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Original poster

What do you ‘fund’ for your teenagers?

54 replies

teenfinances · 16/12/2018 20:13

Dd is 17. No job (has been trying to find one to be fair). At college full time mon-fri
Her allowance per week covers travel and either lunch or luxuries (£5 per day)
There is plenty of food if she wants to take a packed lunch but she likes to eat out so the money goes on lunch 9/10

We pay for her phone and we provide basic things at home such as basic toiletries that we all use, the bathroom cabinet is always well stocked with sanitary towels etc.
The thing is she thinks that things I’d consider luxuries to come out of her allowance are actually essentials and we should fund them. For example she has a skin conditions and uses a special skincare regime and wants us to pay for it as apparently it’s ‘medical and a necessity’
She wants us to buy her specific vitamins etc rather than her having the multivitamins we all have .....I could go on
I’m just wondering what other parents do as I just don’t know if I’m right or wrong

OP posts:
Ollivander84 · 16/12/2018 20:16

I think the skincare is necessary - can she afford it without you paying?

GreenTulips · 16/12/2018 20:16

Medical should be covered under the doctors prescription - otherwise it's a luxury

We find phone lunches pocket money £10 a week this includes net travel to work and lunching Saturday's

Occasional treat pictures or bowling

bruffin · 16/12/2018 20:19

My dc had p/t jobs at that age. We paid for mobiles, travel and toiletries and clothes unless they wanted expensive designer then we contributed.

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IncyWincyGrownUp · 16/12/2018 20:21

‘Medical’ would be on prescription. If she just has a preference it’s a luxury.

I fund basic toiletries (including sanitary stuff), school uniform (year 11), one pair of decent shoes, one coat, and a mobile contract. She gets a generous allowance for anything else she might want to do or acquire.

Bestseller · 16/12/2018 20:22

DS gets £80 pm. I buy clothes because be has no interest and would be in rags otherwise, pay his phone contract but that was his Christmas present last year. I put cash on his "thumb" for food at school but if he chooses to go to the high st instead he pays. I pay bus fare and cadet weekends. I buy toiletries but only the basics, if he wanted fancy he'd get them himself. He does the rest.

If the condition is medically diagnosed and really needs the treatment I'd pay for that.

Ragwort · 16/12/2018 20:24

We fund our DS’s phone and he gets £50 a month pocket money (to include clothes), he gets £10 a week (Term time) for lunches, can take packed if he wants. Buy basic toothpaste & shower gel. None of us take vitamins, are they really necessary if you eat a balanced diet? The skincare requirements sound tricky if she genuinely needs specific products, being a teenager is hard if you have a skin complaint. Our DS has occasional paid work in hotels to pay for luxuries. Did have more regular work but we are trying to get him to focus on his A levels as he is in final year of 6th form.

Lollypop27 · 16/12/2018 20:28

Mine get £15 a week for lunch and we pay for all of his travel. He has a mobile contract we pay for and we provide anything he needs for college, toiletries, hobby, haircuts.

He does work in the holidays (he can’t get a job in term time due to his timetable) and he buys most of his own clothes and pays for his festival tickets, nights out, cinema etc.

Taffeta · 16/12/2018 20:29

DS (15) earns a fair chunk at weekends coaching and reffing football so I expect him to stump up for luxuries

Eg I’ll buy him a pair of trainers up to say £50 - if he wants more expensive ones he pays the difference

I’ll buy him clothes - eg jeans for £25 - if he wants more expensive ones he pays the difference

I pay anything to do with school - lunch card, train fare, uniform etc , also buy his toiletries

If he goes out with his mates he pays. I might pay the train fare.

Original poster
teenfinances · 16/12/2018 20:32

It’s the only thing that has helped her skin. All prescription stuff was too harsh and made it all worse so she uses a v expensive sensitive range and she argues that because it’s not in prescription doesn’t mean it’s not medical ....
Yes she could afford it if took packed lunches

OP posts:
Original poster
teenfinances · 16/12/2018 20:33

Clothes she always gets quite a lot for bday and Xmas and throughout the year we do gettijngs like underwear socks etc and if she wants something new she has to save up (that doesn’t happen often)

OP posts:
NicoAndTheNiners · 16/12/2018 20:34

If she has found face washes, etc which helps with spots I would totally pay for them. Special vitamins I wouldn't.

BishopstonFaffing · 16/12/2018 20:35

DD in YR10 - All bus fare, the odd fiver here and there, clothes, toiletries, sports kit, sheet music etc. She babysits so earns anywhere from £10-£30 per week. She doesn't wear makeup. We pay for hairdresser to wet cut every 8-12 weeks, if she wanted a colour we would negotiate. We pay £1 a week for her phone- she has been rolling over her text and talk pack for so long this gets her a huge amount if stuff. She's very good with money and asks for very little so I like to sporadically surprise her. If she wants e.g. a band t-shirt or gig tickets she pays for those.

Userplusnumbers · 16/12/2018 20:37

I was on the fence until the last update OP, I'd pay for the skincare stuff.

BishopstonFaffing · 16/12/2018 20:37

DD also takes packed lunches and a bottle of water always. She also has a Costa loyalty card and various things like that. I think she's secretly 45.

BishopstonFaffing · 16/12/2018 20:37

Could you meet her halfway on the skin care?

Zoflorabore · 16/12/2018 20:38

My ds gets a lot. He gets a bus to school which is pre paid and doesn't like school food so takes packed lunches but costs me a fortune in food.
He goes through 2/3 bottles of his favourite shower gel a week, I buy all of his clothes and trainers ( size 13/14 so bloody expensive ) and fund all of his away games for football which is around £150 per months plus phone bill of £58.
He thinks he's hard done to!! Seriously.

If he wants v bucks for Fortnite he gets them, days out with friends, designer clothes etc, school trips.

Writing this down it's scary how much he does get and when he is 16 he will be doing some work for his dad's business at some point but he has his GCSE's next summer so it won't be much as he is very determined to do well.
None of his friends get this much.

bibbitybobbityyhat · 16/12/2018 20:43

Zoflorabore - your teen gets through 2 or 3 bottles of shower gel per week? Don't be daft.

Ethel36 · 16/12/2018 20:43

Quite honestly I would pay for the skin care products because acne can really affect how a person feels. But I'd make her take in packed lunches to offset the cost. Maybe she could look for a Saturday job to pay for these specific vitamins and extra things?

SimplyPut · 16/12/2018 20:43

@teenfinances from your post I gather your DD gets £35 a week in cash. How much does her skincare cost?

Snowwontbelong · 16/12/2018 20:43

Ds 17 college 3 days. No pt job as yet. I fund bus card £9(driving lessons from next week), lunch £10 for the 3 days, he is in a boxing club so subs for that £5 a week , about £20 a week in appropriate foods /supplements for that, £20 month gym, £15 phone, clothes I make him text exh who pays fuck all to me.

Zoflorabore · 16/12/2018 20:46

Yes he goes through loads, 2 showers a day, every day, I'm forever telling him off about the ridiculous amount he's using.
It's luckily not very expensive.

Original poster
teenfinances · 16/12/2018 20:50

Sorry it’s £5 per weekday so £25 each week plus her travel costs on too which is £12 a week
The £5 a day is for lunch OR luxuries she always gets coffee and lunch out despite there being entry at home she could have/take

Her skincare is approx £35 a month soshe could afford it herself we feel but shes saying going out for lunch is part of her social life .... I don’t have unlimited funds but I don’t want to be unreasonable either she’s my eldest so unsure

OP posts:
Original poster
teenfinances · 16/12/2018 20:51

PLENTY at home

OP posts:
Topseyt · 16/12/2018 20:53

We fund mobile phone contract at £12 a month, £30 a month for school canteen, most school things, hockey club membership and match fees.

DD did manage to get a job at the end of the summer so is gradually starting to contribute more and pays some stuff like money towards fuel occasionally.

brownmoose · 16/12/2018 20:54

If you feel the skins care stuff is extravagant, how about asking her what she can do in return for it?
Can she ease a burden for you to earn it? Can she sacrifice something?

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