Appropriate pocket money for 14 year old girl

[tooposh2push]

Would be really interested in what other parents do about pocket money.

Currently we give DD £5 / week, plus occasional opportunities to earn more doing chores. We pay for all toiletries etc, clothes, mobile phone and transport so the £5 is just for entertainment.

I'm starting to feel this is a bit mean and would be better to give her more (maybe into her bank account) but expect her to buy more for herself.

Any feedback much appreciated xx

[NoNoNoNo]

have a 17yo, a 16yo and a 12yo and we never really got around to regular pocket money. We keep the phones topped up, within reason, and every so often when they really need clothes we give them money to shop for them. Typically, that might be about 90 pounds each every two months or so. We buy food for their pets, and I'm sure there are other regular things.

if they are going anywhere with friends, we give them a little spending money, but most of their cash for things like cinema and spending comes from working. The oldest earns money doing garden work in the neighbourhood, and we give the younger ones money for things like mowing the lawn, or cleaning cars etc. They are expected to do other jobs, though, for no money, such as keeping their rooms clean (in theory!) and so on.

still, we dripfeed cash to them all the time in small amounts. We're just making up as we go along, really. Now that the 17yo is "taking a drink" as they say around here, I draw the line at giving him beermoney

[corns1lk]

I give half their age. May have to increase it when they are older though.

[NoNoNoNo]

Cat, all our kids bring supermarket food to the cinema, and get almost all of their reading from the library etc, but I really noticed a change in their social lives once they hit 16 or so. They start moving out then into their own social circles, and need a little money. We just try to make sure that as far as possible it's their money, not ours

[NoNoNoNo]

Yeah, that makes lots of sense, Cat. I'm really glad (and feel lucky) that so far our lads understand the value of money and how hard it is to earn it, so they make judgements on how they want to spend the little they have. And they don't have any automatic link between having enjoyable free time and spending cash. Which I suspect is the same with your son, and is a really good thing

In general, of course. We're far from perfect here, and as I said, we do dribble a little cash their way in a random way. But it's little enough that they appreciate when we give them something like three euro or so.

[bluesky4]

I think £5 a week is about right.



Mine gets the same, but has to pay for music downloads, entertainment etc.

[jellybeans]

We give DD about £5 a week but am thinking of moving to an allowance. I like the idea of her earning extra for good behaviour.

We pay for haircuts, clothes, guides, swimming, phone credit, trips to cinema (wants £12 a time aswell not just the entry!!) bowling etc, dinner money which adds up to alot and she is always asking for more!! She also wants to buy her friends presents for Xmas/birthdays (she has lots of friends, almost one birthday a week) so I grab bargains from the £1 shop etc for her to give them. Teenagers cost a bomb!!

[Ineed2]

Dd2 [14] gets £5 a week if she tidies her room, I pay for her phone £10 a month, but she is costing us a bomb especially in the holidays I have read this thread with interest as am thinking of giving her more but into a bank account so its not lying around the house to be wasted. Dd1 was and still is useless with money so need to make sure Dd2 doesn't follow in her footsteps!!

[dilucas4444]

Well, my daughter doesn't get paid (she's 13 but does a few odd jobs every now and then and looks after her almost-4 year old bro when I go to Yoga) but her classmates are getting paid around $60 AUD a fortnight, which is out of our budget. She's decided to save up for an iPhone (wants to do it herself) but wants pocket money so what should I give her?

[notagiraffe]

DS (aged 14) gets £5 a week during term time but £15-20 a week in the holidays which vanishes on cinema, bowling, trips to town with mates, pizzas etc. On top I pay for phone, toiletries, travel expenses, clothes, friends' birthday presents, any books they want, and they get magazines on subscription, but they buy their own music and sweets from that £5 weekly allowance. In addition, my dad usually gives them a couple of pounds each time he sees them, and I always give extra if it's mufti day etc, so it averages out at about £10 a week.

I'd prefer to give them a lot more each month and have them manage the money themselves, but I work freelance and my own pay is unpredictable, so I like to keep regular outgoings low. Think I'll review it soon though. £5pw is not enough for them to learn how to manage money.

[Meadows76]

Mine gets £20 a week. That's the cost of a trip into town and lunch. There would be no change off a £20 note from that. She doesn't gonit o town every week of course so often has plenty to spend on wherever she wants when she does go. I pay for her phone, clothes etc.

[DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen]

Ds is 15 and gets 20 a month.

[Roseformeplease]

We give DD14 and DS16 both £50 a month. But this covers everything - phone, trips out, transport, clothes (we don't have school uniform here, so clothes for school too), DD's make up, shoes.

I buy toiletries for them (not special fancy ones but they go in the weekly shop) and give them separate lunch money.

They both have part time jobs and seem to have tonnes of money. We give some clothes at birthday and Christmas so they do have a twice yearly top up. This often includes a pair of shoes and a coat, if needed.

They are both brilliant at managing money as a result.

[Balletgirlmum]

Dd has just turned 15 & gets £35 per month. Out of that she pays £10 phone top up & she chooses to pay a monthly Netflix subscription. If she goes into town with her friends after school she has to pay train fayre home. If I can't pick her up after school for any reason I give her extra for train regardless of whether she combines it with socialising.

Ds is 12 & gets £22 per month but we pay his phone & I put an extra £4 per month onto his lunch account for treats as he sometimes goes to the school cafe/snack bar after school.

[memyselfandaye]

I doubt the OP cares anymore, it's a 6yr old zombie thread, her daughter is now a 20yr old woman.

[DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen]

Oh ffs

[JustDanceAddict]

£50 per month into bank account to pay for:
Going out
Non-essential clothes, and make-up
Sometimes bday presents for friends depending on how many she has that month.
She also sells her unwanted clothes as well as being available for babysitting, but she hasn't done much yet as is only 14.