Pocket money is a feature of many families, and Nationwide would love to find out if you encourage your DCs to earn theirs, and if so, how? NOW CLOSED

[EmmaMumsnet]

They would love to hear which chores your DCs can do in return for cash, and tips on how a pocket money reward system works. They’d also love to hear any other ways you encourage your family to appreciate the value of money.

So, do you believe encouraging your kids to earn their cash will help them in future? Do your DCs get pocket money for keeping their rooms clean and tidy, or do they have to go above and beyond? If so, which jobs come with a cash reward? How do you decide the ‘going rate’?

Whatever you do, Nationwide would love to know how you help your DCs to get a better understanding of earning money from a young age.

Take a look at the first episode of Nationwide’s ‘Tenner Challenge’ YouTube series for inspiration on how to encourage your DCs to start being resourceful with their money. In each instalment, Nationwide enlist a YouTuber to earn as much money as they can in a couple of hours from a single £10 note.

Everyone who posts on this thread will be entered into a prize draw, and one MNer will win a £300 Love2Shop voucher.

Thanks,

MNHQ

Standard Insight T&Cs Apply

We have grown up children (in their twenties now) and much younger children with all of them we have had rewarded hard work with pocket money, tidying up, helping with the cleaning, washing wiping up etc At the end of the week we pay them their pocket money. They are then encouraged to put half in their a/c and half they get to spend. (it doesnt matter that its not alot when they are young its about learning)This definitely helped our eldest when it came to saving for their cars/road tax and insurance.

I have a 3 year old and she earns 10p each day for taking off her shoes and coat and putting them away when she gets home, taking her plates, bowls, cups etc out to the kitchen after each meal, and putting her dirty clothes in the washing basket. She's getting quite a full money box, but can't decide what to spend it on!

We don't do pocket money yet, so I've not thought through whether doing jobs will be involved. I suspect we'll go for a general 'in order to get your pocket money you need to keep your room tidy and generally help when asked' rather than specific jobs to earn it.

I never used to make them earn it and its only in the past year i've encouraged them to do chores to earn it. Really its thinking of chores that won't be tedious or too drawn out. They get bored quickly. So its usually making a bed, rinsing out a cup they use and things that are fast but show them a reward.

The childrens bedrooms are their own responsibility so they don't get any extra money for keeping that tidy but other jobs such as washing up, putting the bins out etc are all encouraged to earn extra

We don't give out pocket money as such but they are still expected to help out at home, clean out and feed the guinea pigs etc. Any birthday money they get usually goes into their Nationwide savings accounts until they are older unless there is something specific that they want to buy. If they do extra jobs then we will treat them :)

A chore chart :) certain chores mean pennies!!

I put a chart up so they can see how much they have earnt as when they have a day where they maybe can't be bothered , seeing the chart and how close they are to earning the amount of something they want will act as motivation.

They do chores such as making the bed, hoovering, dusting, putting plates in the dishwasher etc

my 3 children are all under 6. They currently get rewarded for eating there dinner/ tidying up after them selves. If were shopping, if they are well behaved and help select the food then they can keep the change from the shop. when they are older, I love the idea of having a board of chores with bags of coins attached. For every chore done, they receive the bag of coins.

Pocket money is a reward for good behaviour this includes doing as asked regarding jobs round house we have charts can score up to 20 points a day, and 50 points a week value is £2.50 and if they get 50 points it also gets them a caravan point towards going to holiday park with grand parents but if they get less than 30 caravan points by June then they don't get to go. I know it seems a little strict but the tasks that score points are easily achievable with a little bit of good behaviour, and my dd1 is 6 and dd2 is 3.5 and they are very boisterous and constantly fight seamed like a good way to get them to calm down and work together. They can also earn star badge stickers for doing something extra special and these are worth 50p.

My son is 3 and doesn't get regular pocket money but does get given money for his piggy bank on an ad hoc basis, eg, behaving really well when we've had to wait around for hours in hospitals, or when we had to change exciting plans at the last minute for boring ones and he went along with it.

The money is used to save up for treats like magazines and toys, and soon we'll start to teach him about putting money into an account for longer term savings.

He also has a charity money box for all his copper coins and once it's full he can choose the charity we give it to.

I think simple jobs round the house are a great way to "earn" pocket money

DS who's 6 started getting pocket money a month ago, he gets a £1 every Friday and he then has the choice to save it or spend it as we want him to learn that it's not just important to earn money but to spend it wisely. He has to do chores to get the money but it's stuff he did anyway but this way he feels rewarded for doing them.

Our LO earns pocket money by doing chores.. she has to tidy her bed, lay the table (she's 4).. she only earns 10p per week, but it goes in a jar and she can then buy things with it (she chooses and we subsidise- she often buys raisins or her favourite biscuits).

She helps out and we all support each other. We all muck in.. so she also helps with getting things for the baby, or tidying up in evenings, or putting on pillowcases.. washing Etc. I grew up in the same way, and my OH is a stay at home dad, so we all do our bit and it's lovely.

Our son receives a basic income as a member of society (i.e. our house). He can increase this by working. He chooses not to. He relies on an annual 'lottery win' (indulgent grandparents at Christmas, as opposed to indulgent parents all year round). This strategy works superbly for him.

DC's are 8 and 4 but are not interested in pocket money unless they can go straight out and buy sweets with it. So as a result we scrapped pocket money as a 'thing' in our house and have a weekly sweetie reward instead. Hoping 8 year old will start to get the idea of saving soon.

My DC (4.5) loves the concept of money! he tidies his room for pocket money (this is voluntary and completely of his own accord!). Today we smashed his money box (it was one of those that has to be smashed) and he was absolutely thrilled with all the money he has 'earned'. We are going to take him to toys r us so he can spend it.

We give our children pocket money when they've done their homework. This makes sure it's done and they get a little something to spend on what they want in return.

My 3 children have always had chores from an early age simple things and tasks they could manage, to bigger things as they get older. My eldest girl (16) is resonsible for putting clean clothes away - that includes collecting from maiden / dryer and folding and taking to each room. Middle DD (13) cleans the bathroom every other day then a deeper clean on Sat. DS (11) hoovers hall stairs and landing and taking the bins out.
Yes they do moan - but if they don't want to do it - they dont get pocket money - simple as that. We don't tend to have too much of a problem :D
My eldest gets £15 per month. And the other two get £10 as they both do sports club which I pay for.

No, we deliberately don't link house chores and money as we don't want DD to expect payment for things that need to be done. And her helping me with chores keeps her entertained and gives us something to do together.

we do chores, dishwasher, tidy room, hoover stairs etc as long as they get done pocket money is dished out, and when they want extra thry do extra jobs

The boy helps around the house but the money is his, it's only £2 a week as he is six. He knows he has to save if he wants something big like lego dimensions or holiday money in his piggy bank.

Mine earn stickers for having dry nights and for being helpful eg putting shopping or clothes away, picking things up off the floor, making beds etc.

Once the chart is full the stickers get converted to euros for holiday spending money.

Also I asked DS1(11) to put money towards the mobile phone he wanted. He emptied his moneybox. Hoping the investment will help him look after it.

My two teenage daughters have always had to do age appropriate chores to earn pocket money. As they have grown older they do a little more for more pocket money. My 16yr old sets the table every night, folds all the laundry, washes up twice a week after tea and runs errands for me and my 13 yr old cooks tea 3 times a week (she loves cooking), hoovers once a week and makes the sure the recycling/bin is put out/brought in. Jobs change or get swapped when needed but we always try to promote that we're all a team getting it all done to make life easier :)