Pocket money

[philippat]

When did you start giving pocket money and how much?

Dd is only just 3 but our income is about to go down so we'll be a bit more careful about what we spend and I was wondering if pocket money would help or hinder this. She has just started to enjoy spending 'her' pennies at the shop - seeing what sweets she can afford etc.

max 50p a week to spend at shops at this age.

tbh we have only started giving dd an allowance of £10 a week but she has to buy her "non essential" clothes and goodies with it. She also fleeces us for £15 a week riding and riding gear as and when

We didn't give pocket money until they were about seven - I'm not convinced that most kids get the concept before then. We had a friend who gave their kids pocket money very young and they just didn't get the value of money - they just left the cash lying around all the time and they are a bit like that as teenagers too.

I have just started giving my 5 year old pocket money - $1 a week. I don't believe in giving pocket money in return for chores around the house (because as part of the family children should help out with age-appropriate chores). But I decided that she could earn this money by doing something above and beyond what is expected, and that is that she lets me lie-in for a little while at the weekends. She can get her own breakfast and put on a video, and help her 2 year old sister out too. She sees me pay her babysitters and likes the fact that she is being paid for doing a similar thing!

I told her she can save up her money and buy herself something. But she insists that she doesn't want to spend it on herself, but is saving it up to buy her sister a birthday present. [proud icon]

Ours started at five but I agree with Shortcake: they didn't really seem to appreciate what is was all about until about seven (oldest child anyway).

We only started giving this very recently at a pound a week. Ds has just turned seven.

I give them pocket money if they have been good - up to 5 pounds a week.

I just started to give them pocket money, 3Euro a week, but they are expected to do chores for that, they are 7,8, and 10. This is mainly for sweets, which they are only allowed at the weekend, but I supplement it for magazines, like Pop Idol Party which is 4 Euro.

Really the idea behind pocket money is to teach them the value of money, and that if you spend it on crap, thats what you are left with.

Mine save almost all of heir pocket money, and spend ours instead

My 5 year old gets £1
My 7 year old gets £2
My 10 year old gets £5

My 7 year old is the only one 'motivated' by money- so he earns more (5p or 20p etc ) for doing other extra chores....sometimes he gets another £2 or £3 a week by doing loads of 'little jobs'

My 10 yr old went to town the other day with £10 and spent £7 of it on his younger brother...so feel he hasn't grasped the value of money yet!

Basically.....when you are an adult you get paid for work you do- so if i benefit from his help....then i dont mid paying my 7 year old 'as much as it takes'

But i never reduce their 'baseline' pocket money....i feel they need to know 'some is guranteed- extra needs to be earnt'

I started when dds were 6 & 9 when they were really lazy round the house. I did a chart with like 10p a day for keeping their rooms tidy (checked the day before pocket money day), bringing plates, cups into the kitchen, making their beds etc. I only did the chart for 2-3 months and now give them 10p per year, so 11 yr old gets £1.10. They also get the pot of loose change we collect on their birthdays (about £20). If they really really want something bigger, I make them pay half and quite often they then change their minds about wanting it. they really don't need anything else as we buy their clothes etc.

I give my 9 year old a £1 a week for laying the table for tea. I started giving her £1 when she was 7 when i had been buying her the Beano( 70p) every week. I asked her if she wanted to have a magazine/comic or the money and she chose the money, which she now saves up to buy the Tracy beaker magazine fortnightly.I usually have to top it up a bit. My husband gives her 10p for any extra little job she does during the week. I am hoping that in the long term this will at least give her an idea of how much stuff costs.

Mine are 6, 4 and 22mths and don't get any off me and dp. They do get some of my dad and uncle in a money box, which they save up. They usually get about 4 pounds a month or something,, depends on when they last put some in.

My dad also has a penny jar which we recently cashed in and there was just over 30 pounds in that.

we started ds1 with £1 when he started school last yr and so gave his 3 yr old bro 50p, so he didn't feel left out.
He mainly spends it on hotwheels cars when we go to town, which saves me fron buying him something
He has grasped the concept of money and looks a prices to see what he can afford, so I think it has been educational for him

We have just started pocket money with ds1 and ds2 (Ages 6 & 3) but have linked it to a reward system. We have adopted the pasta system which I heard about through Soupdragon and has been discussed on here before.

Basically, Ds1 starts out with 10 pieces, Ds2 5 pieces. 1 piece equates to (in our house) 10p. They can earn extra pieces during the week for jobs or being good, and can have pieces taken away for bad behaviour. On a sat morning the pasta is exchanged for hard cash and we reset the pasta jars to 10 and 5 pieces respectively.