Whats fair pocket money for a 14 yr old male?

Im fairly young so heres my take on the situation.

I went to the most expensive school in my state and at 14 years old the most anyone was getting was $200 a month or $50 a week. $50 dollars a week is a lot for a 14 year old as you only have the weekend to spend it as during the week you were pretty much busy the whole time between school, after school sport and homework.

This figure increased a bit by the time students moved up through the grades, but not by much.

Of course some students didnt have a system (eg amount per week) and just asked their parents for money when they needed it.

I think $30 dollars a week is a reasonable amount as its enough to live on as a 14 year old as you dont really have many expenses but doesnt give you an excessive amount of disposable income as there deffinately was a high correlation between drug taking and having too much free money.

gav said:

AWG I am 25, and do not plan on having kids..... EVER!

I wouldnt call those examples you have listed as "financial needs", more like "financial wants". But I guess if they have a set allowance, once they spend it, its gone. No coming to Mum and Dad to pay for their next phone recharge, they have to earn it. So I guess thats a decent system you have going there. If they are paying for online games, are they virtual reality games that require alot of time and effort like World Of Warcraft? Those type of games can create some very nasty habits and anti-sociable behaviour when played too long, they are actually quite adictive. I have seen it in ppl I know. However, they are fine in moderation. Even I still occasionally play a few online games too.

I guess hearing that a 14yr old gets $20 makes me feel old! I used to get $2 a week by helping work on the farm - help milk the cows, spray thistles, irrigating, cutting hay, etc... However whenever those jobs lasted longer than an hour, I'd get a little bit extra. But my parents made sure I never missed a football or cricket training session or game - so they counted that as part of my allowance.

And yes I got "thrashed" too

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Just make sure you dont have much sex then Gav, cause a surprisingly high proportion of children I know of are unplanned.

contraceptive failure rate is disturbingly high, check the internet if u dont believe me

If u dont have kids u will be financially much richer, they cost megabucks

I used to work with a financial counsellor. He got divorced. He owned several properties. One day he said to me "each kid is another property i could own"

I was a bit appalled at the time, but I see now, he was technically correct.

nature has a way of taking its course, we are programmed to reproduce

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My 13yr old doesn't get any pocket money anymore.

We stopped it because he was wasting it on extra food at school and other edible rubbish, (resulting in extra kilo's).

He gets paid for jobs around the house....lawns $5. Car washing, etc.

We opened up a savings account - any money goes into that and he is allowed to buy sensible stuff from that. Currently he's saving for a Metallica CD.

His mobile packed up, so we didn't replace that as he was forever texting and receiving..............homework without distractions is more important IMO

We now also have a timetable for when he gets home from school. (Homework, guitar practice, etc, etc)

Seems to be working OK....3 months into the new regime. In fact live is much easier.

I never got a set allowance, I just asked for money when i needed it... usually $5 to head down to the local deli.

So as the years went on, asking for money for when i needed it became the norm.

As i got older (16-17yrs old) I would ask mummy for a tenner but i would actually grab a twenty.... then i would give it to my older bro to get me booze... im pretty sure he was ripping me off too.

I did do chores back in the day but it wasn't for an allowance, just to help out.

Difficult question, tech/a. Depends on the financial circumstances of the family unit.

However, here goes.

Zero pocket money for doing what is normally expected, ie keeping rooms tidy, doing the dishes, hanging out washing and stuff like that.

Then negotiate as to what they expect to be a fair deal but haggle it down as far as possible. Nope to your wish for a mobile phone: you can pay for that when you get a job. Same for iPods, Xboxes, Pay-TV. None of which are absolutely essential for the running of a household.

When you reach agreement, which could be between $20 to $50 a week or fortnight whatever YOU can afford and consider is reasonable. Then open up an account in their name and arrange for a direct deposit from your account to it with you as the signatory until they reach 13 or later with half of that agreed amount to be placed in there.

Be prepared to frequently use the phrase "No, we cannot afford that" in its various forms, eg, "I don't give a stuff if your best friend has X,Y or Z, we cannot afford that."

Oh, by the way. When they get older and come to you for a deposit on a house/apartment, simply refuse. Let them get it on their own merits and after settlement, if the are successful, dump in to the mortgage the stamp duty/legal costs they have incurred. Way better.