When I was 16/17, I was studying from home. So I started helping out round the house and farm, out of the goodness of my heart, no payment. Mum and dad got together and decided I should be paid. You need to work something out because teens need cash of their own, a feeling of accomplishment at having earned it

depends on your budget and their needs. Get them to do chores and earn it,

This sounds fair and reasonable and establishing a savings habit early on in life is great.

She is 14, maybe give her a little bit more but make sure she works for it.

I believe that everyone in the family should contribute in some way to ensuring the household runs smoothly. Children need to learn from an early age that it is very rare to get rewarded for doing nothing, so encouraging them to help with basic household tasks (appropriate to their age & ability) helps them to become independent and self-reliant. Maybe if you make up a chart of various household chores that your daughter can do, and she ticks off each week the ones she’s done, then pay her “pocket money” depending on what she’s done. At 14 she’s old enough to keep her own room clean, and help with household tasks, and be making sure she does this, you’re also helping her to be better prepared for when she moves out to live on her own. Re the amount that you give her, $1 for each year of her age would be good, but you have to give what you can afford, and make sure she understands why you can’t give her more. A lot of children at 14 have some part-time jobs, so if she wants more money, she’ll have to work for it.

I think that is pretty fair, but if you can afford it, give the option to earn an extra dollar here and there if she has something special she is saving for

that amount is good and the banking half is good too, i would stick to that

My teenagers all have specific jobs to do that they chose from a list…that way they picked what they wanted not what I told them they had to do. If they stop doing it, the pocket money stops too. Simple! If they don’t like the job, they can change so long as the job uses roughly the same amount of time and effort. Since they all have part-time jobs, I don’t give pocket money, but their school expenses are all paid for by me. Their money is theirs to use for entertainment etc. Tried teaching them to save a certain % in the bank which they’re not bad at doing but have the occasional blowouts!

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  • • mom57522 replied
    • 31 Oct 2014 , 1:24 pm

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  Thanks for the suggestions. Good to know this stuff for when my girls start asking for pocket money.

Interesting question and one I’ve enjoyed reading the answers to. I do expect my teen twins to do some chores around the house, that is part of being in a family, but I don’t give them pocket money. However I do pay for their outings and buy their clothes including items they love but don’t necessarily absolutely need. My son recently got a brochure delivery job to get regular money. They get given birthday and Christmas money by several relatives.

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  • • mom57373 replied
    • 23 May 2014 , 9:20 am

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  Hi Twinmum2, that’s pretty much how I`ve been doing it too, I just thought it was time to change and give my daughter some control over her own money. Time to learn how fast money goes and how you need to save. In a few months she will be able to get a job and once she has a job, I wont be giving her any pocket money at all, because it will be driving her to and from her work place etc… and depending on how much she is earning, I will also be telling her to buy her own makeup and clothes, this is what I did with my eldest daughter. Theres just been a huge 10 year gap between my girls.

Pocket money is so difficult in this day and age! 10 dollars when I was growing up was huge, where as now its not even the cost of a movie ticket! But then you don’t want to be giving 50 week!

Thank you for your comments everyone. I’ve decided $10 a week and she must help out with the same chores she’s been doing, I’m just going to ask her to have her bed made each day, which she never did and let her know that if she slacks on helping me out then she won’t get her full $10

I think help out housework no need to pay. Every family members have responsibility about it. Ideal pocket money about $15- $20 per week.

I think $10 is a reasonable amount, and teaching her to save from an early age is brilliant

Its hard to sort pocket money because of how expensive things are these days
we give our 7 yr old up to $2 depends on certain chores which at this age are only small things. He either saves or spends each fortnight (we encourage him to save)

i don’t give my kids pocket money they just do the chores asked of them and if they want to go out to town with friends or need new clothes i just give them the cash.
I do have a limit in my head of what they can each have a month and if they were to go over that amour then i would get them to do some extra chores around the place.

I remember reading somewhere that you should give the equivalent of their age. So if they are 12, then $12/week. But I think they should help with general household chores as well, just simple things like taking the rubbish out and if not doing the dishes, at least clearing the table!

I think we were a different generation.. I did the same and didn’t get a lot of money.. I also was busting to get a job,at 15.. Maybe make her do things more than general chores

We give our girls ten dollars each. The plan was that they would do chores, but as they got further in school, this has slipped a bit as they cope with homework. They now both have part-time jobs, they still get their $10, but have to bank half of what they earn. Seems to work well. The eldest just paid half for her car so she really learnt the value of working and saving.

I don’t really do pocket money either. If they want something I just buy it. On another note I have taught them how to buy an sell. When they don’t want things anymore we sell them and they get to keep the money also to look around prior to buying it at the shops as someone may be selling what they want at a fraction of the price.

I am sorry but I am a scrooge and no pocket money in this house as I don’t feel I should pay them when you have to clean up after them, but f they wanted to go out to a movie we paid for it and for snacks. We took them places and if they wanted say for my daughter a dress she fell n love with she got it. They had every thing they needed tv’s hifi set ups DVD players more shoes or clothes than what they needed and they got game consoles and games. They liked our way as the knew in the end they had the better end of the stick. There was no way I would pay my kids to clean their rooms or set the table or as the older ones got to grade 9 doing some dishes and things alike have been told am a nasty Mum but they get way more out of it instead of some money each week that they waste and have not much to show for it