When my children were small we gave them pocket money based on their age: 20p per year. Two of them now have mobile phones and they get £10 credit per month (they do jobs for this). I do tend to give a few quid extra now and again, like today I've given DS1 £10 to go into town on the bus and go to the cinema, but this isn't a regular thing (we live in a v small rural town, not much to do!). I buy all clothes and shoes as necessary.
Now DS1 is 15 I'm wondering whether we should change the way we do this - £3 a week seems mean! And I want him/them to learn some budgeting skills and take responsibility for their money. So I was thinking of giving him an amount per month and he has to pay for his phone top-ups, going out (cinema, bus fare etc), and clothes (not school uniform/shoes, I'll cover that for the time that remains).
So, what do you do? And if you do something like this, how does it work? Will I end up with a child dressed in rags because he blew all his allowance on the 1st of the month on whatever gadget he deemed essential to his existence that day?! And if I tough that out, will it work?