Pocket Money...

[Panter]

Thanks for the posts all, much appreciated, I now have lots to think about!

I think you're right, £5.00/week is too much so the decision is whether to tie in payments to chores or not.

Mind you, I may just not pay anything as I really can't see what she would spend it on.
I certainly don't want it going on sweets and the High School Musical magazines she loves so much are a blatant rip-off.


She may just be a little young for pocket money, anything she needs, or that I think will benefit her health (bikes, skates, anything that promotes excercise) she generally has anyway.

I think I'll actually ask her what she wants the pocket money for and make a decision from there.

Thanks again everyone,

 

[ChrisKH]

£3 a week unless they have negotiated a tied deal to an Easter present instead of eggs, bonus for being altar server, good school reports etc. My eldest is a saint and takes what he gets, but my youngest son is robbing us.

 

[jimboalee]

No pocket money.

A pad of forms for them to fill out with 'Item required', 'Cost' and 'Justification for spend' boxes.

 

[jimboalee]

No pocket money.

A pad of forms for them to fill out with 'Item required', 'Cost' and 'Justification for spend' boxes.

Nah,

No pocket money.

They know they must be damned nice to their parents to get what they want.
Any 'diss' and they don't get.

 

[tyred]

Just give them a blank cheque every week and they won't complain...

 

[jimboalee]

When my sons were younger, about 8 and 12 years old, I took them for a trip on the Metro tram from Brum to Wolverhampton.

On the return, we got off at a 'run-down' part of the area. The area we walked round had tower blocks, graffitied subways, rusty old shoppping trollies, burned out cars etc.

I asked them "would you like to live here?".

Silence.

"There are children who live here who don't have what you've got."


To my delight, both my sons sent £10 to 'Children in need'.

 

[ianrauk]

the thing is, however old your children are, and my oldest is 22... they never stop asking for bleedin' money.. directly or indirectly...

 

[Norm]

Personally, I don't like the deductions or additions for '- or +' behaviour. Imagine if your boss took to reducing your pay because you didn't wash your cup at the end of the day or tidy your desk. Or bunged you an extra tenner for emptying the office dishwasher.

Is this a serious comment?

 

[beanzontoast]

the thing is, however old your children are, and my oldest is 22... they never stop asking for bleedin' money.. directly or indirectly...

Both my kids are in their 20's and I wouldn't like to change places with them the way the economy, house prices etc have gone. It's so tough starting out nowadays. Our two are grateful for the little help we can afford to give them, but they've never actually asked us for money - they've needed it when things have been tight, and have been pleased with any offer of help we've made.

To the OP - have you thought about linking it to the performance of the economy? "Remember - the value of your pocket money can go down as well as up."

 

[Piemaster]

14 yo gets £25/month direct into a bank account (as we can never remember). i.e. £5/week + £5/month for mobile top-up, but as mobile phone spending probably only amounts to £10/year it also pays for his xbox live account. Anything he wants comes from that - no extras.
10 yo - £3/week. Shortly to be paid into bank directly after starting high school in September.
£1 each/week of this comes from grandparents.

 

[Beardie]

How on earth did your daughter get to the age of nine before discovering pocket money? It's not as if Sittingbourne is particularly remote. Congratulations, however you managed it.

 

[biggs682]

i am allowed just over £2.50 a week if the wife finds i spent more i get me fingers chopped off ???

only joking love really

 

[Blue]

How do you expect kids to learn how to handle money if you don't give then any? Why teach them that they just have to ask for cash and justify the expenditure? Sometimes an expenditure can be justified without the spend being completed because the cash isn't available etc.

I feel that PM should be given along with constant explanations about how society handles cash - such as the system of reward for effort, living within means etc. This is the system I used to great success.

 

[jayonabike]

We give our 9 yr old a fiver a week, sometimes he spends it on sweets and comics, sometimes he saves it for something bigger. I think it teaches him the value of money. Also when he's saving for something big like a game for his ps3 which can be £50, i say if he saves half i'll match it.

 

[Blue]

That sounds like a good system. Giving PM along with a life lesson.