Pocket Money...

[Panter]

My Nine Year old Daughter has finally learned about pocket money...

So, what's the going rate?

Also, the Wife is in favour of paying it for chores done, which seems a more motivating system than my plan of awarding a fiver a week and then making penalty deductions for lights left on etc
Anyone have any successful systems in place that they wish to share?

 

[Noodley]

Just hand the cash over. Expect nothing but loathing in return...

 

[chillyuk]

I think at nine she should have a set amount of pocket money plus a little more she can earn by helping out with little odd jobs. I never paid mine to tidy her own room though, therefore it was usually a bombsite!

 

[Maz]

I never give my kids pocket money. If they want money to buy something, they can ask for it. They'll either get a yes or no reply with an explanation, of course.

 

[Debian]

I never give my kids pocket money. If they want money to buy something, they can ask for it. They'll either get a yes or no reply with an explanation, of course.

+1

Cash for specific jobs but no free handouts as pocket money.

 

[Sam Kennedy]

I never give my kids pocket money. If they want money to buy something, they can ask for it. They'll either get a yes or no reply with an explanation, of course.

+2

That's pretty much how it works with my Dad, if I need something, I will ask and he makes the final decision. If I needed something expensive, it would be a longer gap before I could get something else. It works much better than pocket money IMHO.

For example I just got some new wheels, it will be at least another 1.5 - 2 months before I can get anything new, which is fair since I don't do much around the house

 

[swee'pea99]

A fiver a week?! At nine? Blimey. Seriously though, what would she spend it on?

We're probably relatively tight (or at least so they tell us - whatever you give them you're bound to get 'x gets this and y gets that'...recommended response: 'Lucky x') - and our 11 year old gets £10.50 a month.

They also get ad hoc help with stuff that's the kind of thing we want to encourage...we pay for books, gerbil supplies, art stuff. But we think it's good for them to have a defined chunk of money coming in, according to a schedule, that's totally theirs, no strings, no explanations asked or expected - and when it's gone it's gone. Learning a basic discipline of life, sort of thing.

(FWIW, friends of theirs who have 'generous' parents tend to be fat. They get chocloate croissants on the way to school, chips afterwards.)

 

[Norm]

Basic salary with bonus / penalty for risk & reward. Teach the little beggars capitalism at an early age.

Seriously, we tried paying a basic amount but they also kept a log of good and stuff done, (+25p for filling the dishwasher, -50p and an ass-kicking for not doing homework etc. TBH, though, they both prefer the "money when required" option.

 

[Keith Oates]

I leave that side of things to my wife but when I do get home on leave there is always something they 'must have' and I usually give in to them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[summerdays]

We've just decided to pay ours into their bank account... as we kept forgetting. We did try the linked to chores... but that just meant they didn't get any money and they didn't do any chores. My eldest 2 are in their teens and so they are getting to the point that they want/"need" money to do this and that ... and this way they can start to see how fast it can disappear.

 

[zacklaws]

Don't start paying, be a tight wad and don't get into the habit apart from at Xmas, Fathers day, Mothers day and your own birthday. I'm still giving my two kids pocket money and there 18 and 21, I find it becomes obligatory.

 

[Crackle]

Yeah I do pocket money. It's linked loosely to chores, eating, exercise, as in a reinforcement of things I want them to do. It also teaches them how to manage money and there isn't a limitless supply, so it's a buffer to the 'I want' requests. Well, if you want, then save up for it.

One saves most of his into a BS acct., the other is a spender. Mind you yesterday, he went and spent his pocket money on flowers for mum. A year or so ago, he saved and bought himself an electric guitar and amp. Looks like that's going in favour of saving for an ipod touch.

In summer, they both went out with buckets and washed cars. My going rate is £3 a week.

 

[redjedi]

I'm still giving my two kids pocket money and there 18 and 21, I find it becomes obligatory.

18 and 21? I stopped getting pocket money at 13 (which was only £2 a week) and went and got a weekend job in in a pub/restaurant washing up in the afternoons, would earn about £25 for a couple of shifts, more than a 13 year can spend in a week.

 

[badkitty]

My 14 year old gets £5 a week, and my 6 year old gets £1, mainly because if she got any more she would just spend that on sugar too.

The little one caught me out beautifully yesterday though..I made the mistake of offering her 10p for every wiggety grub she could find in the compost, to keep her occupied. It turns out, I underestimated her desire for cold hard cash in a big way.

I now owe her £2.70.

27 wiggety grubs! The chickens will be happy though..they love them.

So that's how not to do it.

 

[Twenty Inch]

Love your sig, badkitty. I recently wrote "Why apostrophes matter - there's a pub near me called The Engineers Mate".

Pocket money - we got a small base rate, tied to a load of chores, and could earn more if there were big jobs that needed to be done, like mucking out the goats. £5 per week for a 9 year old sounds like a lot. You may find it's so much that further incentivisation doesn't work as she doesn't need to earn more, or even if it's docked for bad behaviour it's still enough.