Tell me about pocket money!

[tigermeow]

At what age did your child start receiving pocket money? How much did they get at first? What did they buy with it?

DD has become very interested in money- she is squirreling away any loose change and is apparently saving for a new toy ! She is very good at working out how to pay for items up to about a pound so seems to have a vague idea of the workings of money.

We are thinking of introducing pocket money but not really sure how. Any tips and experiences, please.

We started with DS1 very close to his fifth birthday. I hadn't planned to start so young but he kept asking for expensive things and we thought we'd give the "you need to save up for it" line a whirl. He was getting a comic which we have stopped and turned into pocket money.

It's been six weeks and he still knows he is saving and what it is for. Early success .

The Science Museum do a fantastic money box. It's a robot that recognises each coin as you put it in and tells you what it is - ie '2p' or whatever. Another button tells you the total you've saved and you can set a target, so it will tell you how much further you've got to go. It also tells you off if you try to take the money out before reaching your target. John Lewis sell it and it's not expensive - I think £13 or something. My 4 year old got one for Christmas and am thinking I should start pocket money as he loves it so much.

My DD is 10 and is very interested in money!

She gets £3 per wekk but £2 of it is dependent on a few chores. Her room has to be in a reasonable state each Froday night (she gets P money on saturday). SHe has to feed the cat every day if she's there at cat tea time. She also has to put away her own clean clothes once I have washed and folded it.

She is fairly good about doing most of these and is generally quite helpful anyway. She will help DS get dressed, clear the table after dinner, that kind of thing.

Not sure if this is usual/slave labout/over generous but she seems happy with it. She is saving up for a wii - she hasn't really grassped how much they cost!! My Dad sometimes gives her a couple of £ if she wants to help him wash the car/weed/sort his clean socks out!!!

We don?t do pocket money. Perhaps they should learn the value of saving up but I hate money and the concept of children wanting money for more material stuff. A true head in the sand person! Don?t want to know how much in the bank or my purse, never look at the bottom of the shopping bill, just punch the numbers into the card reader They get rewarded for good behaviour etc but tends to be a family trip or movie or special dinner - not cash for a new toy.
I know, I know, bad habits passed on and all that. My girls never ask for money. I might pass it over if they are buying something - but that is more for a confidence asking and saying please and thank you thing in the shop!! Not really about the cash and learning the cost of stuff. Hmm maybe I aught to consider this a bit more!

tangental thought: When I was about 10, I asked, just curious, how much my Dad had just spent on buying drinks for my two brothers and I at the shopping centre one day. He answered (whatever the number was) and I realised with a jolt that it would have taken 10 weeks pocket money for me to save that much. T'was good for me! Good to see the comparison between the value of my money and my parents ifyswim.

Lemontart- you sound very much like me...I never look at the bottom of the shopping bill, never check bank statements, never carry any cash etc. DD is picking up on DH's 'money organisational skills'!
She doesn't generally get treats when we go shopping, but has recently started asking for things like a packet of chocolate buttons. I feel with some pocket money she could buy the magazine with the plastic tat of the front that I wont buy for her, or the odd packet of chocolate buttons.
I like the idea of her doing some more 'chores' to earn her pocket money.

DD(10) gets £10/month, DS(7) gets £8, it goes up £2 each birthday.

After humming and hawing, we decided not to make pocket money dependent on chores. This was because we all live in the house and we are all expected to contribute, I did not want to feel the kids were expecting to be 'paid' for doing things they should be doing anyway.

As a general rule, I buy what they 'need' - school uniform, necessary clothes & shoes, etc and they use their pocket money to buy what they 'want'.

I try not to interfere too much in what they spend pocket money on - they will make wrong choices but we will encourage them to learn from that. Better they do it with a £1 on too much sweets than bigger things when they are older.

We started at the start of Year 1 with our two. 50 p a week for the first year, then a 5 p rise. At secondary school a monthly £10 allowance instead, but then expected to buy a few things for herself (deo and similar).

Not linked to chores.

Parents may advise but not decide how pocket money is spent. (e.g. gentle reminder that I thought you were saving up for X ok, but not refusal to hand over money that is due).

Like LSITD my dd's pocket money is not dependent on chores. She is a member of our family and should be contributing. I do a hell of a lot of housework and nobody pays me for it

We started at age 7 with 50p per week. Now at age 10 it's £1 per week. She saves up and spends on toys.