How Much Pocket Money Did You Get As A Kid ?

[Cormac135]

I can't remember ever getting a set amount, if i ever wanted anything i just had to ask.

Did you get pocket money for free or did you have to earn it by doing chores ?

 

[Alistair]

I used to get $5 for cutting the grass for my grandmother. I also got $2 a day during the school year for lunch. Anything I didn't spend I was allowed to keep. That's why I got a job at 15.

 

[peeonme]

I got $1.00 per month when the social security checks came.

 

[Cormac135]

I got free lunches at school though i did get £2-£3 a day for juice and sweets.

 

[Cormac135]

I got $1.00 per month when the social security checks came.

But was that back in the days old people go on about being able to go to the cinema for a penny and still have enough for a poke of chips/french fries on the way home ?

 

[Latimer]

Got paid to do chores. Never considered it pocket money.

 

[HoodedRat]

The earliest amount I can remember was half-a-crown (two shillings and sixpence) per week.
It was the 60s; it seemed like riches beyond belief.
I spent it on my pets.

 

[peeonme]

But was that back in the days old people go on about being able to go to the cinema for a penny and still have enough for a poke of chips/french fries on the way home ?

It was the mid 60's, cigarettes were .35 cent a pack. I was 12 so I really didn't buy anything.

 

[gsdx]

We didn't get an allowance, but we were still expected to do chores both indoors and outdoors. Indoors, it was mainly helping with the dishes, keeping the wood box full, and keeping the vegetables in the basement organised. Outdoors, it was tending the gardens and harvesting them for meals, chopping wood, picking fruit, gathering walnuts, etc.

Dad got me a job when I was 13. I made $1.10 per hour and worked anywhere from 65 to 75 hours per week grading cucumbers for Bick's Pickles. I gave Mom my money packet and she gave me back $5 out of it for the week.

Even if kids were inclined to do such labour and hours these days, I doubt if labour laws would allow them to do it.

 

[Rickrock]

Mostly I just asked for money for what I wanted and if my parents agreed and could afford it they gave me the money. I did get a weekly allowance for a short while, but don't remember how much it was. I was usually expected to help with a few chores, but it wasn't overwhelming.

 

[offthewall14420]

My folks never really gave cash unless I mowed the lawn, caught and/or cleaned fish. During the school year I would do a paper route for a neighbor and keep half the proceeds. At 15 I started working part time to buy booze and smokes.

 

[sixthson]

We were born to be slaves. Slaves don't get paid.

 

[ShadowCat]

Zip zero zilch nada goose egg

 

[TickTockMan]

Whatever the going rate was. I started working young. I was paying "rent" by 16 to my mother.

 

[medic1]

There was never any set amount. The more chores one did, the more pocket-money one received.

 

[Charon]

Like ten bucks a week.

 

[unloadonme]

I got free lunches at school though i did get £2-£3 a day for juice and sweets.

Free school lunches were given to children from low income families. If your parents were hard up, giving you £10 to £15 a week to spend on unnecessary shit which would rot your teeth seems an odd way of budgeting.

 

[unloadonme]

I don't recall how much I was given, but it wasn't a lot. On the other hand, most things I wanted were provided for me, so I had little need of cash. My grandparents and aunts and uncles always seemed to give me money whenever we visited.

 

[NotHardUp1]

There were four of us children at home, then three. We were always poor and a few times, we'd be promised an allowance, but it never came with any consistency. Sometimes we'd get maybe $1.10 per week, but that was also associated with doing all the chores, and we had regular duty lists that rotated assignments. And our work was inspected. I was terrible at sweeping apparently. Funny, later Mom and Grandmom were terrible at dishes when they'd help after holiday meals and I'd rewash them after they left.

I grew up in the 60's and 70's, so we collected coke bottles and turned them in for the 2 cent deposits. We also took on odd jobs once old enough, like raking or mowing for other people, or babysitting. As for asking for things, we didn't do that after we were very young. No one really has to tell you that when your mother smokes and drinks and you see groceries run low by the end of the month and you are on free lunches dressed like a ragamuffin. You know.

At 14, I was "punished" for not stealing when asked to do so by Mother. I went all over town on foot alone, asking dairy bars and other similar businesses for a job. They were not allowed to employ me in 1974.

Once I left Mother's home the next year, I was adopted by my grandmother. She was a working widow and had no money. I continued to clean houses, mow lawns, and do chores for others. At 16, my next door neighbor, who was a godsend and a second mother, got me a job at a local department store where two of her children had worked as teens and I had a regular income. It was part-time, but I never looked back and am so grateful people cared and helped. I enjoyed retail and helping customers find things.

 

[xyxyxy]

Got paid to do chores. Never considered it pocket money.

Same here