teens pocket money

gibson123

jellyhead wrote: »

I want to go and live with OP too

My husband who is the main breadwinner doesn't get £120 a month pocket money, let alone my 16 year old.

How much pocket money to give really varies by child. We live a mile away from town, so he doesn't need bus fares. I pay for his phone and his guitar lessons and a basic wardrobe, which he tops up with 'wants' but they are not 'needs'. I buy him shoes and a coat, because if I left it to him he'd wear shoes that had fallen apart, and his allowance isn't enough to buy a coat - he chooses his own though.

He gets £30 a month, but I give him £5 for lunch money one day a week when he's at the college, and packed lunches on the other days when he's in school.

He saves birthday and christmas money for things like gig tickets, train fares, guitars, amps etc. and the chores he does are expected of him, he doesn't get paid for them.

Just with your basic information here I worked out that without counting clothes and entertainment you are paying out about £110 per month. The £150 allowance - my daughter is expected to pay for everything except food and shelter (even school uniforms)

Mums and Dads with teenagers, I dare you to keep a monthly diary of actual spends on your teenager in October, that's what I did! the shock I got when I realised average spend was in excess of £200 per month. The budget is a compromise and to ensure she grows up with good money sense.

jellyhead

gibson123 wrote: »

Just with your basic information here I worked out that without counting clothes and entertainment you are paying out about £110 per month. The £150 allowance - my daughter is expected to pay for everything except food and shelter (even school uniforms)

Mums and Dads with teenagers, I dare you to keep a monthly diary of actual spends on your teenager in October, that's what I did! the shock I got when I realised average spend was in excess of £200 per month. The budget is a compromise and to ensure she grows up with good money sense.

How did you reach £110? Just curious

His phone contract including smartphone is £7.50 per month. Guitar lessons are £20 per month if averaged throughout the year. £30 pocket money and up to £20 lunch money per month.

When I say a basic wardrobe I do mean basic. £20 a year for a pair of trainers, £45 for his coat but that will last more than a year, 2 hooded jackets, a couple of t-shirts per year, 4 pairs of trousers or jeans, basic supermarket boxers and socks.

With the exception of the trainers his clothes will last for years - at least 2 years for a pair of jeans. He doesn't grow much and is still in child sizes. He's only had 2 haircuts in the last 2 years, he's growing it. I have to wrestle clothes off him when they fall apart because he will literally wear them until they no longer stay together. He will get an expensive band hoodie for christmas or birthday, same with t-shirts. He is currently wearing my band t-shirts that have been in the loft for 16 years!

I do think we should give him more pocket money, but he says he doesn't need it. He will walk into town and mooch around HMV with friends and only spend £1 on lunch ... they club together to get 3 cans from Poundland or whatever, and a sausage roll. Cinema maybe once per month but again he walks and gets a child ticket which is £4.50 I think. He gets into swimming free because he looks under-16.

He gets child train tickets to gigs and the bands he likes play small venues, sometimes costing less than £10 a ticket. If we gave him more he'd just buy more CDs and t-shirts.

He has mild special needs and while I agree that letting the child budget is a good idea I know that he'd happily go without lunch at college if he'd run out of money and he is like a bear with a sore head if he doesn't eat or drink during the day, and it's a long day 8am-6pm out of the house. He'd be okay without food, but we'd all suffer in the evening. Also, I don't think he'd pass the credit check to get a £7.50 p/m contract himself ... I know kids who spend shocking amounts on phone credit alone. My son wears trainers with holes so bad that he rips holes in his socks ... if I weren't paying for new trainers they'd never get bought.

He does budget to some extent, for example he keeps enough change to go to youth club at £1 a week and he's just started using his own cashcard for his bank account that I have no access to, so he controls his £30 pocket money.

I think girls and brand-conscious boys will cost more, as will children who grow a size per year or more. Some kids need bus money too, but mine walks to school/college and back.

FatVonD

DS has just turned 15 and he *was* getting £28 per month but he badgered and badgered for a Blackberry so I've deducted the monthly cost of that (plus insurance) from that so he now gets £11 per month.

That money was being given to him purely for him to save for games/xbox credits he wants and, if he's going out with his mates at the weekend I give him money for fares and food/drinks on top of that so say, another £5/£10 per week (during the school holidays it was more often so cost a fair bit more!)

He walks to and from school and takes packed lunches 4 days a week and on the other day, when he's at college, I give him £10 to cover his fares (nearly £4) and food and drinks for the day.

I buy all his everyday clothes and while they are not the cheapest of the cheap I don't pay a fortune, he's into skateboarding so I usually buy him Vans but only from the sale rail, anything more expensive is given as a present (he's just had some sneaker creepers as a birthday present.)

Mrs_Arcanum

berbastrike wrote: »

when I was 13, I stayed out all day on a Saturday, we used to go into town, hang around and then go to one of my friends houses!

:rotfl: I was in the pub. Yes honestly, and buying drinks. 20p for a vodka and orange squash and I smoked.

My teens are lucky if they get a £10 as this is the most allowed on a DMP.

XYZ1000

well lots of interesting replies. Thank you. Just wanted to say that my son's school is 5 miles away so he needs a bus pass. This worked out £46 per month. He needs a haircut almost monthly. Around £7, He is growing like mad and the moment and shoes sizes are changing regularly. Even if I said £20 per month was for clothes and shoes out of the £100 that is only £240 per year.
Leaving £25 ish actual spending money out of the £100. The idea as others have said was to help learn the concept of money better and how to budget.
This thread has helped me to see that maybe he has been getting off too light re chores and should be looking at consquences rather than reward.
The person that said "let him eat junk food he is a teenager".... mmmm a few bars of choc yeah but ordering £13 worth of pizza when I am out, when he has clothing to buy at the end of the month is little differant. School clothes have to be brought.
Re him going out, he isnt walking the streets he is at his girlfriend's. Her Mum cooks for him and brings him home. He is quite safe. It's just I would like to see the person that I work hard all week for sometimes and I dont want to be a maid, running a hotel for him!

jap200

Wow - all I can say is - please don't tell my sons!

My sons aged 10, 12 and 14 get their age in pocket money each month, i.e. the 14 year-old gets £14 etc. They are expected to do basic minimal chores for this, but will be rewarded if they do more - e.g. digging over the veg plot.

My £14 year old got £100 from us for his 14th bithday present towards the laptop he is saving up for. If we gave him a £100 hand-out every month I just can't see how he would be able to learn the real value of money. However, that's just my opinion - each to their own!

If you give your £15 year old £100 EVERY month, then what on earth would you be giving him for his birthday or Christmas?

balletshoes

jap200 wrote: »

Wow - all I can say is - please don't tell my sons!

My sons aged 10, 12 and 14 get their age in pocket money each month, i.e. the 14 year-old gets £14 etc. They are expected to do basic minimal chores for this, but will be rewarded if they do more - e.g. digging over the veg plot.

My £14 year old got £100 from us for his 14th bithday present towards the laptop he is saving up for.
If we gave him a £100 hand-out every month I just can't see how he would be able to learn the real value of money. However, that's just my opinion - each to their own!

If you give your £15 year old £100 EVERY month, then what on earth would you be giving him for his birthday or Christmas?

yes I do agree here - I don't imagine for one minute my DD would spend a set amount on "school clothes, shoes and haircuts that need to be bought" every month if we gave her a set amount of pocket money every month and expected her to buy absolutely everything she needed from it. I doubt she'd save it for when the essentials were needed either. Plus her idea of whats essential for schoolwear, shoes etc and mine are already markedly different!

I'd go for less given to your son each month as "pocket money" and you providing the essentials OP.

jellyhead

XYZ1000 wrote: »

Leaving £25 ish actual spending money out of the £100. The idea as others have said was to help learn the concept of money better and how to budget.

Ah, this makes sense I thought he had a hundred to spend on himself every month.

Like Balletshoes says, mine wouldn't buy the essentials when they were needed. He'd happily go without a coat in the winter, and would wear shoes with holes in until his feet were so sore he could hardly walk ... this has happened more than once - he gets athletes foot if his socks stay wet.

I suppose I could include an amount for haircuts into my son's pocket money though.

thehappybutterfly

My 15YO daughter gets each month:

£10 cash for herself
£20 for dance club
£13 giffgaff Blackberry topup
£40 for school lunches
£10 here and there if she goes into town on a Saturday afternoon (maybe once a month)

I buy everything else for her - school uniforms, school stationery, clothes, haircuts, toiletries etc. She buys her own make up (she goes through mascara like nobody's business!), and accessories like handbags etc.

When people say that they give their child an allowance which is to cover clothes, haircuts etc - do they actually physically give them the money? I've never even thought about doing it that way but perhaps I should and it will teach her the value of money. ATM she does very little in the way of chores and always just the minimum she can get away with. For instance, her job is to hoover the house but she thinks that this is only the living room and the hallway!

MentalMinnie

Georgiaizzy wrote: »

Kids get murdered within their own home! As a 41 yr old, I had freedom as a child but my mother knew where I was at all times and at 13 home by 7pm. England is not a safe place and as parents we have a responsibility to our children's safety.

Come on, it's not that bad! It's not like we live in Baghdad, is it? I think you're being a tad dramatic...