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Parents have very different views on children's pocket money.
Some parents use chores or good behavior as a way for their children to earn pocket money. Others believe that chores should be done not because the children are going to get a cash reward but because they are a member of a family and as such should help with the running of the household. Whichever view you have it is very important that your children receive pocket money so that they can start learning about how money works at an early age.

Children should ideally, be given a set amount of pocket money each week. It doesn't matter if it's 20 cents or 20 dollars each week, but it should be the same amount each week. You can specify whether they are allowed to spend the whole amount of their pocket money or whether you want them to save a portion and spend a portion or you could allow them to spend the whole amount but reward them for saving by doubling the cash amount once they have reached a predetermined target.

Children should be allowed to spend their pocket money how they wish. As a parent you can try to guide their spending but ultimately you have to let them make their own mistakes so that they can learn money lessons first hand. After all wouldn't you rather have your child make a purchasing mistake with $5 now rather than making money mistakes as young adults and losing thousands of dollars.
How many times has your child had some money to spend and has wasted it on something that you knew they would regret later?.

The point is you need to let your children make these mistakes. You need to warn them about the consequences of bad decisions and guide them towards better purchases but at the end of the day let it be their decision. If they are adamant about buying the flimsy plastic racing track that you know won't last 10 seconds of play time then let them buy it. If they regret it later then they have learnt their first money lesson and will be less likely to make a hasty decision next time.

By giving your child a set amount of money each week your child will learn how to budget their money. Make it clear that if they spend all their pocket money in one go they will not be given more until the following week or month depending on how often you pay them. They will soon learn to budget their money more carefully.
Ultimately we all want our children to grow into adults with good money management skills and we can influence this by giving them pocket money and teaching them how to use it wisely.

Learn more about this author, Rachel Suesskow.
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