What do you spend on your teenagers?

[Newstart2024]

We have three children but I keep hearing how expensive teenagers are…. When they’re all at school their childcare costs me £250 pro rata a month… holidays, clothes etc on top. Eldest is currently 7.
They also do some activities like music and swimming maybe that’s another £200 a month.
How expensive are teenagers do they cost more than that?
Mine are all girls so mostly get a reasonable amount of hand me downs from one to the other!

Oh I live in London so their bus journeys are free until 16 I think…so no school transport to pay for.
I think on my head as they roll off the after school and holiday clubs then that money would go to their general expenses instead?

Lots!!
Mine do loads of extra curriculars and have tutors for GCSES. School trips alone this year have been nearly 3k.

£20 a week each minimum for school lunches each. And no more hand me downs- think wanting Urban Outfitters! Ralph Lauren, Gym Shark. I phones, I Pods.
money for meals out, trips into town, cinema.

I mean £3k for school trips will be a flat out no from me! That’s probably our budget for a family August holiday!

School trips costing hundreds/thousands, clothing and footwear are infinitely more expensive, money each week for socialising with their friends, tech, expensive special occasions like prom cost a mint, driving lessons, the list is endless…

Teenagers are little money sponges! I used to laugh at how I’d hanker for my DCs to be potty trained because it would save me a ‘fortune’ each month. If only I’d known what was to come.

Mine is 16.

Extracurriculars are £150 per month. Clothes maybe around £50 per month depending on what he needs. He's left school this year so no school trips now but last year they did a trip to Iceland which was £800. Feeding him is the biggest expense, he eats more than me. £30 a month for his mobile phone. Then he gets £100 per month pocket money and he has to budget that for the month.

You think that until you realise they are all going and don’t want to miss out. It’s hard.

Do you have to? Can’t I tell them to use any Christmas or birthday money for designer stuff?

When I was a teenager we used to go to Matalan and if we were lucky New Look we never had designer stuff! My mum had to take a second job for our bus money to get us to school… no way money would be spent on expensive clothes unless we paid for them!

It depends who their social group are. I have two and two different schools- the one at the more socially diverse school isn’t as demanding as the one at the affluent school.

My boys don't cost much at all on a regular basis. They eat more so a lot goes on food/meat. Eating out is obviously more expensive now they want bigger meals. Up to the age of 18 mine weren't overly bothered on brand. They have each others hand me downs or are happy with second hand. Mainly into sports so school gym membership, cricket and football club but those aren't overly expensive. We do a lot of holidays so that costs a lot, as classed as adult prices over 12yrs approx.

Both got part time jobs after 15 so buy treats for themselves.

DS is 11 in year 6 so far this month
£15 for his phone (iPhone 13 preloved by DH)
£60ish on clubs
£70 on a tracksuit
£110 on trainers (Nike 270 in adult size 5)
Maybe £30 on random stuff he's asked for
£50 pocket money paid monthly to his card tho he saves a lot of it

We don’t live in an affluent area it’s all lower middle class. Schools will be state schools either local grammar or local high school.
we do a holiday with other families in August and we go Glamping. Most families just do UK holidays or Eurocamp like us.

As it’s London loads of free stuff to do and London buses are free or other transport cheap….

I might get a promotion before they hit the teens but at the moment £250 each plus another £200 on clubs is £950 on them!

You don't have to at all. I don't buy designer gear for DS, waste of money. He's always been secure enough in himself not to worry what others think though, same as me.

I easily spend that. Teens are expensive.

It really depends on how much you want them to 'keep up' and how social they are.

Day to day it's not too bad. My 14yo ds gets £15pw lunch money.
Phone £8pm.
Gym member £20pm.
Pocket money £20pm but gets extra for things like McDonald's, cinema.
Football season ticket was about £150.

But things like activities and eating out gets a lot more expensive as you're into adults prices.

Clothes are our biggest expense. For example his school shoes (black Nike 95s) were £180, he said 'everyone has them' and it thought that can't possibly be true but I looked round his friendship group, asked parents, and they do!

Some of the things he has...Nike tech joggers £110, CP company hoodie £300, Fred Perry Polo shirt £75 and he needs more than one t-shirt! Basic Nike Miler or Under Armour t-shirts are £30-£35 each.

Obviously you do not need to buy these things but risk them feeling left out if they don't have the right stuff. And yes you can get them for birthdays but it's also our role as parents to provide clothes.

Xmas D's has asked for a PC accessory that's £120 and a jumper at £70. It's these kinds of things that make life very expensive as the cheaper alternatives just won't cut it.

I don’t buy expensive clothes for myself I’d begrudge spending money on that to “keep up”! Happy to put £40 towards trainers given you can get a reasonable pair for that and the rest from Christmas money I think!
Thats what my parents did absolutely no question even re designer stuff!
We also all got jobs at 16-18 but I think its actually impacted my a levels so I’m on the fence about that!

Not massive amounts. They don't do clubs. I paid £35 each a month pocket money and there dad gives a bit more.

Oldest works part time and earns £350-600 a month at 17. 50% put away for uni / 50% for social life.

Shes financially savvy and although she wears loads of urban she always buys in sale / uses discount code. Started shopping on Vinted as well and quite happy to go to a charity shop.

Youngest is at the difficult age of 13 where she wants the clothes / going out but doesn't have a job. I occasionally top her up but not much. I give her £20 a month on top of pocket money for skincare and makeup, saves the constant requests for money for it.

I think largely the 'wait til their teens' comes from people who haven't had to shell out crazy amounts on childcare.

In nursery, DS was £2k a month + probably another £200 on clothes/weekend activities and I'm very much hoping thats the most expensive stage behind me 😂

At the end of the day, whatever you can afford is what it costs - your DC will adjust friendship groups and activities to what is possible. They'll always, even if you spent £1k each a month, be moaning about something they want that you can't afford 🫠

Mine are fairly cheap on a monthly basis (14 and 16 year olds).

£25 sports subs (football / basketball)
£15 Xbox subscription
£10 phone
£20 gym

So £140 a month for both of them regularly.

BUT

• The clothes are SO expensive. Not even the designer or expensive stuff, just standard. Adult size trainers, jeans, joggers are £ for men.
• The food - they Just. Never. Stop. Eating.
• Paying adult prices for meals or entry places EVERYWHERE.
• Adult prices on flights and holidays
• The adhoc 'mum, can I please go to Nando's on Friday for Sebs birthday? It's pay for yourself'. Boosh, £25 gone.
• School trips. £1200 for skiing, plus all the kit. Even the bog standard end of year trip is about £100.
• Tutor for ds1's English GCSE. He only went an hour a week for a couple of terms, probably cost us a grand.

There's so much more I'm probably forgetting.

We also have dc 7. The difference is really stark. I could probably raise and provide an excellent standard of living for half a dozen 7 year olds for less than two teenagers cost us. Free trips to the park, cheap kids meals and entry prices, packs of 3 x joggers or Tshirts, £12 school trips. Free holiday place. Pocket money by comparison. You don't appreciate just HOW cheap everything is for kids, at the time.

You never believe it though, until you get there. It makes me chuckle when you hear parents of younger dc talking about the expense with no idea what's to come!

You don't have to.

But teens mostly want to be like their peers and if their peers are wearing expensive clothing....

You won't be paying out for childcare. But most parents do want their teen to at a minimum not be "the poor kid" and so will pay for some clothes etc.

If you are in London then transport is fairly sorted. I lived rurally and taxi-ing my kids to extra curriculars was expensive.

Many teens are also interested in sports or music. Parents tend to encourage this because the alternative is either hanging around on street corners or online gaming. Both can be expensive in terms of equipment, lessons, concerts/competitions s.

Tutors can also be expensive. Not so much at the start of secondary but if you get to year 10 and your child is on track to fail maths or English most parents get a tutor.

Ohhh...and the uniform. No more supermarket polo's.

£90 for the full (compulsory) PE kit. £30 a jumper, £20 a polo. Mens £ smart trousers, no more Asda school shop as sizes don't go up high enough (2 x 6 foot plus boys).

At the end of the day, whatever you can afford is what it costs - your DC will adjust friendship groups and activities to what is possible. They'll always, even if you spent £1k each a month, be moaning about something they want that you can't afford

This. My biggest expense is probably the top up I gave to DD for university. (Though she got almost a full grant her accommodation was ridiculously expensive) (She's dropped out so that's now a moot point)

Designer clothes, expensive phone contracts, expensive clubs and hobbies and 3k on school trips are to a certain extent a parental choice. If the money isn't there it isn't there.

DC3 is the only one to have lunch at secondary so that is a new expense,(£50 a month) phone contracts for all 5 of us is also £50 a month, DS gets PIP so he uses that to pay for all his obsessional shit, food isn't a massive cost either.

I have 2 DS, 14 and 17, and they're not too expensive. I think it very much depends on the teens. Neither are fussed about labels, they do have tech but most they buy themselves from Christmas/birthday money. They have fairly cheap Samsung mobiles and I pay for their PAYG costs. Clothes, school snacks (they take packed lunch out of choice) etc I pay for from the child benefit. Trips are extra but they only do the main ones.
DS1 has a part time job. He was a swimmer so that did cost me £175 ish a month, but fortunately he's stopped that now.
Holidays and trips do cost more, depending on whether they're classes as an adult or not, which DS1 usually is these days. Eating out is way more expensive. But they're not essentials, we just do those things less often.

Honestly we were lucky to get money towards DofE award absolutely no way we would go on a ski trip and tbh I don’t have any intention of sending mine on one! Mainly because what’s the point in forking it all out when they’re unlikely to ever really go again or afford to do it regularly.

I did a few ski trips in my twenties with Uni and then with friends and they’re fun but not for the sake of other family holidays or other activities they could do.

Mine aren’t all on school yet so think they’re currently costing us £1400 a month plus the clubs, but we’re not always breaking even and our mortgage is going up soon…. so in future like it or lump it we’ll have to bring the costs down!

Mine costs very little as he's an antisocial fella so barely goes out and isn't remotely interested in clothes, shoes etc. But I realise that's not the norm!