Did you have to earn your pocket money?

[Flatfrog]

An interesting article here suggests that lots of parents reward kids for chores including homework, and what's more that boys earn more for the same tasks than girls.

My kids get a flat amount of pocket money (when I remember!), and so did I when I was a kid. Did you have to earn yours? And was there a gender divide?

 

[Vegosiux]

The reward for doing chores, as far as I think, is learning to do chores. Because there will be a time when your parents won't be around to do them for you, and putting up with that old meanie that is your mother who wants you to do the dishes when you'd rather go play videogames is a decent tradeoff for having dishes pile up in your sink for weeks once you live on your own.

Yeah, I got pocket money, but the main requirement was spending it responsibly. Had I blown my allowance on some useless junk just to show off to the other kids, I'd have most likely got it docked for a few weeks.

 

[Flatfrog]

Yeah, I got pocket money, but the main requirement was spending it responsibly. Had I blown my allowance on some useless junk just to show off to the other kids, I'd most likely get it docked for a few weeks.

Isn't wasting your money on useless junk its own punishment?

I tend to be of the opinion that once the money's in my kids' hands, it's theirs. If they waste it, they've wasted it - the one exception is blowing the whole lot on sweets, which isn't allowed. My daughter has saved up a tidy sum (it's not unknown for me to have to borrow money off her when I don't have cash in the house to pay the pizza man), while my son is incapable of keeping hold of his money for more than two days without spending it on some piece of shit plastic toy that falls to bits. I keep hoping one day he'll work out why he never has any nice things.

 

[Scarim Coral]

Nope, my parent hand me £10 per week when I was a teen. Granted I did earn another £10 if they needed me to help them out when the Takeway was super busy (we used to lived on top of a Take Away they owned).

 

[Get_A_Grip_]

I earned it by doing chores around the house like washing dishes and hoovering.
However I didn't earn it in the conventional sense, I didn't get it on a weekly basis. I got it whenever I was doing things like going to the cinema or whatnot.

 

[Phasmal]

We were kind of hilariously broke when I grew up, so I didn't get pocket money.
But if I did, I know I wouldn't have gotten any less than my brother. My mother has always been very fair in that respect.

I don't know if I'll give my kid's pocket money. It's not something I've thought about. But they'll get the same if they get anything.

 

[Dirge Eterna]

I had to do chores but since I grew up in the country I did some unusual ones besides mowing our 2 acre yard weekly, I cut weeds and scrub on the hillsides every other week. I cut firewood and was responsible for manning the fireplace from 9 years old until we moved to a house with reliable electricity for heating. I had to clean up my room and do dishes like most kids, taking out the trash involved building a bonfire once a week and burning everything. I never got an allowance exactly but when I would usually get to pick out something when we went to a store. I ended up using my lunch money for buying stuff instead of eating lunch.

I don't give my 6 year old an allowance but I do expect him to do some chores equal to his age level. He knows he doesn't get toys or candy whenever we go out but only when he earns them.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

i didn't get "pocket" money in a standardized scheduled format, but i would haul ass doing chores and stuff so if i wanted to go to a movie or something my parents would give me 10-15 bucks or whatever at the time and that'd basically cover it, otherwise chores mostly covered getting 3 square meals and having a clean house. (my mom was an OCD freak about clean shit sometimes, while I am complete opposite for the most part, so I hated it)

 

[iwinatlife]

i didn't get "pocket" money in a standardized scheduled format, but i would haul ass doing chores and stuff so if i wanted to go to a movie or something my parents would give me 10-15 bucks or whatever at the time and that'd basically cover it, otherwise chores mostly covered getting 3 square meals and having a clean house. (my mom was an OCD freak about clean shit sometimes, while I am complete opposite for the most part, so I hated it)

Yeah I was more like this I'd work to get the privlege of a bit of cash but not on any regular basis

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

i didn't get "pocket" money in a standardized scheduled format, but i would haul ass doing chores and stuff so if i wanted to go to a movie or something my parents would give me 10-15 bucks or whatever at the time and that'd basically cover it, otherwise chores mostly covered getting 3 square meals and having a clean house. (my mom was an OCD freak about clean shit sometimes, while I am complete opposite for the most part, so I hated it)

Yeah I was more like this I'd work to get the privlege of a bit of cash but not on any regular basis

yepp, and if I didn't go to a movie or I just man-caved that weekend, I wouldn't see a single cent of that money, I think they tried to use it as incentive for me to hang out with friends and do stuff, as I was a fairly independent kid that could sit in my room for days and not need a damn thing besides some food.

 

[Lil devils x_v1legacy]

My parents never gave me an allowance, and I never earned anything from household chores, that was just expected as being a part of a family. I am female, but neither did my brothers. I earned money from working on my own. I was a young entrepreneur from the age of 5, making things and selling them to friends and neighbors. Started working at a pizzeria at the age of 14, and bought my first car and had my own apartment at 15, and put myself through college with my own money I earned from working. My parents did not pay for anything like that. I don't think parents really should give children an allowance, I feel it takes away from understanding and appreciating what they earn. My brothers had lawn mowing businesses, repair businesses, my sisters had snow cone stands, lemonade stands, and made stuff to sell. ALL of my siblings earned their own way in life.

It was funny though, when I found out my friend Jacob who even had to buy his own school clothes, and pay for his own lunches turned out that his parents were multi billionaires. He bought his clothes from thrift stores himself and wore shoes with holes in them and borrowed lunch money from me all the time, yet at the same time lived in this giant mansion with double marble staircases. His family was the wealthiest around, yet also thought that their children needed to learn the value of what they earn.

 

[Miyenne]

Yes. I had my normal chores to do from about age 6 and on, which were: clean the kitchen daily, take out the trash and recycling, clean up after the animals, clean bathrooms once in a while, vacuum one of the floors once a week, keep my junk clean and organised, mow a lawn/shovel half the driveway, do my own laundry, as well as do all my homework and such. My twin sister did all the same things.

I got a very small allowance for that. If I went out of my way and did more my parents gave me a bit more money. Of course it all continued the same way even after I got a job at 15, except they stopped paying me allowance. I'd still get extra for doing extra, though.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

My parents never gave me an allowance, and I never earned anything from household chores, that was just expected as being a part of a family. I am female, but neither did my brothers. I earned money from working on my own. I was a young entrepreneur from the age of 5, making things and selling them to friends and neighbors. Started working at a pizzeria at the age of 14, and bought my first car and had my own apartment at 15, and put myself through college with my own money I earned from working. My parents did not pay for anything like that. I don't think parents really should give children an allowance, I feel it takes away from understanding and appreciating what they earn. My brothers had lawn mowing businesses, repair businesses, my sisters had snow cone stands, lemonade stands, and made stuff to sell. ALL of my siblings earned their own way in life.

It was funny though, when I found out my friend Jacob who even had to buy his own school clothes, and pay for his own lunches turned out that his parents were multi billionaires. He bought his clothes from thrift stores himself and wore shoes with holes in them and borrowed lunch money from me all the time, yet at the same time lived in this giant mansion with double marble staircases. His family was the wealthiest around, yet also thought that their children needed to learn the value of what they earn.

multi-billionaires?!?!?!!

where the hell do you live/what currency do you use that allows for such high amounts of money and a kid has to buy his own clothes???

also, where do you live where you can legally get an apartment at 15?

 

[Lil devils x_v1legacy]

My parents never gave me an allowance, and I never earned anything from household chores, that was just expected as being a part of a family. I am female, but neither did my brothers. I earned money from working on my own. I was a young entrepreneur from the age of 5, making things and selling them to friends and neighbors. Started working at a pizzeria at the age of 14, and bought my first car and had my own apartment at 15, and put myself through college with my own money I earned from working. My parents did not pay for anything like that. I don't think parents really should give children an allowance, I feel it takes away from understanding and appreciating what they earn. My brothers had lawn mowing businesses, repair businesses, my sisters had snow cone stands, lemonade stands, and made stuff to sell. ALL of my siblings earned their own way in life.

It was funny though, when I found out my friend Jacob who even had to buy his own school clothes, and pay for his own lunches turned out that his parents were multi billionaires. He bought his clothes from thrift stores himself and wore shoes with holes in them and borrowed lunch money from me all the time, yet at the same time lived in this giant mansion with double marble staircases. His family was the wealthiest around, yet also thought that their children needed to learn the value of what they earn.

multi-billionaires?!?!?!!

where the hell do you live/what currency do you use that allows for such high amounts of money and a kid has to buy his own clothes???

also, where do you live where you can legally get an apartment at 15?

More than half of Texas's billionaires live in my area:
http://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/blog/2012/03/more-than-half-of-texas-billionaires.html

I was able to get an apartment at 15 with an adult cosigner, and my emancipation papers. I went to court and legally emancipated myself from my parents. Funny enough about that, the woman who was nice enough to cosign for my first apartment actually ran for VP of the US in 1992. I met her at a NORML convention where I was "condom queen" wearing a tiara and had a fairy wand handing out condoms to prevent teenage pregnancies. Since she also handed out condoms as a teen we talked for hours and exchanged numbers. She hung out at my booth and helped me. When I had told her about my problem of trying to get an apartment, she really wanted to help me. She really is an amazing lady! LMAO
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emancipation_of_minors
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nancy_Lord

Yes, Jacob had to buy his own clothes, lunches everything. I guess they didn't want him wasting the money when he was in charge of their estate and didn't want him to grow up to be a snobby brat.

 

[Lionsfan]

I never got pocket money from my parents, we just had to do our chores.

When I was older I got paid 20 bucks and a gatorade to mow the lawn for my Grandma every week, but that was about it. My Dad took it anyways and deposited it in my bank account

 

[Lil devils x_v1legacy]

I never got pocket money from my parents, we just had to do our chores.

When I was older I got paid 20 bucks and a gatorade to mow the lawn for my Grandma every week, but that was about it. My Dad took it anyways and deposited it in my bank account

I always find that so strange. My parents are Hopi, In Hopi tradition the children get to decide for themselves and parents don't make their choices for them or force them to do anything. They instead teach them to make good decisions and let them decide. It is really strange to hear when " parents take this away" or " my parents made me do this". I have no idea why some cultures are like that and make children feel so helpless.

I don't think that makes for good life skills. When children like that grow up they are thrown into the world having to make their decisions and having responsibility for the first time they don't really know what to do with it and it is extremely stressful when it really should never have been any other way for them. It is like they create a " children's world" and "adult world" separate and are not really preparing kids to make their own decisions.

 

[Marcus Kehoe]

Until I was 12 they just bought me the occasional thing or I used holiday money, then I got a job and then all they bought me was major stuff I couldn't afford.

 

[spartan231490]

I just got a flat 5 bucks a week, my sisters got more but they had to babysit me so . . . I think my kids will get a flat rate once they're like 10 or so. Working for your money sucks, and I want to give them a chance to be kids, you know? I'll probably make them start earning it once they get around 15 though, no need for them to turn out as lazy as I did.

 

[Lionsfan]

I never got pocket money from my parents, we just had to do our chores.

When I was older I got paid 20 bucks and a gatorade to mow the lawn for my Grandma every week, but that was about it. My Dad took it anyways and deposited it in my bank account

I always find that so strange. My parents are Hopi, In Hopi tradition the children get to decide for themselves and parents don't make their choices for them or force them to do anything. They instead teach them to make good decisions and let them decide. It is really strange to hear when " parents take this away" or " my parents made me do this". I have no idea why some cultures are like that and make children feel so helpless.

I don't think that makes for good life skills. When children like that grow up they are thrown into the world having to make their decisions and having responsibility for the first time they don't really know what to do with it and it is extremely stressful when it really should never never been any other way for them. It is like they create a " children's world" and "adult world" separate and are not really preparing kids to make their own decisions.

I guess I see what you're saying, but I like what my Dad did. With the money I saved up, and the jobs I had since I was 14, plus a little help, I was able to buy a car at 16. At that point, I took control over all of my money

 

[Lightknight]

The premise of this assumes I had pocket money. Occasionally I was given an opportunity to earn money. So yeah, when I had pocket money it was earned doing real work, not just chores.

There's a lot of problems parents can side step by being in direct control of their kid's funds. Pocket money can get you into all kinds of trouble.