How much pocket money for an eight year old?

[sg]

Per week?

thanks

sg

[sherrardk]

We give ours 50p for every year of their age.

[poodicat]

per week sherrard thats alot if they are eighteen

[sherrardk]

They are only young at the moment but when they get to 18 (another 9 years for the oldest) £9 probably won't buy him his first pint!

[annie0000]

Depends what they do for it and what you expect them to do with it.

I have a 9 year old and an 8 year old - they get 5 pound a week if they keep their bedrooms and the play room tidy and clear their dishes from the table after every meal. They can earn extra by doing other chores - e.g. taking the bins in and out, emptying and filling the dishwasher, sweeping up, hoovering etc. up to a maximum of 10 pound a week.

However, I don't buy them comics, sweets and the ad hoc rubbish they want when you are out, I expect them to buy that themselves. That's not to say I don't treat them to stuff for good behaviour and when we are on family outings, but on a day to day basis, I expect them to fund their general expenses.

Works well for me - once they have the money in their hand, they stop asking for things when you are at the supermarket and in fact, tend to save a lot of it up for bigger things - it's amazing that when it is their money rather than yours that they are spending, suddenly they are not that bothered if they get whatever it is that used to be so important. When they started moaning when they put up the price of the Beano it was so funny - they did however eventually come to renegotiate their pocket money rate.

[sherrardk]

Gosh Annie, you're generous! (Though I have more kids than you - £10 a week would bankrupt me!)

[annie0000]

Not that bad really sherradk, think about how much you spend on all the little bits when you are out, it soons adds up and bare in mind, they don't always get that much - sometimes they don't get the fiver if they haven't done the essentials. The theory is that you increase the allowance as they get older, but expect them to do more with it, so for instance, as teenagers, they may get 50 quid a week, but you expect them to pay their own bus fares, lunches, trips out with friends, haircuts and non essential clothes. Apparently saves a fortune and teaches them to budget and respect cash and work. With each increase in cash, you make them responsible for more things. Then if they want to spend a lot of cash on a pair of designer jeans then that's up to them, but they may need to not go to the cinema for a couple of weeks.

[sherrardk]

Sounds like a good idea but I have 5 kids and a really bad memory - I would end up paying them all £10 a week as I wouldn't be able to remember who had done what every week! May have to re-think our system as they get older so will bare yours in mind.

[annie0000]

I couldn't keep track of two never mind 5 without a chart - I put a fresh one up each week and we initial each chore as it's done and then add it up on a Friday. i work in financial services and so I am aware of the situations people can get themselves in when they don't know how to manage money so i'm determined that my kids wont end up like that. I can still see my Mum when I was a child, sitting on a Friday night with her and my Dad's wages (all cash back in those days) dividing it all up for the different bills and putting some away each week towards the things they needed. She is shocked now at everyone getting things on credit, not the done thing in her book, you save up for what you want in life was her lesson to us all and it's still a rule I (mostly ;o)) live by!

[sherrardk]

I think I will implement a different system when they are older - could only really do this with the oldest one at the moment.

[annie0000]

I think ours were about 7 and 6 when we started - and they got less and did less chores then.

[Dolly1308]

Congratulations sherrard and annie for being such good role models for your children. Annie your child could end up saving the Country if he /she became either the Prime Minister or the Treasurer in the future - fiscally aware .

[zzxxee]

when my kids were small i did a jobchart so for every job they would be payed e.g mon wash up 50p tues hoover up 40p and so on
as they got to senior school age i told them age came with responsibility so they did jobs didnt get paid as such but what they were entitled to in family allowence was theirs alone to have and any treats such as magazines ect they bought themselves

[mollykins]

Crikey annie, i'm 16, there are no jobs around and i'm lucky to get a fiver a week (but my dad does always pay £2 a week for cadets so sometimes i only get that money and sometimes i get £7), and i bike to school when the weather is ok, set and clear the table, make my own breakfast and lunch almost every day, and make my tea at least once a week, make my parents 2 cups of tea a day, walk the dog most days, and fill and empty the dish washer about 5 times a week.

[zzxxee]

awwwwww molly your a good kid xxxx

[mollykins]

But i do normally get £10 when i go to my nan and grandads, which i normally end up spending on birthday etc presents or saving up. But i don't go there very often as i don't liek to as they always say the same old stories and end up shouting then arguing with my mum, plus they want to give us food, and half of their fridge contains out of date stuff, plus my nan always comments, saying i should lose weight and when ym dog was ill and lost half her fur, she said we should have ehr put down, and keeps bringing both up.

[mollykins]

and i was about 12 when she started saying about me and the dog (who was about 5/6 at the time and was only in a bad way cos the vet didn't want to give her steroids as he couldn't make much money from it)

[zzxxee]

ohhh grandparents hey molly !!!!
they dont always think do they ??
but im sure they mean well x

[mollykins]

plus before i was 13 the only pocket money i got was £2 a week from my nan and grandad, and the occaisonaly money for a day out from my dad.

[boxtops]

That's nice mollykins, it shows you are a responsible daughter and taking your share. We used to get pocket money as children, in those days my dad gave me a pound a month (but we are talking 1960s here so it would be more now, mazagines and comics were only a few pence then) but he gave it to me monthly so I would learn to budget. When I was about 14 he started to give me £5 a quarter which I could spend on clothes or shoes. My parents always bought the essentials like school clothes and basic stuff but if I wanted extras I had to save up. I have to say it taught me something but it all went out the window once I had a pay packet in my hand, and once credit cards arrived,, boy did I use them....