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Use These 5 Tricks to Manage Children’s Pocket Money

Nov 08, 2020
3 Minutes

For school-age children, there will come a time when they start to ask their parents for pocket money. Therefore, you need to start calculating the appropriate amount of money for your children. Giving the allowance or pocket money can also be a method to teach money management to your children. Here are 5 tricks to manage children’s pocket money that you can try.

List Children’s Necessary Expenses
At school, you as a parent have surely set aside money to pay for the school fees, both the tuition and other additional fees. However, it’s common for schools to add more extra fees, such as class funds and book fees. You should note this as you start determining the amount of your children’s monthly allowance.

Truth be told, children’s pocket money is very flexible, and the amount depends on your parenting style. If you don’t provide them with a lunch box for school, then the required children’s pocket money needs to be large enough for them to purchase lunch at the school’s cafeteria.

Discuss the Allowance with Your Children
After you decide the amount of your children’s pocket money, it’s time to discuss it with them. Invite your children to negotiate and talk about the various expenses that they think they need. It’s okay if your children are still quite young. In fact, this is the perfect opportunity to start teaching them about money management.

Give them time and place to negotiate. Make sure that you don’t set the pocket money far bigger than what you have calculated. You can raise the pocket money 10%-15% from the amount that you have calculated. Next, talk with them regarding when to give the pocket money. If your children are more comfortable in receiving a weekly allowance, then do as they ask.

Don’t Give Pocket Money Ahead of the Schedule
Just like an employee who receives a monthly salary on the exact same date, your children should also receive their pocket money as scheduled. This means that you need to remind them about not asking for pocket money ahead of the time that you and your children have decided on.

You need to be firm and don’t act out of pity. If they have run out of pocket money, it can be a sign that your children are prodigal. By enforcing this pocket money rule, you have done your part in teaching them how to properly manage their finances.

Provide Conditions for Pocket Money Increase
Sometimes your children may ask for a pocket money increase. Usually they have many excuses, perhaps they want to buy their favorite toy, a gift for a dear friend, or the school’s cafeteria price surge. Yes, it’s better if you stick to the agreed amount of pocket money, but this can be a chance for you to train your children’s productivity.

You get to negotiate again with your children regarding this pocket money increase. For example by asking them to clean their bedroom every day for a week in order to get a 10% increase in the allowance. Keep in mind that this increase is more like a bonus, not a long term one. This also shouldn’t be an excuse to exploit your children.

Teach Them to Save Money for Their Wishlist
It’s not frowned upon to spoil your children by giving them things that they want. However, it’s far better to teach them to save some of their pocket money for their wishlist. For kids, saving money can be done with a piggy bank. 

Teach them how to set aside money and put them in the piggy bank. Then, teach them how to count their money, so they can know when their savings have summed enough money to buy their favorite things. Your children will feel satisfied and happy once they manage to buy an item from their wishlist by using their own pocket money.

PermataBank provides various savings for your children, from Tabungan Bintang for kids, Tabungan Pelajar, and PermataME for teenagers and young adults. All of these savings are available online and can be opened via PermataMobile X application without having to go to the nearest branch office.

The saving account for children who learn to save in an exciting way

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The Saving Account Specifically Designed for Students with Easy Requirements and Attractive Features

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