How much does your teen cost?

[candlelightees]

I am a teacher and yesterday I overheard some cheeky chappies saying the government pays for them in the form of child benefit. This opened a discussion. Other students chipped in. It seemed some were self aware, others not so much.

I added up my own teen cost minus the grocery/household share. Didn't realise how expensive they actually are.

Transport- £20
Lunch money-£60
Counselling- £180
Clothes-£50 (always something wearing out)
Horesriding-£100
Pocket money-£100
Phone bill-£50
Total £560

Plus the commom texts. ' please can I have £20 to go out with so and so?' Can I get my nails, eyelashes, highlights done?

I realise a lot of this could be cut. But I think lots of people spend a lot on teens. They are bloody expensive.

I agree about the unsolicited advice. 😂

Also agree about childcare, I was a SAHM so didn’t have that expense, but I know people paying thousands for a couple of kids in nursery, so even if you give teens a good allowance, driving lessons, pay for phones and hobbies etc, it’s usually still cheaper than those years you need childcare. You’ll be rich when they’re teens. 😂

My children realise how fortunate they are, lots will.

I didn’t pay for childcare as I stayed home and my teen is very cheap to keep.
Still not rich though. 😂

Obviously the answer is to pay the DC to do the cleaning. I'll be doing this as soon as my DC are in secondary.

Will you now.

We don't pay for chores, I don't get paid for chores so it doesn't make sense to pay children/teens to do them, they will have to do it for free when they're older. They need to learn that part of living with other people and being respectful is that we all have to chip in.

£400 for food for one person? Have you got mug stamped on your forehead?

@CaptainCabinetsTrappedInCabinets
I've given it a lot of thought, but, I can afford it, and she eats incredibly healthily, so, why not? She knows what it costs, and has decided that she intends to prioritise eating like this as an adult (we'll see!) so is thus trying hard at school to get the grades to get the job that will fund it. I cannot see anything wrong with this.

My teen per month

School dinners: £80
mobile: £8
Scouts: £12
instrument 1: £60
instrument 2: £65
sport 1:1’s: £280
group sport: £120
Gym costs linked to sport including strength and conditioning: £134

then there are the usual haircuts, clothes, shoes. No pocket money given - they have enough due to activities, so if need something then I also pay for that.

She will soon stop eating whole food when she moves out and has to buy her own. I can't believe how spoilt so many teens are and then we wonder why they can't function in the adult world

So many judgemental people on here. 🙄

Maybe she will @Differentstarts

But why not buy her healthy foods for now (even if expensive) given I can afford it?

I'm finding the notion that she's spoilt because I buy her the steak that she wants to eat rather than chicken nuggets which she doesn't, quite strange. But even if it is spoilt, I am totally happy to indulge it. Likewise an expensive hobby which is also good for them.

For me, it's the goady assumption that people paying more are crazy and doing their kids no good.

I grew up super low income, had none of what I see listed here, and I understand not everyone can afford it. But absolutely my DS will have most of these opportunities, because though I hope to teach him the value of money in other ways it won't be by making sure he has the cheapest version of everything. I don't want him to have to 'learn' that we can't afford to do sports/activities/social things because somehow that's good for him 'so he won't be spoilt' 😬

I am chaildfree, reading parents of teenagers here is eye opener.

It's interesting the kickback you're getting on this. For a 'good' week here, I'd probably spend about that - wide variety of veggies, good quality protein, lots of nuts and seeds. Personally, it has a huge impact on my life when I'm eating like this (I don't always!) and I feel so much healthier, happier and clear headed. I understand if you can't afford it, but if you can and your child wants to eat that way, why wouldn't you want your child to have the best they can as it does make a huge difference in terms of energy/lifestyle.

At Uni was the expensive time for us
we paid them £1100 a month to cover rent and everything else

I am sure many do, but some pp's comments suggest their children really don't see it at all.

So many people encouraging very 'high maintenance' with no thought for how it's paid for too though.

There's not necessarily anything wrong with eating healthily and paying a premium to do so, but it's also a good idea for the child to know just how much this costs. Many teens have no idea how much food costs!

Hah! Just wait until they go to university. We had two teenagers away at university and only entitled to the very lowest maintenance grant (so only £4.2K each per year).

Between them they were costing us just over £2K per month.

Nobody said that though, don't misrepresent.

Why do parents HAVE to pay this though? Maybe you have to be realistic about them contributing? Take a year out and save, as many of my son's friends are planning, or study part time?

It's definitely privileged for a child to request steak routinely. If you are fine with that then so be it, but don't argue otherwise. Healthy eating doesn't have to involve steak either!

We (try) to only eat whole foods, including only eating home made bread, food bills are still only £150 a week for the 4 of us.

I am all for healthy eating and feel no guilt for having a perhaps higher than average food bill to nutritionally feed growing teens, but def doesn't need to cost £100 per week per teen. Unless you want to of course, I don't think there's anything wrong in teaching teens to prioritise their health, we do seem to think food should be as cheap as possible tolerating poorer quality food as a result, but I suppose it's important to teach them how to do that on a budget as they likely have to have a period of life on a budget.

Exactly.
Nails and eyelashes, fgs why?
😂

You don’t have to, but most parents I know do because they want to help their children, especially when their loans don’t even cover rent.

We didn't have to pay this as parents, but we wanted to and we could afford it. So we did. They both had part time jobs at university so they did also contribute.

Wowsers £100 pocket money plus all the extras?

I don't spend £50 on a phone! 😆