When I was around 9 years old, my father gave me either $10 or $20 a week. It was 1974. This continued until I started working at my father's business, when I was 15. He paid me weekly.

When my boyfriend asked me this question the other day he flipped. He was like "WTF?" He said I was spoiled, blah blah blah. :lol: :lol: :lol: I told him I had to do chores around the house everyday after school and on weekends. I washed dishes at least 4 times a week. I had to clean the bathrooms on the weekends as well as other stuff. My father never asked if I did my chores, he just assumed when I asked for my allowance, that I had done my chores for the week. For those who may not know or don't remember, my mother passed away when I was 6, so with my brother and sister working and my father running the family business, the housework was left to me and my sister when she wasn't working. So, my boyfriend is like tripping out on the amount and he is telling me when he was young, he was lucky to get five dollars a month.

To me, I look back and don't think nothing of the amount my father gave me. I spent it on candy or something I didn't really need, which was the purpose of my allowance, to spend as I wished. My father bought whatever I needed.

My folks never gave me nor my brothers an allowance. My dads way of thinking was, We brought you into this world, We give you a place to stay etc... so you should help out around here without expecting pay.

At least Opie Taylor got a quarter. :(

Since we're discussing allowances, Does anyone remember this song?

NO CHARGE
As recorded by Melba Montgomery
Writer: Harlan Howard

Recitation:

My little boy came up to me
In the kitchen this evening
While I was fixing supper
And he handed me a piece of paper
He'd been writing on
And after wiping my hands on my apron
I read it and this is what it said:

For mowing the yard - five dollars
For making my own bed this week - one dollar
Going to the store - fifty cents
Playing with little brother While you went to the store - twenty-five cents
Taking out the trash - one dollar
Getting a good report card - five dollars
And for raking the yard - two dollars

Total owed - Fifteen Dollars and Seventy-Five Cents

Well, I looked at him standing there expectantly
And a thousand memories flashed through my mind
And so I picked up the pen and turning the paper over
This is what I wrote:

For nine months I carried you
Growing inside me - NO CHARGE
For the nights I've sat up with you
Doctored you, prayed for you - NO CHARGE
For the time and the tears
That you cost through the years
There's NO CHARGE
When you add It all up
The full cost of my love is NO CHARGE

For the nights filled with dread
And the worries ahead, NO CHARGE
For the advice and knowledge
And the cost of your college - NO CHARGE
For the toys, food and clothes
And for wiping your nose
There's NO CHARGE
When you add It all up
The full cost of my love is NO CHARGE

Recitation:
Well, when he finished reading
He had great big old tears in his eyes
And he looked up at me and said
"Mom, I sure do love you."
Then he took the pen
And in great big letters he wrote: "Paid In full"
When you add it all up, the cost of real love is NO CHARGE

^ That's a very touching song, I don't think I've ever heard it before.

In the late 60's & early 70's we got $5.00 a week allowance for doing chores around the house.

When I was around 9 years old, my father gave me either $10 or $20 a week. It was 1974. This continued until I started working at my father's business, when I was 15. He paid me weekly.

.

You still did alright though! I got $5 every two weeks (my parents' payday) from about the age of 9 through to 13 or 14 and had to beg for more. For that, when I got home from school I was expected to do the breakfast and lunch dishes (family of 5), start dinner (usually peeling and getting potatoes boiling and then something with meat going) and do the ironing. Back then we didn't have the permanent press sheets the same so I got the "flat stuff" - sheets, pillow cases, my dad's hankerchiefs (remember when men carried them?) and any curtains or other straightforward stuff.
I also vacuumed twice a week and helped with laundry on the weekends. I also got the chore of cleaning both bathrooms. I can't remember what they raised it to, but it was probably $10 every two weeks. I got a part time job when I was 15 so my allowance at home stopped then.

You still did alright though! I got $5 every two weeks (my parents' payday) from about the age of 9 through to 13 or 14 and had to beg for more. For that, when I got home from school I was expected to do the breakfast and lunch dishes (family of 5), start dinner (usually peeling and getting potatoes boiling and then something with meat going) and do the ironing. Back then we didn't have the permanent press sheets the same so I got the "flat stuff" - sheets, pillow cases, my dad's hankerchiefs (remember when men carried them?) and any curtains or other straightforward stuff.
I also vacuumed twice a week and helped with laundry on the weekends. I also got the chore of cleaning both bathrooms. I can't remember what they raised it to, but it was probably $10 every two weeks. I got a part time job when I was 15 so my allowance at home stopped then.
My boyfriend asked me, "What did you do with the money you earned working with your dad?" I told him I bought records (LOL), make-up, hairspray and odds and ends like that, teen girl stuff. I guess my boyfriend is just feeling kinda bad for how he was brought up. His family had it real tight and he had to work during the summer and give all that money to his mom. He is just in shock at the amount I received by saying, "You were 10 years old and you got anywhere from $40-$80 bucks a month!!!!!" Then he said, "DAMN! :rofl:

I feel bad for how hard it was for my boyfriend growing up. I love my dad to death for all the hard work he did to establish two businesses so that we could have a roof over our head and take vacations.

I remember $10 for the longest time, then $12. I always got extra money too. I didn't have many chores. I was the youngest of three girls, so I got away with murder, lol. I never heard the end of it when we became adults.

I can remember at age 5 I would get 50 cents, and then when I got to the 1st grade I moved up to a $1 a week :lol:

When I was in High School I would get 50$ every two weeks. Then I got a job and my allowance stopped in the 11th grade.

My boyfriend asked me, "What did you do with the money you earned working with your dad?" I told him I bought records (LOL), make-up, hairspray and odds and ends like that, teen girl stuff. I guess my boyfriend is just feeling kinda bad for how he was brought up. His family had it real tight and he had to work during the summer and give all that money to his mom. He is just in shock at the amount I received by saying, "You were 10 years old and you got anywhere from $40-$80 bucks a month!!!!!" Then he said, "DAMN! :rofl:

I feel bad for how hard it was for my boyfriend growing up. I love my dad to death for all the hard work he did to establish two businesses so that we could have a roof over our head and take vacations.

I know what you mean. I'd save up so I could go to the mall and buy a dozen sweetheart roses for myself (I've always loved flowers). :lol: I might also go to this place called, "Oriental Bazaar" and buy a little handblown glass ornament of some sort. I still have some of them actually.

When I got to highschool it was tougher. My friends would go on ski trips, out to dinner at good restaurants and such, but I would never have enough money to go with them. I knew not to ask for more money from my parents. I didn't even go to my prom because it would cost parents approx. $150 for the dress, shoes, etc. (we didn't even think of hiring limos back then). I just couldn't put my parents through the expensive even though it killed me not to go.

I'm not complaining though - as you say, still grateful for having the things I did. A lot of people have it worse.

I get $10 a month,plus I do alot of chores so that givs me some more money.

$20 seems like a lot of money back in 1974! How much did a record cost back then?

I recall in the late 80's getting $20 in high school for a while. Before that there was no allowance, but we would get good money when we were going by a friend or out somewhere without the parents.

$20 seems like a lot of money back in 1974! How much did a record cost back then?

I recall in the late 80's getting $20 in high school for a while. Before that there was no allowance, but we would get good money when we were going by a friend or out somewhere without the parents.


It was! To me anyway.

As I recall, you could pickup the usual album for around $7.99 - $12.99 to $14.99 if it was a double album like Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. I had to save for a good while to be able to afford that one. I still have it! I can't bring myself to thow out my old albums. We used to listen to the music and gaze at the covers forever. :lol:

It was! To me anyway.

As I recall, you could pickup the usual album for around $7.99 - $12.99 to $14.99 if it was a double album like Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. I had to save for a good while to be able to afford that one. I still have it! I can't bring myself to thow out my old albums. We used to listen to the music and gaze at the covers forever. :lol:
Yeah, $20 was a lot for a kid/teen in that era (mid 70's). I could buy a 45 record for 79 cents. I remember buying the Donna Summer Bad Girls double album for $14.99. Mind you, that was a double album. ;)

Yeah, $20 was a lot for a kid/teen in that era (mid 70's). I could buy a 45 record for 79 cents. I remember buying the Donna Summer Bad Girls double album for $14.99. Mind you, that was a double album. ;)


I've got a ticket stub from an ELO concert back in '77. Meatloaf opened for them - it was that "spaceship" tour. General admin ticket for $18 and thought that was high. You can't even see a 30 yr old act in a casino for that now! :lol: They usually start at $25 for the worst acts now.

I used to get $5 a week until last year. I know get $10 a week :woohoo: I don't really spend it on much, I save most of it.

When I was about 10-11, I got £1 a week.

When I was about 10-11, I got £1 a week.


Really? Geez, when were you born - 1948? :lol:

We actually didn't get any allowances as kids--we did pick up after ourselves and we didn't expect to get paid for it.

The only time we were 'rewarded' was when we did really well on our report cards :) I think we were given $20 or we picked out a gift that was around that price range. It felt good to get rewarded for that.

I got $40 a month and didn't have to do any chores. ^_^

Really? Geez, when were you born - 1948? :lol:

My Dad was born in 1947; I was born in 1988.

Back in the 1950s/1960s, a pound was much more than it is now. You had sixpences, shillings and pounds. There were twenty shillings in a pound.

I get $30 a month. I usually save it untill I can buy something big.

I've got a ticket stub from an ELO concert back in '77. Meatloaf opened for them - it was that "spaceship" tour. General admin ticket for $18 and thought that was high. You can't even see a 30 yr old act in a casino for that now! :lol: They usually start at $25 for the worst acts now.
:rofl: Try buying a concert ticket for $20 now! :lol: :lol: The last ticket I bought was for a Sesame Street Elmo Show. Two tickets set me and my son back $65.

When I was younger I'd get a small allowance for a few years. Then when I got closer to my teens I stopped getting one and basically my parents just gave/lent me money if I needed some. I didn't get a real job until after high school.

I've got a ticket stub from an ELO concert back in '77. Meatloaf opened for them - it was that "spaceship" tour.

Sounds like the Out of the Blue tour. :)

Ha. never, we had to clean, do laundry, and other random crap but we never got a cent for it. But that's okay cause if we ever needed anything, like clothes and food, my parents would get it for us. Birthdays and Christmas are when we'd get to get good things.

$0!

i dont really care though. i dont care about money at the moment. lol

$0

As a child I got $2 a week. Which seeing as I was born in 1987 wasn't that long ago, and I thought I was on the top of the world :)

Well I'm turning 16 in a couple of days and I got 10$ which is enough to get by on but I COULD USE MORE!:crazy:

Sounds like the Out of the Blue tour. :)

I think that was it. Was a pretty big deal back then, but looks kinda cheesy now. It was an excellent concert though as I remember. As we arrived, Ellen Foley and Meatleaf were doing Paradise By The Dashboard Light. It was the first time I had heard it. I loved the song, but Meatloaf sweating like mad in the hot August sun was too gross to take! :lol:

ELO were incredible in person though. One guy did Flight of the Bumblebee (electric version of course) and you could hear a pin drop in the stadium. His hand was a blur bowing it. ;)

For most of my childhood I didn't get an allowance, but when I did, it was about $5.00 every two weeks. Doesn't sound like much, but to a broke kid who goes door to door collecting cans for money, it was like getting a hundred bucks.

Man you people were spoiled!!! :lol: I got $1 a week and i was lucky to get that ( of course, you could buy 4 comics and have enough left for some candy back then ( circa 1968 ) with a dollar ), then later it was doubled to $2 a week.....I wanted a 35mm camera more than anything, so, I went without for over a year, saving my $2 EVERY week (I needed about $300 to buy this camera, had saved about $150 ) My parents decided to match me and I got the camera for my 12th (?) birthday.....sadly, this same camera was stolen out of my car about 20 years later :( . Anyway, my parents seemed to feel badly that i hadnt indulged myself for so long, and raised my allowance to $5 which was the most i ever got.