Bank account for 16 y/o & linked accounts?

kathie1101

Wasn't sure if to post this here or in the students forum, so mods feel free to move if it needs moving.

I am looking for some advice for my 16 year old. Currently I pay his monthly allowance into his bank account along with a set amount for clothing, smellies, his various clubs etc which he then has control over and is supposed to enter income/outgoings for each pot onto a spreadsheet. However it's not working and each month he's over spending his allowance - taking from the other pots.

I am thinking that he might be better with an account that his allowance is paid into and lots of other e-saver accounts to put the rest into. However for there to be any chance of this working he would need a bank that allows re-naming of accounts (I know Lloyds do) and also one that has an iphone app so that he can easily transfer money from one of the e-saver accounts into his main account if he wants to make a purchase. Does anyone know which banks offer this or can recommend a bank? Or has anyone gone through a similar thing with their kids and have you got a better suggestion on how to get them to budget.

Many thanks for any help

Lokolo

Why can't he create a spreadsheet instead?

I would imagine the majority of 16 year olds will have been taught Excel at school.

kathie1101

He already has a spreadsheet, but doesn't use it. I think it is partly he is too lazy to update it (yes all of 2 minutes!) but also the problem is that all his money is is 1 account at the moment and so it's easy for him to over spend.

Whereas I am thinking (or hoping) that if the money is in separate accounts (named accordingly) he won't just be able to use his debit card to spend £10 on crap or whatever. If he wants to spend £15 on clothes he will have to log onto his banking, go into his clothing account and if he has £15 transfer it into his debit card account. If he doesn't have £15 in there I am hoping that this will then stop him overspending, as he will start to realise that he has to take the money from somewhere else to actually pay for it. I have spoken to him about it, and he says he is happy to do it this way, but ultimately I want whatever will be the easiest way for him that will actually work, as I want him to get into budgeting now and not into overspending.

MoneySaverLog

You can have several accounts with Lloyds TSB and can name them whatever you like. I don't know anything about Apple iPhone apps though as I prefer blackberry. You can use internet banking on your phone though in much the same way as you can use your computer.