Managing your pocket money

What is pocket money?Pocket money is the money you get that you can spend. It may be that your parents and caregivers give you money every now and again, or you may get a regular amount of money, for example every week or once a month.Some families don’t give pocket money regularly; they just hand over money to their kids when they want it. Sometimes people in the family may give you money for birthdays or Christmas. How much should you get?That depends on what your parents/caregivers can afford, how many kids there are in your family and how old you are.Managing your moneyMany parents and caregivers who can afford to, give kids pocket money so that they:. Use the money to buy things that they want. Get used to handling money and finding out what things cost. Are responsible for looking after money. Are responsible for looking after money. May learn to save part of their pocket money for when they are older. Learn what is good value for moneyIt’s difficult to manage money if you don’t get a regular allowance, but even a small amount regularly can soon grow if you are saving hard for something. There are lots of lessons to learn when you have pocket money.. If you spend it all at once, then you will have no money until your next ’pay day’. . If you make bad choices then that’s tough! You’ll be more sensible next time. . If you break something when it isn’t an accident you may have to pay back the cost of it. . If you are saving for something and don’t put that money away first, it takes a very long time to get what you want (because you have probably spent your money on something else). . If you borrow money, you have to pay it back.Money is great to buy things with but it can’t buy the most important things in life.www.cyh.com