To think £5 a week is enough pocket money?

[Childrenofthestones]

12 and 15 yr olds.
We pay everything else, phone contracts, bus fares when they go out with friends, treats etc. They do no chores for this.
Is this enough?
I guess I am asking is what is the going rate?

bereal so your brother will get about £100 per month to buy clothes and anything else for his own pleasure.

Is it normal to have £100+ spare money for clothes etc each month for each adult in the household where you live?

Do you think it's normal for every adult to have that much spare cash to spend?

Because, if I look around me, it certainly isn't and I really believe that we do our children/teenagers no favour at all to teach that they 'ought' or are entitled to get that much as a teenager and therefore as an adult later on. They will lead an awfully sad life if they go on thinking they are entitled to that much and they can't get it.

Kevin I hugely disagree with you.
DS 1 got £20 a week from his 13th birthday. At 14 he was working so he had £60 a week disposable income =£240 a month.

I paid for basic clothes and if he wanted more he bought them himself, I paid (still do ) for his phone and still pay for most of his toiletries.
He is 19 now and on an apprentiship so he now has less disposable income than between the ages of 14 and 17. Most of his money (£125pw) goes into savings, his pension plan or running his car.
I didn't expect him to do chores for money. I expected him to do chores when asked.

DS saved up most of the money he earned. He left school and all he wanted to do was get a job and work. He now has a healthy bank account was able to pay £4,500 for his car insurance.

This week I have paid for him and his girlfriend to join us at the cinema and to a gig and also paid for a meal.
He doesn't expect it and it's nice to treat him ( and his brother)

He may as well enjoy saving while he can.

Kevin - I think a lot of adults do have £100 per month to spend as they wish and a lot of adults don't. Adults spend money differently to teenagers. An adult might smoke and cigarettes are expensive. They might buy wine / other alcohol to drink at home, they might go to the pub or meet friends for a meal at a restaurant, they have to buy some clothes even if they are not bothered about the latest fashions because clothes need replacing periodically. Adults also have mobile phone bills, some have gym memberships, they go to the hairdresser. It's not difficult to see how many adults get through £100 per month on personal spending.
I don't think I will be able to afford to give any of my children £100 per month when they are teenagers but I will give them at least £10 per week and pay for their phones, school bus fares and lunch monies and buy their clothes. Thinking about it.....it might be cheaper to give them £100 per month and let them fund the above mentioned things out of that £100, hmmmmm.

I don't think I will be able to afford to give any of my children £100 per month when they are teenagers but I will give them at least £10 per week and pay for their phones, school bus fares and lunch monies and buy their clothes. Thinking about it.....it might be cheaper to give them £100 per month and let them fund the above mentioned things out of that £100, hmmmmm

That was exactly my train of though and it's worked really well giving the teens £100 per month. They have to make lots of decisions about what to spend it on, e.g. school lunch x 2 or go to the cinema on Friday night, a better phone contract or more clothes, etc. It's also nice that they don't have to keep asking me for money and that they can buy me a birthday present out of their 'own' money. It enables me to budget far better too.

kevin I forgot to add my post that yes, some adults may not have £100 a month to spend on clothes etc there are plenty that do.

We get through more than £100 on 1 night out most weeks. DS 1 and2 would struggle if I didn't top up their £20 a week. For a start their sports training is £100 per month each before they even get on the ice, gym membership is £20 each per month, new skates are £500 every 9 months etc etc! £20 a week per child is just a drop compared to what they cost and because I pay it doesn't mean they are going to have hard life or a sense of entitlement.

I do think the amount of pocket money given depends on individual families financial circumstances. The amount also depends on age. At 15 we were paying for phone contracts, clothes, hobbies, social outings etc. At 15 £5 wouldn't have gone very far. By 17 we were paying for driving lessons on top of those things. By 18 the amount included car, car insurance, road tax, holidays etc. All 4 of our children worked from age 17 part time. All 4 are sensible with money.