How much of an allowance to give Daughter

[Starbonnet123]

How much cash would you think appropriate to give a 16 year old starting college next week ? There is a free bus laid on to and from college so thats fares covered and she gets her phone paid for . She is aiming to get a part time job , i want her to have enough but not too much that she gets lazy and won't look for a job .

£15 a week.

Presuming you buy her clothes and toiletries, I'd say enough to eat at college - so a few quid each day, maybe £20?

Depends how much her phone is really. I probably agree with around £15 a week. I expect chores done around the house for pocket money though

Depends what you expect her to buy. My 16yo gets £70pm from me and buys all makeup,clothes and toiletries. ( no travel costs) Her phone is paid for by her Dad and she's also looking for a part-time job to boost her money before uni.

Thanks for your replies , £15 gives me a good starting point seeing as her travel and phone are paid for as are toiletries and she still lives at home .

DS 16 gets £50 per month (plus phone).

£15 wont get much lunch, my DD14 gets £20pw for school canteen.

We gave €20 and then extra jobs were posted on a board with a value and they could earn more money. Ended up getting rid of the gardener and sending out ironing for a few years. Jobs for students were hard to come by here

Mine had £16 per month. (and paid own phones)
Presuming you are paying for lunches, toiletries, clothes, and any subs / costs of activities she does / teams she belongs to.

£70 a month buys all clothes plus all those other expenses? Let’s hope she doesn’t need a coat or boots then?

Jobs can be very hard to get and they pay a few £ an hour. Babysitting pays more!

Ds (6th form) gets £40 a week. This amount covers his lunches too. Travel is free and phone paid for by dh. He pays for his own hair cuts, going out and clothes. I pay for school regulation suit and shoes and any school trips, books, etc.

This is making me feel very stingy! What are you expecting them to use the money for. DS gets £20 a month and pays for his phone from that. We pay for clothes, toiletries, lunches/ packed lunch food, travel to school.

@pepermint
£20 per month? Pays for his phone from it?
Guess he never goes anywhere with his pals? Unless you’re on a tight budget it is pretty stingy.

I think most people in the UK are on a tighter budget than most of the people on MN tbh. He has a job, and saves birthday and Christmas money. I also don't spend lots of money going out all the time. I think this is a reality for many people, just something that you don't see on MN.

If he has a job that’s all good but £20 pm for a teen without a job wouldn’t go far. I’m definitely not a MN loaded/spoil kids person. My DD14 does chores, voluntary work to guarantee her £.

Dd gets £25 per week broken down into

£10 spending money/socialising/bus into town
£5 special toiletries, make up, sanitary items
£10 clothes, books, equipment etc

I pay her phone & lunch money and buy her basic/uniform clothing items. She also has a Saturday job.

Will she need to buy lunch at college each day or does she like a packed lunch? If so I'd do whatever a sensible lunch amount is (£3? Meal deals are usually that) x5 days plus a tenner for weekend spends. So 25.

You could just direct debit, say, 100 per month into an account then if she wants she can budget.

DS gets £100 per month into his account. £60 of this is a £3 a day allowance for lunches which is what I paid for school lunches. Out of the remaining: £40 is for haircuts, clothes (though not school suit), transport, maintenance for his bike, books, music, entertainment and going out. Since he hardly goes out and isn't interesetd in clothes, it goes quite a long way! It has taught him to budget well, he shops for and makes his own packed lunches now and doesn't spend the full £15 per week!

We pay £25 / month but also pay for transport, food and phones.Both DD1 and DD2 found part time jobs that bought in around £200/ month quite quickly.

£40 month, in addition we pay travel, packed lunches, toiletries, phone and majority of clothes.

She now has a part time job and that plus the £40 pay for social life and additional clothes.

We fund mobile and travel. Food is expensive in Guernsey so we give £5 a day for lunch.

If they chose to do their chores, mine get £1 per academic year their in per week. DS never bothered with this as he preferred a part time job, DS gets £10 a week (now she's in what would be Year 10) but she has a list of age appropriate chores to do a week. They also have the option to earn more at home with more intense chores (cleaning my car, cleaning the bathrooms etc) their choice if they do or not.

I've paid for ds' bus pass and rail card and also pay for his phone and any textbooks etc as well as clothes.

He has a casual job as a lifeguard so can earn some money, it's up to him to pick up shifts when he wants cash. Also he has a small savings account separate to the longer term uni account and I am going to suggest he takes half out this year and half next year. I don't think he will be hard up. Haven't decided how much to give him for subsistence, maybe £15 a week. Gave him £10 this morning for the rest of this week.

I would say20/25 so 4/5 a day xx

Dc get 35 quid a month pocket money. I pay phone (£8 each) , school lunches (meal deal is £3.20 per day) and bus pass .
I keep them stocked in basic writing paper / folders and pens

DS ( almost 16) gets £15 a week. We pay for clothing, toiletries and phone costs, so that money goes on travel ( a lot of friends live a train ride away) , treat food or anything else he wants.

He doesn't have any set chores, however when I ask him to help with something I expect him to do it with minimal moaning....