Kushan has never said no for giving pocket money to his daughter Norah but he becomes worried to know how she is spending her pocket money. In the last two months, his daughter has asked for more pocket money than usual and when asked she says she has started donating some money for charity. Kushan wants to keep a track of how his daughter is spending her pocket money and wants her daughter to learn the
value of money and saving money.
Importance of Pocket Money
Giving pocket money to the children is not bad at all. It may depend from family to family when to start giving pocket money to the children. Giving
pocket money means helping the child to learn how to spend money thoughtfully and the importance of saving. As the children will learn to handle money they will also learn about implications of losing money and misplacing it. Children will learn to wait for the things they want when they are assigned a fixed amount of money every month. As in most of the family dads handle the money matters, children learn how to handle money by watching their dads very closely.
When and How Much to Give
Children can be given pocket money at the age of 6 or 7 years and there is no fixed rule about it. It can be given weekly or monthly basis. Initially, giving pocket money weekly is advisable as it becomes easier for the child to plan for the expenditure in a week and manage all the expenses with the given amount of money. How much money should a child get depends on the circumstances. When a child starts getting huge amount of pocket money, expectations will be high and later on when they would be denied they will not be able to accept the refusal nicely. Preteen children are already into such a stage that they get idea about the family income and frame an expectation about the amount of pocket money. Dads of
preteens must spend fair amount of time with their children in justifying them about the amount of pocket money given.
How Preteens Use Their Pocket Money
Preteens use their money in buying bus tickets to school, Friday lunch, buying gifts for their friends, parents and grandparents, shopping, donations and for saving. Preteens who are into the habit of spending their pocket money wisely do a lot of saving to buy things that they like to buy e.g. books, makeup items, dolls, sports items, video games etc.
Earning the Pocket Money
Many families encourage the practice of earning the pocket money. Preteens can do it by helping their parents in some of the household chores. E.g. taking the pet dog out for walking, watering the plants, drying of clothes in the dryer, dusting the rooms, helping father in mowing backyard grass etc. But again children must not take it as a practice that whatever work they will do at home as a family member would help them to earn money.
Tips for Dads for Giving Pocket Money to Preteens
Here are some tips for dads to give pocket money to preteens.
- The very first day, dads must explain about usefulness of pocket money and make it clear what it should be used for and what it should not be used for.
- Payment to be made on a fixed day.
- Give a piggy bank to the child so that saved money can be kept thereIf pocket money is given for entertainment then dads must find out the type of entertainment.
- Before next pocket money is given, find out how much money is spent and where it has been spent.
- Appreciate the child if he or she saves considerable amount or donates towards charity.
When dads give pocket money to their children, they must definitely tell them how to manage it without wasting it. It is necessary to teach them the money management skills right from the childhood so that they spend each penny wisely.
Is it necessary to give pocket money to teens and preteens? How to teach teens and preteens to use pocket money wisely? What are the ways to teach children to save pocket money? Discuss here.
