Pocket money- advice please?!

No kids obv.. BUT ... I'm going to sound like my granparents.. ''back in the days'' ha.. we had to earn it by hovering etc and only got £1 but that paid for swimming and a chip bap after. We got more if we went to the cinema etc. One of the teens I know she has £10 a week for doing nothing basically, but I do think they should 'earn' some of it ?

I always had to earn it and was given cash at the end of the month if I'd done everything I was supposed to. Can't help on amount as mine was 15-20 years ago!!

Think it all depends on age. How old are they? What would they be doing with their pocket money? Sweeties from the shop or a trip into town on a Saturday afternoon with friends?

9 and 11. They don't go anywhere without us at the moment but I guess it won't be long before sd starts going out on her own.

I had to do the dishes every night plus assorted tasks when asked to, basically general helping tidy on a saturday, and I got £10 a week. I got another £5 if I cut the grass.

Wow Leni, your folks were tough taskmasters!

I used to get a really small amount now and again (maybe a couple of pounds per week) for example if I kept my room tidy, but my dad would always get me 'free' treats on the weekend as well. My parents were really quite hard up though so I don't remember getting any amount of money very regularly. I preferred to be given books actually! I think my mum used to get them from the charity shop for me as the local library had either really young stuff or really grown up books.

My 15 year old does chores for hers and gets £10 a week. She is encouraged to save at least some of it and usually does but my older two never did!! My small 8 year old boy has little jobs like clearing the table after dinner and keeping his downstairs toys tidy and he gets £2 a week at the moment. Again, he's encouraged to save it and we usually ask him what he'd like to save up for. He'll probably get a raise in a year or two lol. I also pay my daughter's mobile bill on the understanding that anything over her freebies is down to her, but thats mainly so I know she has a means of contacting me in an emergency x

My nieces are 9 and 11 and they get £5 a week pocket money. They have to do jobs to get it though so the younger one sometimes ends up with nothing!

C (10) gets a fiver a week. Atm, he just has to keep his room tidy, tidy up after himself etc. He does a lot with J, so I don't ask too much of him.

Thanks jojo. Nothing goes between the two houses at all, they don't even bring over clothes for the weekend so the money would definitely stay with us. Sd isn't allowed anywhere on her own just yet so we can still regulate the food intake for the 2 days a week we see them.

I don't want to tell them to save it though, mrminis mum diddnt let him spend any money at all until he was 16! Needless to say as soon as he was allowed credit he went bonkers with it.

I think its a great idea, l am also someone else who think they should be helping out round the house to get it. I am afraid l am too out of touch to advise how much the going rate for pocket money.

I think you have to give them a little responsibility to receive their money. Cleaning rooms or drying pots or even just putting them away. It teachers them you never get anything for nothing, if you want nice things you have to work for them. Don't think you can start too early either. Don't start with giving them a lot to start with as they get older you expect it to go up. I used to 50p for every job they did the more they did the more they earned. Soon as my oldest then became 16 she got a part time job while doing her A levels.

I never got pocket money, my parents did give me money if I was going somewhere but if they didn’t have the money and couldn’t afford it I couldn’t go and that was the end of it. I think £10 a week is a lot of money, I don’t even have that now, work full time and do all my chores, ha!

I know a lot of grandparents give their grandchildren pocket morning, mine never did, but when I got to the age I was paying tax they gave me a lovely savings account where they had been putting any spare pennies and it went a long way to a deposit for a house. I certainly appreciated it much more than a £1 a week growing up.

I was given pocket money, paid into my bank account (which had a Cashcard so I could use it in shops or just take money out of the machine) from the age of 11. I didn't have to do anything to earn it, because my parents said chores should be done to keep the house going etc not for a reward - I had to do them regardless, I couldn't opt out if I felt I didn't need any money that week.

Pretty random, but we used to get our age every month. So, when we were 10, we'd get £10 a month. Half of it had to go in our savings and the other half we could spend on what we wanted. Doesn't seem like a lot now, but at the time I thought I was rich!

I think I remember when I was that age we earned pocket money for helping out around the house. I think it was more my mom trying to bribe us to clean our rooms, do a bit of laundry, etc, rather than about giving us pocket money. And it wasn't much - just enough to get a hot chocolate or some candy.

Maybe it's an idea if you want to give a set amount of pocket money that there be some stipulations that they need to keep their room clean, tidy up after themselves, do homework in order to get it each week/month.

I used to get abot £3-£4 per week and I had to keep my room tidy and do washing up to earn it. Once I got to 12 years old I had a paper round so pocket money stopped.

As soon as I started earning my own money, when I wanted new clothes etc we tended to go halves on it so I learned the value of money fairly early on.

Some of my friends got £10 a week for doing nothing and had everything handed to them on a plate - they certainly had a shock when they joined the real world!

I seem to remember having 50p or £1 a week when I was about 8, but then that just stopped at some point.

My mum would sometimes give me money to go to town with friends, or to the cinema.

I think we will have a list of jobs for S to do and give her money for doing them, maybe with a suggestion that she saves half and spends half.

When my one was 11 it was £5 a week but there were was chores to be done

she now gets £10 a week but the chores are;

feed cats twice day

hoover lounge mat

keep bedroom tidy

empty the bins

lay and clear the table settings

Thanks for all of your replies- this is the first real chance I have had to get on and take a look.

I think we will start with a small amount each a week, not to be taken home. Their Mum claims to give them their CSA money but I am doubtful that happens as she refers to CSA day as "payday".

I don't want to give them chores in the sense that we only see them for 2 days a week- I think the need to "earn" money is needed, especially when their Mum and step-dad set the example that you get money for nothing in life. I just find it hard to reconcile in my head- I was never given chores to do and was given money and bought whatever I wanted in reason (spoilt I know) but I think my work ethic isn't lacking at all- quite the opposite. Im hoping that by setting a hard working example to them we can install that ethic into them without having to ask them to do stuff when they are with us.

I think if they were with us all the time it would be different- am I being soft?

Lovely!?

I see where you are coming from. The smalls are only with you guys for 2 days a week so you want to them to enjoy your time with you and you with them. It is hard to strike the right balance with children. In hindsight my Mum probably asked a bit too much of us sometimes, put it this way no one l knew used to do much round the house. For example a friend once popped round to see me when l was about 14 or 15 and l was mopping the kitchen floor. She had never done it before and fancied giving it a go! She did do a rubbish job -she didn't realise you had to rinse the mop out and squeeze the water out of it!

We have 'helping out as a matter of course' policy, so pocket money isn't dependent on chores but chores are part of living here. Even the SDs who are only here at weekends get involved in food prep, pot wash, keeping rooms tidy, sweeping floor etc.

9 year old gets a magazine and £1 each week. 14 year old gets her phone paid and £20 a month which she needs to buy some clothes and gifts for others with. SDs get school trips paid and about £10 per month each (aged between 10 and 16) plus odd things like cosplay outfits/prom dresses etc.

I got something like £1 a week when I was around that age? Enough to buy a Beano and some for sweets. Any left over went ina money box. The only money that went into the bank was for birthday etc.

mum was good at letting us spend it how we wanted, and then if we asked for things she would remind us we had already spent the money so would have to wait another week or try and spend half and save half each week.

We were expected to keep our rooms tidy and no other chores as such, although we had to set/clear the table. If we wanted money we could earn it washing the car maybe. But that was when I was a bit older?