Pocket money (merged)

Bebsie

My_Fathers_Daughter wrote: »

Not wanting to throw a spanner in the works but do you know why it is so much more expensive this month?

I did this once whilst at Uni when my parents were paying my bill and it was because I was extremely unhappy having split with a boyfriend....

If she is normally good then there may be a reason that her bill has doubled this month


Having said that, I think she should get a job too...

I have a sneaky suspicion she's been texting this guy that she likes :rolleyes:

Bebsie

Surfbabe wrote: »

Its all very well saying she should get a part time job but that depends where you live - in the area I live (rural area) they are few and far between and most 16 - 18 years old that are still at school can;t get a part time job for love nor money!!
Having said that I pay my teenage (17) DD phone - its on contract at £15 pm and she also gets an alowance of £20. She does have a part time job teaching swimming - 3 1/2 hrs a weeks which earns her about another £20 a week (mind you it cost £300 to get her through the swimming teachers course!!!)

We live in Manchester, near bus and train route and there are 100's and 100's of shops, bakers etc etc so that is no problem. Gosh that swimming sounds great! My DD is a great swimmer, has done her life savings course and also has been invloved in galas etc - how did she go about doing this? I would not mind helping her with the money if she can so something with it.

gremlin

Just anoher angle on this but my 16yo brother is the same and we called the phone company and they arranged a 'cap' on the mobile.

Basically when my bro goes over his minutes/texts bundle then his outgoing calls/texts are barred until the next months bundle goes on. Its simple and took him a couple of months to get the idea (cue a few days of panic at the end of the month lol) but he got the idea and budgets accordingly.

This way theres no hassle of changing number and its cheaper for the bundles than on PAYG.

Just a thought. Oh and I agree she should be at least looking for somehting part-time. I did it from 14 right through. It does give you a better work ethic and helps the transition from education to work much easier IMHO.

best of luck

jollyme

Pay as you go phone all the way in my eyes. Also, I gave my daughter a monthly allowance but it had to cover clothes and the phone too. The only thing I would pay for on top of that was bus fares and gave lifts - we are very rural. She got herself a part time job and has always been very sensible with money.She managed her own money from the age of 16 and never ever asked for more. Giving responsibilty for money is improtant - but stick to it.

want_a_new_bike_steve?

Both of my daughters got weekend jobs as soon as they could. One cleaned rooms in a hotel for minimum wage and the other cleared tables at a motorway service area.

My son is now 16 and he gets 40 a month pocket money. If he wants a xbox game costing 40 quid then he saves for it. In the summer he will earn a bit working on a farm, this he has lined up since work experience.
I insist he has credit on his phone at all times, but apart from that he is master of his own destiny. Contract phone is no no until they can fund it themselves.
Your purse will always be open when you are a parent but its up to you to decide how wide.

Bebsie

Thank's for all the good advice. it has opened my eyes and I do not think I am wrong in insisting she gets a job (even if it's only 4 hours a week as school work comes first). I will cancel the contract and give her the £20 to cover a PAYG but will insist that she always has money on it, if not then the £20 will stop. I really want her to learn the value of money as I think she has no idea!

patchwork_cat

Does she get EMA? The thing about a saturday job is it actually can help you when applying for uni and there is no question that it helps if you decide not to go on to college. The more competitive courses look for things like saturday jobs and voluntary work to tip the balance. If the course grades are 3 A's and they are still over subscribed they have to look somewhere else for whom to offer to.

Have you not given her pocket money before? I plan on continuing to give my son pocket money next year + his EMA + anything he gets if he decides to get a little job, but if they are to acheive good grades it does have to be a little job - say 4/6 hrs a week.

My son is looking at law or medicine so we are talking 3 A's which is going to mean him pulling his finger out, as a result I will be happy to fund his A levels without a job, but as I say he may need to show an independent nature to be accepted.

27col

You are not doing youngsters any favours by insulating them from the reality of financial responsibility.When I was a kid (that was a long long time ago) we were too poor to have any regular pocket money and if I wanted something then I had to work for it. Consequently, I always had a job, paper rounds, delivering meat, odd jobs etc. Even when I grew up I usually had two jobs. One for the house-keeping and one for my pocket money. Even now that I am retired I do the occasional odd job for a bit of pocket money. Of course, it goes without saying that hire purchase or credit was a big no! no!. If we could not afford something then we went without until we had saved enough. I suspect that even today a lot of older people are very fearful of owing money.

Bebsie

patchwork_cat wrote: »

Does she get EMA? The thing about a saturday job is it actually can help you when applying for uni and there is no question that it helps if you decide not to go on to college. The more competitive courses look for things like saturday jobs and voluntary work to tip the balance. If the course grades are 3 A's and they are still over subscribed they have to look somewhere else for whom to offer to.

Have you not given her pocket money before? I plan on continuing to give my son pocket money next year + his EMA + anything he gets if he decides to get a little job, but if they are to acheive good grades it does have to be a little job - say 4/6 hrs a week.

My son is looking at law or medicine so we are talking 3 A's which is going to mean him pulling his finger out, as a result I will be happy to fund his A levels without a job, but as I say he may need to show an independent nature to be accepted.

No she does not get EMA as we earn to much (I wish). ha ha

My daughter does voluntry work (she is a beaver leader) and is doing her DOE, so she does a lot and I am worried that a job will take up time as well as all the other things she does! I have always given her pocket money but I found I was giving her extra's as well. I just think that is littl part time job of a few hours will "help" her "respect" money and learn to budget. At the beginning of December I gave her £50 to use for Christmas and she blew it ALL in a weekend of shopping. I think that is lack of respect and dissapointed me.

Lunar_Eclipse

Bebsie wrote: »

At the beginning of December I gave her £50 to use for Christmas and she blew it ALL in a weekend of shopping. I think that is lack of respect and dissapointed me.

Was it not possible that she did all her Xmas shopping in one weekend?

Having read all the posts so far, I wouldn't necessarily encourage a part time job. I think it's much more admirable that she volunteers her time. And since she's doing well at school, she must have her head screwed on.:) A level results are critical; I won't be encouraging mine to have jobs during term time whilst in Sixth Form, if we can afford not to. School holidays would be an entirely different matter.

However, I would formalise your financial arrangements into an agreed monthly allowance (ideally paid directly into her bank account) to include what you wish. And either a capped mobile contract or a PAYG so you all know where you are and avoid instances such as this month's bill in the future.