Tell RoosterMoney your thoughts about pocket money - £250 voucher to be won! NOW CLOSED

[JustineBMumsnet]

Following the release of their latest Pocket Money Index, RoosterMoney would like to know your thoughts surrounding pocket money. RoosterMoney is a pocket money app that’s designed to help parents take kids from their first steps in understanding the value of money to their first bank account.

Here’s what RoosterMoney have to say: “The Pocket Money Index is a fun glimpse into the habits of young pocket money earners in the UK. Every Family gives pocket money differently and ultimately it's up to you as to how you approach it. As the world of money becomes more digital it can be harder to teach kids about money, so RoosterMoney aims to provide some structure along the way."

So, take a look at the Pocket Money Index and post your thoughts on it below. Also, if you’re a regular pocket money giver, RoosterMoney would like to know if your children are on par with the index, and what your children do to earn their pocket money – do they complete chores, have a reward chart, or maybe they get it on a regular basis without strings attached?

All those who post below on the thread will be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £250 Amazon voucher.

Thanks, and good luck with the prize draw!

MNHQ

My 5 and 8 year olds get £3 per week so close to the average. One has to set the table every mealtime and one has to clear it. Pocket money can also be withheld in the event of bad behaviour. DS1 has just got a Go Henry card as has become money obsessed since his birthday and it is helpful for him to see his money in that way.

We don't believe in paying the children to participate in the day-to-day running of a home. They do various chores because they are members of a family living in a home. So pocket money is unearned here, just as anything else needed to help our children grow up is given to them freely, not earned by them.

We teach our dc to split their pocket money in 3: spend, save and give. The proportions are their choice, as is the charity or cause they choose to give to. And I don't check up on them, either, bar the occasional chat about how they are managing their money.

Same as when I was younger, pocket money is given for (mostly) good behaviour and half can be spent but half is saved.

Doing jobs around the house is not linked to money at all, we are a family and this is our home so we all work to keep it clean and tidy. Starting off with helping put toys away and slowly changing(sometimes increasing) the roles as they get older

When we were older teen my parents used to give me and my brother the child benefit money each month! We didn't have to do specific chores for it but we were expected to just help out generally.

DD1 is 5 and doesn't get regular pocket money, but we will reward good behaviour eg sharing with her sister, doing well at school, helping mum/dad, staying in bed until a reasonable hour with a 5p coin in her jar. She took all the money she saved on holiday. She also gets £1 per tooth from the tooth fairy.
We will probably give her regular pocket money when she's a little bit older. She will be expected to help out around the house, but we won't make a direct link between helping and pay, because she should be helping as a member of the family, not as a job.

My children get pocket money paid directly into their bank accounts (so I don't forget to give it to them). We spent ages looking for a pocket money app and couldn't find a free one so just settled on a figure that reflected age and amount of household help they give. I'd like to know more about this app but don't really want to download it to find out.

My 11 year old gets a no strings attached £5 a week. She asks me to save it for her if she wants something big like clothing. I don't pay for helping around the house because I expect her to be helpful without having to pay her.

Love the index, very reassuring !

My 12 year old gets £30 a month paid by direct debit , he has to tidy his room and clean his hamsters without moaning
We pay for his phone and clothes still
He's meant to pay for socialising out of this but I do sub him as pizza and cinema for a friend's birthday could easily cost 20 quid
Dd is 10 and gets 2 pounds a week, she also has to keep her room tidy but she's not expecting to pay for anything with it

My £17 year old gets £20 a week no strings.
She can also iron her dads shirts @ £2 each for extra cash if she wants to but mostly she cba.
I pay her sim only phone bill.

It teaches them that in the real world if you want something you have to earn it. It also teaches them how to save and be patient if they want to buy something that costs more than their pocket money.

Pocket money has to be earned - that's what I was taught when I was a kid and I try to go along with that.

When they are small good behaviour is enough to earn it but the older children get I think the more they should do so at 5 or 6 they should do simple things like put their toys away when they've finished with them and tidy their room when asked. As they get older they should make their beds, help with other chores like washing up or popping to the shops if you run out of something you need.

That way they learn that money has to be worked for!

Interesting report, technology being so key to kids now with apps being so popular and phones and apple products being in a kids pocket money spend list.
My dds are 9 they get £1 per week. They also get occasional chores money, some small money for completing maths tasks and present money. One is a spender, one is a saver. The saver wants a bank account with a debit card but I think they are only available aged 11.
I am downloading the app it's a good idea for the kids to be able to take control of their own money. Budgeting is such a key skill in life!

DD (nearly 6) gets 50p/week. She sometimes tries to save this but hasn't succeeded yet in saving towards a larger goal - she loves to buy Kinder Eggs too much!

She is starting to be expected to do "normal" chores like tidying up after herself, but I will give her an extra 10p if she does a multi-step task which she finds difficult - like sort, fold, and put away her clothes.

We plan to bump her up to £1/week when she learns the value of the different coins - nearly there!

I've always planned on giving dd pocket money! I think it's a great way to teach the value of money. My plan is about £2 a week then bonus money for helping out with chores eg tidying her own bedroom. I want her to learn that hard work gets rewarded. I also want to teach her early on how to handle money. I have a little purse for her so when we are out shopping and she sees a toy or something she would like we can say 'let's see if you have enough pennies' and count them. If she doesn't I can help her earn them until she can afford to buy the item.

This is something I never had. We got given spare change if we wanted to go to the shop. Plus we got everything we wanted for birthdays and Christmas which I appreciated! However I never learned anything about money (other than how to be very frugal as it was always so scarce to obtain!) untul I got my first office job during uni at 20. I knew nothing about finances and visiting the bank still daunts me! I would like my daughter to be fully prepared. It starts with the pocket money!

She also gets pocket money from her great grandad - £5 every visit. He just loves to treat her and she won't have him around for long so we just spend that on treats like candy and toys it makes them both happy.

I wish we had enough money to be able to give the DC pocket money.

My two are 5 and 9, I don't give them regular pocket money but they often get money on their birthdays which they keep and save and end up really being careful about spending. My oldest son has asked about doing some chores for money and both my partner and I think it's a good idea. This is something we will probably start doing with him this year.

My 6 year old gets £2 a week, which means he is slightly below average - I'd better not tell him or he will negotiate a raise! This comes with no strings attached. We try and encourage him to save it, sometimes by saying if he can get to a certain amount we will match it.

My eight year old and six year old get £1 a week from their grandparents who put it into jars for them, and when they see them every month or so the kids can either take it or choose to let it keep building up. They have about £30 at the moment!

I am not sure about rewarding chores/ homework with money as like a pp I want to give the impression that they should do these things anyway, to help me and DH, and contribute to the family. They would have to go above and beyond to earn money I think and at present they don't even do the basics!

As well as their pocket money from grandparents they often get money from relatives for birthdays or holidays and they will often save this. Six year old recently bought a Kindle with £40 he had saved up this way. And they also seem to have sweets coming out of their ears with sweets from parties, sweets from school, etc so I am reluctant to give them more money to spend on sweets.

I have a teenaged DD (15). She gets £12.50 per week allowance which I pay straight into her account. She has online banking so can use the app to see how much she has. She also has a part-time job and earns around £50 per week on average.

She spends. Despite my trying to encourage her to save, she doesn't. She's supposed to be saving for her gap year but isn't.

DS is nearly 9 and has been getting £1 week since he was 5. Looking at the index, I can see it's probably time for a raise!

It's not linked to chores or behaviour. He's expected to behave in a certain way and do certain chores as a member of the household. He can, however, earn extra money by doing extra chores.

I like DS having his own money as if he sees something when we are out and about that he fancies, he knows he is able to buy it if he has enough pocket money so there's no whinging to be bought stuff. And it teaches him the value of money as he is reluctant to part with his own money for a piece of tat....

When my children are old enough they will get pocket miney. I believe it's a good way for them to learn the value of money and saving. I liked the website but the index is all wrong and I found that annoying.

My son is 6 and doesn't really understand the value of the different coins yet but we incorporate discussions on money in everyday life. He is very reluctant to do chores so isn't offered pocket money although he does have incentives to help out. I would ideally like him to help out because he wants to and not because he is being paid.

My 2 DSs are 7 and 9 and they don't get pocket money yet. We still use money as a reward and incentive for good behaviour and good deeds - they can earn £1 if they get 10 out of 10 at a spelling test or wash the car for example. They each have a piggy bank where they keep their coins in. Older DS tends to scatter them a bit so an app like Rooster Money does sound like a good idea which we may well use in the future. It might also help us decide how much pocket money to give when the time comes!

I give our 6 and 9yo's $1 per week for each year of age.

So my 6yo gets $6 a week.

Any less and there is nothing really worthwhile they can buy. If I have them $1/2 a week, it would take too long to save for things and be counterproductive, if they spent it straight away it would only be enough for sweets or a small destined for landfill pocket toy.

They go to the toy store once a month and buy something, usually use all of it. General toys, Lego or a game for the Wii U. I don't buy any other toys for them now unless birthdays or Xmas, so this aspect works well.

They haven't grasped the concept of saving any, if something is too expensive they won't wait and will just buy something else they want, cheaper. They've pooled their money before and bought something together they couldn't afford a lone.

There is no expectation of chores in return for money, hey need to do chores as they live here and should contribute anyway.

The app looks interesting, I will give it a go and show them how it works, to hopefully get them on a little saving streak as well.

Very interesting to see how much others are giving! At the moment we give our 6 and 3 year old £1 a week and they usually spend it on small toys or a comic every couple of weeks. I don't want to link pocket money to chores because I want them to learn that chores are part of being a member of the family and done to help out, rather than for money!