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Behaviour/development

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

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Original poster

Want to give ds (4.5) pocket money - how?

75 replies

TracyK · 09/07/2008 11:46

dh and I are are disagreeing on this subject.

I thought £4 a week would be fair. dh thinks too much and ds too young to get the 'concept' of money - I think - this is the way to teach him

He always asks/gets sweets or comics when we are out and about and I thought if he saw his £4 counting down each time we bought something - he would understand my purse isn't bottomless iykwim.

Is £4 too much? A slush puppie/ice cream/go gos are all £1 each - so I thought £4 wouldn't last long!

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OurHamsterisevil · 09/07/2008 11:51

Do't have any answers myself, but will watch with interest as am thinking that DS1, who is now 4.11 should maybe get pocket money. I would probably be tight and not give that much

HuwEdwards · 09/07/2008 11:54

£4

My DDs don't get pocket money and didn't contemplate it at age 4. I would think if you wanted to, £1 is sufficient.

hanaflowerisnothana · 09/07/2008 11:55

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

chrysantheMum · 09/07/2008 11:55

£4!

i would like £4 a week that is mine all mine.

sorry but i have to agree wth your dh on both counts here

AMumInScotland · 09/07/2008 11:56

I guess it depends how much a week you are spending on the sort of things you'd then expect him to buy, IYSWIM? So, if you are buying £4 a week worth of comics, sweets, ice-creams etc, then it would be a reasonable amount. I'll be honest, it sounds like quite a lot to be spending on those sorts of things, but up to you on that score!

Original poster

TracyK · 09/07/2008 11:58

But £4 doesn't go far - for 7 days?

what could you buy with 50p? a bag of crisps is 45p.

or do you buy their sweets/crisps etc as part of your supermarket shopping?

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chocolatemummy · 09/07/2008 11:58

I'm still waiting for mum to give me pocket money and I am 33!

I think 4.5 is very young for pocket money, my dd is 4.5 and if she has been a good girl she gets to go on the roundabout or soft play and maybe get a sparkle/dora/whatever magazine at the weekend.......

feetheart · 09/07/2008 12:01

I started giving DD £1 a week on a Friday after school when she was 4.8. There is a Charity shop just opposite the school gates and I got fed up with the daily nagging (can we go in, can I buy a toy, etc, etc!)
She is now 5.5 and is learning quite a lot about money and the value of things ie she knows she can usually buy something in the Charity shop but not usually afford ToysRUs. She has also started to understand about saving and has just saved up £5 to buy a mouth organ that she really wanted.
I would say that he's not too young at all but £4 is too much but then I am Mean Mummy and only buy sweets/comics/etc very rarely so they are seen as a treat (and then we usually have to share)

Flier · 09/07/2008 12:02

I decided recently to give DS pocket money. It used to be that he would get a comic pretty much most weekends, which I thought were a dreadful waste of money. WE aren't ones to be alot of toys either, apart from birthdays etc.
I took an average cost of a comic as £1.50, and this is how much pocket money he gets each weekend, it goes into his piggybank and, if he sees a toy he'd like then we take money from his piggybank to pay for it.
It also is used as a slight reward, if he's been well behaved he gets it, if he's not then he doesn't

btw DS will be 5 in Aug.

AMumInScotland · 09/07/2008 12:03

I think perhaps some on here wouldn't be giving their children that many sweets, crisps etc. If you think, £4 = 8 packs of crisps a week, that's a lot of salt. Or sugar if it's sweets.

EffiePerine · 09/07/2008 12:04

Give him a quid. And don't buy him so many sweets

Pheebe · 09/07/2008 12:04

I also think £4 is too much

Also I think we'll take the opposite approach in that DS will earn/be rewarded with pennies for helping round the house that he can spend on what he wants rather than things we've always bought for him.

chocolatemummy · 09/07/2008 12:05

another thing we do is get dd to sort out toys she wants to keep and toys she doesnt want to keep every six months or so and we either give them to charity or sell that at a car boot and she can use the money/equiv to buy new ones.
I don't like getting her magazines because I TOO think they are a waste of money but she has a choice

HuwEdwards · 09/07/2008 12:06

Tracy, do you want to treat her? ie let her have 4 £1 treats a week or do you want to show her the value of money?

I think if you answer this question for yourself you'll come to the rigt conclusion over 'how much'

ZoeC · 09/07/2008 12:06

I don't give pocket money yet (dd1 is 6 this October and has done a bit with money at school now, so will understand a bit and I am thinking of starting soonish. Wouldn't have contemplated it any younger).

She only occasionally has crips, which I get and she has at the table at tea. I wouldn't be keen on her just buying bags of crips and sweets etc. freely and eating them there and then. I would prefer to encourage her to decide what she wants and save etc for specific things.

Also agree £4 way too much, I would go for 50p or £1 a week for dd1 tbh. Haven't decided yet.

sherby · 09/07/2008 12:06

DD is 3 and gets pocket money

She has 3 chores a day

making her bed (not actually making it just straightening the pillow and making sure the quilt is all on the bed)

dusting the fireplace (she has an old sock of DHs that she puts on her hand and dusts with)

and putting her clothes in the laundry basket at the end of each day

she gets a sticker at the end of each day if she does them all and then pocket money on saturday

She gets £4 a week which I don't think is over the top, if there is a toy she wants then it goes in her money box until she has enough, or she might get a magazine or a new book with it and occasionally she will ask me to bring it after playschool and she gets a small chocolate bar

I think it is very important to introduce the concept of the value of money and that you have to actually do something to get it, she understands that if she doesn't do her chores there is no money and once it is gone it is gone.

I also give her the money to take to the till herself and pay with so she understands where the money is going and about getting change.

Seems to work okay for us.

HuwEdwards · 09/07/2008 12:06

Tracey, sorry, just realised it's a son you have.

IdrisTheDragon · 09/07/2008 12:08

My DS is 4.7 and we are thinking of giving him pocket money from September, when he goes to school. I am thinking of £1 a week, and hoping to encourage him to save up for things he wants. He already knows that magazines are expensive and that we don't get them often, so if he has not as much as a magazine costs, he can decide to save it up if he wants.

I personally think £4 is a bit much pocket money.

Original poster

TracyK · 09/07/2008 12:10

Maybe it's just the summer - but we seem to be in town more or less every 2nd day. and I'd say I would spend 80p-£1 on him each time - whether it be an ice cream, packet of crisps, or packet of his go gos (little toys things). Maybe in winter we won't be out and about so much and cost less.

We rarely buy 'big' toys - only birthday or Xmas - but he could quite easily spend £1 a day on little, dinky cars or go go's if I let him.

I don't see the point in giving 50p - you can't buy anything with it. I'd rather give him nothing.

Maybe I'm expecting him to be too independant and buy all his own snacks etc - but thought it would stop him asking - if he'd used up all his own money - then he's out of luck.

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girlandboy · 09/07/2008 12:10

I gave my dc's pocket money once they had turned 5. They got 50p a week. This went up when they got to aged 6...up to 60p a week.

What the heck has a 5 year old got to spend a lot of money on?

My dc's are 8 and 12 now, and they both get £2 each a week. It was when my eldest got to aged 10 that I put the pocket money up from £1 to £2.

I has certainly taught my kids the value of money, and if they want something in particular then they know they have to save.

When my dd gets to 13 she will then have a "clothes allowance". She can spend it on what she wants eg. a new top or trousers. She will start on £5 a week. The only thing I will buy for her is school stuff. If she wants the latest body spray or girly stuff, then she will pay herself. This is what my mum did for me, and it was a good idea. Taught me the value of money, and if it's frittered away, then it's gone!

Original poster

TracyK · 09/07/2008 12:13

I hate buying magazines too - v. expensive and discarded the next day. So I won't let him buy them anymore.
But I do see him getting months of enjoyment from his go gos and his little friends all collect them too - so they sit for hours doing - whatever they do with these things.

OP posts:

Bramshott · 09/07/2008 12:14

I have just started giving my DD (5.5) 20p a week, and now I'm feeling really mean!

Flier · 09/07/2008 12:15

can I ask - what are go-gos?

sherby · 09/07/2008 12:17

If you are only giving 50p odd a week though, realistically isn't it going to take forever to save up for even something quite small? I would've thought that small children would just get bored and disillusioned with the idea of saving and not bother

Original poster

TracyK · 09/07/2008 12:17

They are little plastic figures - like little pokemons - from Japan. 3 in a bag - all numbered - so you've got to collect/swap them all. They are quite cute and is helping with his number recognition.

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