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

I love the idea of pocket money but I'm useless at remembering to hand it over!! This app would help with that! I'm off to check it out! Thanks!

My kids get £10 a month. I used to break it down weekly, but I never had the change! Now it's easy. They are expected to make their beds, set the table and keep their rooms tidy, but this is not directly linked to pocket money. My DS earns extra by washing the car!

We are doing our shopping together with our daughter. She is started to recognize, match and compare the price of different things. She is 5 now, and I am just thinking about starting to give her pocket money (50p a week?) - just to move a bit forward and so she could learn the value of the money.

I'm another that keeps forgetting to give DD her pocket money.
We usually give her £1 per week, not linked to chores or behaviour. She generally saves it up, then when there is a nice sum in her money box we put it into her savings account. She's quite proud of how much she's got in the bank (about £200).
She's not a spender - never buys sweets as she still has some from Easter and gets them in party bags etc. She's never been a collector so doesn't buy stickers/shopkins etc, she prefers books to comics and we don't allow her to purchase apps or add-ons.
I like the idea of the app, and can see the benefit when DD has something specific she's interested in.

My DCs didn't get regular set PM until they were 13 and had their own bank accounts with card. Now they are 14 and get £30 a month by standing order. Anything else can be earned, although I will always give a fiver if they are going out and will be having to buy lunch out in town for example. Works for us.

DD(9) doesn't get pocket money specifically but if she goes to the shop for me then I will give her some of the change. She has 2 shrapnel jars where we all throw in the 1,2 and 5p's throughout the year as her Christmas spending money, which usually is around 90-100 pound and she has always put any notes that are left over into her bank account. Both her and DS seem to be savers and she'll happily forego getting the latest game etc because DS has shown her how much they cost new vs waiting for a few months. She never lets her piggy bank go lower than £5 either.

We have given DD pocket money since she was old enough to have some concept of money & what it was for. In her case this was age 2.5. & her first pocket money was £1, which allowed her to treat herself in the £1 store or save for bigger things which she soon got the hang of.

Each birthday her pocket money increased, initially by 25p a birthday, rising over the years to 50p & a £1, by 12 this was paid monthly into a bank account

We have never given her money for chores or good behaviour, I personally don't believe it teaches a good message that way, these are life skills & jobs that are part of family life, not a way to earn. Though we would take money off her if she refused chores, or badly misbehaved. We did also for a time when very young use tokens made from painted pennies as behaviour points, which when she had saved enough could be swapped for an extra treat, but never money.

I felt this was a good way to teach her how to save for bigger things, how to budget & that chores are just something you need to do in life if you want to be comfortable not upset people you share a home with. I had similar as a DC & have always been good with money & take responsibility for my own space. DH is the same & this was normal for him too, so we figured it made sense.

She does now at 14 get a lot more than the national average though, this is partly because she is now responsible for topping up her own phone & buying most of her own clothes. She has also been seriously ill/disabled, so gets a portion of her DLA as she was suffering the most, this seemed fairest & shopping has helped keep her sane during a very difficult time in her life.

She is getting better though & knows this extra money will end soon, so she is now looking at ways to earn money to replace it & looks set to do well with that too.

We do give her extra money as a treat for any big effort in school reports, exams etc, though this is always for working hard, not for acheivement, though in her case, that always means she has achieved well too. I have also given her extra to treat herself if she has ever gone over & above to help others, school reports mentioning how kind & helpful she has been to others, giving up her time to raise money for charity etc.

I felt this all enforced positive behaviour & so far, seems to have good results

My daughter is only 5 so we don't do pocket money yet.
However, when my daughter is given money from family, friends and ourselves, we always give her a choice- she can spend the lovely shiny pound coin at the shop on sweeties or in the poundshop, or she can put it in her moneybox.

Nine times out of ten she puts it in the moneybox.
We check on it each month and then we either go to the toyshop or we save a bit longer. We are teaching her the value of money and saving.

When we do introduce pocket money officially we will do it based on chores and behaviour (how my mum did with me)
We purposely will not base it on grades though as each person has different strengths and weaknesses. My daughter is advanced for her age academically. I just like to empthasise that the main thing is your attitude and the effort you put in.

My son is too young for pocket money yet (4 months) but I plan to give him a set amount each week. He will have the opportunity to earn more if he helps with tasks around the home. In my day it was 5p jobs but that might need upping! I don't really agree with children getting Saturday jobs as I'd prefer them to concentrate on education and enjoying themselves, so pocket money may need to be increased when this becomes an issue!

My eldest DC is almost 5, and we only give her pocket money sporadically. It tends to be given for a vague 'being good' rather than helping with chores. However, she has started becoming awkward about tidying up so pocket money could be a useful carrot to encourage her with that!

We tend to give £1 when we do give it. I like the sound of the Rooster app and will give it a try.

My DD's earn their pocket money through doing little
Chores around the house I.e emptying dishwasher, tidying rooms. They have a spending piggy bank and a saving terracotta pot and we routinely commit at least half of the cash into the savings. They also have cash given by relatives.
Depending on behaviour, they are allowed a 'big' spend of their spending piggy bank (usually about £25) and I'll take them to a shop of their choice and they're allowed to choose something significant.
They must work out the spends, and do the transaction themselves. This happens about every half term.

At the end of the year, we empty the savings pot and bank it. Last time it was close to £300! They both know that their accounts are for a car and college/uni/deposit for house when their older if we save that much

Pocket money in our house starts at the beginning of year 2 (when they've covered money as a topic in school and have some clue about relative values). DC1 and 2 get it, DC3 is too young yet so doesn't.

They get £1 a week, plus OTE a further £1 through specific behaviours that we want to encourage, which vary by child. DC2 for example earns 20p per schoolnight for staying in bed and lying still, as he's terrible at going to bed and can take 2 hours or more to fall asleep.

They get below the benchmark (they are 9 and 6), but since neither are complaining about it we'll be leaving it as it is for now!

I use an app called Pocket Money to keep track of who has how much, and if the children want to buy something they can check with me how much they've saved so far. Both are turning out to be fairly good savers - and DC1 is developing a habit of shopping around and looking for value for money over cheap tat/immediate gratification. Not always, but it's a start...

DD (2) doesn't get pocket money although has an amazing ability to find coins in the house. I was surprised from the chart how little the average pocket money was. I imagine we will start giving her £5 a week pocket money soon with additional amounts if she helps doing other chores.

Ds3 (9) gets £5 a week. He used to spend it all at once on a magazine and sweets but a few weeks ago he blew the lot on a cash box and has saved everything since. He doesn't do any chores for this but generally helps when asked. His brothers (21 & 19) sometimes give him their loose change or pay him to tidy their rooms. I like doing things this way as it stops him asking for things when we are out. I say he can get whatever he wants as long as he pays himself and he usually decides it's not worth it.

Oh how interesting, my dd doesn't have pocket money yet but I think we will bel around the average spend. I will expect her to contribute to household chores in return.

We give a fixed amount to our children, which they can top up by doing housework and gardening. It seems to work for us

It gives them ownership and a sense of value. If they misbehave they get less for the week and have to earn it by helping round the house, it's a good thing!

We don't give regular pocket money until age 10 - they have to save half, give ten percent to charity (we call it income tax) and can spend the rest. In the teen years they can have an allowance for clothes etc

I've always taught my son to budget his pocket money/It now gets paid into a bank account i opened for him this year.He has chores to do which he understands contribute towards his pocket money.

I only used to get £1 a week for doing my chore daily (which was washing up) i think its a great idea if children have to earn it but not just be handed it willy nilly. And i certainly wont be giving more than £5 as i think they only need a little to either learn to save, or treat themselves to something small.

At a time when we were struggling financially and our kids had started getting pocket money, my wife and I decided we too should get pocket money to spend exactly as we wished, and without being accountable to each other as to how we had spent it.........and it was the best financial decision we ever made!

I think pocket money is really important, boy who is 6 gets £1 and sometimes more if aunties or grandma slip him some. It gets put in the piggy bank and he learns about saving up for something he really wants like a game, rather than expecting we will just buy it for him.

My DC receives pocket money both from Grandma and from myself so she is quite lucky but I don't like to see her fritter it away so try to encourage her to appreciate an savour the amount

My son loves his brio layout and often wants a new train which he spots whilst we are out and about. He gets £2.50 per week, and I write it on his white board in his bedroom, we add up weekly and when he has £10, we can go and buy his new train. The pride he has handing over his own money means he knows how he has accumulated it, and will protect and look after his toys that much more as he feels he has earned the money, and has seen his total on a weekly basis. Hopefully it will give him the life skills he needs to see how, by saving money and being patient, he can have things without borrowing and having things given.