Pocket money for 12 year old

[Ilovepugs2017]

How much pocket money do you give your children?
My son has £10 a week, was just wondering whether this is too much/too little.
Obviously everything is more expensive these days but it with the COL things are really tight here too.
I pay for his contract sim every month. Dinner & snack money for school. Any clothes/shoes he needs etc
He does reluctantly do some chores but annoyingly wastes majority of his money on drinks and sweets even tho I’ve encouraged him to take drinks out with him to save spending out on more.

11 yo gets £1 a week if earnt.
we pay for everything else, I do think at this age they need a bit more, but I was thinking £3 a week.

you can pay more, up to you. £10 a week my kids aren’t reading this!

my 13 yo gets £100 per month. He uses it to buy what he needs and we also pay for his phone.

He has no chores really, but is a good kid and works hard at school so we are happy

11yo gets £5/week but only really spends it on Robux. Once at secondary in September I might up it if they look like they start wanting to spend it on real things.

15 and 18 yo's get £10/week but I buy all clothes, pay for phones etc. and often give them extra for going out if they need it. 18 yo works at school and gets paid for that too. Although that's pretty much over now, will look for summer job and off to uni in September.

21yo at uni gets £125/month plus phone paid. Will continue that until they get graduate job. But most likely will stay on for a masters next year.

They all do cleaning their own rooms and packing the dishwasher etc.

I ordered a rooster card each for my 7+10 year old. (Thankfullly baby doesn't need pocket money yet) we're going to harry potter studios and legoland in August and we've said whatever spending money you have you'll have to budget between the both if you go happy tapping in the studios you won't have anything for legoland. We topped the cards up with £5 each to start them off and 20 mins after activating thr card I had a notification that miss 10 had spent money on an app on her phone. That's fine, because I've been cleat once the money is gone it's gone. (They don't know we have a separate stash for holiday spends thar we'll put on their cards at the time) they just think they'll be getting pocket money each week until then. Chores wise I've asked them to do basics around the house. Bur nothing out the ordinary. 10 year old goes to sea cadets and takes some tuck money each week and I never have cash so normally its mad dash ro the shop for cashback just before it starts so I've told her I'll still pay her tuck but I'll put it on her card, and she needs to be responsible for getting cash out. For us, the money would of always gone to them, but the cards are to encourage a bit more responsibility, particularly in miss 10 who's desperate to grow up.

My children get £5 a week. Age 12 & 14. It’s purposely for a snack after school a couple of nights a week when they’re in town and near shops and not going home till late after activities. (7/8pm late)
DD spends about £2-3 a week and saves the rest. …. but she has a HUGE assortment of sweets in her activity bag and keeps it topped up with different bits to pick at as and when!
DS is older and forever hungry has realised he can eat Waitrose essential chicken sandwiches…. They are the most filling thing he can find for his money!! 😂

£10 is ALOT to just spend on rubbish !
& it’s encouraging wasting money in my opinion.
I earn well, as does my DH and we wouldn’t buy drinks out everyday! …. It’s a waste.

I’ve considered upping my DC’s weekly money to £10, but only on the condition they set up standing orders into their savings accounts, so they see it build.

£520 a year could get him an Xbox or almost a week abroad !!

We give our 13 & 15 year old pocket money each week providing their rooms are tidy. They have to proactively tell us that they are ready for their room to be checked, we don’t remind them.

They get £3 a week, with 10% interest on any money they’ve not spent, but the maximum they can get a week is capped at £10.

It’s amazing how often they feel that tidying their room is too much effort! So this is a definite way to save! We do pay for phone contracts etc. on top of this.

Our 15 year old now has a waitressing job, so is much leas reliant on pocket money.

My daughter doesn’t get anything but I pretty much buy whatever she wants when she wants.

She has our joint account linked to her Apple Pay so will ask can she get XY or Z and we pretty much always say yeh…

We obv also pay for all clothing, shoes, phone bill, lunch money (even when she has a pack lunch).

We are going to the Birmingham primark this weekend and il probably spend well over £100 getting her extra clothing plus stuff like face masks, lip glosses etc.

If she was going to the cinema with her mates we would also give her £10 to go with + ticket money.

Savings only (90 day interest, £40 a month) till they started needing it. When about 15 then £40 to savings, £40 to spend per month each. Now DD is 17 I have taken away the £40 spend per month but kept the £40 save. DD 13 has both still. I pay phone and essential clothes (uniform and sports kit). They pay going out, make up, other clothes.

We don’t really do pocket money as such. I pay for their mobile phones, my eldest has a Saturday job where he earns £10 an hour.

Middle and youngest get £1 a week on Go Henry. Middle one (15) gets opportunity to earn 50p a day by emptying the dishwasher. Youngest (11) gets jobs added occasionally if he specifically wants to earn some money. We pay for Air Cadets for 15 yr old and Drama lessons for youngest.

If they’re going out with friends, we will give them some cash though. Or if there’s something they want we will either give them the money of it isn’t much, or agree jobs to cover it. we used to do this for the eldest too, but now he’s earning he tends not to ask!

I imagine it would be cheaper for us if we did set pocket money… but it works for now and they haven’t ever asked about getting proper pocket money as such. It helps they tend to get a bit of cash for birthdays and Xmas they could potentially use!

But how will she learn to budget ? It is a vital life skill.

DS11 and DD9 get £3 each per week, I also do the Swedish thing of sweets once per week which I pay for too. Neither have phones as yet. They're expected to help out sold there house when needed. The 11 year old will save up for a game for the Xbox or occasionally spend on Pokémon cards, the 9 year old generally saves it but is getting more interested in girly bits and pieces, for instance she wants to buy some perfume from Next. I only buy clothes when needed, and try to get secondhand first although will buy new when it's something I know that they will love.

Son in year 7 gets £7 per week, in year 8 will increase to £8 per week etc. We use the rooster card and split so 40% goes on his card to spend as he will on rubbish drinks etc, 40% in a goals pot where he saves for something specific he chooses (has been lego sets, video games etc), 10% into a generic savings pot he doesn't get to touch and 10% to a charity of his choice (he chooses a different one each time it gets over £5 or so). It's worked really well and often as he approaches his saving goal he'll put in money from his spend pot etc to get there sooner.

My just turned 13 yo gets £60/month paid onto her gohenry card. She uses this for days out with friends, Starbucks after school, clothes and make up. I don't know if it's just where we live, but the cheapest cinema ticket is about £10, so it's really quite expensive for them to have a Saturday afternoon in town.

DS 11 (12 October) get £5 per week into his go Henry, we pay for his phone (£6 per month) and typically any clothes needed. He did tell DH that his best mate got £7.50 per week so he increased it for one week but reduced it again. He’s not asked to do specific chores but does help when asked (take the washing to everyone’s rooms, wash his and his younger sisters plates, help
prep dinner, dust the blinds which he actually enjoys so a result for me 😂).

Currently he has £58 in there as he doesn’t spend much, occasional drink or ice cream when we go to the golf club with friends but granddad likes to slip him a couple of pounds each week which he spends in the local corner shop after school. They don’t take card so that’s why he doesn’t spend his pocket money there.

Currently his school friends don’t socialise outside of school hours so I suspect when he goes to secondary school he’ll start spending it more frequently & we may need to increase or we’ll pay for things like a cinema ticket but he will have to pay for snacks

Do we have the same son? 🤣 Mine is desperate for some air forces, I've told him I will buy him some new trainers but if he wants AF then he needs to pay the difference to upgrade. He's on with that but so far (2 months on from that conversation) he's only managed to save up £8.

All of mine (13,12,6&4) get £5 per week (weekly for the younger ones, monthly for the older ones). The oldest doesn't really go out so he saves up for the next time a big titled game comes out, the 12 year old usually buys herself new clothes and replaces her own toiletries (she has expensive taste and the basics are always provided 🤣). The younger 2 either choose a toy from Amazon or they choose a magazine from the shop every week. We don't tell them what they should or shouldn't spend it on because I want them to learn from thier financial mistakes now as opposed to when they're not living at home with a safety net 🤷‍♀️ And to unlock access to the family finances, they need to contribute to the family in some regular way. It doesn't have to be chores, but it has to be a contribution. My eldest generally takes his little sisters out to play in the street with thier friends for an hour or two after school or on the weekend, the 12 yo is more interested in cleaning and tidying than hanging out with a large group of annoying first schoolers, so she keeps her bedroom lovely (seriously, she's better at tidying than I am 🤣🤦‍♀️) and does a few extra jobs around the rest of the house, the two youngest help me keep thier bedroom tidy and help with the dishes/help feed the pets/help with laundry etc (They're still learning, so helping Mummy and Daddy out is the safest option ATM 🤣🤣). I think of it like being a business shareholder 🤷‍♀️ You contribute to the family and you get access to the family finances 🤷‍♀️🤣

I was going to suggest about putting half away! Tweens don't always have rational brains but once he sees it building up...and can buy those £120 trainers, it will be a great life lesson for him! But don't do it as a punishment (i.e you keep buying junk so I'm going to take half and put it away)...do it with a positive spin...'I've had a great idea....if we put half your money each week into a savings account, that's £20 a month and by christmas you'll be able to buy those trainers you really want and you can spend the other half on the other bits you like buying!'

There is a book called Between by Sarah Ockwell-Smith and there is a whole section on pocket money which is really helpful. The whole book is definitely worth a read to be honest....gives you an appreciation of tweens and how their brains work and how to support them!

My 2 (10 + 8) get £10 a week HOWEVER it is on a rooster card and I’ve set it so that £7.50 of the £10 goes in to a savings pot which they can’t access without me. If they want to buy anything e.g. PS games then they pay for it from their savings

My 13 year old gets £40 a month
we pay her phone, any school lunches
clothes and shoes.
and I’ll generally buy her bits and pieces of I’m out shopping

her money is just for her to go out with her friends, for her Costa/mcds/ shop visits

You need to set age appropriate tasks that he needs to do to earn his pocket money.
you don’t say how old he is but he should be expected to , Keep his bedroom tidy ie, dirty clothes put in the hamper ( if you lack space get one that hangs on the back of the door) if he’s old enough he should be folding & putting away his laundry. Putting away his things. Vacuum once a week.

Setting & Clearing the dinner table, learning to load/unload the dish washer or helping with dishes.
( my youngest daughter started doing dishes, washing,drying putting away when she was 4, I came out to the kitchen one morning, she’d put 2 dining chairs together to stand on and, wearing my gloves, was washing bowls & plates after already doing the cups & glasses, I tried to take over but she was like “mum, I got this make yourself a coffee” so I hovered until she was done).
Making their bed, helping prepare & cook dinner ( fussy eaters are far more likely to eat it if they helped make it)

To vacuuming, mopping , taking out the trash & recycling Etc. ( most kids enjoy hoovering)

set “Special” tasks he can do if he wants to earn extra cash.

praise their efforts, don’t criticise. Never discourage them from Attempting a task, there are no gender roles with house hold chores, it’s People work, if you live there you need to contribute.

Its our job as parents to teach our kids to Do for themselves Not to do everything for them, far more often Daughters are taught these things from a very young age & Sons are not. We often do it our selves because it’s quicker & it prevents the child from achieving.

I can tell you now that Adults who have not learned to look after themselves , they move out of home & then get Flatmate/ partners who get fed up real fast with learned helplessness & weaponised incompetence.

Mine only gets £4 a week but he’s happy with it! Has to do basic chores for it. He already has a good understanding of the value of money and saving up. Takes him awhile mind🙈

Well I never had pocket money as a child and I can budget perfectly fine. Not in debt, all bills and mortgage paid.

She does have her own account which she saves all her bday money and any extra our parents give her.

She doesn’t excessively ask to use our joint account and she hardly touches hers so I can’t be doing too bad.
For holidays she saves up what’s in her account. She saved £600 for our trip to Disney world last year.

My DS 12 gets £5 a week. For that he needs to make his bed everyday, put his clothes away and help clear up after dinner.

We pay for his phone and clothes etc and always give him money for going out with his friends so I'm not sure what the £5 a week is actually for!

Mine is just shy of 13 and he gets £10 a week as well. he spends his on roblox and chocolate, although last year after scoring a surprising amount of Christmas money he then managed to save up pocket money for months to buy himself an iPad. Now that is off his list he fritters it but that's fine.. he knows how to save when he wants something.

He has some chores but it's not lined to pocket money really. I pay for everything else for daily life but he will on occasion if I say no to something (last week was to a second icecream of the day) he used his own money and bought his own plus one for his brother.

My 12yo gets £2.50 per week on a card but can earn extra with some chores (IE clean the bathroom or kitchen but not just for cleaning up his own mess). He never takes up this opportunity but his 9yo sister does. Dh also instigated (can you tell I'm not keen?) 10p per green point earnt at school which tops him up an extra £1-2 per week. I pay for mobile phone etc... He tends to spend his money on FIFA points/Fortnite or whatever his current hyperfocus is (drumming, skateboarding etc). Now his £2.50 doesn't got far or last long but his grandparents are forever chucking him notes. TBF he has set up his own microsavings on his card and is learning (the hard way) that if you don't have money, you just can't have something. He is starting to think twice what he spends his money on.