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?

We are paying for half of dds driving lessons, she is saving now for the other half. We will do the same for the other 2. The reason why? Because we can and because we want to. It doesn't make sense to me to make them wait until they can afford driving lessons, insurance etc themselves because when will that be? They will be in school until 18 so only able to work part time. Then hopefully off to uni, again only able to work part time. Why not help them out?
And, no they do not "need" expensive tech etc. but do we all only buy our Dcs what they "need"
Isn't it nice sometimes to buy them something they want, just because they want it?
Obviously I'm not saying go out and buy them every expensive gadget they ever ask for, but surely it doesn't always have to be the basic essentials and nothing else?

I have a tiny teen, so he's quite cheap to run (so far). Age 10 clothes, size 2.5 feet, happy with charity shop clothes and would wear a onesie all day if I let him!
Eats hardly anything, I'm hoping he'll find an appetite at some point as his peers now tower over him even though he's old in the year.
Hobbies are fairly cheap, mostly Scouting stuff and rugby, hobby costs are £22 a month.
I give him £5 a month pocket money and he hardly spends any of it.
His "gadgets" are a second-hand Wii and a raspberry Pi, neither of which cost much. He doesn't want a phone.
My advice is to raise a geek, they're much cheaper than cool kids .

We paid for DS for his 17th birthday to have lessons for various reasons. The main one was to assist with job hunting and be a positive asset on his cv. It paid off. Although he doesn't have a car for personal use he drives the works van to different places. 5 days free passing his test he drove the van from Burnley to Heathrow ( which I'm glad I didn't find out about until later!)

Those saying that smaller kids are cheaper clearly aren't buying size 12 shoes, helping them out with work kit, buying adult meals when you go out for a family meal. You don't get the kids go free on holidays anymore.
Little kids don't have phones ( thank god for mobiles!). T shirts that cost about 4 or 5 quid in George are now NIke or DC that cost 30 pound. Those that say do they need expensive clothes, well when you were a teenager didn't you like to be fashionable. I did. My mum liked me looking trendy and I like the same for my kids.

I like the boys to have a bit of money in their pocket as an emergency ( if in case they are stuck or if they are out with their mates and something crops up)

I can't be doing with all the cat bum faces saying ' well, when I was young I didn't have a, b or c. I was expected to get a job'. So bloody what! My eldest does have a job but he is trying to save as much of it as he can because the next thing will be a huge deposit for a mortgage He puts 3/4s of his £125 a week away and lives off the rest. This is why I am happy to pay for everything else.

Yes! Afraid so.
Transport,
Clothes
Allowance
Trips
The list is endless before you even take into account the vast quantities of food they eat! I swear my 16 year old eats more than the other 4 of us put together.

RaRa I think your teens sound lovely, and I'm sure there is a link between what you don't give them and what they don't expect.
I hope I don't feel pressured into indulging mine as a teen either, I want him to have at least a bit of get up and go and appreciation for what he has, household gadgets are fine all teens don't 'need' their own. I also think its fine to ask what sports etc they would prefer to do, to me that's more important practice for real life to understand you can't take up everything that is put under your nose, adults have to choose their treats carefully and also have the responsibility of earning the money for them.

Hmm...

pre-school = nursery fees £££. Presents = even wrapping paper will do!

primary school = after-school club and extra-curricular £££. Presents get more expensive

secondary school = clothes, shoes, £££ gadgets, going out...

I seem to shell out more cash for my teens, but I think the nursery fees must have been about the same!

when ds was small I could get away with buying clothes from the next sales and getting stuff second hand, he never knew

last night we went to the shops, he has a party on saturday, he got a cotton jacket and shirt for it...cost £175!!!!!

I want my kids to fit in, they are by no means spoiled, friends of theirs get so much more, hes 16

in answer to op, YES!!!!

flip chart I have similar outlook. Life is hard enough to go without too much. No, don't think one needs to be spoilt but having nice treats without worrying is great.

He's so grateful for his clothes and spent the £75 himself from his part time job, he hardly asks for anything but when he does it isnt cheap

Now both boys are at high school I suddenly have money to go on foreign holidays and buy myself treats.
It helps that ds1 us untypical in eating no more than normal adult, is a hermit with no desire for phone/going out/hobbies. Now he's reached 6' he seems to have stopped growing and he's uninterested in designer clothes so the ones I bought in the last couple of years will get a chance to wear out before needing replacing. And he's gone off family holidays with me and ds2 so he goes to his dads while we go off on jollies.
He's got an expensive PC, but is quite happy with my old iPad.
I give him £5 pocket money a week, but he's got over £400 of that sitting unused as he switched to steam games rather than xbox and doesn't need a new one every week like ds2 would like.
So it depends on whether you used to pay for childcare and what type if teen they are as to how well off )or not) you feel.

Yes,they are in our house.
5DC 6 DD,11 DD,12 DS,16 DS,18 DS.

The uniform is a lot more expensive in general when they start at secondary school.
All of our 4 older DC are in adult clothes and shoes although 6 year old DD has just gone into lady's shoes size 4 as well(I would go and have giants)so I should only really have 2 teenagers costing me a fortune but when it comes to clothes and shoes nearly all 5 DC are in adult sizes all ready.

The clothes,shoes and trainers cost us more for the older two as they're into brand names now.The 4 oldest cost us a small fortune in body sprays,deodorant's,perfume,aftershave,hair products anything to do with pampering and preening themselves really.

The oldest 4 are all into gadgets so that adds a fare wack to the budget each year along with mobile phone's and credit for they're phone's.

And the oldest two have hollow legs,they could eat for England.16 year old is a Rugby player and has a broader chest than most men and is nearly 6ft and oldest(18 year old)works now and has a very physical job,does weight lifting and is over 6ft tall so they both need to eat a lot to sustain they're size.

The good thing though is the older two would rather earn money than take money of Mum and Dad(which were both really proud of them for)and were both big softy's so they know they'd only have to ask for money but they don't.Oldest is in full time work and pays keep now and second oldest is in full time school but does dog walking every day as well to earn some money.

I hate the "none of this is necessary" shit that gets peddled! It is necessary in our family, in our circumstances!

It was invaluable to me that DS1 could drive when DH was away for four months last year, and I miss that he is not here to help me out with the driving anymore, so it will be invaluable that DS2 can drive.

School books are necessary because the school don't provide them. DS2 needs a laptop because he types his exams and is allowed to type his work up at school, again not provided. Yes, they have iPads that aren't necessary but so do lots of kids.

Clothes and shoes have to be bought, I'm not quite sure DS2's teachers and friends are up to him being in the nude! They have basic clothes, as well as named. The named is usually presents at Christmas and Birthdays.

It's pointless comparing it to what we had as teens because all the gadgets and tech weren't available then and I'm sure if it was a lot of us would have had them!

I'm another in the no camp.

I have 2, 17 and a now 21 who's left home now. We don't do designer clothes, both were happy with mediocre mobiles and didn't feel they needed the latest models. Christmas had a limit of £150 per child and though that has risen a little from when they were younger I don't consider it ott.

Driving lessons they are fortunate to have 2 nans who split that but car insurance is paid for by their part time jobs. They both had an endowment policy which went towards first cars.

I've found with mine they are only as expensive as I want to make them.

My two were both more expensive as teenagers, for all the sensible reasons given here such as food and clothing and resources. Easier when they'd stopped growing.
Neither of them were demanding. Getting DD through uni was a financial challenge too.
Think about the basics you need as an adult and multiply that by how many children you have.

Three teens as of next week (gulp). On top of food plus gin for parents we have:

Compulsory payments for school/6th form, £240.
Bus pass, £650 each.
'Voluntary' payments for curricular trips, god knows.
Oh, and one of them apparently 'needs' a replacement tuba...

Ah yes, uniform. I was in the 'anything roughly the right colour' camp for primary. Secondary has logos on everything, and teenagers appear to be even harder on their clothes than toddlers, even if they can operate the washer themselves.

Yes!!!!
Dd (7 yo) school shoes 7.99 will do for now as she scuffs the toes of "every" pair.
Ds (13) school boots £65
A couple of examples spring to mind....
Under 2 yo can sit on your lap during a flight.
Under 5 are often free admission, some places kids eat free with adult meals.
Around 12-5 (age varies a lot) you have to pay adult prices.

I suppose it depends if you have to pay childcare fees for pre schoolers.
Nursery vs teenage (clothes, activities, gadgets, food, social life) costs would be pretty similar.

12-15 yo nor 12-5 .... Sorry

OMG, I have just remembered witnessing my Friends teen boys . 14 and 17 raiding the fridge one day over the Summer holidays. Honestly, it was a sight to behold. I was there for just over two hours. The amount of food/ snacks they put away in that time was truely remarkable.
They are both healthy boys, at a normal weight, - but eat a [lot].

Now my 11 year old is getting bigger (his feet are the same size as mine!) I have noticed that it costs the same as adult to clothe him.
His school shoes were £30!
His jeans/joggers/tops/coats etc are all expensive (not branded)
He and his brother will need new snowboots soon...

Don't get the relevance of comparing what we had as teens to what our children want/ have now. Times have changed, and for the better mainly. It is a different world. I'm very happy to embrace it..

When I was at uni, no one had a lock on their room door, nothing worth taking.

Ah the food....

3 teenagers who can inhale the contents of the fridge while asking what is for dinner.

Whenever I see the MN boasts of feeding a family of 5 for a week with a single scrawny chicken I always see later that all children are under 10.