that way (we have a list of jobs and how much they are worth).

DD has yet to show any interest in clothes...so she doesn't have to buy those.

I would definitely pay her to let me get rid of some old toys though....