to ask if teenagers are a lot more expensive than children?

[burgatroyd]

Yesterday I asked advice on how to stop my rather irrational broody feelings. Money is a large factor for me not considering a third as I hear teenagers are a LOT more expensive than young children. So though I could possibly afford more kids now would worry I'd find it tough when they are older.

Those with teenagers or older kids, do you find it a lot more expensive?

But to put a preschooler in childcare is £56 a day...teenage schooling costs nothing. Surely a teenager doesn't go through £56 a day of food/clothes etc?
For an under 5 you either sah , so no salary, or pay childcare. You can work once you have a teenager.

Revision Guides! I'd forgotten about fecking revision guides!. DS2 went back to school today, he needed 3 revision guides for his A2s, he hasn't had any bloody lessons yet! That's £48 to Amazon!

Shoes are a nightmare in this house! DS1 is a 12, DS2 a 13 and DH a 14! At least if there's a flood I'm sorted for boats!

DS2 put his 34" inside leg jeans on the other day, they are too short! He has only gone and bloody grown! When do they stop? He'd better stop soon or he'll be wearing shorts all year round!

What are all these expensive gadgets they 'need' though? I'm not being obtuse, I genuinely don't get it. I bought dd a laptop when she started Y8 for £180, she's still using the same one going into Y12. She has her smartphone, but it came free with the contract which I pay £10 a month for. What's with all this eating too? Dd has a bowl of cereal for breakfast, lunch at school, then eats dinner with us - or later when she gets in. Other than a couple of slices of toast some evenings, or a packet of crisps here and there (god forbid anything out the fruit bowl) that's about it - what sort of level of eating are other teenagers doing?

I absolutely get that some have expensive hobbies which require various bits of kit - but in general day to day life, my smaller children are much more expensive.

A full time nursery place at my DC's nursery is about £14,000. There's no way I'd spend that amount on a teen. No way.

Teens are much more expensive than small children. They are also much more interesting though. I love teens

Why do some of you pay for driving lessons?

I learned at 28 because I couldnt afford it until then, Dsis started at 18 because her Godmother bought her 12 lessons as a gift, but didnt pass until she was 28 as she couldnt afford the rest of the lessons she needed.

Driving is not an essential surely? I pay for DD's bus pass to college as she needs that, if she wants to learn to drive she will have pay for it herself, including the car and the insurance!

You can't exclude childcare it's the main reason young kids are bloody expensive. Either you forgo your wage and look after them yourself or you spend a fortune on childcare. Either way it's more than teens cost.

Bogeyface it depends where you live. Not everywhere is well connected to public transport and where I live I would consider driving an essential life skill.

We pay for driving lessons for 2 reasons. The first one is I am disabled and DH (and now DS1) are in the Forces. When DS1 lived at home and DH was away for months on end it was essential that he could drive. I can't always drive, I can't get myself to hospital appointments and he could help ferry DS2 about. Now DS2 is learning to help me out when he can as DS1 is not here anymore.

We also, live very rurally. Our last bus leaves the local town at 5:50, it gets back here at almost 7pm by the time it has been all around the villages. If DS2 wanted to go out of an evening we'd have to take him, or it would be a £40 taxi fare, each way.

The bus pass for college is £499 a year. He'd have to leave the house at 7:10am to get 2 buses to get him to school at 9am. The college is 7 miles away.

We decided it was better all round for them to learn to drive now, while they are young, so when they have to find jobs etc it was one less thing to worry about. As it happens, the regiment DS1 is joining require you to drive so the Army pay for it. As he can already drive, they have applied for his bus and HGV license and he will be learning to drive them.

We're paying for driving lessons for dd because we want to and we can. She knew from about the age of 14 that she'd be having driving lessons for her 17th birthday.
My parents did it for me, and without a driving licence, I wouldn't have been able to do ANY of the 3 jobs I've had since I graduated. To me it's like swimming lessons, not a luxury but a life skill, and yes we're having to make some sacrifices to pay for them, but they're ones we're happy to make

I don't think my teen is hugely expensive. She's 13 and doesn't require brand name clothes or shoes, her school doesn't run expensive foreign trips, and it's basically a fixed cost here to learn to drive (about $450, which is about the same as two weeks daycare when she was little).

I give her some pocket money but she also babysits and earns her own money.

She eats a lot but then so does her 9yo brother.

She grows fast (5'10") but she's happy with mostly secondhand or very cheap clothes.

She doesn't need childcare any more and in fact she helps out at summer camps, which she cycles to. She also babysits her younger siblings when I need to run errands.

TBH I think I've almost talked myself into having another, only I couldn't face the baby stage again.

Oh also her school provides a laptop to all students age 12 and over, but to be fair I do pay for her iPhone (it's about $30 a month on our family plan).

I raised 2, and yes, they are more expensive. If you don't own a home, and need to save for one, it is a lot harder with each additional child.

We pay for driving lessons because we also want to and we can. Plus we live out in the sticks. Buses once an hour and then there is a huge gap later on in the day for the next bus.

Rhino ours are £36.75 for 90 mins.

Mine did swimming, dancing or gymnastics when they were little. At one point my fees per term for swimming for over £400. When DD1 started gymnastics they "saw potential" and wanted to move her into the development squad for "only £50" per month. Apparently I was the first Mother to ever say No to them.

Mine hated Beavers, Cubs, Brownies etc, But then my teens joined Air and Army Cadets. It was the most positive thing my kids have ever done, I cannot praise it enough.

DD1 went to Scotland from Essex for a fortnight which included coach and then Intercity train, all meals were included and so were three day trips and two sports activity. Total cost was £50.

Another one was a week long activity camp that had only coach travel and it was a PGL type holiday with kayaking, mountain biking etc., it was £10.

Very, very nice teenagers and they are all so supportive of each other. Especially through exams, lifestyle choices etc., so much so than normal school friends. They tend to be quite mature for their age as well.

Thoroughly recommended.

Sorry, meant to say, that no I find my teenagers cheaper now then when they were little.

If they want gadgets they either use ours and share or they save for their own. Mostly they ask for them at Christmas. We spend exactly the same on all of them so they know there is no favourtism. I find that they look after their belongings better because it is cherished more. They have tesco payg mobiles that I top up every month and it triples their credit.

If they go out with friends to the cinema or shopping or some sort of day out I will pay for travel, food and drinks and they will pay the entrance fee out of their pocket money.

I have said that if they want to learn to drive (quite pricey where I am) then they need to get a part time job to pay for lessons. I won't just pay for lessons though, it takes away the incentive to work part time.

Yes definitely. Wouldn't change anything though!

wow it's amazing what some posters are spending on their teens. When I was a teenager I paid for my own driving lessons, hobbies and university (no grant) and new clothes and gadgets were for Christmas and birthdays.
Food and school trips I can understand but none if this other stuff is necessary. I got a part time job to get the stuff I wanted and I'd expect my daughter to do the same.

Gamerwidow Do you have any teens?

Te preschool childcare years might be as expensive. I have two teens and one preteen still at primary. And the comparison there makes the teens quite a bit more expensive.

More food, bigger clothes, hobbies at similar cost or more expensive, often higher entrance fees or fares. Cost of tech.

And you can't count on availability of Saturday jobs any more, as flexible working has changed availability quite a bit. Babysitting and odd jobs might make a little.

I love the idea that teens can just get a job. In this economic climate that is far from easy.
You can only work from the age of 16, and then only restricted hours.
My friends DD spent from June onwards ( when she finished her GCSE looking for a part time job. She sent in 25 applications, and got two relies. Sadly, she didn't even get an interview.

Football boots-man size
Clothes- man size.
Football league fees every year
Food- dear god the food. Ds1 went to Bulgaria for a week recently. The amount of food I still had in the house when he came home was amazing
The "I need £10 to replace my Oyster card/train fare/lunch/whatever
Every single light on in the house at all times
The washing. I swear the boy wears 6 sets of clothes a day
Mobile phone. Mobile phone bill. Although he never ever goes over his set allowance because I will take away the phone if he does :)
Socks. They disappear
The amount of money we spend in petrol taking him to football training/football matches

Yes. They are bloody expensive. But...it's worth it. Parenting teenagers has given me more challenges than I ever imagined, I thought it would get easier as they got older. But it's really nice to see them grow into pretty nice people that you can sit down and chat with.

Dd, now she has a job. She got a job in McDonalds when her GCSEs finished and she is now very cheap to run :)
It's funny though, she used to spend my money without a second thought. Now it's her money she is spending she is a lot more careful.
She had a whole rant the other day about how expensive a weekly bus pass is.