Pocket Money...

[Rachy]

I've been going over this one for a week or so now. At what age should my dd start getting pocket money? How much should I give? What are the rates these days..? I used to get 50p on a Friday years and years ago! I very much want dd to have an idea of what money is worth. I don't just want to be a 'hand in my pocket' parent.

[Rhiannon]

Hi Rachy, how old is she? My DS is 7 in a few weeks and doesn't get pocket money. He has been saving up by doing jobs and earning money and by selling his old things at boot sales. He aslo gets gold stars and when he has 10 he can choose a gift. R

[sml]

It was so easy in the early 70s - sweets cost under 10p, so you could get them used to money at quite a young age. Anyone can count to 10.

I think 50p is a reasonable amount to give my 5 year old a week, but I had to make sure that she could meaningfully count to 50 first, eg understand why she can buy something costing 35p but not something costing 80p. Also, just to complicate things, her school has a cash cafeteria for hot lunches, which she is keen to try, but the meals cost around £1.80. So, I am teaching her to count in 10s as a start, and have asked her to find out the prices of various things as practice.

[robinw]

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[jasper]

robinW Good to see you back.
Hope all is okay with you

[SueDonim]

Hi, Robin. We've done the 10p/year thing too, although it's always gone into a money box until they're about 7, when they start spenind it themsleves. Our 14 yr old dd has just negotiated with us for an allowance, promising never, ever, EVER to ask us for money again. Wonder how long that will last?????

[Lill]

we started ds on £2.00/wk from the age of 5! in hindsight i think this was a litle high and we certainly wont raise it for a while. On average a comic costs just under £2.00 so thats why we set that amount, but in reality ds saves it and then buys something important to him like lego. So I feel the money is put to good use. My dds know that they can have pocket money as well when they are 5.

[mollipops]

I think a money box or a small bank account is a great idea once they are about school age...I always thought I'd try to give dd enough that she could have half to spend as long as she saved the other half, eg $1 a week, 50 cents in the money box and 50 cents to spend...but you can't buy much with 50 cents except lollies (I can't imagine you get much for 10p at all!) So I'm still stuck. I think the "payrise" on their birthday is a good idea... Dd is 5 and ds will be 3 this month, so I think he is too young yet,but it doesn't seem fair to give her pocket money and not give him anything. How have others handled this?

P.S. A pocket money story from my childhood...my big brother is 4 yrs older than me, and used it to his advantage when he could get away with it. When mum gave us our pocket money, unbeknown to her he would tell me he would look after it for me as I was "too young" (I must have been about 7). Then when he gave it back to me he would give me the same number of coins but in lower denominations! So if I had 60 cents to start with I would end up with 30 cents, but since I still had three coins I was quite happy! I think I should ask him for a loan (with backdated interest lol!)

[Viv]

We give our dd £1.00 a week but it goes straight into her piggy bank and she saves it up for something special, at the moment beanie babies are the favourite. This means we are going shopping with ther every 4 to 5 weeks. However I have no intention of increasing this amount for the next few years as I'm sure once she gets to school in September it will go on small treats etc. and the idea of saving will be far less attractive.

[Xanthe]

Ds, now aged 6, started getting pocket money when he went to school. He currently gets 50p a week which mostly ends up being saved in his moneybox. I do buy the odd packet of sweets for him still, but magazines and more expensive items are paid for by him. Once ds2 starts getting pocket money in a year's time, I will increase the amount ds1 gets to 70p.

Pocket money is invariably supplemented by small amounts given to him by his grandparents when they visit, so that the moneybox is a useful place to go when I'm short of change! I do ALWAYS replace it though!!

Both children also had savings accounts set up for them when they were born and if they are given money for their birthdays, but don't need anything at the time, we save it for them.

Our biggest mistake was setting the amount donated by the Tooth Fairy - £1.00 a time, which in retrospect was a bit extravagant as ds has lost 6 teeth over the past year!