How much does your teen cost?

£70. school bus fare
£80. pocket money (maintenance from dad now goes to her bank)
£100 maths tutor
£50. Phone
£70 School lunch
£25. Skin care
£15. Haircut (£43 but only cut every 3 months at mo.)
£40 clothes, but not every month
£50? Miscellaneous - school trips, school hoody, money towards lunch out or trip with friends.

£500

She saves birthday/Christmas money plus pocket money for clothes, make-up & books, although occasionally I help with make-up & books. She loves reading.

Just spent a ridiculous amount on her prom dress. She did offer to pay towards it but she's working so hard on her studies, & has a lot to deal with (I have stage 4 cancer, her dad is a pratt, she is autistic) I wanted to treat her.

Im so sorry for all the parents paying such huge bus fares....it's free in London

£100 for the bus! Good god it was £13 for the months when I was at school 😂

Ok when DS was 17 and at college ( uni now)

Fares ( had a student pass) £50 ish
Luches £60
Clothes £25
Driving lessons 100

Car insurance £23 ( was £270 for year on provisional

He paid £7 on his phone, any extra clothes and spends from his p/t job.

£70 a month on a phone contract they saw you coming

Oh and twice a months maths tuition 100 pound

My 15 year old:

pocket money - £10
phone - £10
tutoring (math and English) - £190
music lessons (2 instruments) - £270
petrol to get him around for lessons and bands - £30
total - £510

Obviously, there are ad hoc costs like clothes, haircuts etc. But we use Vinted mainly, he makes his own packed lunches etc.

Per Month for DS 16
Approx £80 School Lunches
Gym £24
£30 Hair Cuts
£40 Money for Shop when out and about
£40 Two Takeaways Per Month
£20 Toiletries

Plus season ticket for Football Club (more then willing to pay this as it gets him out and about)

Playstation (DH sorts)

Phone £50

He doesn't ask for a much else. Looks after his clothes, trainers, coats etc so they last well and look decent.

Plus DH works away and he looks after younger brother whilst I get an hour at the gym a few times a week. Also keeps bedroom tidy, washes his dishes and gives me a hand with whatever if needed.

Lunches god knows the cost per month i just pay it.
50 per week spending money
Phone bill around 70 per month
That's it

Like many PPs, we have 2 phones(Christmas gifts),car insurance, driving lessons, bus pass. Once at college, my rule was the equivalent cost of school uniform was theirs to use on clothes of their choice. Any extras they pay for.
Fancy toiletries, trainers, high end clothes, cinema tickets etc., they buy themselves and they top up earnings from part time jobs selling on Vinted.

The poster who said that food costs are absorbed into grocery. They are, but I was just guessing what proportion of my grocery bill would disappear of my teen moved out and hot a job. To me food is the main have to have of a teen. They can do without clubs. Clothes just have to match your budget.

Allowance £80
Tutor £80
School canteen £60
Gym £30
Phone £30
Essential clothes / shoes £25
Hair / nails - twice a year

Why on earth are you paying all this out for a 17 year old she should get a job and pay for herself. Why can't she use her pocket money to pay for her own clothes and phone. This is not normal she's spoilt

DS15

£60 piano
£15 football
£12 phone
£80 school dinners
£50 other food (he's having extra meals to everyone else)
£20 clothes
£15 bloody game pass
So £252

Meh. He's worth it.

Oh forgot about pocket money, only do £30 a month each currently.

Mine is likely mostly adding to the food bill. Youngest plays an instrument but is partly funded so only costs me £45 a term. Eldest does military cadets which is only £6 a month (amazing value for what they do).

I have the same sex so pass clothes down, I only budget about £300 in spring and again in autumn to update wardrobes.

Phone costs me £8 a month.

The expensive bit is the 'fun' stuff. Spend £500 each on birthday, £500 on Christmas each, we spend about £8000 a year on holidays (total). Oh and £1200 a year in school trips. Looking at my spreadsheet I have about £1500 saved for school holidays.

So if I add all the above (only half of the holiday sum) and add half of my annual food bill, I would estimate it's about £1100 a month. Although doesn't include savings for them, and I suppose other things that come up as hoc like decorating rooms, tech update etc.

But it is far less than what I spent on childcare in those early days. And much of this is entirely discretionary.

Per month:
Drama class £72
Scouts £20
Hockey £40
Swimming £45
French lesson £74
Pocket money £40
School bus fare £96
Phone £24
Clothes/sports gear £60
Birthday parties/presents £35
Hair cut £15
Dentist £10
School trips £80
School dinners £60

If she wants to go out with her friends or buy a drink or snack out and about she has to use her pocket money. We buy clothes she needs but if she wants something else eg something branded she had to buy it herself. Likewise with nails she has to spend her own money, hence only once or twice a year!

Gym membership...£30
Phone £10
Pocket money £30

No transport costs
Takes packed lunch to college

Clothes are ad hoc obviously... branded stuff I often buy on vinted or sports direct. He's also happy in primark tracksuit bottoms and other basics.

He doesn't ask for much and is not particularly materialistic luckily!

But teens don't have to eat the expensive fruit. Never mind. Moving on.

The point of the comment @NormaleKartoffeln, was to respond to the ops question 'how much do your teens cost.'

It's £2.40 for a meal deal here so main drink and dessert. Then the leftover money gets them something at break or breakfast

Not sure what the point of your comment was then. It's a completely avoidable cost, or at least manageable.

DS is 13

£50 allowance (used mostly for socialising on a Saturday)
£40 martial arts subs (he can go to as many classes as he wants for that and goes 2 or 3 times a week)
£100 guitar lessons (one lesson a week)
£50 go karting (once a fortnight)
£25 phone contract
£25 maybe on clothes/shoes but not actually monthly; more like 3 times a year.

He doesn’t get the bus to school and takes packed lunches.

The biggest expenses are his hobbies which he is passionate about. He would like to do the karting weekly really and is wanting to enter the British championship this year. His grandad has offered to help pay for that.

He is a talented (electric) guitarist and practices every day.

We have 2 older DDs who are both at university. We pay DD2’s rent (DD1 lives with us). This is the most expensive time of our lives.

Good to hear - it's the learning that effort to contribute which matters, as much as amount. Well done to them.

You are capable if explaining how much food costs and cheaper ways to eat healthily too, right? Raspberries and pomegranate are lovely but so are apples and oranges.

I've absolutely zero idea why you've taken this tone! Not looking for a fight. Of course I am, of course they're well aware of that.