How much allowance for teenagers?

kimwp

helensbiggestfan said:

We bailed him out but he had to pay it back.  It was a loan, not a gift.  😂.   

The saver was not phased or jealous  because he knew his brother had to pay the loan back. 

Of course that made the spender short the next month but he soon “got it”.   

The also both got part time jobs when they were old enough.  That helped. Not just with money but also with their career aspirations.  Once they realised how  work can be both hard and boring  for relatively little reward they really pulled out the stops to work hard at school and go to university for better life choices. 

Oh, I see, it was a loan, that makes sense. Sounds like a great approach for teaching them money lessons in a safe environment. 

Spendless

kimwp said:

I'm wondering if there is a potential pitfall with teens managing the money for the essentials - for example, that they might prefer to wear clothes with holes in and save for other things. Or simply mismanage their budget so not be able to buy basics they need or even that it's a bit much for them to handle. Have parents that do allowances this way come across this?

Mine would do something like that, youngest's flaw is spending it all at once, which is why transport money for sixth form was kept separate. It's why I said a few posts ago that your teens and their circs also play a part. My younger one is at college 40 miles away. It needs 3 modes of transport each way to get there and back and it's a safety risk if she messed up. It's not been an issue this side of things, that she has done 3 hours of commuting each college day impressed a couple of panellists when she auditioned for drama  school. She's learnt other aspects in that time, understanding train timetables and platform changes and time management. I've known a lot older adults not as confident in catching trains. It's a skill that's going to be useful as she's going to be living 3.5 hours away in a few months.

Part time jobs come up too. Again this can depend where you live. Daughter has been frustrated since starting sixth form that her course mates all had them and she didn't.. That's because they lived in cities/tourist/Uni areas where plenty of jobs were geared to the student. We don't. Part time jobs here require full flexibility. I used to have the same frustration when the kids were small. I couldn't find all encompassing childcare,. the same way DD couldn't offer any hour needed due to college. She recently lost her job in a cafe as the owner discovered she was off to Uni and didn't want anyone who'd be going away in a few months, when we realised she wasn't being paid correctly either she left. Today she was offered another p-time role (fast food chain). In order to do her 2 day induction she will have to skip college, but there's no way round that. Her final assessments have been done but she's expected to still attend class. If it's queried by her tutor she will just have to say she needs to be able to work to help her through her Uni days and she doesn't live somewhere, where she can 'just' find another easily. 

maman

Totally agree with the learning of skills other than financial spendless. Mine travelled by train to 6th Form and then seamlessly went on to living in London for university with all the train/tube/bus travel that involved. I know many adults who have never done that.
Also, was very thrifty in her food shopping when feeding herself in her student house. She was lucky to have a transfer from her p/t job locally to a London branch. That can happen with national chains as they're a good prospect already trained up. 

Retireinten

This is an interesting thread. I posted earlier stating my two get £20 a month to spend plus a phone contract but I pay for extras sometimes, mainly for the older one who has more wants than her younger brother.  But the 'want' purchases are negotiated with her and do not cover everything she asks for by a long way. 


This approach has definitely encouraged her to look for work.  She turned 16 in May and has managed to get a summer job now she has left school, working 4 days a week until it changes to a weekend job to fit around college from september.  I'm really interested to see how she manages her newfound riches over the next few weeks.


I think allowances are a good idea as long as they are not so generous it discourages them from part time work.  In just a week in a public facing job, very much thrown in at the deepend, I've seen my daughters confidence fly😊.

izawa

Get the teens to work part time, they will respect you since they learn how money is earned.

sammyjammy

izawa said:

Get the teens to work part time, they will respect you since they learn how money is earned.

Ability to respect your parents when you are a teenager is no way reflective on whether they have a part-time job or not!

maman

sammyjammy said:

izawa said:

Get the teens to work part time, they will respect you since they learn how money is earned.

Ability to respect your parents when you are a teenager is no way reflective on whether they have a part-time job or not!

I agree but I suspect that izawa meant the teenager found a new respect for a hard working parent which they hadn't appreciated before. 🤔

Spendless

sammyjammy said:

izawa said:

Get the teens to work part time, they will respect you since they learn how money is earned.

Ability to respect your parents when you are a teenager is no way reflective on whether they have a part-time job or not!

I fetched this up on an earlier post. Not every area has an abundance of part time jobs. Where I live these type of jobs are not geared to the student market. They require full flexibility. I used to have the same frustration when looking for something when the kids were small. If I'd been able to provide 'full availability' I wouldn't have been looking for part time work!

 My daughter has been frustrated since starting her sixth form years that she's the only one without a job, but the rest live in cities and/or tourist areas and more suitable vacancies are there. Plus on the 3 days she attends college she's out of the house 7.45-6.15. The town centre shops close at 5/5.30. The out of town retail parks  at 8pm, one closes at 6pm except for their one late night a week when it's 8pm and you struggle to find a coffee shop here open past 4.30! I don't even live in a sleep back water, I'm in  a large town!

Daughter found a cafe job. was enjoying it. Then the owner fetched up with her that daughter is moving to Uni in Sept. Daughter had put her offer on social media a couple of months ago prior to getting this job. Cafe owner's daughter told her Mum (the daughter had been at school with my daughter so was on her social media). My daughter had her hours immediately cut to 4 per week. Then we discovered she hadn't been being paid correctly (under NMW) so wondering how legally she was actually working, she left.