Did You Ever Get A Weekly Allowance When You Were A Kid?

SeaBreeze

SeaBreeze

Endlessly Groovin'
Location
USA
We never got a weekly allowance, and I don't remember many of my friends getting one either. If I needed some money for something, my mother or father would consider it, and possibly give me the cash, as long as it wasn't a large amount. My dad would occasionally slip me some change, but nothing regular or formal in way of a set allowance. Did you get an allowance when you were young?
 

Yes, just enough to cover a movie and a bag of lollies for Sat'y arvos. If I missed the movie I 'banked' the money.
I was pretty good at conning the odd bit of change from grans and uncles too and that went in the piggy bank for when I did want something more expensive.

We were on basic wages, most around us were, and budgeting was a fact of life, but I don't remember any kids who didn't get some amount of 'pocket money' as it was called here, although it was never much. Just what could be afforded. There was no competition to give kids more than the neighbours for status games as it goes now.
What we got was ALL we got and we wasted it at our peril because there was no more handed out.
 
Not a set amount. Dad gave us money each week to buy a comic. Mum gave us money to go to the swimming pool or to the picture show. As with Di, the amount allowed for entry and some lollies at the kiosk. If we didn't go we didn't get the money to save up.

There was a school banking scheme and employees from the Commonwealth Bank (then government owned) would come to the school at lunch time to take cash deposits into children's savings accounts. The idea was to encourage the habit of saving. Mum gave us some coin each week to save up but it wasn't very much. I don't remember ever making a withdrawal.

I gave our kids a weekly allowance to spend or save as they pleased but they could not ask me for extras like birthday presents for their school friends. It was not payment for chores. Even if I had nothing to give them, the chores would still have had to be done. I saw it as giving them a small share of our prosperity to be spent without strings. I made sure that it was small enough not to get them into trouble.
 

Forgot about the school bank, I still had the same account opened at school until around 15 years ago when I went totally 'card'.
The 'banking' money was separate to pocket money and the book had to be shown to Mum to prove that's where it had gone too.
What a great idea that was. It turned me into a Scrooge as I got addicted to watching that total grow. Still watch it intently but it wavers a lot more now.
Gee Warri they took the unused movie money back? That's tough, at least the little I got was mine to 'save up.' I did get an extra 'deena' if a few of us wanted to go to the Baths but it was usually forthcoming from an Uncle, although I could have covered it from the piggy bank savings.

Mine wasn't 'chore' based either, it was a strange set-up really, there were 4 adults in the house and they did all the chores between them so in that way I was spoilt rotten. My 'job' was to keep out of the way.
 
Nope. I had to pay THEM so they wouldn't beat me.

The up-side was that as I got older they charged me less, because I was more able to defend myself.

I could also always count on the income from my protection rackets as a kid. :cool:
 
Nope. I was just expected to do chores around the house which might be good as teaching children to contribute simply as a family member and not for monetary gain. When I was a teenager, my dad would occasionally hand me a twenty as I left the house on a date.
 
Was never paid for doing chores either around the home, or bribed with money for good behavior. Both were expected by my parents with no payoffs. I did have a cute little blue piggy bank, ceramic, with a pink bow around its neck. It never did get filled up though, lol.
 
I think I got an allowance, but can't remember for sure. But I know I always had money to go to the store for penny candy.

My mom was really tight with the purse strings, I do remember that very well! LOL
 
SeaBreeze said:
Was never paid for doing chores either around the home, or bribed with money for good behavior. Both were expected by my parents with no payoffs. I did have a cute little blue piggy bank, ceramic, with a pink bow around its neck. It never did get filled up though, lol.
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The bank used to give kids free tin money boxes. They were in the shape of a bank building with a slot in the top and no way to get the money back out except with a can opener. It didn't take long to fill one with our old pennies, they were fairly big, so the thing got ripped open and thrown away and a new one put to work. I could cry to to think about it, those old things are worth a fortune to collectors because not too many survived in mint condition. siiiiiigh.

I had a ceramic pig, it wasn't very big but it was pretty thing with flowers on it and I never put money it because it had to be smashed to get it back out and for some reason I couldn't handle that. Poor li'l piggy.
 
Yes, I got a small allowance. 25 cents I think. I always loved banks too Di. I had a register bank that added up the money and when you got to $10.00 the flap in the front would open up. Had several of tin banks, like you talked about, and a couple of cast iron banks that sell for hundreds now. Who knew?
 
Did you ever see those little painted iron mechanical monkey ones that you put the penny in it's hand and it flipped it into it's mouth? Always coveted one of those but never got it. Worth a fortune now.

I guess we could have had worse hobbies than liking banks and collecting money eh Pappy??
 
When I started secondary school I got 2/6 (two shillings & six pence) that used to buy me some fruit, yes I bought oranges, and there was enough left to buy some sort of lollie or get a book out of the library..
 
Yes I did, but I can't remember when it started.

What I do remember is that when I was 13 upwards, Mum and Dad did a lot of entertaining, and I used to get 50p for washing up, and my pick of the leftovers!

I also used to do a lot of babysitting, 50p an hour, and I never remember getting a rise for inflation!
 
I had chores to do 7 days a week. Set the table, clear the table, wash dishes, iron, help clean the house. I got 50 cents a week allowance. I never minded the chores at all, but I often wished I had more money.
 
My siblings and I were given money when we required it. Our children were given an allowance, the eldest used to negotiate the rates for herself and her sisters on January 1st each year!:D
 
No, never. There were five kids and only my father worked. I did a lot of chores around the house, but no allowance. I ironed clothes for other people and did baby sitting just to be able to buy a few school clothes.
 
Same here RedRibbons, there were four of us kids, and only my father worked. My mother had me help her with all the household chores, and I didn't get any payment or allowance. In my younger teens, I did make some extra money babysitting for a lady next door with a small toddler and a baby. I didn't get paid too much, but back then every nickel was appreciated.
 


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