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

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DD (7) gets £2 a week for doing what I believe are basic chores.

• Making her bed every day
• Putting her dirty clothes in the wash basket
• tidying her bedroom and playroom every Friday and Sunday

If she doesn't do part of her chores she doesn't get any pocket money that week.

We also have a reward system, for going over and above she gets a smiley face, if she manages to keep a smiley face without any time outs she gets a star for the day, she can then spend those stars on rewards, which vary from a fan magazine (7 stars) or a trip to the cinema with a friend and lunch (30 stars)

We also offer financial bribes ie £10 for going a month without chewing her nails (that one is safe)

Pocket Money is not earned here and is £2 per week. This teaches them money management and saving up for what they want (9&7). Additional money can be earned through gaining gold stars... each normal chore is worth a star, each star is 10p each. Last week my 7 year old got a gold star for washing the skirting boards - money well spent imo, I'd have paid him £10!!

My eldest gets £2 a week pocket money for taking out the wheelie bin on bin day and then bringing it back in again, hes currently saving for a nintendo ds game that he wants.

I have not implemented a pocket money for chores system because I want helping out, helping others, taking responsibility for his own tidiness and cleanliness to be something that happens unconditionally, and for its own rewards.

I demonstrate how many hours / days pay we have to spend in order to buy something, go out for a meal etc. He therefore knows we work hard for our money, and appreciates and respects the money he is given, and then helps out unasked at home. We are a family, a household, a team. I am not prepared to negotiate the number of dishwasher emptyings per pound with my child, as if he were a union member!

I have encouraged his initiatives to earn additional money (selling stuff on DeePop, taking part in youth focus groups) to supplement his pocket money.

My 2 DS (14 and 15) do get pocket money and they do have to do chores, but I strongly believe that the two are not connected. They are doing chores because they are part of the family and they have to do their share. And they do get pocket money so they learn how to budget.

No, I just dole it out as and when. DS did win quite a large amount of money in a creative writing competition and he has been very careful with spending it. DD is also very cautious with money. We talk about how you get money through working and they seem to have the message without me having to do the whole chore thing. Mind you, they don't do any chores either!

Keep bedroom tidy is the only one linked with pocket money, jobs around the house are done by everyone because we are a family and we all work together

Pocket money is dependent on room being tidy on Saturday, additional pocket money can be earned for additional jobs but that will depend on what needs doing!

I was brought up to make my bed, tidy my room, dry up and do various things around the home to help out and if I didn't I wouldn't get my pocket money.

I think it's important to teach children they shouldn't get something for nothing and that you need to work to earn money.

My dd is 3. She earns £1 a week for helping to clear the table every night after dinner. She likes to put it in her piggy bank. Right now she is saving it up "for a giant ice cream".

2 DC (primary school) earn pocket money by helping in the house, emptying dishwasher, tidying etc.
They get their money at the start of the month (£1 for each year of their age) and then have to budget for the month. If they want something I say would you spend your pocket money on it? Quite often they change their mind :)
They try and save for toys - DC2 is saving for a pokemon figure not received for Xmas - it is hard for them as they want to spend the money on tat but then really want the toy. It's a long way to wait until the next month for extra money. But they can do extra jobs to earn more - hoovering, sorting laundry etc.

Mine get pocket money every week but are expected to do some things in the house. They need to lay and clear table, keep their rooms tidy and also my eldest has to put all of his clothes away.

I've told them that I expect them to do these things anyway.

My DDs get pocket money each week if they tidy their room which they put in their piggy bank.

DC is 9 and earns £1 a week in a savings account plus a £4 comic each month. She earns it by putting away clothes, toys etc. As soon as she is old enough to work a Saturday job at 14 or whatever, she will be.

Her major savings are kept in an account by me (birth/Christening money etc)

My teens earn money by walking the dog and doing household chores. as a working mum, it's really helpful to know jobs will be done and money means I have to nag less.

Tidying their own rooms and generally helping out aren't paid jobs though, they are expectations. They only get paid for extras.

When the children were younger, we had marble jars, with marbles earned for helping as well as for good behaviour, including 'normal' days going well, as it seemed important to take time to notice the 'ordinary'. One hundred marbles meant £10 pocket money, but marbles were taken away for bad behaviour...

Now did (13) & ds (10) each get £3 per week; this is mainly to encourage them to save for special things they want &, in particular, is a good opportunity for my DD (who has learning difficulties) to practise her money skills & maths. They are both expected to help around the house, which is not now linked to pocket money, but pocket money still goes down for bad behaviour...😉

dd not 'did' - predictive text - ahhhh!

DS I moving up 6 and we've just started doing pocket money for chores. He has a tick chart of tasks, like tidying his room, clearing the table, putting clothes away and each one done earns 20p.

Tiny sums, but over a week he can earn £2. He has a wallet and money box and we also have a saving account too.

I used to love my savings paying in book as a kid and found it exciting to see the money going up. I want DS to have the same.

DS is 4 and has to tidy up after every bath time and go to sleep without a fuss to earn his £2 a week. He loves to browse the Lego online and work out what he's saving for.

Little one has to do all his homework and take all his plates, cups etc out to the kitchen plus feed the cat every day in exchange for his pocket money. He is allowed to spend some of it but the rest gets saved for a bigger purchase he may wish to save up for.

My daughter is now 13 and gets £25/month, we expect her to keep her room tidy, set the table, help with drying up, hoover some rooms on Saturday morning and change the towels and replace loo rolls.
She is very good with money, topping up her clothes with bargains she buys at charity shops etc. She likes to buy her own presents for people at Christmas.
Recently she needed a new pair of ear phones and I agreed to go halves with her.
We pay her bus fare and give her money for drinks/lunch when she goes shopping to the local town. She has gained a good grasp of the value of money.

I'm currently not paying pocket money, as I have an adult teen and a toddler. When DC1 was younger, pocket money was given with a couple of chores, being good at school and being good at home. He didn't get a huge amount, which has really helped his work ethic, which is excellent. And he wasn't lavished in between, he got presents for his birthday and Christmas, but I generally wasn't able to buy lots of things in between, so his pocket money, and later his wages meant a lot to him

I use cash and incentive for whatever 'thing' needs encouragement at the time eg for my youngest daughter instead of us helping her go to the loo all the time, she gets coins (just a penny or two) for her piggy bank each time she successfully manages to do it herself and wash her hands properly etc. It won't be forever, just until it forms a proper habit. The older two can earn more money by doing specific things like weeding the driveway, or vaccuuming. They're all motivated by the thought of saving up for a specific day out they want eg build a bear or trampoline centre.

My dcs don't earn anything for doing their usual chores (which are not frankly very demanding) as I don't want them to think it's only worth doing housework if you get paid for it, as this seems an unhelpful expectation to grow up with, but anything over and beyond the usual call of duty would attract an additional fee, depending how hard it is. Usually something like say 50p or £1 for a particularly lengthy or horrible job.

We have a chore board. Attached to each chore there is a money bag with cash waiting upon completion for example, making bed-50p, loading washing machine £1 and they can only take the money when the chore is done and not before.