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Original poster

How much pocket money do you give?

41 replies

santasgnome · 10/12/2021 16:42

Posting here for traffic

How much pocket money do you give your kids and how old are they.

Do they get it for nothing or do you have a way for them to earn it?

And if you have more than one child, does that affect how much they get?

I've got 3 kids 14, 12, 8 and I haven't ever given pocket money but I want to, especially for the 14 and 12 yr old.

Usually i just buy what they want/need within reason but I would rather they had their own cash

OP posts:
Original poster
santasgnome · 10/12/2021 18:43

Bump

OP posts:
sanityisamyth · 10/12/2021 18:46

DS7 (nearly 8) has a GoHenry card and gets £1 a week, but it is topped up with doing chores etc

lilydaisyrose · 10/12/2021 19:05

Mine are 14 & 12 and get £30 p/m (14yo girl) and £20 p/m (12yo boy). The 14yo's includes £5 p/m towards toiletries she doesn't share with her brother (so not shampoo, shower gel etc) or sanitary items (I provide) such as moisturiser, hair stuff etc.

lilydaisyrose · 10/12/2021 19:06

PS they don't have to do anything to get this - I don't like linking chores to money.

NeedsCharging · 10/12/2021 19:09

I used to just buy want they wanted within reason but at 13 it was £5 a week for a few chores such as put the bins out walk the dog twice.
For some reason my head decided 13 was a more responsible age.

willingtolearn · 10/12/2021 19:10

Have given pocket money since they were 5. It has always been 50p per year of age/ per week

At 11 it was given monthly into a bank account so they could learn to budget. Before this it was cash.

It's their money, no limitations or requirements, their 'universal income' as such.

It means since they were young when they asked for something I could say, 'yes, you can have that - just save up your pocket money' or alternatively I was happy to write it down as a request for birthday/christmas gifts. Stopped many arguments/demands.

Imdreamingofapeacefulxmas · 10/12/2021 19:13

Rightly or wrong when we got more money coming in a started to put £10/30 a month away for dc.
They each now have a few £100 in accounts. One dd does specific areas of wiping for me. The other not much yet.

Imdreamingofapeacefulxmas · 10/12/2021 19:13

Now I top up their accounts with odd ten pounds when I can

ButteredOwl · 10/12/2021 19:16

I give my 15 year old £50 a month and on top of that I top up his school lunch account by £15 a week and buy Costas/Dominos a few times a month.

seventyminutes · 11/12/2021 00:41

£2 a week (given as £4 per fortnight) for our 8 and 10 year olds, soon to be topped to 5 per fortnight. I also put 20 per month in my Dds savings account and we buy and treat them regularly or get them what they want or need on a monthly basis too.

ElinorOliphant · 11/12/2021 00:47

Dd (13) £6.50 a week

Ds (11) £5.50 a week

Not linked to chores and it goes into their Go Henry bank account. I increase it a little bit each birthday.

SauvignonGrower · 11/12/2021 00:56

Nothing. Age 7 and 11. Too disorganised to get my act together. No doubt that will need to change for eldest soon.

MyDcAreMarvel · 11/12/2021 01:03

I waited till about 14 then £10 a week , now at 16 year dd gets £25 a week. She has always had her phone paid an annual bus pass and unlimited cinema tickets.

SkankingMopoke · 11/12/2021 01:05

5yo gets 12p/day. No chores required to get it (although she does have chores she's expected to do as part of the family), but money is docked for poor behaviour.
7yo gets 20p/day, same set up as above. I need to move her to weekly pocket money now she doesn't need such immediate consequences for behaviour, but haven't got round to it yet. It will likely be rounded up to £1.50/wk when this happens.
When combined with the bit of birthday/Xmas money they sometimes get plus the occasional few pounds from selling on an outgrown toy, they have plenty for their needs.

TrickorTreacle · 11/12/2021 05:31

In 1991, we got £1.50 a week. We now give £3/week which would be around about right.

StuntNun · 11/12/2021 05:49

My 15-year-old gets £7 a week as long as his bedroom is tidy when I check on Friday mornings. This seemed like a great idea in principle but in practice it means that his bedroom is only tidy for one day a week! If he's going out to the cinema or bowling or something then I give him extra money to pay for admission. My primary-school-age children get £5 a month into their bank accounts which they can use if they want to buy a toy.

MinnieMountain · 11/12/2021 06:39

Our 8yo gets £2 a week.

GoodnightGrandma · 11/12/2021 06:42

I never gave mine pocket money. They got money for birthday/Xmas and were encouraged to save it. I’d also buy what they wanted, within reason.
I used to get £1 a week when I was a kid.

WoodenReindeer · 11/12/2021 06:44

I am stuck in 1991 then 😁. I do give money occasionally for things too but we dont have a lot of money either.

DeepaBeesKit · 11/12/2021 06:49

I was always given pocket money as a child and expected to budget it - when mobile phones were getting common I was a teen and part of what my pocket money had to pay for was credit.

As a young child mine wasn't linked to chores but there were opportunities to earn extra from non standard jobs (cleaning the car etc), I like this approach. As a teen there was a base amount then I was paid as a cleaner (I was happy with this deal) - at an overly generous hourly rate.

JingleJingleAllTheWay · 11/12/2021 06:51

We only got a pound back in the 90s!
Watching this thread with great interest as I'd like to start giving my 5 & 6 year old pocket money in the New Year.

trumpisagit · 11/12/2021 06:58

DS 14 gets £15 per month, and extra for bus fare/McDonald's etc if he is going into town.
This is because I want to encourage him to go out, and if he had to take it out of his pocket money he might not go.
I also buy clothes, pay his phone (£6 per month) and he gets one school dinner a week (pack lunch other days).
He says everyone else gets more than him though.
DS 12 gets £12 per month, and only spends it on games and in app purchases... I also pay for phone, clothes and school dinner.

Suretobe · 11/12/2021 07:01

DSD8 with us 50%
Her dad gives her £2 when she is here. She generally just plays with it/counts rather than spends it!

SunshineLollipopsRainbow · 11/12/2021 07:03

£50 a month straight into savings. 2yo so that is purely savings and I buy everything else they need including toys over the year as they develop. I believe at this age toys are as important as clothes as they grow so I'm happy to buy them as needed

mdinbc · 11/12/2021 07:08

My kids are adults now, but we based their pocket money on their age. I think we started off at around the age of 8, and it covered the cost of a movie ticket, then they got a small raise on their birthday.

They were expected to cover treats, events out with friends (if we went as a family of course we paid), or they were encouraged to save it. They did learn lessons in budgeting. It's hard at first when you see them blow the whole amount on the first day (pokemon cards!) then moaning when you say no to ice cream money later in the week.

We never tied chores to pocket money, since we all need to do chores as members of a family occupying the shared house. Mum or Dad don't get paid to clean up and mop floors; it just needs to be done.