How much money could your child(ren) spend right now?

[Imunravelled]

Unashamedly inspired by the thread about how kids pay for things.

How much money could your child or children spend tomorrow and how old are they?

So not money that is in a child ISA or other kind of account they have limited or no access to but money they could go online or into a shop and spend right now.

And being as it's only fair to share - my 15 year old has about £1000 in a current and linked instant access savings account (I think - I don't know the exact amount)

DD is 21 - has access to about £7k right now.
She got her child trust fund (~£15k) when she was 18. After a year or two of some rather questionable spending choices she calmed down, started working and now has reasonably sensible financial habits.

At 15 the most she ever had in her bank account would’ve probably been £250 around Christmas and her birthday. For the rest of the year I gave her about £100 per month which was fine. Eating out/clothing was so much cheaper back then though, it wouldn’t go far now!!

Dd11 - £200ish on her rooster card and cash
Dd6 - 100ish cash

My 12 year old tried to buy some sweets for £1 the other day but was embarrassed as her card declined as she only had like 60p in her account. My 15 and 17 year olds get about £50 a month pocket money but it's all gone by the end of the month. I'm a single mum so not much money to go round.

Neither child has access to their savings, DS gets to spend a small amount of money on Robux every month and DD gets to spend a slightly larger amount on clothes, DD will save somewhat until she can afford something expensive clothing related. My DD is also 15 if she had 1k in her account it would be gone on a couple of expensive clothing items. I've hoping to hold off on giving them access to their savings until they are 21, because DD had an inheritance that DS did not (as he wasn't born) and I'm trying to pay in monthly to DS's saving's to even it up so they both get the same amount.

My children when they were under 18 about £20 each per week from me and they all had Saturday / holiday jobs to pay for extras . I paid for their clothes,phone etc.

DS(6) has approx £4 cash, £13.50 in his child Monzo current account, £5 and £30 respectively saved in Monzo ‘pots’ for a scooter upgrade and holiday spending money that he technically has access to.

How much have you got?

DS had about 1.5k when he was 16 that he had earned himself. He has been saving for a house deposit, still lives at home and has saved 30k.He pays a token amount of rent. He is 25 and didn’t go to University but his employer paid for training and qualifications. He was working 15 hours a week, sometimes up to 20 hours during sixth form.

Do you think the outcome would have been the same if less of that money was put in the trust fund so she had more money before 18 and less of a lump sum? Or would she still have spent it all?

£25 of birthday money for a 5 year old 😆

£40 in her current account for a 13 year old. She gets £10 a week pocket money to buy little treats. Her birthday and Christmas money goes into that account.

I know you didn’t ask this but…We pay £1000 into a savings account (in our name) for her each year - approx £100 each month so she had £13000 now. She doesn’t know about this though and we will give it to her when she’s about 18/21 to use for something sensible like a house deposit, university or whatever she needs for her future. If we think she will fritter it away, we will spend it for her on sth she needs, I suppose! I think she will be quite sensible as she already asks us to save a third of any birthday money she gets. But she does like clothes and skincare.

My 17 year old has about £500 in his current account. He is saving for driving lessons, so is being fairly savy with money atm.

My 12 year old has about £25. Although we are off to see family today, so she will have belated birthday money later as well. She only has a Monzo card, will set her up with a current account soon.

Both have trust funds but there isn't a lot in the compared to the high earners on mumsnet.

Nope, she wouldn’t have had a use/need for a large amount of money pre 18. What she had was more than enough and she certainly was never made to go without anything. Her main expense is trips abroad with friends, otherwise her spending habits are generally very sensible. She hasn’t ’spent it all’ and still has a good chunk in her savings.

Mine get pocket money linked to school year. Eg £8/week in year 8.

Beyond that they earn their own - eg my 13yo year 8 gets £25/week paper round.

Both teens and both have access to about £200.

that’s £30 a month pocket money and birthday money

11 and £5

About £4.50 for my 5 year old which includes money he got from daddy for helping with some jobs, a couple of coins from the tooth fairy and some random coppers hes found while out. My 3yo has nothing available to spend.

We are very old parents so they both have ISAs and SIPPS for later in life and will guarantee they have some financial help from us regardless of if we require care.

DD 17 has about £400 in her account till pay day ( she is on an apprenticeship). DD 14 has £1.76 in his account

Probably £20 ish on their Monzos and a little bit of cash (10 & 12).

They have other savings in their names & ours but no access

My daughter is 4 and technically has around £30ish in pound coins she could use but she doesn’t realise what money is.
She has around 2.5k in savings - from birthday money and I put £100 a month away for her which I started about a year ago

No idea, because he's 17 and manages his own money, but at least 5K because my Mum gave him that a few weeks ago for going to uni.

Probably nothing as it burns a hole in their pocket. Honestly I struggle with the whole allowance and how much is enough/ too much and what they should be paying for with it so it’s probably my fault they’re like that.

My 16 year old has about 2k, she is in 6th form with a part-time job, and is very conscientious with money and saving. 14 year has about £30. She gets a small allowance and has allocated pretty much all of it before it arrived in her bank account! 12 year old has about £200. He has a smaller allowance, but is not at the stage yet of being bothered about spending money yet, so it’s slowly building up. I will be encouraging the two younger ones to get part-time jobs as soon as they are allowed to, as I think there are lots of benefits they gain from working, beyond earning some money.