Pocket money for 12/13 year old

[Workitbabe]

Hi there

I wondered what you all give your 12/13 year olds as pocket money and what they are expected to buy from it.

My dd1 gets a total of £30 per month (15 from me and 15 from her dad) and she is expected to buy all clothes and shoes apart from school stuff and underwear and any other bits and pieces such as make up.
If she goes on a shopping trip with friends she may get extra also.

She is complaining she has no clothes that fit her and that her pocket money is not enough.

Thoughts? Thanks

[BackforGood]

Once at secondary, mine get £1 per year of age, per month - so less than half what your dd gets, but they aren't expected to buy any clothes.
We pay subs for things she belongs to. From pocket money they are only expected to pay for any credit on their phones, and buy presents for other members of the family at Christmas and birthdays. Other than that, it's up to them what they do with it.

This question comes up regularly on MN though, and there is always a HUGE variety, tbh.

[Joeybird79]

I wouldn't have thought £30 would be enough to buy clothes with, especially for a girl. Even Primark is pricey these days. I wasn't expected to buy my own clothes until I had a part time job.

I plan to buy my son what he needs and what he wants (assuming it's different) he will buy/save up for himself or wait until birthdays/Christmas.

[Clueing4looks]

I have an 11 and a 12 year old, they get £50 a month, that's for everything ie cinema/swimming with friends, to put into savings, gifts for friends/family birthdays and extra/designer clothes, sweets, games or whatever. If I'm feeling generous I might buy them something whilst I'm out, but very rarely do they have to ask me for anything.

[Bedsheets4knickers]

It's a tough one . If £30 is what you can afford and want to give that's totally fine . Do you think the clothes she wears fit her ok ?? It's a big ask to fund all her none school wear herself on £30 . Do you buy her toiletries ??

[gingerdad]

£10 and pay their mobile phone bills.

They both have Saturday jobs which gets then between 30-50 per week depending on how busy it is.

[gingerdad]

13 & 15

[SueDunome]

dd gets £20 per month paid into her account. She also gets reward money for school effort grades which works out at roughly £12 per half term.
This money is for her to spend as she wishes. She spends it on music downloads, books, visits to town with friends etc. We pay for her phone and she is not expected to buy clothes or gifts with it.

[Fairylea]

My dd is 13 and we buy her clothes for her - usually new look or primark stuff. I don't have a set amount I spend but if she sees something she really likes generally I will get it for her. Saying that we don't go shopping a lot so it's probably about £20 a month if that really.

If she's going out with friends I give her about £5-10 (she can walk into town so it's just enough for a drink from Costa or greggs etc) but she usually only goes out once or twice a month.

We pay £5 a month for her phone tariff which is a pay as you go thingy from giffgaff. She doesn't get any regular pocket money as such.

[Fooshufflewickbannanapants]

10 a month plus phone and subs for their activities. They get clothes ie non school stuff very occasionally (maybe twice a year when they've out grown things)
They also get the odd bit of bus fare/going out money if we have it and if we are feeling generous.

[travailtotravel]

£30 is not enough for clothes, sorry. Also if you are not buying toiletries its not enough either. Just think of the cost of sanitary protection alone. Ugh.

[TurnOffTheTv]

£30 isn't enough for clothes and shoes a month, not while they are growing.

[wannabestressfree]

DS1 pays for his own clothes as he gets dla.
DS2 gets 60 a month but I buy his clothes. He is a rapid grower :/
DS3 gets 20 a month and I still get his clothes as he isn't interested :)

[Ilovetorrentialrain]

£5 p/week or my 12 year old and his grandparents give him money here and there. But it's purely for non-essentials (he buys Play Station games, has just got a small drone etc).

All clothes, books, toiletries, haircuts, lunches when out etc are bought For him by us.

He understands money though, and saves for stuff.

OP are you giving the money to teach financial independence? Personally it seems a bit young, and don't think that amount sounds enough to properly clothe a teenager. I fully respect this might be what's affordable though.

[Ilovetorrentialrain]

This is a very interesting thread. Very hard thing to get exactly right.

[Chasingsquirrels]

£30 a month on clothes is £360 a year.
Ds1 is 13, I haven't spent that on his clothes in the past 12 months.

[Fairylea]

Surely it just depends on your budget re clothes. There is nothing to say a young teen NEEDS more than £30 worth of clothes a month, it's subjective isn't it. Some wouldn't dream of spending £50 plus on a pair of trainers for example, to some that would seem cheap!

If you think that a pair of jeans in primark are about a tenner and a top is about £7 ish then £30 a month for clothes isn't bad going for a 13 year old. They don't need everything buying in top shop or expensive shops!

[Bluelilies]

Mine gets £60 a month out of which she buys clothes and shoes except school uniform, and also pays for going out, cinema, etc.

She used to get 20 and I paid for clothes but we had lots of arguments about what clothes she "needed" and she was always running out of money for going out. The £60 seems to be working better. She shops pretty cheaply mainly in Primary, but does have a busy social life.

[NaughtToThreeSadOnions]

No I'm not sure £30 a month is enough to include clothes, I went shopping for my new niece/nephew yesterday just a two new good baby grows (not supermarket multi pack) were £15 pounds. God knows what it is for a teenager.

My god daughter 10 gets 25 euros a month from her mum and £30 from her dad, clothes food school books (Ireland) stationary for school brought for her.

Niece and nephew (14 and 16) get £75 a month, but they are expected to pay their own phone contract, and yes tolietries, games trips out with friends (not school trips) extra clothes family presents, etc out of that. Not food

[NaughtToThreeSadOnions]

Sorry too soon. Not family meals out. Their parents pay for that, or transport to see other family members. More expensive clothes are still brought for them.

[Ilovetorrentialrain]

I suppose I'm thinking of thinks that son needs like football boots, astro turf trainers, other sports stuff toO. Also a pair of trainers for wearing outside of school, coats etc.

[aprilanne]

my sons got £10 a week at 12/13 .i bought everything else paid mobile things like that .there pocket money was incase say they fancied the cinema or a burger out with pals .£30 a month is not a lot for clothes and extras .probably £50 a month nearer the mark .

[TurnOffTheTv]

Sometimes you can't just buy cheap clothes though. My daughter is very slim so a size 8 in Primark/New Look looks ridiculous on her. She's in a size 4 in Topshop and struggle to get cheap clothes anywhere.

[BertieBotts]

I find this really funny, but we're in Germany and the government publishes a guide to the recommended amount! Here's the current one (Obv it's in euros but I think although the exchange rate is different it would work to just transfer it 1:1)

Recommended pocket money amount for children 2015
Older Pocket money amount
4 to 5 years 0.50 to 1.50 € / week
6 years 1.00 to 1.50 € / week
7 years 1.50 to 2.00 € / week
8 years 2.00 to 2.50 € / week
9 years 2.50 to 3.00 € / week
ten years 15.00 to 17.50 € / month
11 years 17.50 to 20.00 € / month
12 years 20.00 to 22.50 € / month
13 years 22.50 to 25.00 € / month
14 years 25.00 to 30.00 € / month
15 years 30.00 to 37.50 € / month
16 years 37.50 to 45.00 € / month
Age 17 * 45.00 to 60.00 € / month
18 years * 60.00 to 75.00 € / month

But I agree £30 a month isn't a lot for kids' clothing, especially shoes as well. What my mum always did was have a separate "clothing allowance" - I had the child benefit allocated as a second child for this, and she kept it until I wanted to go shopping, but the other way to do it would be to think how much clothing you think she needs in a year - that's summer tops, bottoms, underwear, jackets and how many shoes, winter the same, add a couple of things like swimming costume, decent coat, then go to somewhere mid-priced like H&M (bearing in mind that cheap shoes from places like H&M only last 3-6 months) and add up the cost of all of that, put it all together, and then divide the total cost by 12 - there's your clothing budget for a month. I think it will be more than you think, and she'll be left with hardly anything to spend on herself out of her £30.

I'd do the clothing calculation, and then a calculation of what you want her to be able to buy - bus fare x ?, mcdonald's meal, some accessories, stationery, magazine, cinema, whatever it is she's interested in.

[TurnOffTheTv]

I give my daughter a clothing allowance twice a year as well, much easier!