Monthly budget for 17 year old

[roaringwater]

How much do you think it's reasonable to give a 17 year old girl as a monthly allowance?

DD is starting sixth form college in September - she's also 17 in September.

I want to start giving her a monthly allowance in order to teach her how to budget, value money etc. This needs to cover:

Clothes
Make up
Basic toiletries, toothpaste, sanpro etc
Some money for lunches at college although she tends to take a sandwich / salad from home.
Stationery
Socialising
Occasional salon appointments, e.g. eyebrow wax (yes, yes, I know this isn't essential, flies in the face of feminist principles etc etc and no, I'm not getting into a discussion about it)

Her dad pays for her phone and will continue to do so. Travel isn't really an issue as we live in a city centre and literally everything is walkable. I don't expect a big outlay on college textbooks but tbh I would pay for these.

I know it's a case of "how long is a piece of string?" but I'm interested in what other Year 12s get.

She is determined to get a part time job, although this might prove harder now with All This Going On.

The purpose of doing this is so that she doesn't start university clueless about how to manage her own money like I did.

Itwas - that's not strictly true - some children do grow up spoiled if they are handed everything on a plate. (Not Mumsnetters' DC obviously ).

I think it's important to learn the value of money, once my DS started earning - a paper round at 13 - he knew exactly what he earned an hour and if he wanted a pair of designer trainers or whatever he could equate that to 'hours worked' which I think is a very useful life lesson.

Ragwort but I said they won’t necessarily???

Do you honestly believe that all children who get an allowance of more than £25 per week grow up spoiled? Most of friends would have received lots more than this, yes some are spoiled but some are the most generous bought full people I know.

It’s now half and white - the point I thought I was making🤷🏼‍♀️

Sorry for the typos - hopefully it makes sense

I reckon she should get a part time job to teach her the values of her own money and responsibility. Maybe then she can earn the £200 a month you're looking to give her.

Giving her money will not teach her a thing except that money comes from her parents pockets.

Sorry if I sound so flat, I suppose everyone is entitled to their own opinion.

What do you currently spend on those things for her? I would give her that.

@Itwasntme1 I find a lot of people who weren't taught the value of money grown up to have mismanaged finances. My parents brought me up to manage my own finances,budget and save. Hense working from the age of 16 and managing my finances. My husband has worked since age 13 and managed his own. That's how at the age of 24 we were able to put 15% deposit down on our house and get a mortgage.
I know a hell of a lot of people around my age (30) who have spiralled into debt purely down to mismanagement of money and not being able to live within their means.
People who I work with who are older than me struggling with their management of money and struggling trying to finance their teenage and early 20 year old children as they see them as their babies rather than young adults.

The point though that I am making is lots of people have very different experiences and the generalisation on her sometimes drives me batty.

Far too many armchair experts coming up with absolute statements who base their ‘wisdom’ on a what is often their very narrow personal experience.

I am not making arguments about debt or finance management. I am simply saying that because a 17 year old is given an allowance doesn’t mean they will grow up to be spoiled🙄🙄🙄🙄.

However I know deeply regret even commenting - so I am sure everyone else is Right and this girl will grow up to be a deeply unpleasant and heavily indebted adult!

And all those wonderful people who were never given anything by their parents will Sit on their piles of money in their mortgage free homes giggling smuggly

Mine didn’t get anything. They had part time jobs. I paid for their school travel and stationery and basic clothing. Their grandparents gave them £10 a month.

Seriously shocked at the amount some of you are giving your teenagers! At 17, I was left to it, to get a job. Pocket money stopped at 16 (£5 per week). Hence, I worked hard and want to earn everything I have.

@bugaboo218 that's shocking

@fussygalore118 £100 at 14

I would pay whatever amount you decide weekly rather than monthly. So easy to fritter away on payday. I do this as an adult. It’s helped me budget and clear 11k of debt in 9 months.

Why are these 17 yr olds not working?? When I was 17 I had a Saturday job in monsoon! And I babysat most Friday and Saturday nights!!??And yes I was still at school and still had time for studying (and did v well I may add!)

I never really got a set amount of 'pocket money' from my parents when I was in my teens but I did get £20 a week from my grandparents. My parents would buy all my toiletries, monthly travel pass, food, pay for dance lessons and competitions (very expensive so very grateful) and give me money if I was going out socialising. I would say if your buying any of these things then maybe around £100?

I posted my opinion on sum already but just wanted to say you could offer a basic amount, say £50 pm but then allow DD to top this up with jobs around the house.

I know a few households which operate a ‘jobs board’ and post jobs like cleaning car- £10, hoovering- £7.50, unloading dishwasher- £5 on a notice board and their teens can grab them on a first come first serve basis. It actually works really well and helps with work ethic. It’s also helpful for teens who want to get a job but can’t due to covid- it gives them control over how much they earn (and their parents a break)!

What countrycasual said is a very good idea helping around the house with chores etc. I remember if I ever wanted any extra money I would offer to clean their cars.

@dodolally don't know if you noticed hun, but Monsoon is closed due to the pandemic. So are bars and restaurants so babysitting is also pretty useless right now. Great suggestions though.

Erm well I got nothing, I worked at 16.

@raspberryk yes I have noticed but it's clear that these 17 yr olds would be getting these allowances regardless of the current situation don't you think??

@raspberryk think you've misunderstood

@Someone1987 yup.

I was working at 13 , but that was 25 years ago. Jobs for 13 year olds are not easy to come by.
We can afford it, she isn't spoiled she does jobs around the house.

My year 13 gets £110 per month.
I buy school stuff and pay for her phone and her buss pass. She uses whatever shampoo/shower gel etc is in the bathroom but buys her own skincare and makeup.
I also pay for her school lunches.

She's always telling me how broke she is and how her friends get so much more than she does. She bullied me into paying for driving lessons.

But reading all the above I think I've been a bit of a mug. She had a Saturday job but quit because she couldn't be bothered.

I was banking on her going to uni in September but that doesn't look like it's going to happen this year (Uni talking about online lectures only) would I be the A hole if I started charging her rent out of her student loan?

@fussygalore118 I'm just astounded that a 14 year old could spend that much. I used to get the odd magazine, but clothes etc were birthdays and Christmas only. My parents could afford it, dad was a policeman and my mum a nurse, but they've helped me with my house deposit as I've got older. I'd have wasted the money as a teenager.

Maybe I did misunderstand.
But it's hard enough to get a job now, let alone during a pandemic.
Lots of schools don't allow kids to have jobs.
Most places don't have the "Saturday girl/lad" culture now, everyone on a low hours/ zero hour contract picking up all the shifts they can. There'd be nothing left for a teenager.
Lots of them won't recruit someone's who's off to uni in the next year. Its easier to get someone who really needs the work and will stick around.

DS is 16 and going into 6th form in Sept. He gets £100 a month.