Pocket Money

[katangel26]

At what age do you think chores (or something) should be done for pocket money?

[spangle111]

My daughter who is 7 does chores for extra pocket money - she gets pocket money anyway but if she does chores every day (at the moment its cleaning out the puppy pen as my lovely little lady has had 7 pups!) she gets �10 to spend as she likes - Usually clothes! She now wants to open a bank account to start and save her money. I never force her to do anything she doesn't want to but she understands already that if you want nice things then its good to earn your own money. Don't know how long the enthusiasm will last but so far so good.

[simsfreq]

My mum suggested it to me at the age af about 13 or 14 when I wanted more money to go out with friends etc but was too young to get a job. But I think friends' parents started earlier. I's probably better to start earlier as I never took up the offer - too lazy.

[l15a27]

i made that mistake my 15 yr old wont do a thing but got 9 yr old doing it now
washing pots 20p
hoover his bedroom 50p and so on he ticks off on a list what hes done and gets paid each month loves it when pay day comes
its best they learn the value of money at an early age i think .
wish id done it earlier with the other one
good luck

[ummmm]

I think pocket money should be given depending on their behaviour. Chores should be done regardless as that is just being part of a family.

[ganesh]

Wo Spangle I wish you were my Mum!
Actually I wish I'd done that with my kids,(lazy couple apart from my daughters cooking all the time)
but I give them pocket money for nothing and sometimes withhold it for bad behaviour!

[drchasuble]

We didn't get pocket money as kids and if we pushed it and wepta dn wailed Mum would play this classic by Tammy Wynette and we'd always cave.

"Now our little boy came up to his mom
In the kitchen this evenin' while she was fixin' supper
And he handed her a piece of paper he'd been writin' on
And after wipin' her hands on her apron
She read it, and this is what it said.

For mowin' the lawn, five dollars
For makin' my own bed this week, one dollar
And for goin' to the store, fifty cents
An' playin' with little brother while you went shoppin', twenty-five cents.

Takin' out the trash, one dollar
Gettin' a good report card, five dollars
And for rakin' the yard, two dollars
Total owed, fourteen seventy-five.

Well, as mom looked at him standin' there expectantly
And I could see the mem'ries flashing through her mind
And so she picked up the pen, and turnin' the paper over
This is what she wrote.

For the nine months I carried you growin' inside me, no charge
For the nights I've sat up with you
Doctored you, and prayed for you, no charge
For the time and the tears
That you've cost through the years, there's no charge
And when you add it all up
The full cost of my love is no charge.

For the nights filled with dread
And all the worries ahead, no charge
For advice and the knowledge
And the cost of your college, no charge
For the toys, food and clothes and even for wipin' your nose
There's no charge, son
And when you add it all up
The full cost of my love is, no charge.

Well, when he finished readin'
He had great big old tears in his eyes
And he looked up at her standing there and said
Mama, I sure do love you
Then he took the pen,
And in great big letters <

[ganesh]

If I said that (did you remember all that song or did you look it up?) my daughter would say...Whatever,...you still owe me 4.75!!!!!

[MORELLO]

�4.75? how did you arrive at that exact figure?

[ganesh]

Actually it was $14.75 and thats what it said in the song written down by drchasuble.

[MORELLO]

Ahh...

[drchasuble]

I had to look up the exact lyrics but the general gist of the song will be imprinted in my brain for evermore!

She used music to get us up in the morning too. T.Rex at full volume at 7am!

[ganesh]

Sounds like a cool 'hippy chick' Mum. Lucky you!

[drchasuble]

Not cool. Just mean!

In all seriousness, I had unfashionably fabulous childhood, much envied by my school friends. We could talk about anything and everything with our parents and were always told we could do anything we wanted. This was great in theory but impossible in practice as we lived about 40 miles away from any cinemas or clubs!

On the chore front, we had to muck out the pigsty, rabbit cages and cow shed, pluck chickens and pull their innards out as well as the hoovering, washing up and tidying, all for "no charge" so your kids should all count themselves very lucky!

[kathydmills]

I think any age is good really depending on if there are siblings involved and obviously if they are old enough to do chores, my idea is good for teaching good money habits and it also helps if you are having behavioral problems. if you buy a dry erase board, put your child or children's, names at the top with a divider line down the center. you decide a set amount that you want to give your child/children every week or month how ever you decide. Also as a tip start semi low so you can work up as you r child gets older so they do not expect so much or you can decide to do the money however you see fit. Then under each name on the board put as many $ as money you are offering, ex. if you are offering $20 a week then you put 20 $ under each name. then throughout the week if you have to tell you child to do something more than once then MAKE THEM erase a $ or as many as you see fit for their actions, ex. if two sibling are fighting you can make them erase two or three $ each. Then at the end of the week how ever many $ they have left is how much money they have earned. You can kind of set up a bank for them at you house depending on the age to teach the responsibility, and also very important, YOU do NOT buy them anything throughout the week. YOU MAKE THEM buy their own things. So they may have to save their money to get something they want or they can do with it want they want you are the decider of the rules. Good luck hopefully this works for you if you decide to try it. I have seen it work wonders.

[noxlumos]

As early as possible.It's never too early to learn the value of your own hard work and of money.All of our kids gained rewards for helping from as soon as they could grasp the concept and our four year old keeps his room quite well as a result and is paid for it.

[ganesh]

I try and explain to my kids that pocket money is a privelege not a right,but it doesn't sink in.
I would advise getting paid for doing chores as early as possible,I wish I had done,-my kids are too old now.

[shan14]

well ive bin doing chores for my mum since i was 8. i now have a little brother who is 9 but he doesnt do anything. now my mum depends on me to do everything and so does mi brother. i do get paid pocket money but not alot