How much allowance for a teen year old in London?

AnonymouseQuestion · 2024-10-05T06:18:06+00:00

What do you give your teens in London and what do they have to cover with it? for example I give £10 a week to cover tube rides to friends, food out with friends, any activities they choose like the cinema and everything else except clothes which I buy. Mobile phone is covered by me too. She says this is not enough so I’m intrigued what the norm is.

Loubelle70 · 05/10/2024 07:20

Its london so expensive. Personally id give teen 20-30 as cinema can be £15 and even a meal deal a fiver

TickingAlongNicely · 05/10/2024 07:23

Give her a monthly amount instead... £10 might not cover one cinema trip one week, but cinema one week, walk and coffee the next...

Has she got an oyster card to cover the tube fares?

Original poster

AnonymouseQuestion · 05/10/2024 07:43

at The moment she has a zip as she’s under 16 but she often forgets it…

OP posts:

TickingAlongNicely · 05/10/2024 07:47

Well if she's forgetting her discount card and paying full adult price, its not your responsibility to sub her! Consequence of forgetting card is not having money for other things (perhaps top up that card as separate to her allowance?)

Roundthemoon · 05/10/2024 07:48

I'd think 10 pounds is too low for london in 2024.

I used to get 10 euro a week in rural Ireland, over 15 years ago!

Roundthemoon · 05/10/2024 07:49

I would advise to give 20-30

crackfoxy · 05/10/2024 07:53

When we lived in London my DC got £35pw

sillylittlerabbit · 05/10/2024 07:56

£10 a week would probably cover one social outing a month and a coffee. Would you be able to have a social life with £40 a month?

MoneyAndPercentages · 05/10/2024 07:57

If you could afford more, personally I'd go for between £20-30. I commute into London occasionally and the prices just do not compare to outside London. Also it'll depend on the finances of her friends ~ are you close to any of her friends parents and can try and suss out what they are given?

If not, (or even if so!) I might start teaching money saving hacks so she can stretch it out. If she has a zip she can access buses for free I believe, so it may take a little longer to get places but costs nothing! Also if you get any freebies you don't use, pass these along (I get a free weekly Greggs with Monzo which I never use, 2x cinema tickets a month with Sky, free Cafe Neros through something as well I think...) ~ Teach her to scour the next for deals and if she has social media, to follow the eateries/coffee shops/cinema chains she likes so can see deals when they're released.

Original poster

AnonymouseQuestion · 05/10/2024 08:08

MoneyAndPercentages · 05/10/2024 07:57

If you could afford more, personally I'd go for between £20-30. I commute into London occasionally and the prices just do not compare to outside London. Also it'll depend on the finances of her friends ~ are you close to any of her friends parents and can try and suss out what they are given?

If not, (or even if so!) I might start teaching money saving hacks so she can stretch it out. If she has a zip she can access buses for free I believe, so it may take a little longer to get places but costs nothing! Also if you get any freebies you don't use, pass these along (I get a free weekly Greggs with Monzo which I never use, 2x cinema tickets a month with Sky, free Cafe Neros through something as well I think...) ~ Teach her to scour the next for deals and if she has social media, to follow the eateries/coffee shops/cinema chains she likes so can see deals when they're released.

Her friends get crazy amounts which I can’t match. One girls gets £400 a month! She does have to buy her own clothes and she has expensive tastes so often runs out of money. It’s insane. Another girl gets £150 and doesn’t have to cover clothes. To me that’s not teaching your child the value of money.

i do see I need to raise it though. I don’t want to give so much that she can do all she wants including eating out regularly with her friends. I never ate out at her age and it’s a special occasion now and she needs to realise that but I think I may raise to 15 a week. I don’t really get any freebies I can pass on but I will look out for any.

OP posts:

Appleblum · 05/10/2024 08:13

I would increase it if you can afford to. A drink from Starbucks is already £5 and I think a McDonald's meal is at least £7.

yikesanotherbooboo · 05/10/2024 08:32

I would increase it but would take a very dim view of her being so casual with your money that she forgets the zip card.

Roundthemoon · 05/10/2024 08:45

10 pounds gets you very very little.

One coffee is about four pounds these days

Bjorkdidit · 05/10/2024 08:48

If you can't afford to match her friends then you can't afford it. Don't risk your own leisure spending or the stability of the household budget to enable her to keep up with more affluent peers.

But definitely teach her how to make her money go further by using the free bus or walking where possible and getting freebies where available.

Is she old enough to get a part time job yet? MN seems very against teens working but when I grew up almost everyone worked a few hours a week from 15 to pay for socialising, extra clothes etc.

Bjorkdidit · 05/10/2024 08:51

Roundthemoon · 05/10/2024 08:45

10 pounds gets you very very little.

One coffee is about four pounds these days

Maybe it's a good time to appreciate that coffee is not always a good use of a tight budget. They could half their coffee bill by getting it from mcdonald's or greggs instead for a start.

Roundthemoon · 05/10/2024 08:52

Bjorkdidit · 05/10/2024 08:51

Maybe it's a good time to appreciate that coffee is not always a good use of a tight budget. They could half their coffee bill by getting it from mcdonald's or greggs instead for a start.

Show quote history

Yeah it's not the best use I agree.

But I have a teenage niece and I know that she likes to go for a coffee once a week with friends.

It's what the teens do.

Ten pounds doesn't really cover much in a whole week, do you think?

Original poster

AnonymouseQuestion · 05/10/2024 09:03

Bjorkdidit · 05/10/2024 08:48

If you can't afford to match her friends then you can't afford it. Don't risk your own leisure spending or the stability of the household budget to enable her to keep up with more affluent peers.

But definitely teach her how to make her money go further by using the free bus or walking where possible and getting freebies where available.

Is she old enough to get a part time job yet? MN seems very against teens working but when I grew up almost everyone worked a few hours a week from 15 to pay for socialising, extra clothes etc.

Getting a job under the age of 16 in London is virtually impossible. She would love a job but there are too many people needing work around here that there is little incentive to employ someone who requires safeguarding procedures to be in place. She does babysit whenever she can.

OP posts:

TheRainItRaineth · 05/10/2024 10:42

I have always given around £100 a month (started at a bit less, is a bit more now) to cover socialising and any clothes that she wants to buy on top of basics (which are covered by me) from the age when DD started going out rather than having friends over to play. A trip to the cinema in London is £15 alone for the ticket, never mind if you want a drink or some sweets. I think a budget that means you can do one fun thing every week is a reasonable minimum tbh, finances allowing. I pay for any tube fares on her zip card at the reduced rate which is cheap as chips for under 16s and still considerably reduced until they leave full-time education. I also give £15 towards any birthday present she wants to buy for a friend - if she wants to spend more than that it comes out of her own money.

DD recently turned 18 and has a job so her budget has gone up but she tried for years before this to get one and it just wasn't possible. Nobody wants to take on an under 18 never mind an under 16 in London.

I would not have been covering fares that were incurred by forgetting her zip card though. That's on her and if she can't be bothered to take it then she would need to cover the consequences from her budget, which would mean a lot less money for fun. I don't think she has ever forgotten it. I did once cover some fares which were incurred because it snapped in half and stopped working. It was a genuine accident and has not been repeated.

I know what everyone means about expensive coffee but actually sitting in a coffee shop is a lot more wholesome and safer than hanging around in the cold in a park or trying to get into more adult venues. I'm glad kids today have somewhere to go that isn't the pub.

ZaraSpellman · 05/10/2024 10:53

What is she doing for this money, mine gets £15 but has to load dishwasher and keep stairs and bedroom tidy/hoovered. Help with washing etc if they are doing lots to help and I can afford it I’d pay more if if it’s for nothing then no more.but apparently I am tight.

CakeDream · 05/10/2024 11:09

What do teens actually spend their money on that's not being covered by mum and dad?
How many times do they really go to the cinema?

She has a zipcard which means she under 16 so gets quite a bit of money. She needs to remember to take her zipcard and to budget her money to know that she can't always have a Starbucks and she'll be fine. Maybe increase it a little bit if you can afford to but I'd be worried she's trying to keep up with the Joneses.

When I give my kids pocket money, they just spend it on junk food.

leia24 · 05/10/2024 11:11

We aren't in London but are in another big city. 14yo doesn't get weekly money as she's usually busy with dance and weekend performances or competitions but if she does have plans I give usually about 20 to 30 depending what she's doing. Later she's going out with friends for dinner so I'll give her 30, next weekend she's going out for breakfast at a new cafe so I'll give her 25ish. If she's just going out with no plan I will probably just give her 10 or 15 to make sure she can get buses and get something to eat from mcdonalds or wherever

TheRainItRaineth · 05/10/2024 12:03

What do teens actually spend their money on that's not being covered by mum and dad?

DD probably goes to the cinema about once a month, out for dinner or lunch about once a month (not expensive places), has a few coffees with friends or cake in a café, might have a day out shopping which usually involves buying a sandwich and a drink from Pret or similar even if she doesn't actually buy anything else. She's not doing anything particularly expensive or OTT but this will take care of the majority of the allowance she gets. If she has any left over she usually puts it in savings for when she wants to go to something more expensive like a gig, or get a theatre ticket (maybe a few times a year, and not the events or venues that are £££). Obviously she is very fortunate to have enough money to do these things but I don't think it's a wildly extravagant lifestyle for an older teenager!

I guess I could just fund all these things directly but I think it's better for her to learn to budget her own money.

She doesn't usually buy junk food. And of course she helps around the house but I'd expect that anyway, even if she wasn't getting any money from us. I do occasionally offer a small financial reward for getting to the bottom of her washing basket and putting it all away because it means it actually gets done properly and frequently!

whatsagoodusername · 05/10/2024 12:08

Mine are just getting to teens, but I keep zip cards topped up (auto top-up). I would not be paying for any fares where they forgot their cards though! That's definitely on them.