Child Benefit

[patsy8]

Hi,

Does anyone give their teenager some of their CB to try and teach them to budget money?? ( He does do jobs around the house) If so how much and is it a good idea.. My son has tried to get a job but no joy..
Thanks for your help in advance

[2shoes]

depends how old they are, ds is 18 and gets JSA(but I take keep of him so he doesn't get to comfy)

[patsy8]

He 14 and just wanna teach him to budget money for himself

[Naoko]

Not specifically part of the CB, but when I was 14 my parents started giving me an amount of money each month for clothing. They paid for a winter coat and shoes, anything else I wanted/needed I had to budget for myself out of the clothing allowance.

Worked very well I thought - the allowance was generous enough to give a bit of 'learning space', ie I wasn't totally without clothing if I bought something that was slightly too expensive in an early month, tight enough to force choices and saving up, and it made me feel very clever and grown up having money that was mine to do with as I wished.

[Niceguy2]

Yes. I give my DD a clothing allowance. It's set such that she can blow it all at Primarni but would need to save for something nice in Top shop. At first she just blew it all.but after a few months, she now does budget and she has been saving for Xmas.

Best move I made. It gives her a degree of independence, teaches her to budget and I don't get hassle to buy her clothes all the time.

[marlowwills]

Not CB (have lost track of which account that goes into years ago), but ds gets £70 per month and I usually spend about £40 on top of that on clothes/GCSE workbooks/whatever.

He also earns about £40 a month babysitting.

He never seems to have any money, it all goes on itunes so far as I can see.

[2shoes]

when ds was 14 I gave him £15 a week, he earnt it by helping with dd(sn) I still paid for clothes though.

[patsy8]

thanks all for help

[Niceguy2]

wow! Marlow. Best not tell my DD. She'd be demanding a raise.

[SuzieHomemaker]

My DD aged 15 gets £60/month to cover all non-school clothes, make-up, hair cuts pocket money needs and personal exotic toiletries.

Cost of school uniform, underwear and basic toiletries is met by the management.

This is working, DD dresses well on her budget and is always clean and well presented.

[GrantchesterMeadows]

Are 14 year olds allowed to work legally? Just interested.

[Niceguy2]

Flipping eck. Might have to rethink it then. At the moment I am giving DD £35 a month. That covers clothing & spends but not haircuts, school uniform, mobile credit or lunches etc.

Like I said earlier, the idea was to force her to have to save up. I fear if I give her £60 a month, she'd never have to get into the habit of saving.

But at the same time, she really wants to shop at Top Shop rather than New Look.

Grant. 14yr olds can work but must get a work permit and hours are restricted. To be honest I cant see many employers in this day & age bothering.

[SuzieHomemaker]

Niceguy - one benefit of this is that DD2 is in constant receipt of DD1s 'hand me downs'. DD2 is very happy with this as it gives her access to clothes which she otherwise wouldnt get (DD1 likes interesting/alternative tshirts)