Allowance

An allowance — sometimes called pocket money — is a regular fixed amount of money you get, usually each week or fortnight. It’s your money to choose what to do with: spend, save, or split between the two.

Why a regular amount matters

The same amount, every week, is what makes an allowance useful. Once you know how much arrives, you can plan. You can save up for something you want. You can skip the things you don’t really care about. You can keep a little for fun stuff.

If the money came in random amounts, planning would be impossible. The whole point is that it’s predictable.

Three things a steady allowance lets you do

• Save a bit each week. Decide in advance — like half saved, half to spend. The slider in the pocket money growth calculator shows how that adds up over time.
• Save for something specific. Pick a thing you want — a bike, a game, a skateboard — and use the kids saving goal calculator to see exactly how many weeks until you can buy it.
• Track where your money goes. Writing down what came in and what went out is a tiny habit that grown-ups wish they’d started younger. The pocket money tracker makes it easy.

What “growth” might add later

If you put your savings into a bank account, the bank usually pays you a little extra each year. That’s called simple interest — your money grows just by sitting there. It’s small at first, but the bigger your savings get, the more interest you earn. The longer you save, the more growth adds up.