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I read this article today at Get Rich Slowly.

Kids pocket money seems to be a hot topic at the moment. How much? What do they have to do for it (if anything)? What age to start giving pocket money? How frequently? Do you limit what they spend it on? Do you make them save any?

Lots of questions and I’ve seen a large variety of responses across the blogosphere. The popular scenario is weekly pocket money, linked to age. For example one dollar per year of age per week. Some require specific chores be done for the set allowance, others provide extra payment for chores. Parents are generally providing guidance on spending habits but are particularly encouraging saving between 10-50%. Some families also encourage tithing.

What are your thoughts on this?

My daughter is only a baby at the moment but I am favouring weekly pocket money, linked to age, which will be given for specific chores with ‘extra chores’ earning extra payments. Saving will be encouraged and perhaps even matched by mummy and daddy if deposited in a savings account.

How do you handle pocket money in your household?

Photo by Flickr user Peter

[tags] pocket+money, parenting, finance, money+kids, saving, spending, allowance [/tags]