clothing Allwance for Teen?

Katinkka

I think £30 a month is really low! I used to get £60 a week! That had to cover my clothes, school dinners ( I got £5 A day less if no school) and whatever else I needed. My mum died and it was just me and my Dad so maybe he was overly generous but I can't imagine managing on 30 as a teenager back then, let alone now.

glasgowsaver2011

Katinkka wrote: »

I think £30 a month is really low! I used to get £60 a week! That had to cover my clothes, school dinners ( I got £5 A day less if no school) and whatever else I needed. My mum died and it was just me and my Dad so maybe he was overly generous but I can't imagine managing on 30 as a teenager back then, let alone now.

5 quid a day for lunch

My mum made me pieces (scottish word for sandwiches) and gave me a capri sun

balletshoes

£5 per day for school lunch is very generous, even today.

elisebutt65

Mine (16) gets £10/month top up + £10 food money. He also gets his dad's maintenance (£20/wk) direct. He's at college but doesn't get EMA. I'll get his underwear but that's it for clothing.

louise3965

That's what we do and it is fascinating to see how quickly the shine of Jack Wills wears off. My dd has just gone to Uni last September and she is coping very well, not buying frivolously and managing her money very sensibly. My advice would be an allowance, coupled with a job is the way forward.

Seanymph wrote: »

Ours get an allowance (£10 a week actually) and they have to self fund from that.

I pay for school lunches, school uniform and shoes, hobbies (football subscription) and clothing for hobbies (boots, trainers etc), school trips, and supermarket type purchases (deodarant etc), and £10 phone credit a month. If I ask them to come to the pictures or swimming or whatever and I go I pay for that too.

They have to buy all sweets, trips out with mates, and clothing.

I tend to buy them pj's for christmas, socks and underwear in stocking - and maybe a jumper or t shirt.

It's amazing how quickly my daughters found charity shops and my son lost his need for Hollister!

We've done it for years, my eldest goes off to Uni in Sepetmber and she's grateful now that we did this when she was a young teen..... oh, we paid half of all driving lessons and provided and insured a first car......... and everything they earn is theirs - they have all had paperounds since they were 13 and gone on to proper part time jobs. All my kids work.

I think an allowance works well and teaches them a lot.

adelight

19lottie82 wrote: »

£20 a week is not an extortionate amount for a well behaved, cooperative, helpful teenager.

I take it you haven't priced the costs of public transport, trips to the cinema, basic clothing, and odd "treats" recently?

I think it's totally reasonable tbh. That's about £80 a month? Phone cred is generally minimum £10, monthly bus pass is £30-40. A Cinema ticket is £6, a subway/maccies (teens seem to like these for whatever reason!) is about £4. So that leaves £20-30 a month for clothes and savings towards bigger things like mobile phones, concert tickets etc.
OP, If your son isn't paying travel costs then I'd say less is reasonable. How much do you spend on his clothing on average each month? Give him that much, maybe £10-20 more a month if he agrees to pick up more chores around the house and you can afford/want to.

I wasn't his age all that long ago and noone I knew was designer obsessed. Have you explained to him that he doesn't need to be head to toe in brands? If he needs something then what about having one Jack Wills hoodie that he can wear with Primark jeans and Asda t-shirts? All the cheap shops do £4 Ts that pass for All Saints and jeans are all the same.


People need to be more reasonable about saying "go get a job" to under 16s. There are only so many paper rounds in the country and you can't do these if your school is far away. Otherwise it's illegal, low paid and risky. I was extremely lucky to get a very low paid job(£2.50/hr) from 14 with a friend of extended family and another friend helped her mum with betaware, but other friends and people on this board have had missing pay and terrible treatment.

jellyhead

rachbc wrote: »

Son gets £30 a month pocket money for phone, trips out with mates, cds etc. The difference between that what you give is a similar amount to what I've been thinking might be reasonable...I'd buy him uniform, school shoes plus one pair of shoes -the rest would be up to him to budget for

My 15 year old gets similar but I also buy his coat. He rarely wears it, preferring to shiver in zip-up hoodies (with rock bands on them). I should get him another one really, his are falling apart. It can be a christmas present I suppose.

T-shirts are christmas and birthday presents and he also spends his birthday and christmas money on them. I don't know how many per year I would budget for, what do you think? 3 pairs of jeans each time he grows, and one nice pair for 'best'. I also buy him a shirt 'for best' and I buy his underwear and pyjamas. His friend told me my son is spoiled because I buy him jeans from Next instead of asda.

If he wanted different trainers to the pair I'm looking at then he would pay the difference out of his £30 allowance. I used to replace his school bag each term but this year he wanted a £30 one (with a band name on) so I said that if it doesn't last the year he will have to buy his own replacement.

We haven't yet given our son a clothes budget but it would be a good idea I think. Maybe I will increase his £30 per month to £40. I pay his mobile phone contract, so I would add an extra £10 (at most) to the allowance for kids paying their own.

He doesn't need bus fare, he only lives a couple of miles from most places, and can walk. I provide packed lunches for school.

AllyS

Once my daughter started secondary school she gets £65 every month, this is for school dinners, clothes, going out, make up, magazines, phone contract and anything else that she wants. The only things I buy are school uniform, school shoes, jeans, trainers and basic t -shirts - so basics really. This will be till the age of 18 after that she can fund herself! My parents did this with me and I think it helped teaching me how to budget it for special events and clothes. I will do the same for my son when he reaches that age too. He is 9 and gets £5 a month. They both do chores around the house too, emptying dishwasher, hoovering, walking dog etc..

It is very difficult for a child to get a job under the age of 16, my daughter would love to have a paper round, but there is none available.

jackyann

I can't talk actual amounts as my experience was a long time ago, but my mum did this with me, and I did it with my kids.
School uniform & basic sports kit were bought separately.

when I was 11, my mum said "this will be your clothes allowance, and I've set aside 2 days during the holiday to teach you how to make your own".
I said the same to my boys, but they declined the second part of the offer!

Buttonmoons

£20 a week isn't a lot, especially for a teenager, my DD is only 5, but she gets more than that spent on her a week, a trip to the cinema is about £10 just for her alone (ticket + kids popcorn thing + bus fare)

Although I had nowt as a teenager, and was made to wear the same clothes till they fell apart, even if they had paint spilled on it and were half mast.