As the title suggests.....
Do your kids earn pocket money? If so, when did they start getting it, how much do they get and what do they have to do to earn it?
I'm not sure what to do yet...
Part of me feels they should help around the house because we all live here...without getting pocket money.
Currently they earn coins if they sleep all night I call it negotiation .
Same as Olive. Bit torn. My DD is plenty old enough to help out but she has no concept of money past the number of coins. Her tooth fairy money sat for weeks.
I have no desire to change that right atm so have put it off. If she really wants something we negotiate a bit and it eventually arrives, but she's not an 'I want' kid and has never really asked for anything expensive. On the rare occasion she has been satisfied with 'that costs lots of money and we really can't afford it', or 'maybe for your birthday'.
I also feel they should help because this is a place we all share. I don't get paid to help.
I never got pocket money at all and I turned out OK in terms of doing chores and managing money.
My 5 year old doesn't get pocket money yet but when she does, it will probably start at $1 with her having to save 50%. We will encourage her to always save 50% of her pocket money.
When she does get pocket money, it will be in return for doing jobs around the house etc. I don't believe they should get it for nothing. But like Olive, I also expect them to do some things around the house without expecting reward. Keeping her room tidy is a no reward thing...although I could argue that the reward is being able to locate what she wants, when she wants!
Unsure what to do as well.
As kids we never got pocket money. If we wanted something then we waited until our birthday or Christmas and then it would usually arrive! We did have money boxes and were given coins every now and then and sometimes birthday money from relatives which all went into the money box. When full we would put half into the bank and were allowed to spend the other half or save it for something special.
DH on the other hand got $5 a week when he completed a list of chores and he said he started getting it at around 6-7years old and only after he completed a list of chores. I don't really want to pay my kids for helping around the house though.
At the moment we do the occasional coins in money box thing but not sure yet what we will do as they start to get a bit older.
Mine get around $5 a week (the older two) and in return for this they have to do chores and not fight with each other all the time. The amount can be reduced or taken away altogether depending on behaviour. However they are expected to help clean and tidy the house regardless of pocket money. The chores are more things like unstacking the dishwasher and clearing/cleaning the table after dinner.
They also get a financial reward for going up a level on their readers, or special recognition at school. The amount can vary and they can use it for a lunch order at school or to save. DS1 is currently saving for his own tablet computer so he saves every cent he gets.
We give out pocket money depending on what they did. We dont give them pocket omney for things they should be doing to help out as part of a family eg they wont get it for helping unpack the dishwasher or putting their clothes away, as we feel thats things they should be learning that there done as part of being a family...other wise why doesnt mum get paid for doing the dishes....kwim. But things onto of that they will get it and we work out a price a the time depending on what it is.
We tried it. They gave up on their jobs after 3 days and they weren't hard jobs. Now they will get money if they do a specific task. For example Kam gets money for cleaning up the dog poo of the back yard. Although I did it today. Ash will get money if he helps me do the housework, like today he took over from me mopping the floors and did the rest. Lachlan just refuses to do anything so gets no money.
Trav I like your idea about school recognition and readers. Although Ash is flying through reading levels at the moment LOL
They also automatically get $10 a fortnight into their own bank accounts just for being them. So we're saving for them for their future.
I'll definitely give my kids pocket money - not sure when. I had pocket money as a kid and I think it helped instill in me good money management. I didn't have to do anything for it but it gave me a taste for having my own money and I went out and got a job when I was 15.
I don't think they should get it for nothing but like others have said, I don't want them to see helping as something they should be monetarily awarded for.
DD1 has been earning pocket money since she started school (not quite 5 at the time). She gets 50c for cleaning the chicken coop (twice a week, needs some help), 50c for putting out the rubbish bins, 20c every time she remembers to get the chickens fresh water and there's another 50c on offer for clearing out my office rubbish (paper). She earns as much as she's prepared to work for. She's allowed to use her money for whatever she wants, although she's obviously limited by budget. She now puts some into her Dollarmites account and keeps the rest for book club, the Easter Show and other things.
Oh, and these are extra jobs that make my life easier, above and beyond. She is expected to clean up, set the table, clear away, help out around the house, not for pocket money. She is expected to contribute as a part of the household. I'm thinking of adding putting away her own clean washing too.
We have a savings account for her, but that will be for future major expenses, possibly school fees.
Last edited by Jennifer13; May 20th, 2012 at 10:19 PM.
Our older two get pocket money. They have a job chart each and if it's reasonably full of stickers at the end of the week they get their pocket money. They get a little bonus present if they have a full chart! They haven't really cottoned on to it being pay for specific jobs. And ds's jobs are mostly to do with homework, readers, piano practice etc. he does the bins each week, but thats the only 'chore' on there. The chart is probably more me wanting to get some sort of routine going for them and remembering stuff like brushing teeth in the morning, rather than just ticking off certain jobs, but im sure the charts will change as time goes on. They are asked to set the table and help tidy up etc without monetary reward. They got paid for raking up leaves at nana's the other day which was a nice surprise for them.
We are going by $1 for each year old they are. So ds gets $6 and dd $4. Ds banks $4 of that with the school banking each week. The rest is thrown into a money box. Neither of them ask for much so the money hasn't really been touched lol. So it's just savings really at the moment. If they ask for something big it'll be good for teaching them to save up for it.
I think I was 9 or 10 before I started earning pocket money (we were pretty poor too) and it was 50c a week for keeping my room clean and taking the bins out I recall. I dont think they really have a concept of money unless they are learning in school or you have specifically taught them. I then went on to have more but I dont recall it ever being more than $5 unless I did a massive job that needed doing, like cleaning the fridge and it was extra and to save towards something I wanted to buy.
I remember my first layby was a doll I had wanted for AGES, it was $80 back then so was super expensive and we couldnt afford it. MAN it felt good the day I paid off the layby with all that hard work haha
I like the idea of the job chart and stuff. I dont think my kids will be getting lots of $$ for pocket money, 50c still seems a good starting point into a money jar that we take down to the bank once a month for their bank accounts
Anyway you approach it will be fine I think, the goal is the same to teach responsibilty with $ and learn how to save them.
We tossed up the $$ amount for a while. I feel like I'm doling out oodles of money compared to what we got as kids. But you can't get anything for 50c these days. You could get a bag of lollies AND an iceblock back in our day! Even the cheapo toys that the kids like (trash packs for example) are about $6, and I'm not about to make him save up for 3 months for that. BTW... I'm not saying 50c is wrong... just explaining our reasoning and how we came up with what we do, cos I started off thinking of maybe a $1 a week or something Actually, the $1 per year old was an idea I stole from another family I knew a few years back... and it covers yearly payrises too Even a 10yr old getting $10 a week would still need to save for 2 months to be able to buy an xbox game or something (for example LOL)
DS is receiving a 'bonus' for his full chart last week, and that bonus is a trip to the toy store this afternoon to spend some of his money (see how I just got out of spending money? hah) That's just from his money box which is the $2 a week not banked. Our longer term plan I guess for their money is to help them save up, they'll be using their money to buy gifts for people, as well as spending it on themselves. We might be going to a local fete and fireworks tomorrow night, and figure they can use some of their money there. Even glow sticks cost a few dollars there. Maybe they'll appreciate why we keep saying no to stuff when we're at these things LOL. DS actually wants to save up for a remote control truck, so we might price one and he can work out how long it'll take to save for it.
Your right Lolpigs about them having no concept of money til they learn it. DD doesn't really have a clue at 4yrs old, but it's working for us to have them both working together on these charts for pocket money.
DH is determined to teach the kids about money. He wasn't taught a thing and had everything done and paid for him. Getting married and having a family has been quite a wakeup call for him regarding appreciating money. So this is our starting point I guess. I remember having a 'discussion' with MIL about making them save up for their first car. She couldn't comprehend not giving them a car. I'm of the mind they can save up and buy it themselves (might match some savings if needed) and that it does NOT have to be a new or expensive car to be a reliable one! If it ends up not reliable, it's lesson learned! Trouble is you can't get the old reliable bombs we used to drive and take to backyard mechanics for cheap maintenance :/ Anyway.. that's probably a whole other thread about first cars LOL
My kids aren't old enough yet, but we'll be doing pocket money like I got, which meant we didn't get paid for doing jobs, but rather we were given an amount of money each week which we could use to buy things like lollies, small toys etc. We didn't get paid for doing jobs as my parents said this was part of being in a family (usiong the argument that they didn't get paid for making us dinner, or taking us places which makes perfect sense to me). I am very good with my money and see that how my folks managed pocket money was a big part of this.
If we wanted to go to the movies or something which would be way too much money, we had to ask (as in, may I please etc etc). I can't remember being told no, but I certainly didn't have an expectation that I would have everything paid for and I knew that I had to be genuinely polite when I asked or the answer would have been no.
I've just started pocket money with the girls 3 & 4.
There are things that need doing around the house i am sick to death of doing over and over and over without help that i shouldn't need to do, my girls are at an age where they are learning about packing things up at kinder.
They know that Daddy goes out and works hard to get money so that we can buy food and clothes so i figured it's about time we can instill a little light hearted work ethic into them now.
I was going to start at $2 a week but DP bumped it up to $5, they have to (they had input into what chores they would do):
* Make their bed
* Put their shoes away
* Brush their teeth
* Tidy their toy room
* Rubbish in the bin
* Dishes in the sink
* Clothes in their dirty clothes basket or the laundry
We printed some pictures of things like a bed, some shoes, toothbrush etc and stuck a sheet on their door and they tell me what each picture means.
Last week was the first week, they got their $5 as they DID do all their jobs during the week.
This is the start of a new week and i am looking forward to seeing if it works again.
They DID spend all their money on the weekend buying a hermit crab each along with money they got off MIL but from now on i will be putting their pocket money in their bank slips and they can either bank it or save for something (day out etc)
In the long run though it is their money and i am willing to allow them (especially at this age) to learn that once it's spent it's gone and that it's always good to save some to have back-up.
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Pocket money - when/how much/why
I call it negotiation .
She now puts some into her Dollarmites account and keeps the rest for book club, the Easter Show and other things.
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