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

I did get an allowance once I was older, can't remember now how old I was when mom started seeing allowance to me... age 9 or 10 I'm thinking, however, with the issuance of allowance to me, I was expected to do what my parents asked of me without complaining.

I was always good about facing little things my parents asked me to do without complaining, but one thing that did get old was the constant babysitting I did for baby siblings. Every Friday night (without fail) was babysitting night for me, and then some.

Monthly allowance covered any/all duties/chores I did, and while I never got paid to babysit, mom was good about seeing an occasional perk my way, and looking back on it now, I can't complain.

I was an only child. I did what my parents asked of me. I lived in the days of spanking.
 

Yes, from the age of ten. I got just enough to pay for Saturday afternoon at the pictures. One of the things I resent is that I was used as an unpaid baby-sitter as soon as I was old enough. I never even got a bar of chocolate as payment.
 

Yes, from the age of ten. I got just enough to pay for Saturday afternoon at the pictures. One of the things I resent is that I was used as an unpaid baby-sitter as soon as I was old enough. I never even got a bar of chocolate as payment.
I know all about it, but the babysitting jobs I earned because of the fact!

Once word got around that Marg, had experience caring for baby siblings, the telephone started ringing and never stopped. Babysitting jobs poured in.
 
Yes, I got an allowance. A very small one compared to other kids in the neighbourhood, at least that’s how I perceived it. There were weekly chores every Saturday.
 
I got a allowance some of the time as I recall.
I had good parents and a good childhood. I was expected to work and make my spending money and I did.
I was mowing yards by the time I barely could push a mower, doing yard work and anything around folks houses for pay.
I have been paying Social Security since age 16 and never missed a year.
Hope to retire by years end though....
 
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.

Since my dad was a Navy veteran assigned to The Brooklyn Navy Yard we mistakenly thought allowances were not in his vocabulary. Unlike many children today if he or mom called our names we were already getting up and whatever chores we were assigned to we did them and we did them well. Everything we needed was provided and anything we desired was considered then if it was within reason and budget we would receive it with gratuitous appreciation. My first real job was with Penn-Central at 18 but from 15 until then I worked odd jobs for cash. My dad was tough, strict but loving and fair minded. He never laid a hand on us because we never gave him a reason to because we knew his word was law and to break it was unpardonable. Mom doted on him and he loved her more then life itself. We did too. When he died it was like life stopped for us. It was then that mom told us the money each of us received when we left the nest was the money they saved for us in the bank instead of doling it out at childhood when we couldn't appreciate it's value as opposed to the instant gratification it would have given us as children looking just to spend what we didn't earn. If we gift our future with the discipline to appreciate hard work, a sense of ethics and fair play our legacy will be one of pride in self. Thanks for reading and GOD Bless.
 

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