Let’s talk pocket money with Money Advice Service

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Navigating the world of pocket money can be a little tricky, especially since the rules are always changing. However it can also be for many children their first introduction to the concept of money and how to deal with it. That’s why in aid of ‘Talk Money Week’, Money Advice Service would love to hear all your thoughts, experiences and tips when it comes to pocket money.

Here’s what Money Advice Service has to say: “Children learn about money earlier than you’d think: by the age of 7 children have begun to form money habits. That’s why it’s never too early to start teaching them where money comes from and how to handle it. Giving pocket money – no matter how little – is one way to help children's’ money skills."

How much pocket money do you give your child/children? Do you set up a system where they can earn more if they do chores or do well in school? What about what they can spend it on? Are there any limitations or do you try encourage them to save it for something big? How much pocket money did you get when you were a child? And what age do you think it’s appropriate to start giving them pocket money?

Tell us everything about pocket money on the thread below to be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £300 voucher of their choice (from a list).

Thanks and good luck with the prize draw
MNHQ

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DS1 (14) gets £10 per week but has to do life skill type chores to earn it. He has a bank account which his money is paid into directly but controls his cash card. DS2 (8) gets £5 per week and also has chores but these are more tailored to his age (emptying washing off drying racks etc). His money is also paid into a bank account but I control that for the time being. Both and DS3 (baby) also have a set amount going into Junior ISAs each month which they won't control until they are 18.

By some of the responses here we are quite stingy but in our family, pocket money has started at 25p a week at age 7, rising by 50p each birthday so currently our 7yo gets 25p/wk and the 10 yr old gets £1 a week. They can also earn extra for specific jobs but this tends to be when they want something specific so they ask me.

I use an app called rooster money which keeps accounts for them as I found it a pain to dole out coins each week. Also if we’re out and about and they want some thing with their pocket money I buy it then take it off their ‘account’ via the app. It soon builds up because they forget about it/we don’t go to shops that often.

Sometimes if we’ve been in a gift shop I’ve said I’ll buy something for them each for £2 or something but they can top up from their pocket money. They also like buying toys in the charity shop.

I think it is really good to instill the idea that you can’t have what you want instantly - you have to save. And I also found it helpful in the summer holidays when they had more time and I had jobs I wanted doing!

I put away £1 a week for casual spending and £10 a month for holidays etc. If we go shopping I will give her £5 from that as she loves buying books in charity shops , if we go on holiday I will give her £20. It just makes her feel like it’s her money.

She has 1comic a month costing £5 and mobile £5 a month.

My mum pays her for odd jobs and also saves it for shopping or holidays.

DD is 10 and we’ve been doing this for a couple of years.

We have 5 DC, ages 5, 9, 12, 14 and 17. The 2 youngest don't get pocket money, although I do buy them the odd magazine or pack of football cards. The eldest has a Saturday job and so no longer gets pocket money. The middle 2 get £20 each a month and I also pay £10 each a month for their phone top ups. 14 year old often badgers me for more and gets it. I don't withhold pocket money for bad behaviour. They'd never get any if I did!

DS is at uni. When younger we never gave him pocket money, he rarely asked for stuff so when he did want something we usually got it for him. When he started uni he was awful with money during his first year so we felt we had taken the wrong approach and decided to do things differently with DD.

DD is 14 and gets £30 pocket money a month. No set chores for her money , just expected to contribute to family life by keeping her bedroom tidy, putting her school uniform in washing machine each weekend, being responsible for feeding and grooming our dog etc.

Pocket money is paid into her Go Henry account. She has set up three accounts, one is a general spending account and two different savings accounts. Both savings accounts have over £200 in them, spending account usually has £20-£30 in it.

I pay for her phone, clothes etc. Her money is to learn to budget with for extras eg when out with friends I usually give her £5 for lunch but she uses her spending account to fund her Primark spending.

I can already see a change in DD spending habits. She now thinks about her purchase choices more carefully. She loves seeing her savings increase each month.

The Go Henry account and card is a fantastic tool for developing financial understanding and planning. It has excellent parental controls too

How much pocket money do you give your child/children?

I give them £3.00 per week, which they spend a the supermarket on their magazine, they get more around the holiday time, to give them ownership of of their treats and souvenirs they want to bring back.

Do you set up a system where they can earn more if they do chores or do well in school?

I try to with tidying rooms up, loading the dishwasher etc - and it gives them a sense of achievement when they get their money.

What about what they can spend it on?

Their weekly magazine which costs between £3.00 and £4.00, they get a free gift most weeks, and love that they have 'earned' this.

Are there any limitations or do you try encourage them to save it for something big?

When they are older I will increase the pocket money, and pay it into a bank account, so they get used to a debit card, a bank account and saving.

How much pocket money did you get when you were a child?

I got very little - but times were different - I did not really need any until my teens, when I earned my own money.

And what age do you think it’s appropriate to start giving them pocket money?

Around 7 or 8

We give ours (4 and 2) 50p a week each. They are saving up to buy specific small toys and so I’ve drawn a little thermometer on a piece of paper in each moneybox so they can see how close they are getting to the target.

However both wanted a —piece of tat— christmas decoration last weekend and we let them use their pocket money to buy them...theyyniw back down to the bottom of the thermometer! It’s quite good fun.

• they are now back down to the bottom. And piece of tat should have been scored out.

I have 5 children, varying in ages from 10- 23. When my eldest 2 were little we tried to implement pocket money for chores done but ended up with more grief than anything! So I stopped it.
Household jobs became jobs because we are family and we all live here so we all do our bit.
If they wanted something extra (cinema trip etc..)then behaviour and attitude (and my dh and I scrimping) was how they got it!
My mum has given the kids pocket money( 20p a week when they were little up to £3 when they were 17/18) and extra is earned by gardening, cleaning etc.. for her.
I'd love to just give my kids pocket money, but money is very tight, I do feel like a bad parent but they have a roof n food and love.

Ours get £10 a month and also the occasional phone top up which I feel is enough.

Wow some of you are generous!

Mine are 5 and 8 and get £1 a week only if their bedroom is tidied (definition is I can Hoover the carpet without having to pick anything up).

I do try to steer them towards saving for bigger things rather than spending it on crap, usually dc1 buys lego, dc2 buys something involving yet more fucking unicorns...

Neither have ever expressed an interest in spending their pocket money on sweets though, we do have some treats for puddings/ snacks, so they don't really miss out, I don't think it's occurred to them that they could buy crappy food....

We haven't started on pocket money yet, but did holiday money for our 6 year old in the summer which she loved (although takes after me so didn't manage to spend it all!) They both love getting birthday money that they can spend on what they choose. I guess we may come under pressure about pocket money soon and have to think about how we'll handle it.

They've had their 'age' in pocket money since they were about 10 years old. Prior to that it was a few pounds a week which they used to save in their piggy bank and spend on fripperies .

At 11 we made a big thing of opening bank accounts with them so they could begin to learn about the banking system/ read statements/ learn about interest etc.

At 15 the pocket money started being called an 'allowance' and began to include spending for going out/ cinema tickets etc so they need to learn to budget.

Dd age 7 gets £2 a week. I use the rooster money app which is great. As it’s on my phone we can always check the balance if she wants to buy something when out and about

DD7 is given £3 per week. £1 is for her to spend as she wishes (she's been saving for weeks), £1 is for her piggy bank and every school holiday is transferred to her bank account. The final £1 is for another money box and- again, each school holiday, this is taken to a local charity shop and donated. She really enjoys donating to charity and also watching her savings grow whilst knowing she also has the freedom to spend the rest.

My children have an Osper account each. They receive five pounds a week that goes straight into their accounts. Apart from birthday and Christmas presents or specific rewards they save for the things they want.

We think that as all our own finances are online that the children should get used to this method as well. They can see what money they have and what they have spent on, they can set up a separate savings section if they want. My eldest used this to put aside spending money for a holiday.

This has been brilliant for teaching them about finances. When they want a new toy but don't have enough money for example. You can sit down with them and say "look, you spent x here so you can't get y yet." I've found that it encourages them to save and plan. Plus family members can put money for birthdays etc straight into their accounts.

There is no overdraft, if its not there they cant spend it and if they lose their card Osper will lock it rather than cancel it. (As children often misplace things). When the card is found you unlock it again. They have learned how to protect and remember their pin as well. It's been fantastic.

Plus the looks from shop assistants and other people in the queue who clearly think my child knows my credit card pin are priceless.

I've trialled pocket money with my 5 yo a couple of times, but his wants are small really. He has a little treat if we go anywhere special, but its usually something reasonably priced & would equate to the value of his pocket money if he'd had it.
When he really wants something (maybe an action figure for example) we do a reward chart so he can earn this & this works really well.
I will give him pocket money as he gets older.. I'm sure he'll be asking about it before too long! I'm not sure he understands the concept of saving yet.. not sure I've grasped that yet either! :)
I would like to educate him on finances though as I've found myself in financial messes over the year. If I can educate him to avoid that, rather than bailing him out & risking the same thing happen, I'll feel at least one of us has cracked it!

Ds3 started nursery in September. He cried every day for a month and I found myself bribing him with kinder eggs, magazines, ice-cream etc. I decided to give him a pound 'pocket money' every time he went in without crying. It worked instantly. He hasn't cried since and has saved and bought himself 2 sets of Lego and a magazine and I don't buy him anything else. Dd6 gets the same but is more helpful around the house and occasionally gets a bit extra for achievements. She has saved and bought 2 LOL dolls.
Whatever they save from now until Christmas, I will try to encourage them to buy their Grandparents a Christmas present

I think I used to get about a pound a week- can remember saving up £7 to buy one of those soft toy bunnies in a hammock! When DS is older, I like the idea of him having some money for him, some for saving and some to give to a charity of his choice. Not planning to link this to behaviour or chores.

£1 pound a week for my six year old, not linked to chores as I feel this should be the expected ‘norm’ not something they are rewarded for. Can spend on whatever he likes but encouraged to save and do a little education around money as he goes!

Dd is 13, she gets £45 per month and she saves most of this with occasional splurges on lunches or shopping trips with friends.

She's expected to do chores but these are non negotiable and not linked to pocket money. She's never asked for extra but I do pay her phone bill which is about £15 per month.

I don't do pocket money with mine who are 6 and 8. I do a monthly direct debit and any money they are given for birthdays etc is put into their savings accounts. We will do it when they are older though and want to start buying their own clothes, make up etc

My three kids don’t get pocket money but if they want something, they will do chores to save up for it. They also save most of their birthday and Christmas money as they don’t really want anything much. Apa fom chocolate and lemonade! If we are saving as family for a treat they will set up a spread sheet to keep track of how well we are doing!

Dd2 is 15 she gets £40 per month from me, £40 per month from exh, £20 per month from her brother and £20 per month from her sister who are both adults. It all goes straight into her bank account, it's not linked to chores or anything else. No, no opportunity to earn more, she has more than enough and spends and saves it how she chooses.
I used to get £5pw but used to play df at cribbage and would get double if I beat him.
Ours have had pocket money from age 6/7.

My nine year old gets three pounds a week and I've given her three different pots - one to save, one to to spend and one to share - and it's up to her where she puts the money. She does very occasionally put money in the share one and that goes to charity. Otherwise she saved up for things like Build a Bear. She has asked about buying say tins of biscuits or chocolates when we're in the supermarket but once I've explained that she wouldn't be allowed to eat them any differently than we have other treats she has decided not to use her money on that!
We started doing this after her first tooth fell out, I think she was six. We don't link it to chores.