Let’s talk pocket money with Money Advice Service

[EllieMumsnet]

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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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DD (8) gets £25 per month. £5 must be saved then the remaining £20 is hers to spend as she sees fit. She has to earn her pocket money by Keeping her room clean, loading the washing machine, loading the dishwasher and hoovering (not everyday, once or twice per week). She can earn more by doing more jobs.

When she's given her pocket money we talk about our plans for the month and DD thinks about if she'd like to spend it immediately or save it for days out. She's getting very good at saving it for things she really wants, much better than I am!

My dc are 9 & 12 and get £9 (cash) & £12 (bank) a month respectively.

They don't have specific chores linked to it but are expected to chip in around the house - tidying room, putting clean washing away, shared washing/drying up after a meal (no dishwasher!) etc. They can earn more with car washing, garden type chores but never bother .

We are just discussing what to do with dc1 at 13 as I do find myself handing money out more than I want to especially in the holidays for bus rides, activities with friends plus clothes etc. I think we could hand over more control of the budget to dc1 and considering £25 a month but no other spends except school clothes & normal wardrobe (pants, socks, non designer basics).

DS 6 gets £1 in a Sunday if he cleans his room and he trues to save it up for 4 or 5 weeks.

Pocket money was for my DC to spend on what they want. It wasn't earned for chores or a reward for good behaviour, it was just a little bit of cash for them to have fun with when they were younger. They're both late teens now, so we don't do pocket money anymore.

Good financial habits are a different matter altogether and both mine frequently heard the following response to requests for purchases "No, because I don't have the money at the moment". I always encouraged them to think about the cost of things, explained how mortgages, loans and credit cards worked in simple terms so that they'd understand easily.

DS has started uni and we did the budget together and he knows what he has to spend, how to make his money go further and he's had some summer jobs too, which helped him understand how long it takes to earn the money you want to spend.

£5 a month, because it's all we can afford.

Ds is 14 and gets £7 a week which has to cover bus fares to school if needed (as a result he always cycles). I regard it as his money for being a member of the household, so although he has chores to do, the money isn't linked. I have explained my payslip to him and have gone through a simple version of our household budget with him. He knows about the general savings I have for him (started with £1 a week plus Christmas money but it has increased) and that he'll have access to that at 18. I agree that it's vital to say 'we can't afford that' on a regular basis, but also that rich people think they say it more than they do and underestimate the effect of always having to say no, to the point where your children stop asking. As we are rich by any reasonable measure, I also point out that there will always be people who have more and people who have less who then make different decisions.

DD 8 doesn’t get pocket money, I just get her whatever she needs.
However, I’m thinking I’ll start to give her pocket money to get her to start realising the value of money, how to save and to learn the enjoyment of buying something you’ve saved and contributed to.

I started all mine off when they were 3 with £2 a week and encouraged them to spend half (on say an ice cream on a Saturday or something) and save half so they could start to see that in just a couple of weeks they could pay for something quite cool (ie a toy car).

As they got older I gave them chances to increase this. So for example if their rooms are tidy for the full week this will get it bumped up etc. I try to keep it positive so that although the amount starts off quite low, they're ' earning' extra rather than having money taken off them.

We are currently mulling over the best approach for this. Currently my oldest child (6yo) gets £1/£2 when a tooth comes out from the tooth fairy. He can either spend this at the time (not that it will buy him much) or we will add a little to it so he can get something bigger, or he can save up for something else. He often gets 'incentives' (books from a set/cards/small collectibles, whatever he's currently into) for his weekly physio sessions so he doesn't really need pocket money just yet. But soon he will start asking I think. We are unsure whether to link it to chores (would rather he helped out because we are one team, not because he's paid for it) or whether he gets it regardless each week. Will read some more responses for ideas!

My toddler is too young yet but I will be giving her a set amount a week which will go up every birthday and I'll offer her extra for doing certain jobs around the house. To be honest I'm expecting the amount for certain tasks will go up in response to how tired/lazy I'm feeling at the time!

There is a chore list where if a child does a chore then they get some pocket money. After a month, with their saved pocket money, I take them out shopping and they are free to spend their pocket money on whatever they want. I find that if they want more pocket money then they want to do more chores and it teaches them to spend their money responsibly and within their budget.

Very interesting to see how children react to pocket money .. of our 3, one would spend it all, one save it all almost, and the other inbetween.
Gives them a chance to manage money and choose how/if to spend it. We would discuss all the time the choices to make. If they went on a school trip I would tell them that they didn't have to spend it all for the sake of it and anything they didn't spend they could keep. .

DP and I argue about this. He’s always just been given everything whereas I haven’t. I think they should save some yet he encourages to spend. I also think they should use some pocket money towards Xmas presents, he doesn’t!

My daughter is nearly 10 & gets £5 a week. She does very little round the house so we’re going to start asking her to at least keep her room tidy or no pocket money. She has asked to be paid for some chores so that she can buy a few small Christmas presents for her friends but as a previous poster said, she needs to know that certain jobs are just part of being a family & you can’t expect to get paid for them. The money burns a hole in her pocket for sure! Every 4th week, she only gets £2 as she adopted a WWF penguin, but she rapidly went off the idea & I wouldn’t do it again until she’s older. I can’t remember what I got from my parents as a child but I remember getting 10p & 4 creme eggs from my Great Aunties one Sunday!

I have started to give my children pocket money from the age 10 until then they would received money for birthdays or Christmas only. They get around 4 pounds a week but this depends on good behaviour and school work. Normally during week I would not top up this amount unless there's a special situation.The both like to save their money and are very thoughtful on what to spend. This could be saving to buy a new games or books. I don't give them extra money for going chores around home, this comes with understanding that all family works together.
When I was a child we didn't get any pocket money only from time to time when my grandma came with visit. So this was a big thing for us to have a bit of cash and spend it as you like.

£5 a week for each of them

£5 per week for DD7, can be less depending on manners/attitude during the week.

We give ours pocket money every Saturday morning once they've turned 4 years old, starting at £1 a week and going up by 25p every birthday. We'll give them more when they turn 12, but they'll be expected to start buying their own clothes, school stuff etc out of that.

As an incentive for them to save, we match whatever is in their piggy banks on their birthdays. This has worked incredibly well with our DS, who saves so much that we had to pay him a small fortune on his birthday this year!! Starting to think we might need to set a cap on the amount...

It isn't tied to chores or behaviour or school results; it's purely so they can learn to manage money and get a sense of the value of things.

The general rule I have is that if they ask me for anything (not including birthday/Christmas of course) then the answer is "you can use your pocket money to buy it". It's amazing how often they don't really want it after all. And it always surprises me the things they will choose to spend it on... often those little machines you put money in to ride, and magazines with free gifts, rather than the toys and sweets I was expecting.

Regarding whether they can choose what to spend it on, yes as long as it's age appropriate. Sometimes I'll point out that it looks like it won't last long, or they could find it cheaper elsewhere, but ultimately it's their decision.

DD is 18 now and good with money.
She could generally do small jobs around the house for small amounts like £1 or she would have irregular amounts as and when she needed it. Most of it goes in her savings account which she rarely touches until she has enough for something she's really wanted for a while.
I'd say she's very careful with her money.

We started it off by giving them money when we went out/away, they could spend it however they wanted but that was it for spending money. It meant that the nagging for toys and ice creams etc stopped, because they could choose what they wanted but when it was gone it was gone

Then when they were a little older we started with pocket money, we do encourage them to save but ultimately it is up to them (providing it's age appropriate). It got wasted at first but when they realised that it was all gone they started thinking harder before buying something and will save up for a larger item now instead of wasting it on tat and sweets.

We find it helps keep them on track if we empty their piggy banks, count it and work out how much they still need to buy what they want, and how long that will take

Birthday and Christmas money they are allowed to spend half and save half, as they get quite a lot. They are happy enough with this as they can see the money in their account adding up, and they still have lots to spend

I don't give my kids pocket money, but I do given them a list of chores that they can do in exchange for £1 or £2 (depending on what it is). I then make them save half and let them spend half.

I'm not sure that I agree that getting dedicated weekly pocket money promotes any particular special kind of behaviour. I don't see how you'd prove that it does, given how ubiquitous pocket money seems to be. I got regular pocket money into a savings account when I was little and then I blew it all on a gadget as soon as I was allowed by my parents and still don't have good saving habits to this day. My DS's don't get any pocket money, they know that their needs and wants will be considered together with us and we will buy them what we can afford as a family.

In our house we use it as an incentive for little jobs etc.
Now dd has more £ than me!