What would you expect a 16 year old to pay for?

[PabloFlowerface]

My 16 year old has just got a job which will be paying him £550 a month.

I currently pay ..

£100 pocket money a month
£70 gym a month
£30 contacts lenses a month
£80 college lunches / drinks a month

Plus of course his clothes and all the other bits and pieces they need and want at this age.

I can afford this and we are comfortable but I do 'notice' it. I do feel it sometimes!

So .. what would be reasonable for him to take over? I don't want to be 'mean' but I also don't want to create a situation where he has more disposable income than me.

I suppose I'm saying I want him to start slowly finding his way with all of this and to begin budgeting etc

I'm thinking of still paying for his contacts lenses and his clothes (but he can now pick up the cost of the expensive football shirts he likes!) and he can now pay for his gym membership and his treat food (to be clear, we always have loads of food he could take to college at home so buying stuff out is a bit of a luxury)

Anyway.. thoughts? What would you do if this was you?

I would pay food and contacts as that's essentials. (well maybe not essential contacts but health related)

Gym and pocket money I would hand over to him to pay/manage.

I'd stop giving him pocket money.

Not the point of the post but what sort of gym is £70 for a child!

@willingtolearn yes, that's along my line of thinking. Thanks

Will he be continuing in education or is working a full-time plan?

@DitheringBlidiot tell me about it! And that's the bloody student membership believe it or not.

@GoodVibesHere this is just a supermarket job for 12 hours a week

He's in full time education

I would stop the pocket money. The eye care and gym are health related so I would pay for them. The lunches are educational expenses so I'd pay for those too. I'd absolutely be expecting him to save out of his money though and would make it a condition.

I would pay for lunches and contact lenses but not £100 pocket money which I already think is way too much tbh. And he can pay for the (very expensive) gym himself too. I would also be having him pay for any expensive branded clothing unless it’s birthdays or Christmas.

sorry OP but it does sound like he’s been a bit spoilt. It’s good he’s got a job though. Make sure he saves some of that money towards driving lessons or whatever.

Also why can’t he take a packed lunch or drinks from home? These are not an educational expense.

Stop with the pocket money. And most adults can’t afford a £70 gym membership!!

@bagforlifeamnesty he's not spoilt I promise! But what he is is very fortunate and lucky that we are able to provide so much for him.

He realises he's fortunate and he's grateful for all the things he has.

But now that he has his first job, I'm just considering what he can now pay for

Yep i'd hand over pocket money and gym for him to take care of going forward.

I’m planning on giving my 16yo an allowance from August/September. This will be for lunches/transport/social stuff/clothes above the basic/presents and probably be about £150. College is walkable. I think it will allow him to budget and hope it will mean I’m never asked for cash day to day but isn’t so lavish it’s not worth him getting a job.

In your situation I’d probably still pay for contact lenses and give a monthly allowance to cover everything else. Then he can decide on his own priorities. I’d also encourage saving if he has more than he ‘needs’.

I’d pay contact lenses, bus pass and basic clothes. plus basic phone contract since you can afford to.

Possibly half the gym membership, as it’s such a good thing to do so I’d want him to keep building that habit.

If he can make lunch at home I’d probably expect him to do that (sell it to him as healthier as well as cheaper) and just pay for college lunches occasionally out of his own money.

This would be conditional on him saving 20% of his earnings. 10% long term (college or whatever), 10% for holidays etc.

The rest he takes over.

@continentallentil I will pay his college bus pass, yes. And we will be discussing how much he will save because he will want driving lessons next year so as he's now working, it's fair for him to make a contribution towards them

I'd stop giving him pocket money and would be expecting him to take over his gym membership.

I'd also expect him to buy his own treat stuff

I’d pay for food and contact lenses. Rest he pays for especially the £70 gym membership.

So basically I would carry on paying for essentials, but he'd take over luxuries

I'd get rid of the £100 and leave him to the gym.

Maybe he should look at PureGym (£30/month)??

@generalexpert we don't have a Pure gym unfortunately. He's happy with the gym he goes to but yep, it's definitely a luxury type price tag!

Stop the pocket money and gym membership.
Keep paying for everything else but if he wants expensive clothes/toiletries that he doesn’t really “need” then he pays for those.

I'd pay for contact lenses, necessary food (so either food from home for lunch, or an equivalent allowance towards buying lunch), basic clothes. I wouldn't given him pocket money, or money for treat food, or non-essential clothes. I might go halves on the gym on the basis that physical activitity is a good thing, but £70 for gym membership is a bit unnecessary!

We live in a small town and the local kick boxing club is £70 a month so this must be the usual charge. High though isn't it.

As others have said stop with the pocket money and gym, your paying for everything else - £550 a month is a lot of disposable income for a 16 year old!

If your feeling guilty about it you could always put say his monthly pocket money aside in a bank account to pay for his first car/lessons? Or even towards a deposit on a house when he's older!

Thanks for the responses

I think I'll carry on with the contact lenses and his essential clothing such as coats, trainers , pants etc etc.

He can take over the gym, panini wraps and hot chocolates 😀