free cash for kids or should they earn it?

[cia260895]

When I had kids I promised myself I would never do that to them. My oldest is 19 now, he never did a paper round or any part time job while he was at school. He has never done any chores and now I worry how on earth he would ever look after himself when he eventually moves out as he doesnt know one end of a hoover from the other. He got whatever he wanted if I could afford it as a kid and if I couldnt afford it he would moan non stop till he did get it :-( When he started work I explained to him that I was having to pay extra rent/council tax and that it was only fair he should contribute, he kicked off big time and we had some horrible rows about it... so maybe my mum was right after all ...though im not totally convinced.

so if you had your time again would you have changed anything to prepare him for the big wide world or would you do things exactly the same?

[suzanne]

my granddad did a similar thing to his kids as your mom did to you Suzanne, but he put it away in a savings account for them. I though that was a great way of teaching kids the value of money.

Now thats a good idea.

Yes I think I probably would have, my younger 2 kids hardly ever ask for anything but when they do I give them little jobs to do so they can "earn" the money which they enjoy doing. Im not so sure this would have worked with my oldest as he was and still is a lazy little soandso but I do feel I have failed in teaching him respect for money, it burns a whole in his pocket and he never manages to make his wages last till the next months pay packet.

[cia260895]

my granddad did a similar thing to his kids as your mom did to you Suzanne, but he put it away in a savings account for them. I though that was a great way of teaching kids the value of money.

Now thats a good idea.

Yes I think I probably would have, my younger 2 kids hardly ever ask for anything but when they do I give them little jobs to do so they can "earn" the money which they enjoy doing. Im not so sure this would have worked with my oldest as he was and still is a lazy little soandso but I do feel I have failed in teaching him respect for money, it burns a whole in his pocket and he never manages to make his wages last till the next months pay packet.

is that a female admitting that they were wrong surely not lol

[suzanne]

my granddad did a similar thing to his kids as your mom did to you Suzanne, but he put it away in a savings account for them. I though that was a great way of teaching kids the value of money.

Now thats a good idea.

Yes I think I probably would have, my younger 2 kids hardly ever ask for anything but when they do I give them little jobs to do so they can "earn" the money which they enjoy doing. Im not so sure this would have worked with my oldest as he was and still is a lazy little soandso but I do feel I have failed in teaching him respect for money, it burns a whole in his pocket and he never manages to make his wages last till the next months pay packet.

is that a female admitting that they were wrong surely not lol

You are right..im NOT LOL..im mearly saying that I should have taught him how to work the washing machine and there is still time for that but 10+ years of nagging at him to pick up his wet towel from the bathroom floor hasnt done any good so im sure it would go in one ear and out the other.

I was the same at his age..couldnt spend money fast enough and had a bloody ball and why not!!

You can only explain that saving for a rainy day is a good idea but in reality every kid has there own agenda as Snat says.

Hes a lovely lad and he knows right from wrong. Ive never had the police at my door and he doesnt do drugs which shows he has strong character as many of his friends have went down that road. Hes a major pain in the ass but I am very proud of him.

Hes a smart boy and im sure when he meets the right girl she will whip him into shape as I did with my "mummy boy" boyfriend many years ago :-)

[cia260895]

by the sound of it you do have a good kid so you must have done something right so credit where credit is due well done..I can only speak from my upbringing and living with 3 other brothers from a low income family we were all made aware of he importance of money and where it came from,as i have said b4 i earned my money and like you squandered most of it on the slot machines but also paid what was asked and helped out where i could,i suppose coming from nothing makes me apprecate it all the more,
but just a tip for the other mums out there stop moddy coddling the boys it wont help them in the long run, do what my mum done and pin a list of what clothes went with what and on which number to set the machine taped to the machine worked a treat we also had to iron anything that wasnt in the sunday ironing pile so i am a man who can cook clean and wash/iron quite sufficiently,just a swell really could both wives have never really been the ironing kind.[/font]