What age did you start giving pocket money and how much?

[gaelicsheep]

My 4 year old DS just asked me why he doesn't have any money, and it got me thinking. I've been getting him to pay for toys, sweets, etc. himself (with my money) and get the change, so he understands the concept of money. I had presumed he was too young to actually be getting pocket money, but now I wonder if I'm right.

When did you start, how much did you give, and do you think it was the right decision? TIA.

ds1 4y3m, he got £1 a week. For him it was the right decision, he completely understood the concept of money, the relative value, that by saving he could get something he wanted. It also made him consider whether he really wanted something when he was the one paying for it.

ds2 is 4y9m, he is meant to get pocket money, but mostly doesn't as we both forget about it. He has very little concept of the relative value of money and it doesn't mean that much to him.

Thanks ChasingSquirrels. I think my DS is like your DS1. But what do you do if he's about to waste it on tat?

Anyone else?

in retrospect £1 a week was probably too much. His dad and I have since split and when that happened we changed it to 50p at each house. I upped it to 70p on his 7th bday and 80p on his 8th.

I tried to discourage the tat, but decided at the end of the day that was part of the point of giving him the pocket money - so he could make his own mind up. I was probably buying him the tat anyway, once he started with pocket money and had to spend his own cash on it, we brought far less!