14 year old - how much does pocket money, clubs & mobile cost you?

[Tigerblue]

DD has music lessons which cost £60 pm and belongs to a club which costs approx. £10 pm. As this is quite a bit for us, we've said in the past if she wants lessons, she can only have £10 pocket money. We pay for mobile phone top up, but that's nothing (approx. £20 a year as she doesn't really use it). Over the last year she's met up with friends in town more or gone for tea out, so I've always wanted to make sure she has enough money to come home on bus or for a snack/main meal.

Just wondering whether to give her an allowance each month and tell her she has to manage it. There'll obviously be a limit as to how much we can give her, but just wondering how much other teens have for pocket money, clubs & mobile phone.

[titchy]

I don't limit out of school activities, or reduce pocket money if they do expensive hobbies, but if we needed to financially I would! (For the record extra curriculars currently cost about £100 a month.)

I do give a monthly allowance of £40 though which has to buy mobile contract, clothes and entertainment PS4 games The mobile costs £10 a month on Giffgaff.

[Wineandchovolateneededasap]

DD does no extra curricular activities , not through lack of me trying to encourage! Her contracts 26 a month , but often more , she gets 20 a week allowance but I don't drive so at least half goes on bus/train money. She currently gets 0 after a really horrific phone bill !

[BackforGood]

My 14 yr old dd has £14 per month.
She puts any credit she wants on her phone (like you only about £20 over a year).
I don't 'top up' if she goes out somewhere - that's her decision.
We pay for lessons and subs for clubs she goes to - that's not linked in with pocket money in our house - I wouldn't want them to stop going to something that is a really constructive way of spending time, for an extra tenner in their pockets.

[DragonsCanHop]

Out of school activities don't come out of her pocket money so that's £70 a month we pay and then £35 a month on her contract phone.

She then gets £40 a month for going out, spends she wants etc

[mayflyaway]

dd gets £25 a month allowance, on top of that we pay for her phone (10ish month) & activities (about 45/month).

I buy all basic toiletries, school stuff & clothes - she pays for makeup/fripperies/going out/gifts for friends etc. She also has a train and bus pass which is outrageously expensive & we do a fair amount of taxi-ing her around.

[MoreCrackThanHarlem]

Dancing classes cost us £179 a month.
Singing and drama private lessons £106.

We don't give pocket money because of this, though she gets £65 a month from grandparents directly into her current account to spend as she pleases, usually on clothes and make up.

My stepdad pays for her phone which is £25.

I put £20 away each month into a savings account for her, as do grandparents.

She is 15.

[Soooosie]

The 14 year old can earn cash surely? Paper round, baby sitting, washing up in a cafe.

I have a 13 year old. We pay for mobile (£5 a month), £35 in clubs, pocket money is earned by doing chores. It's only £3 or £2 a week.

[Whathaveilost]

Ds is now 16 but nothing much has changed.
£20 pocket money a week
Ice hockey is a miminum of £150+ a month
We pay his phone
We give him extra for cinemas and stuff.
Great saying about getting a job but all the pubs round our way have shut, no cafes and there is a pensioner doing the morning and evening paper round!

[Mitfordhons]

My teens, the oldest is 16 all get their mobile contracts about £18 pm, music lessons £50 pm, pocket money £40 pm and the oldest has gym £18 pm. They do have to pull their weight at home.

[SausagesAndMashed]

My teens never have or will received pocket money. My eldest started working part time at 13 and my youngest at 14, and they could only have contract phones once they had got jobs, and they pay DH and I as the bills come from our account. When they were 15/16 and between jobs we'd occasionally give them a tenner to get some lunch with a friend, but that was it. Now my youngest is at Uni she doesn't ask for money at all, because she has finance and works part time, but on her days off she'll make sure the bathrooms cleaned, as is the kitchen, and the hoovering down stairs is done. Occasionally, if she finishes Uni early enough she'll cook the family dinner too. This is as well as paying a financial contribution to the house hold, which she doesn't know we put by in an account for her to have it all once she's finished Uni, and her current plan is to travel, but she's also been talking about her and her boyfriend putting a deposit on a house. My girls have strong work ethic, and a good head on their shoulders, rather than relying on us, because we're her parents. We'll always be here if they ever need anything at all, but we weren't going to nurse 2 teenagers who claimed they were mature and adults.

[FreckledLeopard]

DD is fourteen. I put £12.50 a week into DD's bank account and pay for her mobile phone contract too (£38 per month). She does babysitting when she can to earn some money and wants a part time job which might be easier when she turns fifteen, since there seems to be a general reluctance where we are to employ young people. She does chores around the house each day which are part of receiving her allowance.

[Iamnotloobrushphobic]

DS, 14, gets £20 per month pocket money andxwecpay god his phone contract at £10 per month. He doesn't do any out of school clubs (I wish he would) but he does go on a monthly optional trip with school and that costs £30 plus equipment costs. In addition to pocket money he sometimes gets money from his grandparents.

[Helenluvsrob]

16yr old here

Extra curricular stuff is expensive- 3 instruments , exams etc.

Phone £8/month sim only deal ( same as the 20yr old has)

Travel to anything she wants to do unless late at night is covered by her bus/train pass she has for school. Not something she has control over spending.

She gets a very small amount of pocket money but earns a bursary singing, so has that as spending money ( we stick the term check in her savings if she has a decent balance in her current account, she doesn't know this but is never short of spending money, she just doesn't spend it!).

She needs a new phone. Meany mum says she has to buy it this time as it's not Xmas or birthday .... she can't decide what to get :)

[littledrummergirl]

3dc, they get £10 a month each from us and I will top their phones up when needed- pays plans so less than £1 a week.
Clubs, bus fare extra activities are £250 each month plus termly fees.
We usually have another £80 in one off costs a month for competitions, licence, insurance, correct kit etc plus hotel and petrol costs.

They would rather have less money in their pockets to keep on with their activities. All are being encouraged to find a job when they are old enough.

[Soooosie]

Wow some of these teens have more spare cash then I do

[Cocolepew]

14 yo DD gets £10 pm from me, £5 pw from my mum. £15 phone contract and £6 phone insurance.

[dementedma]

Ds 14 gets £20 a month and we pay for his mobile. We buy all his clothes and toiletries.
If he doesn't do the recycling and the bins, he doesn't get his allowance.
Dd is at uni and works part time to fund herself with some help from us...

[applesareredandgreen]

DS 14 - approx £60 per month sports/music lessons, £30 per month pocket money. Phone contract approx £18 per month was a birthday present. On top of that I give him top up money when he goes out (not very often) and buy clothes - mainly primark/sports direct so inexpensive and any 'label' clothing is either a birthday/Christmas present or he contributes towards. Also I give him about £3 per day to buy lunch at school unless he takes a sandwich (depends on whether he's doing lunchtime activities).

[MajesticWhine]

2 teenage DDs get £70 pm each pocket money. Plus phone contracts on top (not sure how much that is). And DD2 also gets gym membership £16 per month.

[OneMagnumisneverenough]

DSs 14 and 15. They get £30 per month into their bank account. We pay mobile phone @ c. £25 per month. Activities are paid for too but are not very expensive at about £30 each plus extras for camps of a few 100 per year. Where we live it's not easy for under 16s to get any sort of employment but both would be happy to. DS1 doesn't spend any of his pocket money. DS2 mostly spends his on computer games but does save up for bigger things. We buy their clothes etc. DH often gives them a pound or two to get snacks at the park.

[TroubleinDaFamily]

£15 a month into building society. Accessible only by negotiation.

£10 a week if he manages to stay out of homework detentions. He does it and forgets to bring it.

£12.50 a week on Parent Pay for lunches, I consider this to be pocket money as I would happily make a packed lunch for him but her prefers canteen.

£10 a month on phone.

And yet he still puts his best winning smile on in the rugby club for a J20 and a packet of crisps.

He is nearly 15.

Berlimey, that is nearly £90.

[TroubleinDaFamily]

No it is not, it is £115.

[Bonkerz]

My Ds is 15 but gets £15 a month pocket money and his phone is £20 a Month. He does one amateur dramatics club which costs me £16 per month. Anything else he finds himself from his part time job (washing up at chip shop which pays £30 a week!)

[HeadJudgeLen]

DD 12, gets £50 pm in her bank account. Mobile contract of £18 pm. Dance/music lessons work out about £100 pm in term time. I buy essential clothes/toiletries and she has to pay for cinema trips/shopping trips/birthday presents/hamster related costs etc