Penny chew? Bag of crisps for 5p? What did you splurge your pocket money on when you were a DC? Share your memories of all things pocket money with Santander - you could win £250*! DRAW NOW CLOSED

[AnnMumsnet]

Santander have asked us to find out from Mumsnetters what you spent your precious pocket money on back when they were a kid. They'd also like to know how much you used to get versus how much you give your DC now.

Cast your minds back to the time when a packet of crisps was 5p/ 10p/ 20p/ cheaper than they are now and you could buy all manner of teeth-rotting sweets with a fraction of what your children are getting each week.

So indulge us - let us know what you used to love to spend your pocket money on. And tell us how much you got when you were a child, and how much you're now giving your children. Where did you prefer to spend the money? Or were you a saver?

Everyone who adds their thoughts to the thread will be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £250 shopping voucher*.

Please note that any comments posted on this thread may be used by Santander in further marketing material (anonymously, of course).

Thanks and good luck!
MNHQ

• NB Standard MN terms and conditions apply - see here. Closing date 8 October 2014 10am

** Voucher can be chosen from www.voucherexpress.co.uk

My Nan would put 'two shillings' as she called it, on the mantelpiece, later inflation took it to 20p and then 50p.

I would go down the sweet shop/post office and buy a mix of sweets of choice, usually two for a penny. Black Jacks, that discoloured your teeth and tongue, Fruit Salads, Sweet cigarettes with little pink tips, flying saucers that melt in your mouth and a sugar tobacco, that came in a packet.

Sometimes, I would get a quarter of sherbet pips, but they ended up sticking to the bag!

Once the sweets were sorted, it was either Topper comic, which was larger than the rest, or Dandy. I liked Bunty too, but that eventually was delivered with the newspapers.

Sometimes in the holidays, Nan would give me some extra money, for going down the shop and getting her 10 Embassy cigarettes and I would buy a Whimsey (little china animals), I still have them now.

I still remember the smell of that shop, a mixture of paper and sweets.

Happy Days.

Oh...... I forgot to say, my dd is 10 and gets £3 if she puts the recycling out and lays the table.

Strangely, unlike me at her age, she saves, she has money squirrelled away all over the place, but then I don't think she really understands the value of it like we did, or has the opportunity of walking to the shop on her own to spend it.

We buy sweets in the supermarket now :(

We were/are a big family and didn't get pocket money on a regular basis as my mum used to keep chocolates/crisps stocked up. But when we did, then I remember going to the shop and buying '2 oz KopKops / Sasparilla sweets / Bonbons' That would be about 20p and if I had a bit more money then it would be 'a quarter' worth. ( A quarter of what, I still don't know but that's what the elder siblings said so I said it too!)
And if I saved my money up for anything, it would be stationery-those lovely big sets you get with different types of pens and pencils in. And gel pens!

I grew up in Germany and would get 5 Deutschmark for my pocket money. It was quite a big silver coin. We lived near an Aldi so we would go for sweets... Always Haribo or Kinder Chocolate, ooohhh and Flips (a crisp a bit like a wotsit but peanut flavoured). And if we went to the Naafi we could buy magazines, I was quite partial to Twinkle and then Mandy. My parents were always very generous. Is go as far to say we were spoilt but I don't think we ended up spoilt IYSWIM.

I don't remember how much I used to get, but I do remember going to the shop to buy a 10p mix - a bag of mixed sweets, lots of which were only 0.5p.

The machine at the swimming baths sold polos for 5p a packet too.

When I was older, I got my child allowance which was pocket money and for clothes, think it was £48 a month. Other than clothes, I spent it on cheap booze (mad dog 20/20 anyone?), silk cut, make up and diet coke and mars bars.

My DC don't get pocket money yet but we will introduce it soon, in return for helping about the home (aka putting their own stuff away and getting their own pe kit ready). How much? No idea - watching this thread for ideas.

My dad would take us down the road to the newsagent on a Saturday morning. We would buy penny sweets - fruit chews and black jacks, packets of fireballs. I would get a Bunty comic.

In the early 90s I used to get £5 a week pocket money. I would get train to town with friends, have lunch, buy a book or something small and go to the cinema. That would cost four times as much now at least!

I remember when I was about 7 that I used to get 22p a week pocket money (I have no idea why it was such an odd figure). I used to take it down to the corner shop and buy penny and halfpenny sweets with it (showing my age now). My little one is only 1 so doesn't get pocket money yet. What age do children normally start getting it?

I used to buy those fried egg shaped sweets at a penny each. I once saved up a pound so i could buy 100 in one go!

Another fave was the shortbread biscuits - home baked - and sold in school tuck shop for 6p. Can you believe it 6p!!! such a bargain! even in those days it was great value and they tasted soooo goood.

I don't remember getting a decent amount of pocket money - it was literally just pennies in those days. But it didn't matter - we were happy with sweets and biscuits!

I didn't get pocket money til I was in high school, instead I picked a magazine and 20p mix or a chocolate bar.

Can't remember what I bought when older. Probably books and cans of coke at school.

Dd gets £5.50 a week in her hand ( which includes money to spend on bus fare if she doesn't fancy walking home from school, or extra snacks if she didn't pack enough) plus £5.50 goes into a savings account for buying gifts for others and saving for bigger things like computer games. ( when she's 12 she will get £6 in hand, £6 for savings etc)

Pocket money was £2 a week and was for Fizzy astro belts, black jacks, fruit salads and irn bru bars! Surprisingly I have never had a filling to this day!

As I got older (secondary school) I had an allowance that was supposed to be for trips out with friends, out of school clothes and makeup I think it was about £40 a month.

Saved up for Famous Five books from our local bookshop.

We used to get 20p a day for the shop/tuck shop in primary. So enough for 10p crisps (or 2x5p) and a mix up. My grandad gave us 20p every Saturday and always told us "Don't spend it in the one shop."

In the summer we got £1 on Thursdays to go swimming. Bus fare was 40p and pool entry was 50p. What my mum didn't know was that we used to walk the mile and a half there and back so we could spend the bus fare on chips.

I used to get £2 a week. I was definitely never a saver although my sister was and whenever she bought her "big" thing I was always insanely jealous. Mine was always immediately spent on those big fizzy cola bottles, pear drops and whatever stickers I happened to be collecting at the time. I remember when the sticker packs used to be 20p a pack but now they can be up to a £1. I also remember the thrill of getting one that you had been looking for and doing swopsies with friends. I used to be able to get a quarter of pear drops for 30p but now my local shop sells 100g for 85p.

My DS gets £7 a week in total from me, my mum and my partner. He generally spends it on sweets (guess he inherited the sweet tooth) and xbox points.

White chocolate fish and chips.
I used to get £5 a month I think. Currently we don't give the children pocket money. They are still quite young in my opinion but they get money from family every now and then and they usually spend it on toys.

I remember a sudden craze sweeping the primary school playground to have a plastic lemon and use it as a water pistol. I saved up my pocket money to buy one - it cost 17 1/2 p. (Not sure if the fraction will post properly...) I've always liked plastic lemons ever since.

I used to get the same number of pence as my age, starting with 5p at 5. I remember getting an above-expectations raise when I was 11, perhaps to 15p. Currently ds at 10 gets £3 a week if he does all his chores every day, and £2.50 a week if he doesn't manage every day. 50p goes in his savings account either way.

I used to spend any money I got on sweets, 50p "lucky" bags and 6p beef flavoured potato puff crisps. In fact I loved all the flavours. Would love to try a bag now. Do they still exist?

I think I spent my money on stickers and barbie paraphernalia: I was a total girlie girl.

Occasionally, I would pop to corner shop and get 10p fudges or an 1/8th bonbons - yum (showing my age by non metric measurements!)

I used to get a couple of pounds a week. I'd go straight to the shops and get horse and pony magazine and monster munch!
When I got older I had to work for my pocket money but it was upped to 5-10.
I never saved.. I'm still rubbish at that now!

I used to spend it pretty much all on sweets and crisps. There was the penny sweet tray, with those pink earwig things, edible paper, flying saucers, etc. 5/10p crisps and then the big jars of sweets to be measured out, like cola cubes, toffee eclairs, etc. Yum!

Penny chews and bunches of daffodils for my Mum !

My friend and I used to spend all our pocket money on 10p bags of crisps & have parties for teddys in order to eat them! We moved into 10pm ice poles in the Summer & the occasional 10p freddo frog (which seem to cost about 40p now!)

Got to be a 10p mixture!!

Back in The days where they paid 15p for glass bottles back I used to take glass bottles back for my dad and got to keep what I got. Usually enough for a 10p mix up, a pack of crisps, a bottle of panda pop and a beano. When I got a bit older my brother took the bottles and I got straight cash. I can't remember how much but enough for a wispa, can of coke and a just 17 magazine lol

Sherbet dib dabs, bazooka Joe bubble gum, shrimps, fruit salad and black jacks, flying saucers, sweet cigarettes! Curly whirlies, wagon wheels, milky bar, poppets, love hearts .... I could go on!