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)

@CatherinedeBourgh yeah until they decide to malfunction on the motorway 😱

Can someone tell me about braces please? Apparently DS will need braces at some point. How does this work -are they provided by the NHS, but the waiting lists are so long that people are paying for them privately?

Your statistics show that teenagers are safer than 20-29 years olds...

(And the 20-29 year olds will probably be the ones most likely to be able to fund their own lessons!)

Sadly that can already happen! If your brakes fail on the motorway you are truly fucked.

Think they get it under the nhs if they are still in full time education (up to first year of uni) if that's when they get fitted

@WordtoYoMumma that's only because there are less 16-19 years old driving then there are 20 plus year olds

Re braces -it depends whether the8r teeth are 'bad' enough to qualify for NHS treatment. There are specific measurements to determine that. If not, then you pay regardless. If they do qualify, then they can get it free, but the waiting list might be a couple of years, and there might be other restrictions like appointments only during the school day for NHS patients ( they need appointments every few weeks). So lots pf people decide to pay anyway.

Thanks for the braces info, and sorry for the de-rail 🙂.

I think DS has been referred for assessment for braces, so is likely to be eligible. But yes, I definitely don't want this to go on forever / over exam years etc. Ho hum.

🤣 that’s a lot

Argh, I will update about braces in a few weeks. "Going private" we still have had a 5 month wait from dentist flagging the problem to initial consult with orthodontist. That appointment is in 10 days time, £80, and is just to let us know how bad it would be if DS waits another 2 years to even start treatment.

Imho, I found the early pre school years the most expensive,then university years.
back then though, there was no government support for nursery. My wage was virtually wiped out on just childcare costs. I worked because of career continuity and pension , that was it…but it was worthwhile in longer run.
we were more in debt, more living cheque by cheque, bill by bill in those early years. A real struggle.
once they were both in school it eased significantly , we just absorbed as it came, cut our cloth to suit. We had to say no to stuff- no big brands, no expensive school trips like skiing ( the standard ones we always funded), not a holiday every year. But it want the same grinding near poverty feeling we’d had when they were pre school.

Sports, sports and more sports. Monday is just a Maths tutor. Tuesday Karate, Wednesday Crav Magar, Thursday cricket training for 2 hours and it's 20 miles away so I have to sit in my car and wait for him as if I drove home I'd have to leave 20 mins later to collect. Friday cricket coaching, Saturday cricket match, Sunday cricket match. Sports kits are expensive, as are karate gradings, and cricket gear. There is also training gear for cricket. As he plays for a club and county there are 2 kits to buy. Also long drives when he plays an away game too. Teens eat so much food. My teen eats high protein and lowish fat for energy for sports. Also he swims and runs around a lake near us. His college is 34 miles away so I have to drive there twice every day to drop and collect. He is off on a cricket trip to Dubai in the October half term and that cost £2500 plus spending money. He wears mostly sports brands, he likes New Balance, but won't wear Nike because he disagrees with men competing in women's sports. Pocket money £12 a week. Lunch money for college £5 per day. Extra money for bowling with his friends. I don't mind driving him around and I love watching him play cricket. Driving lessons in a couple of years will be expensive. He has an expensive taste in suits and ties too. DH took him to choose a new suit for his prom he chose the most expensive one in M&S and picked a silk tie too. He always chooses expensive items from the menu when we eat out usually King prawns or steak. Luckily I have only one teen left. Other children are adults now. He costs about £100 each week for his activities. It's more in the winter as instead of matches it's training and 1-1 coaching sessions.

I'm a single parent so on a budget, dd is now 17yo.

I give her £20 a month for toiletries, I pay towards clothes if there's something she wants.

£10 a month on a phone contract.

The main cost I notice is food, teens eat a lot.

She has a PT job and is good with money so doesn't tend to waste it, she's got a fair amount saved up.

She's never been one for branded clothes which is probably because I would never have bought them for her!

Feel so lucky reading all the braces chat. Both of my DCs had NHS orthodontic treatment and didn’t have to wait long at all. DD’s teeth were at the less severe end of the measurement criteria, but she just about qualified and started the treatment within a few months of the consultation.

As for DS, there was no doubt at all that he would qualify as his teeth are extremely crooked. His teeth are large and strong and his mouth is small! His lateral incisors are currently almost directly behind his central incisors so there is a lot of work to do. He was referred and he didn’t have to wait long for the consultation. He ended up waiting more than a year for treatment to start, not because of waiting lists, but because his remaining baby teeth refused to come out so were eventually extracted then followed by extractions of adult teeth which delayed the whole process but has his braces on now, aged just 15, and he’ll have them on for around two years, so through GCSEs and into college.

Am really grateful to have a good and quick NHD dental and orthodontic service in my town! I know how unusual it is.

DS2 got private braces in the end as he met all the criteria to have them done on the NHS apart from one which meant they wouldn’t do anything for potentially a couple of years.

He had a tooth stuck up in his gum and they wouldn’t put them on until that was down. His teeth were AWFUL, not just a bit crooked and as he was 15 already, it was affecting his confidence and we didn’t want him not even getting started with them until he was in college. Braces have now been on a year, teeth getting nice and straight and the tooth in the gum still isn’t properly down, so even though it nearly bankrupted us, I think we did the right thing.

Brace yourself for 16-18…Prom, driving lessons, uni (probably spent the best part of £1k doing open days and offer holders days…now the expense of kitting her out before she goes).

Tbf DD has worked since she finished her GCSEs so buys her own clothes, toiletries etc and contributes to her car insurance but it’s been bloody hard going.

Indeed😂 If your teen is real then he's a lucky chap.

Lots of mixed responses, thank you, and I suppose we'll find a balance. I wasn't given nearly as much as some teens on this thread and I'm from a fairly comfortable background but I know times have changed too.

I've been saving for DC for a few years now, just chipping away into savings accounts in their name which might be around £12-15k each at 18 which in theory they can do what they want with but I'll suggest driving lessons/car etc could be a good investment...I didn't learn until I was 23, earning decent money, and could fund it myself so I don't feel quite as strongly about paying lessons for them at 17.

The NHS criteria for braces means teeth have to been quite severely crooked to qualify. You can Google the criteria - my DD didn't qualify for nhs braces, but her front teeth were crooked so I chose to pay. I believe it was well worth the £2200.

Some of these are discretionary (if my DC wanted brands they were birthday presents). Plus both my DC got part time jobs at 16 and they now self fund a lot of the "wants" and socialising.

In terms of the less discretionary I'd say:
a laptop (made life much easier than other devices lower down the school and an essential now for DD taking 3 essay subject A Levels);

various other educational related items such as set books, revision guides, stationary, calculator, language dictionaries etc;

school trips (not optional if needed for GCSE)

items to support hobbies (especially if these were linked to exams or related to future career choices)

University open days/travel (or ditto for apprenticeships/jobs)

greater food costs as they eat more

greater eating out costs as they eat more

days out involve money - the park with a picnic no longer cuts it

Exactly this. My 15YO is NEVER full and ALWAYS at some training or event or some such.

Hes not into branded clothing though and is working so that saves me some ££.

School bus £900 a year though