How much do teens cost??

[Heatherbell1978]

Inspired by a few threads and now looking for facts! DC are currently 6 and 8 and we're provably in a bit of a sweet spot financially with them as far as buying them 'stuff'.

Neither gets regular pocket money, 8 year old has never really asked! Both happy to wear whatever I buy and thankfully not too brand influenced (yet!), generally happy with getting stuff at Xmas and Birthdays. I do pay about £275 a month in wrap around care and need to shell out for holiday clubs. Don't do loads of expensive days out but occasional trips to zoo etc.

Appreciate that pocket money will become a thing soon and phones in the future.

What does your monthly outlay look like? (I have a boy and a girl if that makes a difference)

Mine aren't into brands really, but still pricey. DS 14 is now 6'2" with size 14 feet - he's grown out of 2 full sets of adult size clothes and shoes in 18 months. So he's not growing as fast as he was when he was a little child, but he didn't need cricket spikes, walking boots, football boots , school shoes etc then! Size 14 is beyond the range of most shoe shops!!

Bus fares, music lessons (and exams) sporting subs, big appetites, phone, school trips (Berlin and Barcelona looming), text books/set texts (state school) , logo'ed pe kit and school uniform..,, they all add up. Maybe not as much as full time nursery fees, but probably as much as wraparound care. I KNOW he doesn't HAVE to have music lessons and play cricket, but he needs to do something. I

We have a DD17 and a DS15. Biggest expenses recently have been food (DS in particular eats a lot) Like PPs, mine will sometimes eat at odd times. It doesn’t help that I am often out working in the evenings so I can’t always cook something fresh at dinner time but will always cook something earlier in the day that can be reheated later. But they sometimes ignore that and cook something else 🙄

DD is into Vinted and has a part time job so she buys her own clothes now (we will still buy essentials such as underwear, a decent coat etc).

DS spent two years growing extremely quickly so cost us a lot of money in school shoes, uniform and trainers.

Biggest expenses currently are travel to college: £1250 a year and driving lessons (plus cost of tests). She has a test book soon so 🤞

Luckily for me my teens took an active dislike for brands, apparently they’re “basic” 😆.

In terms of technology, phones etc. They were all bought as birthday/Christmas presents with small contributions from grandparents (there are six of them altogether so small amounts build up) and the larger amount from myself.
If they loose break their phones, they get the crap, old barely working one until they have saved up enough for another one or someone takes pity on them and gives them an old one.

They are not really into shopping for clothes either and have worn a lot of my DSIS’s old clothes plus have inherited my love of charity shops!

TBH, they’re only expensive as you let them. My two knew there was little money so never pushed for material things.

School trips can be expensive, depending on the school. My eldest’s high school were always going away in trips. She only did a few of them.

Mine is heavily into brands. They all are round here. Mostly Nike. But North Face too. They all want a Tech Fleece which is a hoodie which is £110. Mine doesn't have one and is apparently the only one! Even the socks. Wanted nike socks even for school. Madness.

Phone. Football subs. Keeping them in shoes. Footie boots. Astro trainers. Normal trainers for PE and home. Pocket money. Not huge amounts but is a social butterfly and likes to have money for a drink or McDS when out. Lunch money-but i also fed him at primary school.

The present's get bigger and more expensive like an xbox-but thats a once in 5 year splurge etc. Occasional new games.

Appreciates eating out and takeaway.

But lovely and appreciative and accepts when i say no, its too much. Or ill pay half etc.

TBH, they’re only expensive as you let them. My two knew there was little money so never pushed for material things.

DS is the same, we were poor when he was younger and low income now. He could understand what was worth spending money on and what wasn't at a young age.

Vinted is your friend when it comes to brands. Especially as synthetics wash better than cotton.

Also saying no.

@Heatherbell1978

Be prepared is all
Il say

Driving lessons for one at £320 every five weeks but she does have a holiday job so covers any extras she wants.

Clothes and shoe wise I'd say I've probably spent around £3-£400 since Xmas.

The tween nearly teen just needed new trainers at £100 and a recent trip for clothes was over £300 and that's the second trip since Xmas so branded is hard.

We do a mix as shein and Primark are great for essentials but not made well enough to last the test

One of mine started learning at the very beginning of 2020, spent a fortune on lessons in between lockdowns, couldn't get a theory test, managed to get one, passed but couldn't get a driving test in before Uni and hasn't managed to get one since due to strikes, cancellations and a lack of examiners in our area. Theory test runs out this month so he'll have to do it all again. It's 3.5yrs since he started learning. We pay for a few lessons each holiday then every test he's booked has been cancelled and now we have the next child down learning too. What a pointless waste of money that's been.

It's awful isn't it! We have paid to download various apps to get cancellations and got nothing. How on earth are kids supposed to get their driving licence when there is no access to tests 😔 it's all made me so cross!!

Such an interesting thread to read. My son is just a toddler now so it's close to impossible to imagine him as a teen but I've enjoyed reading about what other posters teens are into and their different attitudes towards "stuff".

DS was like your 2 and then he discovered an expensive hobby.

I've spent £000s on kit, equipment, entry fees and traipsing round the country to events.

Also clothes - you don't realise how cheap children's clothes are until you have to start buying adult sizes!!!

I've no idea why parents feel they should be paying for driving lessons? If they are old enough to get behind the wheel of something that could kill them or others they are old enough to be working to pay for it

MN really is a different world at times
Why should kids be given a car on a platter?

I've just had D of E flashbacks. The school provided the tent and cooking equipment. But the decent socks, sleeping bag and ready meals nearly bankrupted me last summer.

My 15yr old DD is not too expensive at all. Happy with Primark, not bothered about brands. The only thing she asked for were a pair of converse hi tops that we got her for Xmas. She has my old decent phone. She has £10pm giffgaff and £20pm pocket money.

My son never got the opportunity to be brand conscious- he got what I deemed was suitable and in budget when I was paying. Basically he usually got the pick of what he fancied in TK Maxx. To be fair he never seemed that bothered about expensive clothes, he liked comfort and a jeans/T-shirt/hoody style- at 25 he still isn't bothered.

I used the wrap around care money to pay for school transport when they were at high school.

The most expensive things were laptops, phones, sports equipment, musical instruments, braces, and driving lessons.

Most of those (not braces!) we're birthday and Christmas presents.

Just when you think it's nearly over they want to go to uni in central London and realise you should have been saving for this since their birth.

Teen years are fine from 16 once they have jobs...the REALLY tough period is 18 to early 20's...driving lessons, uni (omg the rent...the rent) and...then it is my dream to help them with house deposits if able. Ouch

A lot of these expenses are entirely optional, no DC needs designer brands or the latest iPhone just because 'everyone else has one'. My DS had a paper round job from 14 and various pot wash/waiter/bar jobs part time until he went to Uni .. then got a really good part time job in a football club (ideal if you want to get paid to watch football). He also has a love of charity shops and selling his old stuff (which is ex charity shop ... ) on Vinted etc. The main expense was supporting his sporting hobby, but again kit was usually a Christmas or birthday present.
Agree that topping up the maintenance loan at Uni needs to be budgeted for.

Well, a lot of things with DC are optional. There is no law saying your child must have swimming lessons or ever have a mobile phone, or be given the opportunity to learn a musical instrument or play a sport outside of school. There is no law saying a child must have clothes they like, not just hand downs that are free. There is no law saying a child's birthday must be celebrated. It's all optional. But parents tend to give their child as many experiences and. nice things as they can afford.

Tech is the biggest expense. Neither of mine cared about brands, dd1 had her own sense of style and was happy to buy seasalt/white stuff/joules soft dresses from charity shops or knock offs from the market. Dd2 was happy to have her money and buy in primark, both earned money from 10.

The expensive time is university, 2 at once for me!

I did spend a lot on extra curricular music but that is a choice and dd2's dla funded hers

In terms of complulsory purchases.

My teen eats twice as many calories as i do. He is a very sporty growing boy/man.

He uses soap, deoderant, shaving bits more than an 8 year old.

he has a bit more washing as it takes up more space.

He needs a device to do his homework on. Most of his homework is app based/online learning based. He could share bit its a couple of hours a night when i coukdnt then do my work.

He has to have school uniform. This was £300 in year 7 and then a rolling £100 a year replacing shoes, etc when he outgrew them. I never had any luck with second hand school and pe shoes. Or shirts etc. The only thing was jumpers.

I don’t have teens yet but i can say for sure as a teenager I did not get some of the things being posted here. I’m not sure that’s such a bad thing for me. My parents couldn’t afford it, now being in a different position myself with my children. Just because I could doesn’t mean I should.

Being told no was a good lesson.

I went out as soon as I could and got a little part time job and build up my own money for those luxuries.

At age 17, minimum wage is £5 an hour. Driving lessons where I live are £40 an hour. My son does have a part time job, but he wouldn't even earn enough weekly to pay for a 2 hour driving lesson. He would have to work for 12 hours to pay for the test. So, if I hadn't paid for his lessons, he wouldn't have been able to do them!

My parents never paid for my driving lessons and I still can't drive because I never learned at age 17. I have tried as an adult and found it super tricky, and now cannot afford to do it for myself along with everything else. And it is a pain.

I want my kids to have better opportunities than I did.

It's weird that you would have "no idea" about why parents might help their kids by paying for driving lessons. At age 17 they can't just "get a job" to pay for everything, part time jobs pay shit wages for under 18s, and I also want my kids to have time to study and not be having to work every spare hour they aren't in school!

If your kids have been able to get higher paying jobs in an area where driving lessons are significantly cheaper than £40 then they are lucky but it isn't that way for everyone!!