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Teenagers

Parenting teenagers has its ups and downs. Get advice from Mumsnetters here.

Original poster

What allowance do you give 14 year olds?

29 replies

JugglingChaotically · 29/09/2013 12:27

I'd like my 14 yo DD to learn to manage cash and she is quite keen to do it.
We would cover all basics but she would use allowance to cover any extras like nail varnish, Starbucks trips, geezer, extra clothes, extra treats for guinea pigs, cinema tickets etc etc etc.
But I have no idea what is reasonable for a monthly allowance ... And would appreciate some help.
FWIW we live near London.

OP posts:
TantrumsAndBalloons · 29/09/2013 12:29

My 14 year old ds1 gets £50 a month.

Once it's gone, it's gone.

Original poster
JugglingChaotically · 29/09/2013 12:34

Tks. Does that include some clothes. This summer it was converses? And flip flops and .......

OP posts:
Original poster
JugglingChaotically · 29/09/2013 13:54

Tks again tantrums
Anyone else?

OP posts:
Hassled · 29/09/2013 14:00

£30 for a 15 year old here and that's meant to include all casual clothing - although I buy big stuff like trainers/jackets etc. - plus trips to the cinema/feeding his Nandos habit etc. I do need to increase it, I think. He did the whole "I'm so poor I'm going to have to get a paper-round even though it's GCSE year" routine this morning Hmm.

2kidsintow · 29/09/2013 14:05

Wow- £50. My DD is nearly 13 and gets £20. It goes up a little every other year, but won't go as high as £50.

For the £20 she has to put away her clothes (as it is a job I truly hate) and keep her room presentable. She runs her payg phone on the £20 as well as having it for little 'spends'.

We buy her clothes (she has no interest in choosing her own anyway:) ) and pay for school dinners. She pays for the rest of what she wants. It goes straight into her bank and she's saving money on that amount too.

She isn't the most sociable of children though and chooses not to go out at the weekends with friends. If she does go out to Chester with friends, for example, she will be given a little bit extra for the day, but it's usually a one-off thing.

Original poster
JugglingChaotically · 29/09/2013 14:25

Tks hassled!
Wow 2kids - saving on £20 - that less than £5 a week so impressive.
Good to know that saving can be done on £20 as I want to encourage her to save.

OP posts:
2kidsintow · 29/09/2013 14:49

I think she manages due to a lack of a social life, tbh! :)
She is a creative sort and likes spending her time writing one of her many novels.

She has an orange payg phone, so tops up by a £10 and gets free texts and a bit of internet, which she uses for the first month. Then for the next month or so she uses the £10 she put on. Some months she uses it quicker, some months slower.

tastychocs · 29/09/2013 14:53

I give £30 a month for 14 yo DS, but he only spends a small amount of it, mostly on Steam games and a few sweets. Most of it is saved! He isn't sociable/very independent either (Aspergers) so rarely goes out. I pay for his phone, but he only uses it for internet so probably costs about £60 a year.

If he was more independent/like me as a teenager I'd probably give him £60 a month, we are in London and things are expensive.

louby44 · 29/09/2013 17:15

My nearly 14 DS used to do odd jobs for £5 a week but now has a little job, he works for his nanna on her indoor market stall. he gets £15 and sometimes £20 if he does extra. He loves it!

I don't really give him anything but if he goes to the cinema I will contribute towards that.

My DS10 does little jobs for me (setting the table, emptying the dishwasher etc) and he gets £5 a week. But if he doesn't help out he gets nothing!

My 2 DSD 15 & 13 both get £50 a month from their mum and then £40 every 3rd month for clothes! We think she's mad (considering neither girls does anything to earn or deserve it) but it's nothing to do with us.

flow4 · 29/09/2013 18:08

My 13.8yo gets £20/mth, which I raised tight got that I am from £10/mth just a few months ago. He saves too.

EverythingIsSoThrowback · 29/09/2013 18:54

When DD1 was 14, she got £30 a month, but we bought most clothes, and other treats, as well as paying for about 1/2 of her trips out to cinema, bowling,e tc.

Sparklingbrook · 29/09/2013 18:56

£5 a week, and we pay his phone contract. We buy necessary clothes he buys clothes he wants. He also has a paper round.

Olbasoil · 29/09/2013 20:46

£50 for ds. He pays for phone, magazines, games & trips out to bowling, Cinema and stuff. He helps me a lot though .

bigTillyMint · 29/09/2013 21:04

£25 a month paid into her bank account, plus I pay her phone contract which is capped. She also earns some money coaching and babysitting.

She buys clothes that she wants (other than uniform, underwear, coat, etc) trinkets, nail varnish/make up and pays for her social life!

JohnnyUtah · 30/09/2013 10:34

£30 a month, plus phone contract (£7.50) plus clothes plus hobbies. So it only has to cover books, magazines, bus fares, cinema trips, snacks etc

chocoluvva · 30/09/2013 13:16

Exactly the same as Sparklingbrook!!

DS spends most of his money on sweets and horrible drinks. :(

MrsDavidBowie · 30/09/2013 13:24

Ds 14 gets £25 a month paid into account, plus his phone is paid for.
We buy clothes.

What does he spend his money on?
Don't know really! He's very sociable so is out and about with friends at weekends.

He gets extra for holidays, but the proviso is he doesn't come and ask for more .

Dd 17 gets £40 a month, she babysits a couple of times a month, and gets lots of money spent on her for singing lessons.

JetJungle · 30/09/2013 13:40

My 15 yo DS gets £20pm and to be very clear about what he has to buy with it and what we cover ...... we have drawn up a pocket money contract. Blush

I know it sounds barking, but it really helps us be consistent and fair. He has agreed to it, and it is signed and stuck on the fridge for easy reference. It has really cut down on arguments.

We have agreed to review the amount paid every year.

flipchart · 30/09/2013 16:27

£20 a week
We pay for clothes, phone, toiletries, magazine subscriptions and his ice hockey stuff.
He gets the same as his brother did up until 6 weeks ago.

OwooenBled · 30/09/2013 17:11

15 year old gets £20 a month and we pay her phone contract (£12.50 a month).

BackforGood · 30/09/2013 17:32

My 14 yr old dd gets £14 per month (will be £15 when she reaches her next birthday).
We pay all 'subs' of things she belongs to, she pays for phone credit, and anything she wants in terms of sweets or in terms of going out. She's not really into make up or nail varnish or clothes, and doesn't have a great deal of on-going spending. However, she chooses to deliver the free paper once a week and this supplements her income a bit, but then she asks me to keep a little bit of that each month "towards her driving lessons"

Original poster
JugglingChaotically · 30/09/2013 23:12

Thanks for all replies. Now well prepared for the negotiations Smile

OP posts:
MiniMonty · 01/10/2013 02:22

I GIVE nothing...
They have to earn it. DS 14 mows the lawn, DD 9 does the dishes every meal time, it's a quid for each job. Put the bins out, sweep the kitchen, (lose a quid if your room isn't clean and tidy), so many things... Life is about an active economy (haven't you noticed)? - why wouldn't you teach your kids about this from day one?

Will you be shocked when they are in debt and broke five years after uni?
(mine won't be).

TheDietStartsTomorrow · 01/10/2013 03:30

I don't give DS14 a fixed amount. If he needs money he ufhsllu asks for it and I give it as and when required. A few weeks ago, he took up a job (well, I employ him myself) and he gets £35 a week for it. He saves most of it and has spent it only to buy Fifa 14 a few days ago.

He's planning on saving as much as he can and doesn't spend more than £1-£2 a week on small purchases. I pay for clothes. Planning on getting him to top up his own phone.

DS15 is away from home and spends about £10 a week which is way too much but it all goes on the phone (he calls me a few times a day and calls his gran a couple of times a week) and books. He has no sense of money acumen though and I have a hard time trying to get him to understand. He thinks nothing of the expenses that occur when travelling for example, and will ask me to book tickets for him at extortionate prices. I always go for the cheapest option though.

DS10 gets about £2 a week.

Travelledtheworld · 01/10/2013 05:11

£20 per month for 13 and 15 year old and they have to keep their rooms clean, empty dishwasher, pick up laundry and do other small jobs as asked.