Pocket money.
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Click view results.Snowdrops wrote:If I don't vote, I won't get to see what people think!!
I pay my DS pocket money monthly by DD into a bank account with a cash card. The cash card can only be used at a certain bank network and is therefore difficult for him to just dip into.
He tends to save up for items I wouldn't buy him or would only buy for a birthday. He never asks for additional money/purchases that come outside of necessity.
Pocket money is not linked to chores - I expect him to do those gratis.
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Igglepiggle
- Posts: 20
- Joined: Wed Jun 10, 2009 3:58 pm
DD aged 11 gets £2 a week if her bedroom is tidy!!! Keeps pushing for a rise, but we have resisted to date , as she really doesn't have to fund a lot out of that; we pay for all clothes, cinema trips etc. She also gets quite a lot of money for birthdays and Christmas and several handouts from Grandma, so isn't too deprived!
Some of her friends already have a clothing allowance. I'm just not going down that road as I'd get even less say in what she goes out in!
Some of her friends already have a clothing allowance. I'm just not going down that road as I'd get even less say in what she goes out in!
When I was young I received no pocket money. My parents just used to buy me whatever I needed and give me money along the way to go out. I grew up just expecting to be able to have things / do things. I'm still bad now - I don't look at prices I just buy it if I need it / want it. That sounds awful written down but I am not an extravagant person and don't buy things on whims. However, I didn't want DC to grow up like that so . . .
DD age 18 in Sept but still at school gets £200 per month allowance from which she must buy her petrol, phone credit, food for lunch during the week and any other essentials. In return she feeds our dogs daily and mucks out the kennel buildings once a week. She can earn the odd £5 extra by doing family laundry, housework, being a taxi for me and DH (love that one!)
She has a Saturday job with more shifts in the school holidays which she uses for going out and luxuries.
I'm very impressed by how she is already working out budgets for living away from home when it's time for Uni - good girl!
DS age 12 in Nov gets £5 per week which he is allowed to spend as he wishes but must buy his own phone credit. Love my DS he goes to farmer's market and buys organic apple juice & pesto dip! He is also expected to keep his room in a reasonable state, clear the dinner table and is learning how to stack the dishwasher.
He can earn more money by doing jobs for us at negotiated rates for the job. He carries and stacks wood, helps in the garden, looks after puppies, cleans out the chickens, lumps big sacks of dog food around. Shoddy job, shoddy pay but if he has done a particularly good job then an unexpected bonus of a couple of pounds will be paid.
We have never got into deducting pocket money for poor school performance / behaviour - I suppose we have not had to think about doing that. Come to think of it neither do we reward good school performance / behaviour with money because we expect those things. When DC have done / achieved something really impressive then it's family celebration dinner out somewhere.
Sorry for rambling! LOL
DD age 18 in Sept but still at school gets £200 per month allowance from which she must buy her petrol, phone credit, food for lunch during the week and any other essentials. In return she feeds our dogs daily and mucks out the kennel buildings once a week. She can earn the odd £5 extra by doing family laundry, housework, being a taxi for me and DH (love that one!)
She has a Saturday job with more shifts in the school holidays which she uses for going out and luxuries.
I'm very impressed by how she is already working out budgets for living away from home when it's time for Uni - good girl!
DS age 12 in Nov gets £5 per week which he is allowed to spend as he wishes but must buy his own phone credit. Love my DS he goes to farmer's market and buys organic apple juice & pesto dip! He is also expected to keep his room in a reasonable state, clear the dinner table and is learning how to stack the dishwasher.
He can earn more money by doing jobs for us at negotiated rates for the job. He carries and stacks wood, helps in the garden, looks after puppies, cleans out the chickens, lumps big sacks of dog food around. Shoddy job, shoddy pay but if he has done a particularly good job then an unexpected bonus of a couple of pounds will be paid.
We have never got into deducting pocket money for poor school performance / behaviour - I suppose we have not had to think about doing that. Come to think of it neither do we reward good school performance / behaviour with money because we expect those things. When DC have done / achieved something really impressive then it's family celebration dinner out somewhere.
Sorry for rambling! LOL
Ours (11 and 9) used to get £2 each, which is about equivalent in spending power to what I got at that age, but it was bad enough trying to collect enough change every week for school dinners without that as well (the school likes them to take dinner money in daily so they get used to being responsible for money, getting change, etc.) so I increased it to £5. (While it was still £2 Miss 1880, then 6, saved up for 18 months to buy herself a Nintendo - you don't want to cross her, believe me.) It's easily enough to cover family birthday/Christmas presents and their own aspirations with some left over for savings so they don't generally get bought anything "fun" unless they've done something exceptionally wonderful to soften our cold, hard hearts (still haven't done anything about Master 1880 passing 11+ 
but he hasn't mentioned it).
It's not directly related to chores but is loosely dependent on "attitude" - good manners, helpfulness, etc. which includes doing jobs when asked to with (and this is the key condition!
) a positive attitude - making a proper effort and not complaining about it.
I'm at one with those who think it's good for them to get used to managing their own money. Now that eldest has a mobile phone and is entitled to his own cash card I've opened negotiations with other half about putting him on an allowance to cover regular outgoings - phone charges, bus pass, etc. - when he's ready for it (not quite yet!).
Mike
but he hasn't mentioned it).It's not directly related to chores but is loosely dependent on "attitude" - good manners, helpfulness, etc. which includes doing jobs when asked to with (and this is the key condition!
) a positive attitude - making a proper effort and not complaining about it.I'm at one with those who think it's good for them to get used to managing their own money. Now that eldest has a mobile phone and is entitled to his own cash card I've opened negotiations with other half about putting him on an allowance to cover regular outgoings - phone charges, bus pass, etc. - when he's ready for it (not quite yet!).
Mike
we have a worryingly slack system. I had been driving somewhere and on hearing on Radio 4 it being reported that the, get this, AVERAGE pocket money for a thirteen year old was THIRTEEN POUNDS A WEEK (I nearly crashed the car) I thought I ought to give my 12 year old something.
We've vaguely settled on a pound a day of which 50p is his come what may, and 50p is open to debate (surly rages, no visible signs of doing any homework etc). He is already very helpful and considerate so there are no specific chores, he's that rare beast that notices things that need doing (unlike his brother who is the one who will have created the need for the chore)
Of course he's allowed the odd flounce, and I'm allowed gross latitude in my judgement. It started off all bells and whistles with him reporting for duty and attitude being discussed etc but, inevitably, has lapsed. So it's rather ad hoc now.
He has packed lunches and undisputed money for bacon butties at break (officially underweight and eats like a horse, no way am I going to have his food coming out of his "own" money, he has to eat; as a child I saved my lunch money and was dangerously skinny as a result. Not that you'd know it now
)
This system won't be for everyone, but it suits our relative personalities and introduces some notion of earning/deserving and spending/going without. He pays for his forays into town - cinema, etc, and saves for big things, like wii games. Extra good exam results (75% or over) garner more money for specific things, in this case saving for a new bike. It's hard that his best friend is showered with goods and cash and is yet to hear the word "no"!!
We've vaguely settled on a pound a day of which 50p is his come what may, and 50p is open to debate (surly rages, no visible signs of doing any homework etc). He is already very helpful and considerate so there are no specific chores, he's that rare beast that notices things that need doing (unlike his brother who is the one who will have created the need for the chore)
Of course he's allowed the odd flounce, and I'm allowed gross latitude in my judgement. It started off all bells and whistles with him reporting for duty and attitude being discussed etc but, inevitably, has lapsed. So it's rather ad hoc now.
He has packed lunches and undisputed money for bacon butties at break (officially underweight and eats like a horse, no way am I going to have his food coming out of his "own" money, he has to eat; as a child I saved my lunch money and was dangerously skinny as a result. Not that you'd know it now
)This system won't be for everyone, but it suits our relative personalities and introduces some notion of earning/deserving and spending/going without. He pays for his forays into town - cinema, etc, and saves for big things, like wii games. Extra good exam results (75% or over) garner more money for specific things, in this case saving for a new bike. It's hard that his best friend is showered with goods and cash and is yet to hear the word "no"!!
I started giving pocket money cos I was fed up with being pestered for money to buy games, magazines etc. I am tight though and only give my DS (11) £2.50 and DD (9) gets £1.50. They get extra if they receive a headteacher's award, excellent school reports etc plus handouts from grandparents.
Bad behaviour results in having their pocket money banned for the week - they have the opportunity to make up for it by doing extra chores etc.
Bad behaviour results in having their pocket money banned for the week - they have the opportunity to make up for it by doing extra chores etc.
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essex-mum18
- Posts: 218
- Joined: Sun Nov 25, 2007 12:09 am
I used to give my DS £3-4 per day for 2 course school dinner and drinks (4days S dinner and 1 day packed lunch). However, since his birthady in April (aged 12 now), I decided to give him £15-£18 per week instead.
I told him that he had to learn how to spend his money wisely. If he spends the money all in one go , he will not have anything until the following week. On the other hand, if he works out the amount and spend it sensibly, he can keep the rest of the change as pocket money. I pay for all the other expense such as clothings, phone top ups, books etc.
So far, he is doing very well and saves up quite a bit. However, I did warn him that not to starve himself for the sake of saving up money.
I told him that he had to learn how to spend his money wisely. If he spends the money all in one go , he will not have anything until the following week. On the other hand, if he works out the amount and spend it sensibly, he can keep the rest of the change as pocket money. I pay for all the other expense such as clothings, phone top ups, books etc.
So far, he is doing very well and saves up quite a bit. However, I did warn him that not to starve himself for the sake of saving up money.
Hi there,
We have had this debate often!
Currently DS (12) gets £2.50 per day for drinks ,tuck etc at school( dinners are included in fees (hallelujah!!).
He doesn't get pocket money but we pay for cinema tickets,phone top-ups etc.(maximum of £15 per month for phone top-ups).
We also pay for clothes (not designer) but as he did really well in recent exams and got an excellent report I took him to Brent Cross shopping centre to buy him some clothes from Hollister ( the current "in"brand at his school).This totalled £65.
When we go on holiday they get £10 per week plus whatever their grandparents give them.
DS got £170 for his birthday in Feb which he has saved for an Ipod.I admire him - if I've got it, I spend it!! I am not frugal like Ed's mum unfortunately, DH is an accountant , he loves frugality
We have had this debate often!
Currently DS (12) gets £2.50 per day for drinks ,tuck etc at school( dinners are included in fees (hallelujah!!).
He doesn't get pocket money but we pay for cinema tickets,phone top-ups etc.(maximum of £15 per month for phone top-ups).
We also pay for clothes (not designer) but as he did really well in recent exams and got an excellent report I took him to Brent Cross shopping centre to buy him some clothes from Hollister ( the current "in"brand at his school).This totalled £65.
When we go on holiday they get £10 per week plus whatever their grandparents give them.
DS got £170 for his birthday in Feb which he has saved for an Ipod.I admire him - if I've got it, I spend it!!
I am not frugal like Ed's mum unfortunately, DH is an accountant , he loves frugality -
watfordmum66
- Posts: 314
- Joined: Wed Nov 19, 2008 4:45 pm
What an excellent thread.
I struggle with this DS 12 in Sept clearly would like pocket money but we have not been able to come to an agreement about what his responsibilities would be and what ours would be.
He has £10.00 monthly for phone top up but he has to load and unload the dishwasher for this and sometimes he does not need credit so will miss a month.
DD only 6 so not an issue but she has the amazing ability to squirrel all the change in the house and occasionally will ask for something and I will say well we will have to save up our pennies to be greeted by a cheeky grin / money box and " I have "
I struggle with this DS 12 in Sept clearly would like pocket money but we have not been able to come to an agreement about what his responsibilities would be and what ours would be.
He has £10.00 monthly for phone top up but he has to load and unload the dishwasher for this and sometimes he does not need credit so will miss a month.
DD only 6 so not an issue but she has the amazing ability to squirrel all the change in the house and occasionally will ask for something and I will say well we will have to save up our pennies to be greeted by a cheeky grin / money box and " I have "
daughter 12 in Sept gets £15 a month to spend as she likes... usually phone or New Look! She has earned extra for doing jobs... she is responsible for her own ironing but if she does mine and her bro's she gets 10p a garment! She cleared the basket last week and did an excellent job. She has also received £5 for digging all the dandelions out of front lawn with a screwdriver ( why DO they suddenly appear) and £5 for cleaning the inside of my car. such things as her room, helping me to collect up and put out rubbish on weekly basis, unloading dishwasher and setting the table, cleaning the TV and stand ( hey, she's the TV addict) every Sun. and vacuumung she does not get paid for. She is also planning to find job like Snowdrop's daughter when she turns 13... prob delivery of local free paper. I buy clothes and dinners and she saves up for DS Wii games etc.
Son aged 10 gets £12 a month again for what he wants. This month it was a dispatch bag from a sports shop. He doesn't do as many chores as he's got 11 + prep. He has to clean his rabbit out every Sun and empty dishwasher and keep his room tidy.
In addition to their pockey money I buy them each a comic every week... Beano for him and Girl Talk for her!! She wants TOTP mag but I feel it's a little old for her... what do others think?
Son aged 10 gets £12 a month again for what he wants. This month it was a dispatch bag from a sports shop. He doesn't do as many chores as he's got 11 + prep. He has to clean his rabbit out every Sun and empty dishwasher and keep his room tidy.
In addition to their pockey money I buy them each a comic every week... Beano for him and Girl Talk for her!! She wants TOTP mag but I feel it's a little old for her... what do others think?