Did any of you have pocket money when you were a kid?

GGizmo

GGizmo

GGizmo

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I was thinking back to when I was a kid growing up in the 80s and 90s I used to get pockets money from my parents.

I saved it up to eventually buy a game or a computer magazine.

I haven't heard pocket money being mentioned for decades. Do people still get pocket money or do parents just buy items the kid wants?

I think the pocket money system taught me the value of money and to be financially disciplined to save up for things I couldn't afford immediately.
 
Currently mid 30’s - I recall getting £10 a month from about the age of 10, but we also had to buy our own presents for parents birthdays and Xmas (so it was never much!)

Otherwise, had my first job at 12 working in a film to photo processing shop on a Saturday morning for my dads mate (£1.50/hr, megabucks! :-D) alongside a 6 day/week paper round.

Combined it all definitely taught me the value of money, and the effort to earn it, 6am starts for all my early teenage years to haul around paper for an hour, not fun!

I’ve always been very careful with making sure money is saved, and have never been overly frivolous with money, I’d never really thought about why that is, but typing out all of the above it now makes sense.
 
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In the mid-late 90's I got around £5 a month, and that eventually went up to £10.

I ended up making money via other means, I'd buy multipacks of coke and undersell the school vending machine at a profit. Cigarettes were good too, 20p a tab way back when from a box of 20 was a decent profit margin at the time if you weren't age checked, and I had access to the big packs of stuff people brought into the country duty free. Also used to burn PS1 games at £5-10 a pop, did a paper round, and briefly dabbled in selling VHS copies of movies.

I grew up on a council estate in a poor area, I went out of my way to make cash and frankly hated high school to the point I skipped regularly. Made up for it in the end and did well in education afterwards, but I was very much focused on making cash in any way I could from a relatively young age.

Recently turned 40 for reference.
 
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Nearly 45, youngest of 4 so money was always tight. I only started getting some pocket money around the age of 16 once my oldest brother and sister finished uni and moved out.
 
It's because cash isn't widely used these days, I mean some of it might be due to changing attitudes.

But I think its mostly because of cash.

I took very little from my parents when I was young because I knew they were poor and if I really wanted something they would give me it, so even at a young age I didn't ask because of that.
 
BUDFORCE said:
It's because cash isn't widely used these days, I mean some of it might be due to changing attitudes.

But I think its mostly because of cash.

I took very little from my parents when I was young because I knew they were poor and if I really wanted something they would give me it, so even at a young age I didn't ask because of that.
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I was getting like 15 a week int he 90s.

10 off my dad, 5 off my mum.
I got about 2.50 every day for busfare to school and my dinner, but I'd walk the 45mins to school and only spend about £1 on dinner


I think a can of cola back then was about 30-40p even from the school vending machine and chipshop chips probably about 60-70p



I don't think any other kids around my area got anything, my parents worked crap jobs too.
my mum had a part time and fulltime job at the same time :O for probably about 8 years



Kids probably get so much more these days when you add it all up, we didn;t even get many clothes back in the day, you'd get new as your old stuff wore out or got holes
 
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I'm late 30s, I think I started on £2 a week which went up to £5 a week as I got older. We had to do chores for that though, me and my sisters taking turns to wash/dry up, hoover etc. I hated it at the time as it took me away from my precious Streets of Rage :D

My son is 9 and he gets £3 a week from me and similar from his Mum. He understands the concept of saving and is getting better at it, but he also likes to get maximum return for his cash :D We will walk around the toy shops while he works out what he can buy to get the most toys for the money he has. Although I do sometimes treat him and will top up his money if he shows he's been working hard to save for something he wants... but I don't splash out on a £45 Switch game every time he shows interest in something. That's what birthdays and Christmas are for.
 
I used to get 50p a week in the late 80s, then got a paper round to supplement my addiction to cola bottles and the Daily Sport.
 
My parents weren't poor or working class so I got what I wanted when I said.

Maybe a tenner a week plus 5 £1 pound coins for lunches when I started 6th form which I'd also save for weekends. Some guy would always moan his mum made him awful sandwiches so I'd eat them sometimes.
50p a pint or acid for a few quid on a Friday and free entree to a local indy club on Mondays.... Man life was fun.
 
Tek81 said:
I used to get 50p a week in the late 80s, then got a paper round to supplement my addiction to cola bottles and the Daily Sport.
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Same - mid 80s. I remember my Sunday morning paper round was £1.35 for a good couple of hours works at around that time.
 
I was on a pound a week, then I was forced into slave labour (paper round). I think I was getting between £12-20 a week doing that depending on the round I was given. I cant believe I was working a 7 day week when I was 14 :cry:
 
I had pocket money for doing jobs about the house then I got a news paper round once a week after school.

Next step was part time\full time work lol
 
Yes all 3 of us got pocket money but we did have to do things around the house for it, when I was 16 though it stopped as I had a paper round and Saturday job and didn't continue fulltime education
 
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