2025 Omlet tractor Go Up with 5m run and new boxed auto door and covers. £950 for bundle

[Charlottechicken]

I wholeheartedly agree with pocket money, as I was given it from the age of three. It quickly taught me that saving was the way forward if I wanted something which was not immediately within my financial grasp. My mother recalls a story of when we collected a newspaper from the newsagents (I was around 3 or 4 at the time) and I had my face up against the glass sweet counter. She asked me if I wanted anything and I thought long and hard then replied I would like some flying saucers. She then asked me if I had enough money at home to pay her back, and I replied that I did. At this point the shop assistant said "you aren't going to take money off her are you?", my mother replied "well, how else will she learn?", she did, and I learnt

 

 

However, I have no idea what would be a 'normal' rate for a teen nowadays, as I have no children. I received £1 per week when I was 14/15 in the early 1980's and it was half what my best friend got. It must be a nightmare for those of you with children.

[Helly Welly]

DD is 10 and gets £6 a week, half of which is for spending and half for saving. She has had a Co-op bank account since she was 5, she'll get a card for taking money from ATM's when she's 11 i think.

 

We pay for clothes and books, she pays for anything else she wants. Money can be taken away if she's particularly naughty. The money in her bank account is for holiday spending money or for big purchases, she bought herself a gerbilarium for example. We never take away her save money, only spend.

 

I'll expect her to get a saturday job when she's 16, i worked form the age of 13 and i'll expect her to own her own money by then. However, if it was ever interferring with her school work then we'd give her money instead of her working, school has to come first.

 

We'll also put her through university as long as we can still afford it, we consider it our duty to set her up in life.

 

BUT, we teach her that money is earnt, no matter what, we will never spoil her.

[..lay a little egg for me]

DS (nearly 11) gets £1 a week...when we remember it . I work on the basis that he should be the one to remember it and so if he doesn't ask for it, he doesn't get any. He has the potential to earn more if he would only do his homework properly. We got so sick of nagging about the homework, we said the pocket money would be dependent on him doing the homework without nagging and doing a good job (by which I mean, neat and legible...I am not paying him for the quality of the content but just so it looks as if he might have spent more than 1 minute doing it!!). He is clearly underpaid but although he has mentioned other kids at school getting more, he does not seem too bothered.

 

He does have an interesting attitude to money though...he is very happy to have us buy things for him, but if we suggest he pays for it from his pocket money he is strangely reluctant to do so. This is very handy as we don't ever have to say "no, you can't have a [whatever]" just "if you want [whatever], you do have enough pocket money, so go ahead" and we are safe in the knowledge he won't part with his money!! I think it is a good sign for the future

[Chicky]

I am 13 and don't have any!!

[Beauty-Box]

Mine are 14 and 16 and they get £20 each per month. But we buy any clothes they need and top up their mobile phones.

[ubereglu]

I'm 17 and get about £6-£10 every week and pay for quite a lot of my clothes now too.

 

I just get annoyed that even with wages I barely get anything compared to some of my friends as a few of them get £30 a week just from EMA, whereas with everything I do I don't even get that.

[Guest]

Hi

 

As a teenager the chores were wash up /dry up/walk the dog..20 p a week and if we didnt do it we didnt get any money.

Then I would sell manure(in a wheel barrow to peoples houses..one day after advertising by leaflet drop I got an order for a lorry load....but we didnt have a lorry. I was about 11)

 

Then paper round before school. My parents were really strict and believed we had to learn the value etc

 

My two sons from age 13 years one washed up and progressed to waiter barman at our local. The other still washes up on Sundays. I have never given them pocket money.

 

Recently my eldest went for a job at the local NHS trust and prior to interview his CV stated that he had worked in a pub for 5 years and temporary caretaker for a few months. He found out after starting work this week they expected a 30 year old to walk in.He is nearly 19.

 

They can spend their money on what they like as they earnt it. If they were unable to find work ie too young I would definitely make them earn it, just like I have to

 

Perhaps I am a hard mum! But I dont think so indie

[Cate in NZ]

My 2 are 18 & 16...and we don't pay them pocket money. I do buy all school uniform & school essentials, we pay $10 a month each for phone top ups, but only on the condition that they use that to keep us informed about where they are, what they're doing & when we can expect them home. Son forgot to text us to let us know he was staying out one night....so he forfeited the following months top up. He was not a happy bunny, but he's learnt & not forgotten since.

They both drive to school, so we've calculated the distance to school & approximate gas consumption for those journeys & we put gas to that value into each of their cars. But they have to fund their own gas for their social lives.

They both have part time jobs, and they earn to fund their lifestyles......it's common practice here, all of the youngsters work & it's expected.

Meals are provided, including packed lunches for school/ work days. If they choose to eat elsewhere, they pay for it, unless it's a family occasion.

They also have the option of earning more by doing household tasks, such as mowing the garden, bush-whacking the gorse or housework...especially the ironing...but oddly they tend to decline those offers. We do offer a very fair hourly rate for those chores, but it seems that they hate them as much as I do

[Egluntyne]

...... bush-whacking the gorse.....You've gone native Cate!

[debbier]

I just get annoyed that even with wages I barely get anything compared to some of my friends as a few of them get £30 a week just from EMA, whereas with everything I do I don't even get that.

 

This is a bone of contention between my son and some of his friends. It's a massive difference for those who get it compared to those who don't.

 

I can see that it may be an incentive for some to carry on college when they otherwise wouldn't be able to afford to, but some do seem to just use it as "pocket money".

 

Also, the people who are just outside of one band, or out of it altogether, seem particularly hard done by, in terms of the difference paid.

[Cinnamon]

I just get annoyed that even with wages I barely get anything compared to some of my friends as a few of them get £30 a week just from EMA, whereas with everything I do I don't even get that.

 

This is a bone of contention between my son and some of his friends. It's a massive difference for those who get it compared to those who don't.

 

I can see that it may be an incentive for some to carry on college when they otherwise wouldn't be able to afford to, but some do seem to just use it as "pocket money".

 

Also, the people who are just outside of one band, or out of it altogether, seem particularly hard done by, in terms of the difference paid.

 

 

......................But for those of us who do need it,its a Godsend.

 

The only way they can possibly issue EMA is by means testing,so its a matter of luck really,as to what your parents earnings are.

Whatever they do,someone will be unhappy

[Woodcat]

......................But for those of us who do need it,its a Godsend.

 

The only way they can possibly issue EMA is by means testing,so its a matter of luck really,as to what your parents earnings are.

Whatever they do,someone will be unhappy

 

It really is a godsend. Yes it's alot of money but if your parents don't have enough to pay for school trips, books, music lessons, lunches it's amazing how fast £30 a week gets swallowed up. For me it was the only reason i was able to stay in 6th form and not have to work every moment i was not in school. Whatever happens some people won't be happy and won't get it. At least if it's means tested it has some hope of getting to the people that really need it.

 

I use to get alot of stick when i went out with friends because of the Ema what people didn't seem to understand was that i use to budget soooooooooo carefully to be able to do that so it appeared that i had huge amounts of money where in actuality i was just much better at spending it.

 

Anyway I don't think i ever got pocket money as such. I use to earn an odd bit here and there helping my mother with her business and helping her friends who all had their own companies and if i really wanted to do something and couldn't afford it mother would usually help out though not to often and provided it wasn't too expensive or extravagant.

[chickencam]

YD - 11 - gets £2 per week and for that she sets the table in the evening and wipes the mats and table afterwards and puts the mats away. She is a naturally helpful soul who hates to be idle

 

DS - 13 - gets £5 and for that he takes everything through from the table in the evening, makes drinks for the family each mealtime and helps out with other odd jobs. He needs a kick up the backside quite often, naturally very lazy. pocket money gets withdrawn for unwillingness.

 

ED - 16 - gets £15 per week and she is expected to rinse the plates and load the dishwasher after any meals that she is here for. She is also expected to help out generally when she sees a job that needs doing. She buys most of her own clothes and cd's etc.

 

ED worked quite a bit of last summer to buy herself an overlocker and she does volunteer work for her D of E silver. We are trying to persuade her to work during other school holidays, but she is not keen because it is her GCSE year and she claims to have no free time. She'll learn that she has more free time now than she will ever have

[The Dogmother]

wait until she has her own children; free time will be but a distant memory

[A chickychickychick-ENN!!]

I used to get £20 per month around 1990, with some clothes on top as a treat. I also had a Saturday job. My pocket money covered pet care, socialising, transport fares, books and music (including sheet music). I knew people getting much more that long ago so am surprised inflation hasn't had much of an affect on pocket money twenty years later.

 

Slight hijack - why is the EMA necessary if the parents of the kids in full time education can still claim child benefit? Why are kids being rewarded with pocket money from the State for going to school to benefit their own futures (which I reckon should be an incentive in itself). Am I missing something?

 

Can I get some pocket money from the State for going to work if I don't really want to go to work without an 'extra' cash incentive please?!

[Woodcat]

 

Slight hijack - why is the EMA necessary if the parents of the kids in full time education can still claim child benefit? Why are kids being rewarded with pocket money from the State for going to school to benefit their own futures (which I reckon should be an incentive in itself). Am I missing something?

 

It's for travel costs (can no longer be claimed free here),extra books that are needed for the courses and not provided, Lunches (can no longer be claimed free) quite often 6th forms in particular require a high dress standard such as suits, any instrument lessons (you can quite often get help towards these before 16)etc. Then there are the trips that are not compulsory but if you don't go you suffer a disadvantage when it comes to exam time because information gets passed on when people are there which isn't then covered later. Its not intention on the part of the teacher it's just a fact of life.

 

The whole point is not simply to reward but to enable those with a low income to be able to attend full time education without a major disadvantage child benefit is after all £20 a week. My bus fair cost that without any other considerations.

[WarrensWorld]

Never had any pocket money, I did an evening paper round, a bakery round on a saturday then went caddying on a sunday. £60 - £100 a month pocket money...... No wonder they think the world owes them a living.

I passed my driving test at 17, then went out and bought my first car for cash, a 3 year old Ford Corsair GT.

Computer game generation indeed......

[Old Speckled Hen]

Is EMA paid to the "child" or the parent?

Just wondering

[BarbaraJ]

EMA when used properly probably works but all of my daughters friends who got it had it to spend as pocket money. Here they can also get bonuses for attendance of £100 why aren't all children that age expected to get a job?

I understand the travel and lunch aspect but then that should be paid for them , none of her friends needed travel money but they got EMA. Often those girls were out at weekends spending while my daughter was ding her Sat/Sun jobs.

[A chickychickychick-ENN!!]

Thanks Woodcat.

 

Barbara - I totally agree. In my day we were given a bus pass if we needed transport, and any books we needed were provided or we got them from the library (schools and libraries ensured there was information flowing between them so the library had more than Catherine Cooksons and gardening books). I don't think the majority of teens can be trusted to spend their EMA on what it is intended for, in the same way that I see lots of people on State handouts where I live with posh trainers, x-boxes and flash TVs.

 

Dave Willetts has just written a book which sounds quite interesting called The Pinch which takes as one of its central precedents the infatilisation of society through the baby boom generation essentially having a more teenage, selfish take on life, and the socio-economic impacts of that. Unaudited money for teenagers, to me, smacks of giving excess candy to a baby. I just don't believe most teenagers have the sense of responsibility to use it wisely. I am sure there are exceptions like Woodcat, but as a general scheme, it seems a bit nuts to me.

[Lewis]

Is EMA paid to the "child" or the parent?

Just wondering

Paid to the child

 

A few of my friends really don't need it, but still get it as parents are self employed/retired - they just waste it on anything then get a bonus for going in

I do know a few people who have to use it for school and can't afford extras.

 

Here there are people who have free schol meals, we pay with a fingerprint so the money goes straight on there and no-one will ever know it happens. Not sure about free-buses but can get 16-18 cards for cheaper travel.

[ubereglu]

EMA is more annoying as I think we're just over the limit...your household earnings have to be of £30,000 or less per year. With all means tested payments we seem to have lost out all of the way through in terms of education just because we're on the boundary. So it means I have to work at weekends, whereas my friends who get it don't have to and don't spend it on the things they're supposed to.

 

Jobs are a pain to find at the minute, especially to fit around college and under 18s are taken for a ride by employers-often they can pay them the bare minimum and give them short shifts so you don't get breaks and you're very easy to get rid of.

[Cooks]

I had a job from 14 and it never did me any harm, might be a pain to see your friends not working, but you are infact learning a lot of life skills by working.. even if you dont know it right now.

[Geoid]

In London, everyone under the age of 18 and in full time education gets free bus and tram travel and reduced train and tube travel.

[Janepie33]

Jobs are a pain to find at the minute, especially to fit around college and under 18s are taken for a ride by employers-often they can pay them the bare minimum and give them short shifts so you don't get breaks and you're very easy to get rid of.

 

DD is 17 and gets £40 a month. She is supposed to save some and buy clothes with that ammount.

 

Jobs are really difficult to find in our area at the moment, but she does get the occasional babysitting job.

 

She doesn't get EMA, so we have to pay train fares to college (a reduced rate with her free 16 - 18 Oyster phote card) and all the extra expenses at college. Some of her friends spend their EMA on cigaretts!