Pocket money

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Moon unit
Posts: 654
Joined: Fri Mar 07, 2014 9:14 am

Pocket money

Post by Moon unit »

I am trying to teach my 14 year old to budget and take responsibility for what he spends so a few months ago we opened a bank account and started paying in £20 per month.
The idea was that this covers things like youth club subs which are £2 per week and football subs on Saturdays which are also £2.I was also hoping that there would be enough for the odd cinema trip in the holiday too.The £20 doesn't seem to be quite covering these bits and pieces so I am trying to decide whether to increase it and by how much.In my mind I also feel it should be linked to some jobs around the home too ( which in truth he would be pretty willing to do but just need to get a plan in place).
There also seem to be quite a few annoying half days at school when there is no lunch and the boys invade the local towns fast food outlets.
My aim is not to top up his money at all over the month but also not to give him too much. I'd be very interested in how others manage this.
Reading Mum
Posts: 1841
Joined: Tue Oct 04, 2011 9:44 am
Location: Reading

Re: Pocket money

Post by Reading Mum »

I give my 13 yr old DD £15 per month - paid straight into her bank account via standing order. She has a debit card.
I pay for any clubs/activities for her. She gets a magazine every month that wipes out nearly a fiver of her money and she pays for her own cinema tickets if she is with friends - I pay if we go as a family. If she goes in to town for the day with friends in the holidays then I give her money for lunch at Nandos (or wherever). If she goes in after school then she pays for whatever she buys.
I don't link pocket money to chores.
loobylou
Posts: 2032
Joined: Thu Nov 27, 2014 5:04 pm

Re: Pocket money

Post by loobylou »

I give my dd £20 per month, into her bank account. She is 12. Up to her 12th birthday she had £10 per month.
We pay for her clubs and music/dance lessons etc. We also pay for her clothes but only up to a reasonable wardrobe - after that she has to buy any extras.
She buys anything else herself - eg if she goes out for the day with friends or goes shopping after school.
This does enable her to save up for things - my dh thinks we give her too much but I am very aware that her friends' parents just give them money randomly for things and actually they probably end up with far more. Eg they were on a school trip yesterday; dd took some money and bought an icecream - other children had been given £10 by their parents for the day and ended up spending most of it...
She has to clean the family bathroom weekly. She is expected to help out around the house generally though so it's not really an issue.
Warks mum
Posts: 538
Joined: Thu Nov 22, 2007 11:30 am
Location: Warwickshire

Re: Pocket money

Post by Warks mum »

DH commented on the amount of money that was going to DD when she was about this age, particularly on things like trips out at lunchtime, when we would have taken sandwiches ourselves!

For a few months I kept track of the amount we were giving her, including such things as her mobile phone top-ups, non-school clothes, birthday presents for friends, etc. We then estimated the cost over 12 months, divided it by 12 and discussed with her whether she'd like this sum as an 'allowance', paid into a bank account monthly. This was on the condition that we wouldn't subsidise anything else in the specified categories.

She thought this was a great idea and it seems to have worked very well. She very rapidly became an expert on the cheapest phone deals and the number of trips out to lunch reduced significantly! In fact, she's managed to save a substantial proportion of it and is looking forward to splashing out a bit after her exams...
KB
Posts: 3030
Joined: Tue Mar 04, 2008 3:28 pm

Re: Pocket money

Post by KB »

Each family is different so I'd go with this idea of keeping note of everything over a couple of months, reviewing to check you are comfortable with it and then setting the budget.
From experience I'd say its also worth having a written list of what the monthly allowance covers.

I have noticed that youngest DC seems to 'do lunch' much more often than older siblings did ( or do even now from what I know) and more than I do. Maybe things have changed or maybe we were stricter with the older DCs.
Moon unit
Posts: 654
Joined: Fri Mar 07, 2014 9:14 am

Re: Pocket money

Post by Moon unit »

Many thanks for your comments,they have given me lots to think about.
PapersOwl
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Joined: Fri Feb 12, 2016 10:41 am
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Re: Pocket money

Post by PapersOwl »

Really good ideas to think about, thank you. As for me I would prefer to cover youth club subs, football subs and cinema trips myself and leave some pocket money so kid could spend it for something he want or think he need. I think it can teach children how to treat with money in the future.
When I have an idea to do something crazy - I just do it. All the rest Papersowl do for me!
doodles
Posts: 8300
Joined: Tue Oct 27, 2009 9:19 pm

Re: Pocket money

Post by doodles »

This very topic came up in our house this weekend and I'd appreciate some advice.

The 13yo I can cope with, he doesn't have a set amount but I load his debit card when it gets low. He's careful and we buy all his clothes, pay for friends' birthday presents etc so it really is incidental spending for him.

But what is the average people give their late teenagers (17 yo) and what does it have to cover. So far we buy his clothes, because he can get very little in store he has to shop on line and his clothes and especially his shoes tend to be expensive. He does help around the house and baby sits when asked. A job would involve us ferrying him to the nearest town and to be honest his school and club sport commitments rather take over winter weekends so I'd rather he was doing homework and relaxing. Though he has asked at the local pub kitchen for the summer holidays he does need some money that is his and he doesn't need to ask for. I'm happy to give him an allowance and now make that cover clothes but how much? What's the norm?
Yamin151
Posts: 2405
Joined: Fri Aug 30, 2013 8:30 am

Re: Pocket money

Post by Yamin151 »

I heard a good idea last week which we are going to implement.

We pay for all things like subs and clothes etc at the moment, so it really is 'treat' money. SOme friends of ours mentioned that they give their children a pound for each year of age, as a monthly allowance. So, for our two that would be £12 per month, which we could pay into an account so that they can then have an opportunity to save but get cash out if they want it.

We expect certain chores to be done in order to get pocket money, but it is possible to earn more for unusaul jobs like car clean etc, if they want to.
kenyancowgirl
Posts: 6738
Joined: Mon Oct 21, 2013 8:59 pm

Re: Pocket money

Post by kenyancowgirl »

My boys are 13 and 15. We have always paid kit costs and clothes however, clothes are bought on a "necessary" basis only, with any specials (like a particular hoodie from a "Japanese" trendy shop) being given purely as birthday or Christmas gifts. The boys tend to get Christmas and Birthday money from family and we have always asked them to put at least 50% away in a long term bank account, straight away. The other 50% we encourage them to put in their personal bank accounts, with just a small amount for "strutting"! If they want any incidentals they can use this money to pay for it. Via this, over the last couple of years, DS1 has carefully saved up £300 to take as spending money when he goes on tour, later this year.

If they go out with friends, I will give them £5 or £10 for lunch/cinema tickets, depending on what they are doing - this only really happens in the holidays, as they have so much on at weekends, and they don't ask for the money, so don't ever assume they will get it. We pay a basic phone package - if they want anything else for their phone, that is on them - I pay for friends' birthday gifts and any school trip costs. However, there is a reason for this. We have always expected our boys to help around the house, take the bins out, walk the dog, make their beds, hoover etc etc - either when they know it has to be done or when they are asked. These "chores" are not linked to regular pocket money as I do not feel they should be rewarded for doing them but want them to realise that being part of a family means helping out. The boys do them because they know they have to do them, not because they expect money for doing them. Therefore, my giving them town money is not a given....but, when I do give it, I know that it is because they have contributed to family life!

This Christmas, the grandparents asked, and we agreed, if they could give them an allowance each month. They now get £20 each at the beginning of the month. They have been advised, by grandparents, to keep half of that to save up to spend on Christmas presents at the end of the year and also as a contribution to spending money on any big tours they go on. The other £10 is theirs to spend as they choose - I now give them less contributions to trips out to town, as a consequence. DS1 is still too young to get a job in local shops etc and as we live in a village, anything other than the local shop would require some sort of transport cost. There is no paper-round where we live for various reasons. He has put an advert up for babysitting but unfortunately, sitters are traditionally female, so that is unlikely. The point is, he has made the effort and we respect that. When he is older, he will be able to investigate other jobs like pot wash in the pub if he wants extra cash. He used the last two months money to invest in some exam board revision books.

I think some sort of allowance is important - for example, both boys want to buy us gifts for birthdays and Christmas and want to feel they have done it themselves. They are old enough to understand budgeting and consequences of splashing the cash! They are not allowed to take their bank cards into school with them but have an £5 note tucked into their school wallets for emergencies - it covers the bus fare home, for example!
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