do you give your teen a monthly allowance?

[polly28]

and how much do you give?

what it is meant to cover?

we are planning on starting one with dd who is 13,nearly 14.

she earns money now through babysitting occasionally,we are currently giving her money when she needs it,with the understanding that she earns it .She will do odd jobs around the house for extra cash but her daily chores ie.the dishes or bathing ds are not financially rewarded .


I would like to know how others deal with teaching teens the value of money.

[jessicaandbumpsmummy]

At 14 i used to get £10 a week - fullstop.

Mum and dad bought the "essentials" for me such as basic toiletries/clothes but anything fancy i wanted i bought myself.

On a saturday, i used to go to town, spend £4 on a CD, £3 in McDonalds and saved the last £3 for Youth Club on a friday night!

[motheroftwoboys]

I think it must depend on where you live. We live in a city so they do go out a lot. Better social life than me. Normal teen stuff. They do seem to eat out a lot now, much more than we did. Our older one 15 has a job so gets £50 a month from that and we give £3 a week at 13 £4 at 14 etc etc which isn't much. Realise now the little one (13)doesn't get much so wondering if we should "top him up". Also they don't get any pocket from grandparents. I occasionally put some money on their phones and seasonally put some money in their bank accounts so they can buy school shoes, jacket etc - I wouldn't attempt to try and choose for them now. I have a John Lewis account and one VERY useful thing we do is that older boy has an account card so can get school uniform himself. Must get one for younger boy. Can't recommend that one enough. I pay for birthday presents if they go to parties (nowadays it seems they just give money in a card, not so romantic but more practical). They both have proper bank accounts and cash/debit cards as I think they need to learn how to deal with these things. Some of their friends seem to get a lot more but they have to pay for more so I think it's swings and roundabouts.

[mumeeee]

My 15 year old has a £25 monthly allowence which goes into her bank account. She buys her own clothes (I buy school uniform and some footwear)and usual teen stuff eg going out, magazines etc. She usually buys her own toilitries although she is welcome to use family stuff.
My 13 year old has about £10 pound a month we buy all her clothes.
Altough we don't give our 18 year old an allowence any more she is at uni and living in halls,we are actually paying out more for her. This is because we are paying for her accomadation and her tuition fees, she pays for all her other living costs e.g uni books and equipment( she had to buy gogles and a lab coat), food and going out).