how much pocket money?

[hev]

wondering on average how much pocket money you give your kids,particuarly 14 year olds,well teens really,i give steve 7 pound a week ,dont know if its average really,well i was giving him it in his hand but to due alcohol issue thats changing now!!

[JsMum]

wondering on average how much pocket money you give your kids,particuarly 14 year olds,well teens really,i give steve 7 pound a week ,dont know if its average really,well i was giving him it in his hand but to due alcohol issue thats changing now!!

 

Js 11 and he gets �5 per week, the reasons being that magazines/consoles are very expensive, Ive said it will increase a pound every year, so by the time he is 14 he will get �8.

 

its a personal choice of how much children get, I use to get 50p a week, do you remember the half p sweets.

 

things are very expensive now though.

 

What do you want to give him?

 

JsMum

[cmuir]

Hi

 

My kiddo is 6.5 and I tend not to give him pocket money, but he does get games for his wii/ds lite/etc as and when I can afford it. He does tend to get something every weekend (though not necessarily a wii game!). Having said that, most game shops do trade ins - that's helped partially teach R the value of games and he has to make choices and realise that he can't have everything.

 

When R is a bit older, I fully intend to ensure he does a few chores around the house for payment. �5-7 doesn't sound unreasonable and they shouldn't feel hard done by!

 

Caroline.

[Flora]

Hi, I give my two teenagers �5 a week. My youngest ds (aged 11) doesn't get pocket money (his choice!) but I buy him bits each week, pocket money stuff like a magazine and a couple of packets of Crazy Bones.

 

Flora

[hev]

flo at steves school they earn money for being good,he sometimes comes home with 8 pound or so from them,do bills school do this?

[soraya]

Nick gets �8.00, although my mum does give him money if he has been good.

[justamum]

ok I want you all to adopt me as your children get more a week than I currently have in my purse!

 

I can't afford much, my daughter get 30p a week and my son 2p a chore ...they don't complain as we are not materialistic so they have nothing to buy.

[Bard]

Until she got a job at 15, G used to get �5 a week, and �10 topup on her mobile. Now she gets nothing, but I do have a pot in the kitchen with pound coins in that she can dip into for lunches, it's usually got about �20-25 in it.

She gets a clothing binge every 6 months as well, I give her �50 towards that.

 

B at 13 gets �3, but he has a running bet with my mother that started around this time last year. Every week he gets to Friday with no incidents at school (You all know what I mean!) he wins the bet of �2. So he usually makes �5.

We also treat ourselves if we go somewhere, current obsession is bookmarks, one per location!.

[bid]

My 13 year old gets �6 a month.

 

My 11 year old gets �4 a month.

 

My 7 year old gets 70p a month.

 

They can all earn extra money for set jobs, e.g. 20p for filling the packed lunch bags, etc.

 

I'm pants at remembering pocket money, so if it was left to me I'd always forget, so it's DH's department!

 

I should add that I buy their sweets as a treat on Sat and Sun, plus the odd comic when I'm feeling flush!

 

Bid

Edited June 4, 2008 by bid

[Karen A]

My 13 year old gets �6 a month.

 

My 11 year old gets �4 a month.

 

My 7 year old gets 70p a month.

 

They can all earn extra money for set jobs, e.g. 20p for making filling the packed lunch bags, etc.

 

I should say that i buy their sweets on as a treat on Sat and Sun, plus the odd comic when i'm feeling flush!

 

Bid

 

There is the answer to the decorating problem......perhaps you could make it a set job too. ...from the lady who needs to learn delegation as she is regarded as cook,cleaner,snack provider,washer woman and PA. Karen.

[oxgirl]

Jay gets �4 a week. We tried giving pocket money years ago but he never found anything he wanted to buy with it and it used to just add up and up for months until it was getting silly. We stopped giving it then and just bought him things if and when he wanted them, which wasn't often at all. We reintroduced the pocket money this year to try and get him used to the idea of organizing his own money, but it's still hit and miss as to whether it works. He buys a magazine most weeks, sometimes two so his money disappears pretty instantly. He doesn't really covet things, but if he really does see something he wants then invariably he hasn't enough to buy it 'cos he's spent it on mags and it would take too long to save for it so we usually end up buying it for him anyway, which kind of defeats the whole idea of having pocket money in the first place really!

 

~ Mel ~

[KarenT]

Money and material stuff are great motivators for J, so they're all incorporated into his reward structure.

 

We have a token reward system for doing jobs, good behaviour, kindness etc, he can gain or lose tokens depending on what he does. At the end of the week all the tokens get converted into pocket money at 10p each - some weeks he gets a small fortune (his record is a whopping �16 - I really regretted that but I had an almost perfect child that week and my dismay at having to fork out so much motivated him to do almost as well the week after, so I guess it did what it was supposed to), whereas other weeks he might only get about �4 or �5.

 

From his earnings he has to save �1 a week towards Christmas presents for family and �1 for holiday spend money. He might also lose a pound if he's a sh*t in his piano lesson, for example. He's only allowed to spend what he's earned in any one week and I get final say in the matter, as well as how much he's allowed to spend in one go.

 

It does seem as though he gets a lot (he's only 9) but I don't buy anything else for him during the week - eg he pays for his Beano etc himself and never asks to be bought stuff when we're out shopping - he knows that if he hasn't brought pocket money with him then he can't have it. He's learning a lot about self-responsibility and budgeting, and that you get more rewards from life by doing your best.

 

The only things I do buy for him are linked (again) to his behavioural rewards. We have two progress meetings a year when we set targets for the next six months, with a big Lego prize to aim for, about �30 or so. This works well for J, and we review how he's getting on every few weeks to see if he's on track for his prize. I also keep a stock of smaller items like books, Yu Gi Oh and Top Trumps cards for lesser rewards.

 

Occasionally, his grandparents will slip him a five too, but it's not a regular thing.

 

Karen

x

 

Edited to say that whatever pocket money he might have left over at the end of the week goes into the bank to save for bigger things.

Edited June 4, 2008 by KarenT

[Flora]

flo at steves school they earn money for being good,he sometimes comes home with 8 pound or so from them,do bills school do this?

 

hev, yes they do! He can earn a pound a day for getting 'all his ticks' (whatever that is!) which is handed out on a Friday morning. Then they earn morning when they get merits, but this is put into their account at school which they can use to spend on shopping trips when they are at school, or they can order things out of a special catalogue. They also earn 'leaves' to put on a special model of a tree, which earns them 'group treats' like trips to piza hut etc. It's a great motivator!

 

Flora

[Kathryn]

It's interesting to compare what others do - I've never really known what the right amount is.

 

My 11 year old gets �5 a week plus one comic (Beano usually) and sweets on Fridays. He loves comics and I used to buy him about 3 a week - some of them are about �3! So now he has to think very carefully about whether he really needs another comic or whether he should save his money. He is quite good at saving now that he's getting a regular amount. He usually saves up for x box or PSP games.

 

K x

[Bard]

Oh, I forgot to add that B can also be fined!

 

He gets a warning, then another warning, then a fine. The last time was 10p per smelly boy sock found left lying around the house anywhere except the laundry basket.

 

He hates banks, he's got around �130 in a carved and inlaid box under his bed, and he is sometimes to be found gloating over his hoard in the semi-darkness of his bedroom, counting the stacks and trading copper for silver and silver for pounds.

He's not as keen on paper money, though he likes the colour of the twenties!

Sometimes he spends money on lego or playmobil, but mostly it sits in the box.

Edited June 4, 2008 by Bard

[pearl]

When S was around 13, I decided to hand over her share of the child benefit. Best thing I ever did. No more fights about clothes etc - she paid for her own, and as for school shoes, I'd give her an appropriate amount which she would "top up" if she wanted fancier ones.

 

When she started 6th form she was working as well, but needed a lot more clothes as no more uniform. So I gave her a catalogue, she ordered what she needed, I paid for it & she paid me back so much a week. She never actually cleared the debt fully but I didnt mind, it was all budgeting experience.

[stressedmumto2]

This is really interesting, particulary at a time when I am thinking of allowing mine to earn pocket money, we've been discussing it the last week!! We have tried money rewards but it never really worked very well.

 

My son is 9 and really into bmx and the bits for it are costly, like you wouldn't believe, so I have said he can earn �5 per week pocket money, we need to decide on jobs first though and my daughter whose 7 I have said �3, it will be interesting to see what she does with her's cos she's usually a saver but I expect it will go on a mag and hair bits.

 

I never really buy my two much apart from b'days and x-mas, and they get occasional sweets when I feel like treating them, it doesn't help we have a shop two minutes away which I need to pop into alot, lol. My son has probably always got more than daughter cos his hobbys have always cost me, fishing and bmx'ing but I don't mind buying his fish bait for him as it gets him out, but his equipment bits he needs to save for or I buy as a treat for good behaviour or he gets it of family for b'day.

 

I think the price of everything today is so much more expensive than when I was a kid and so we do have to dish out more pocket money unless we just buy the items for them, I would rather my son and daughter earnt it than had it handed to them on a plate, thy are lucky to be able to get alot more than what I did as a child and they have more opportunities, I just hope that they learn to manage money well <'>

[Enid]

My 6 yr old gets nothing, my 9 yr old earns �2 a week for doing the reclycling, she is always saving up for the latest barbie, ds aged 12 gets 50p a day if there are no incidents, and can earn up to �2 a week depending on points he gets at school, we add this all up on Friday, he can get up to �5.50 and can sometimes get a bonus for a certificate at school etc. he dosnt get the money in his hands though, he saves up for things with it. The 19yr old (today!) sorts himself out though he often gets round me for the odd quid Enid

[warrenpenalver]

flo at steves school they earn money for being good,he sometimes comes home with 8 pound or so from them,do bills school do this?

 

They pay kids to be good at school these days???

 

Is that the only way schools can discipline pupils now?? Withhold money??

 

 

I used to get 50p a week from gran and �1 a week from mummy until i was 11 then from my aunt and uncle it was �2.50 a week until 14 then �5 a week. At 16 i stopped getting pocket money and had to start paying rent of �50 a month plus buying my own clothes etc etc.

[JsMum]

 

They pay kids to be good at school these days???

 

Is that the only way schools can discipline pupils now?? Withhold money??

 

 

I used to get 50p a week from gran and �1 a week from mummy until i was 11 then from my aunt and uncle it was �2.50 a week until 14 then �5 a week. At 16 i stopped getting pocket money and had to start paying rent of �50 a month plus buying my own clothes etc etc.

 

 

A parent I know said to his daugher she gets FIVER for every GCSE passed and its doubled if there As, well lets just say he needs a big overdraft facility, she cleaned him dry, all but one was As, brilliant incentitive though, but by heck expensive education!!!!

 

JsMum

[Bard]

I rewarded my daughter with �5 for every A*, but my father made the same promise without me knowing...so she collected �80, and next year it's A levels.

I get paid for doing my job well, I don't have any worries or doubts about rewarding my children for doing their 'jobs' well too.

[JsMum]

I rewarded my daughter with �5 for every A*, but my father made the same promise without me knowing...so she collected �80, and next year it's A levels.

I get paid for doing my job well, I don't have any worries or doubts about rewarding my children for doing their 'jobs' well too.

 

 

wow your daughter is very clever to ensure her reward was profitable, good on her, tell her well done from me as Im impressed with that one,

I agree that their efferts been recognised, lets hope the Alevels dont wipe your account, how much is it the same, �5 or is she insisting a rise due to a massive inflation.

 

JsMum

[Kathryn]

A parent I know said to his daugher she gets FIVER for every GCSE passed and its doubled if there As, well lets just say he needs a big overdraft facility, she cleaned him dry, all but one was As, brilliant incentitive though, but by heck expensive education!!!!

 

JsMum

 

On that basis my dad still owes me �65 quid plus 30 years worth of interest. Should I ask him?

 

K x

[JsMum]

K, �5 3o years ago you would of died getting a five pound note, they had just come out when I was at school, we thought they were the coolist thing ever, you everyone knew you where rich if you had one, a fiver then would of been like �50 note now, so realistically he owes you a lot more than �65 ++++ quid.

 

JsMum

[warrenpenalver]

I do find it worrying that so many kids need a cash incentive to work hard towards GCSE's and A levels. Surely the financial benefits over your lifetime of doing good grades and potentially getting to uni will more than pay for the effort expended???? or is it a case childrens attitudes these days are such they wont work hard for anything because they know they can get benefits if unemployed??

 

I remember the days you had �5 notes in cash machines!!

 

Whats the general policy on wages and rent for 16-18 year olds???? My guardians maintained total control of my cash card 16-18 allowing me �10 a week of my supermarket wages for myself and forcing me to save the rest. I found this very restrictive in my eyes and it stopped me doing a lot of things i wanted to do (and could afford, and i dont mean alcohol) and added a lot to the resentment i felt for them.

[bid]

Whats the general policy on wages and rent for 16-18 year olds???? My guardians maintained total control of my cash card 16-18 allowing me �10 a week of my supermarket wages for myself and forcing me to save the rest. I found this very restrictive in my eyes and it stopped me doing a lot of things i wanted to do (and could afford, and i dont mean alcohol) and added a lot to the resentment i felt for them.

 

My eldest is nearly 19 and works part-time in our local mini supermarket. He pays us �100 a month, which we agreed together as a realistic proportion of his wages. He buys all his own clothes and toiletries, etc. He does save for specific things he wants, but isn't very good at the general concept of 'saving' as routine. At the moment he is saving as he is going to the Amphifestival in Germany with some mates in July

 

We can't afford to give him any extra, although he gets the odd tenner here and there but pays us back at the end of the month.

 

His birthday present for next month was us paying for half of his passport.

 

I think our kids have all been very good as we've been quite hard up over the years and they've never moaned about not having things like DS's, etc. If they've really wanted something that was very expensive, they have saved half and we have given the other half (e.g. Auriel's first computer).

 

Bid

[Kathryn]

K, �5 3o years ago you would of died getting a five pound note, they had just come out when I was at school, we thought they were the coolist thing ever, you everyone knew you where rich if you had one, a fiver then would of been like �50 note now, so realistically he owes you a lot more than �65 ++++ quid.

 

JsMum

 

I wish you were right.

 

Unfortunately I did my O levels in Zimbabwe, where inflation has now spiralled out of control. So at today's exchange rate I'd get about 10 p if I'm lucky!

 

 

K x

[pearl]

With regards to rent, now JP is working we keep his DLA as board (probably wont reapply if he is still working full time when its up for renewal in 2 years time). He pays for his own clothes etc, contributes a third to holidays, I pay for sundries like shower gel etc in the supermarket shop. He has quite a lot of disposable income left despite his small apprentice's wage, so he is saving like mad towards his own place.

 

The whole board thing never really happened with S, I never wanted to charge her when she was a student as she was away so much, then when she spent a year at home after uni she too needed to save hard for her own place. But if she'd settled back home permanently we'd have come to some arrangement.

[Kathryn]

I was wondering what to do about L who is now 19. She gets DLA (her only income) and I don't take any of it for household expenses. I was wondering if I should just ask her for a small amount (say a tenner a week) for food? She has expensive tastes - fresh parmesan cheese, for example!

 

She also wants to save for a place of her own and I feel bad about taking anything from her.

 

K x

[Tally]

Maybe you could charge her a token housekeeping, and put it all into a high interest account. When she is ready to move, you could use the money for furniture, a deposit, or whatever she needs.

[gothschild]

My 16 year old gets �10+ a week (which he spends on clothes,the cinema and concert tickets) and we top up his mobile. He is in the process of getting a job to see him through sixth form so his pocket money will probably stop once he is earning for himself.I won't take any board off him until he is in full time employment as we will still be getting child benefit.

 

J doesn't really get pocket money because he has his DLA, if he wants anything we use that.He has bought himself a computer,playstation games, cds, dvds and is going to save for a new playstation.

 

I know it may seem that I spoil Con too much and its probably true , the reason for this is that, I never had any money as a teen and it was horrible. If J had no money I'd do the same for him.

[CEJesson]

To give a different perspective, I was not given 'set' pocket money. I was brought up to do errands for my parents that would rarely lead to the odd �5 here and there - instead Mum would buy me something nice from the shop like a magazine or she would treat me to coffee and cake at the local cafe. Additionally there was the DLA that paid for a lot of the support I had and that was expenditure on me in itself. The 'doing errands for the odd gift' doesnt happen now, I do errands to help my parents out and of course Im living away from home so am subsidising myself - Mum is keen on giving me a box of goodies every time I return though !! (like tuna, crisps, soup, biscuits and so on)

Edited June 6, 2008 by CEJesson

[sadie]

Jay gets �4 a week. We tried giving pocket money years ago but he never found anything he wanted to buy with it and it used to just add up and up for months until it was getting silly. We stopped giving it then and just bought him things if and when he wanted them, which wasn't often at all. We reintroduced the pocket money this year to try and get him used to the idea of organizing his own money, but it's still hit and miss as to whether it works. He buys a magazine most weeks, sometimes two so his money disappears pretty instantly. He doesn't really covet things, but if he really does see something he wants then invariably he hasn't enough to buy it 'cos he's spent it on mags and it would take too long to save for it so we usually end up buying it for him anyway, which kind of defeats the whole idea of having pocket money in the first place really!

 

~ Mel ~

 

that's the same with my DD,now aged 13. Can hardly even decide if she would like some sweets.... became so stressful that I stopped giving pocket money a yr or two ago but wondering whether I should reinstate it as a matter of policy.At age 10 she got 30p, and at age 11 she got 50p. NT son age 16 gets �2 if I remember but never asks for it when I forget.

In comparison when I was 7 I used to get 7d!!!!..remember those days

 

Still can't get the hang of doing the quote things

[smiley]

Blimey........

 

We're a bit behind on this one! Lil Monkey has only just begun to understand the idea of money - i've been working on him choosing from my hand the right amount of money to buy a sweetie at the shop......... And teaching him how to pay and wait for change, etc... more of a social thing as well as a concept of money thing..

 

Pocket money will probably come along after the ground work has been done, and he realises what he can do with it!

 

There would be no point in using money as a reward..........yet......

 

[pearl]

I was wondering what to do about L who is now 19. She gets DLA (her only income) and I don't take any of it for household expenses. I was wondering if I should just ask her for a small amount (say a tenner a week) for food? She has expensive tastes - fresh parmesan cheese, for example!

 

She also wants to save for a place of her own and I feel bad about taking anything from her.

 

K x

 

Thats a difficult one, but I think Tally's is a good idea.

[Kathryn]

Yes it's worth a thought. Thanks Tally. I don't really need her money at the moment, but I'd like her to be aware of the value of things.

 

This weekend we're going to look for a new bed for her. That will have to come out of her DLA, but then the bed would remain hers if and when she ever wanted to move out.

 

 

K x

[ScienceGeek]

When I lived at home I got �2.50 a week (pretty good for a single mum on benefits). Anything extra I had to earn, I used to help people with their homework and had 2 paper rounds every morning. I probably earnt around �15 a week for the paper rounds and another �20 helping with the homework. I only used to spend maybe �6 a week so the rest went in the bank, all good for when I moved out.. now got hardly anything left of it though

 

Now when I visit home or mum visits us she insists on taking us shopping. Grateful as we are, it is a bit difficult to carry about 2 weeks worth of food on the underground! She also never lets us pay when we eat out together.

Edited June 6, 2008 by ScienceGeek

[kellyanne]

J gets �10 a month and H gets �5 a month but they have to earn this by unloading the dishwasher and if they don't do it then I say I'm going to take some money off so they usually do get it done between them with a lot of arguements.

 

J likes to spend his as soon as he gets it. H will spend a little and then hoard the rest of it , play with it and evenutually lose it, he won't let us look after it. J is also good with saving it if he wants something that is going to cost more than he's got.

[dark707]

I am 14 and get �20 a month with an extra �5 for cleaning my room, until I was about 10 I got 50p a week which I always bought a kinder egg with, and from 10 to 13 years I got �2 a week with an extra �3 if I had been good. (Which I always was, I'm so modest.)

[NobbyNobbs]

my 8 and 9 year old sisterss get �2.50 a week, which is the 'official' allowance for their age. then they also get money monthly from their family. the 8 year old has just developed a thing for lego and is saving for a big house set. the 9 year old never spends hers. she deoesn't know what to do with it and doesn't seem to be too interested so it gets saved up for holidays and day trips when we can direct her towards things that are suitable.

 

if /when i have a job i will have to pay 'rent' to my parents (i'm 22) to cover a little of my food expenses. they buy my clothes and things as well, or i'd never buy any, so its calculated to be the correct percentage of the money i have that a normal person would spend on food, clothes and household expenses. in return they pay for holidays and so on as if i was a child. i feel this is fair as they pay a lot to look after me, and i'm well beyond the age when they should be expected to do so.