Talk to me about allowance

[misspollysdolly]

DD is 13 - she will be 14 in early-October. She is generally pretty well behaved, gaining in independence but at times very angsty and stroppy. For the most part a normal teen I guess

We have never been a pocket money family but she does have a savings account and I have just changed this over from a 'passbook' account to a card access account because I am planning to start giving her some sort of allowance. But there I am a bit unsure of what is reasonable and realistic....!

Can you all tell me how often your teens get money given to them, how much they get and what they are expected to use that money for - and what they are not. TIA.

DD1 same age ish as yours.
£15 per month standing order, unconditional.

Pays for PAYG phone from that (we discourage massive texting)
3 token b-day & xmas presents for Mum, Dad and DD2
Otherwise buys little bits and pieces, eg nail polish.

We buy all essentials and lots of treats (as we buy for DD2 would seem mean not to do likewise for DD1).

If her friends lived in same town and she socialised more independently would probably raise amount.

Dsd and ds both aged 15 get £8 per week for them to spend on luxuries and treats.

We pay for mobiles, basic clothes and toiletries, lunches etc on top of that.

DD1 is 15 & receives £30 a month. She uses that to fund her social life, presents, snacks after school & buy non essential clothes. She saves a fair amount & does a little babysitting but not much as her academic work, music & dance require a lot of time.

£30 a month, she's nearly 14.
Funds clothes (I buy underwear, coat etc), social things with friends, video games, presents.
I pay up to £10 phone a month and for all her dance lessons, uniforms, travel etc.
I too am insisting that as she goes into year 10 she opens a card type bank account. I'm fed up with loaning from the next month's allowance/ her forgetting to bring money out and "borrowing" extra. New rule will be, if she doesn't have her bank card, she doesn't buy it. Luckily teen accounts don't allow overdrafts

20 quid a month. I pay 17.50 capped phone contract and bus pass. Covers going out clothes etc and I top up when it's a busy month.

£35 per month plus phone (£10 contract) plus all clothes/toiletries

I also pay for clubs and transport.

He has a bank card, but we have currently confiscated it as he was blowing all his money on sweets and energy drinks.

Wow- where do you all live- 1970???

Dd,14. She gets £20 pm into her bank account. I pay for her phone, all clothes, toiletries etc.

If she is going out socially I usually give her an extra £20 to cover things like cinema entry/ food.

She also gets an extra £5pm allowance for apps/iTunes.

DS1 (14) gets £5 a week. We pay his phone contract too £15 a month.

His paper round earnings got straight into his bank account too.

He can buy what he wants but he is a major tightwad so it's building up....

Am quite shocked at this thread!

Dd has had a job from the age of 14 when I started getting sick of her saying 'can I have £30 to go to town'!!!

She now has a good concept of money, saves for things, bought her own iPhone and reading ticket.
I will buy toiletries and sometimes the odd item of clothing or underwear.

We don't have 'allowances' in this house

Jobs are quite hard to come by for 14 year olds Mosschops.

Dd did a paper round for 3 years then got a weekend job at macdonalds. She's also done some volunteering which boosts her employability I think

Will you still be saying that when your dc is 30 and living with you????

There are jobs for those who want to work, washing dishes, paper rounds, even jobs for family members

And she also has time for sport, school work and a social life?

Maybe in your area Mosschops you are very lucky. It's not the same everywhere. DS1 got his paper round after being on a waiting list for a few months.

Jobs are easier to come by at 30 I think.

Nothing shocking about pocket money or allowances, I'm just shocked that the rate doesn't seem to have gone up much since I was that age 30 years ago!! ( I got £5 a week and topped it up with paper round, babysitting etc).

Yes curlew because there are 7 days in a week!

DS1 is off to France for the day with school tomorrow. I have bought him all his Euros. I am nice like that.

DD (15) gets £50 a month to cover non-essential clothes, entertainment, cards, presents etc. We also pay her phone contract.

If she bought an IPhone and a Reading ticket as well as paying all her day to day expenses she must be doing a hell of a lot of hours at McDonalds!

She does weekend shifts, sometimes long, sometimes short. She often does extra in the hols, as do her mates.
Not sure why you're acting like having a job and saving for things is a flaw!!! That's life.

Money doesn't just get given to me, I have to work if I want nice things

DS1 is just 14 Mosschops I am guessing your DD is an older teenager?

Sparkling she's 17 now but has worked for the last 3 years. I agree work at 16 is easier to come by

My dd has a job too. But only in the holidays. And she certainly didn't when she was 14- apart from anything else, any job she could have got when she was 14 would have paid so little, I would rather she spent the time more constructively.

It really does depend where you live too I think. Obviously they have to get to work and that involves a lift if you live here. Nearest fast food places are miles away.

Is she driving now? I am not sure how that works re money, my friend's son is taking the piss royally with borrowing her car and not filling it up with petrol.