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Teenagers

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

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Original poster

Pocket Money?!

38 replies

mykidsruleschool · 21/02/2014 12:01

Dear MNers,
My dd has requested a pocket money raise. She is 15 years old and currently recieves £100 a month and would ike it to increase to £120. Is this OK or would I be spoiling her?? Please give your thoughts.
Many thanks,
P x

OP posts:

LaurieFairyCake · 21/02/2014 12:03

What's it to buy?

Dd gets 50 plus clothing allowance of about 60. But needs to cover all clothes/school shoes etc. She also needs to cover her own toiletries with that.

BuzzLightbulb · 21/02/2014 12:14

If that's just spending money I'm speechless.....

LaurieFairyCake · 21/02/2014 12:21

I agree but that's the pocket money minimum recommendations by social services for a 15 year old. Plus £10 phone credit.

I keep the clothing allowance and negotiate with her over planning how to spend it - save a bit of it for long term items, give her the balance to spend. Attempting to teach her how to budget - not easy because I think it's too much money to start with.

curiousgeorgie · 21/02/2014 12:22

My much younger brother is a couple of years older than that and gets £150..

He saves most of it and has much more money than me!!

BuzzLightbulb · 21/02/2014 12:59

Sorry Laurier, I meant the op £100 a month, not your £50.

We looked at giving the funding for school uniform etc over but we decided she'd spend the money on glam stuff and rather go to school in rags than keep any money back so we're on 40 a month and we still pay for everything else.

Middleagedmotheroftwo · 21/02/2014 13:02

Sounds like a lot. My DD is 16 and gets 25 per month, plus her phone contract (12 pm).

But it does depend on what you expect her to pay for with her pocket money.

Innogen · 21/02/2014 14:26

I've never given my DCs pocket money. They asked if they needed something, and I'd give cash when they went out with their friends. No set amount.

When dd went to sixth form, I have her the money we usually spent on food and travel for her to let her budget herself. She then got a job and managed that money too. Still giving cash in hand when I felt generous.

Dd then went to uni, and managed her student loan very well, and is now a responsible 22 year old with significant savings. I'm proud of her.

Sorry if that's gone off on a tangent, but I don't believe pocket money is necessary.

Pantah630 · 21/02/2014 16:18

Crikey, that seems a lot. DS2, 14, gets £10 per week but he needs to do some chores to get it, hoovering, feeding the dog. He also has a paper round at weekends to top it up. We do give him extra money if he's going out with friends to cinema, etc.. But nowhere near £100. I buy the clothes, toiletries, etc.. on top.

elastamum · 21/02/2014 16:24

Seems a lot to me!

My DC who are 13 and 15 each get 40 a month paid into their bank accounts. they also get their phones paid for and DS1 has an account at school for tuck etc, up to 100 per term, but he hardly uses it. I have a joint account with my ex and we use that to buy clothes etc. They never ask me for money now.

cory · 22/02/2014 10:54

Unless restricted by SS (like Laurie) it's going to be about what you comfortably can afford and what is a reasonable lifestyle for your family.

Also (at least to my thinking) what likely lifestyle they will be able to afford in the first few years after they leave home. I wouldn't want any child of mine to avoid university or cope badly with the first year at work because they were too used to throwing money about.

If I gave dc 100/month each or even 50, they would be living at a far higher rate than their dad and me and would probably have to bail us out from time to time. I don't think that's reasonable. Also there is no way we can support them while at uni (even with all available loans) in a style that would allow them to spend 100/month on non-essentials.

For us, it's about 15/month in secondary, doubled to 30/month in sixth form (but that comes with buying all your own clothes and keeping credit on your phone).

If you are very affluent and you and their dad live a very comfortable lifestyle, then I could see the point of upping the allowance accordingly.

Nicole1976 · 22/02/2014 19:14

I give my DS (13) £20 a week and he just uses that to buy chocolate and sweets and expects me to pay for anything else.

cory · 22/02/2014 19:53

20 worth of sweets and chocolate a week can't be very good for him, Nicole: why can't you just a) cut down on the amount b) refuse to buy other things?

nkf · 22/02/2014 19:55

What does she buy with that? It sounds a lot but if it includes clothes and travel, then not so much.

BuzzLightbulb · 22/02/2014 19:59

Op not come back???

Flicktheswitch · 22/02/2014 20:06

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

poisonedbypen · 22/02/2014 20:16

Dd (17) has had £35 per month for the last few years. That is supposed to pay for non essential clothes, cinema, meals etc, although we pay for meals & cinema if we are with her. It has always been plenty, but she does have a job as well now. DS (14) gets £30 but we are finding this is nowhere near enough as he is still growing whereas DD wasn't at that age so didn't need so many clothes.

MrsHughJarse · 22/02/2014 20:33

My teenage DDs get 100 a month - but they pay for absolutely everything out of that apart from school stuff ( clothes , phone , cinema , countless costa moments , birthday pressies for friends ) . I do often get all their shampoo / toiletries in the weekly supermarket shop - but they get their own makeup , makeup remover etc .....

teenagetantrums · 22/02/2014 20:45

My 17 year old get £50 a month and I pay for her phone contract. She doesn't have to buy clothes out of that. Her money pays for her food at college(she could take packed lunch), and going out. I used to give her a clothes allowance as well but she never bought any clothes.

Nicole1976 · 22/02/2014 20:50

Cory- It isn't very good for him and he has put on a lot of weight, I try to refuse to buy other things for him a bit more now

RuddyDuck · 23/02/2014 08:24

My dc are 15 and 17. They each get Â£50 pm plus I pay for their phone contracts, and top up their school catering cards. Their money is supposed to cover socialising, clothes, travel etc. I buy school uniform for the 15 year old, plus a pair of shoes every 6 months and I bought them each a good quality coat which they never wear 2 years ago,

If they want/need any extra then they have to earn it.

Poppet13 · 28/02/2014 22:46

Good grief. I'm 23, and I never received pocket money at all. My mum let me have a phone contract for a year, but because I kept going over she cancelled it when it was due for renewal.
Maybe sounds harsh but having no pocket money or next to nothing made me appreciate my own money and earning myself. £100 to me is a huuuge huge huge amount. Is that just me???

hilary2012 · 01/03/2014 08:47

I give my 15 year old boys £10 a week each and pay their phone contracts. Anything after that they earn by doing jobs in house and garden - not basic stuff like tidying their room/emptying dishwasher - that's just expected.
I think £100 a month is MASSIVE.

LeBearPolar · 01/03/2014 08:54

DH says current pay rises are in the region of 1.5% so offer your DD £101.50 and explain to her about the real world - or she needs to negotiate a better pay rise based on taking on extra responsibilities within the company family.

He has now just added that since pocket money is in fact disposable income and that is now going down as retail prices rises, she should in fact have a pocket money cut.

It sounds a ridiculous amount to me unless, like my DN, she is responsible for buying all her own clothes, toiletries, etc, funding her own going out, and paying for her own phone.

c4ss3y · 02/03/2014 03:29

I'm going to disagreee with most and say sure why not increase to 120.

100 isn't very much money really, anymore. You could spend 100 a month just on food for lunch every day.

stillenacht · 02/03/2014 04:46

Blimey my DS(14) gets 20 quid a month.... It does help that he is v enterprising and has a couple of little businesses going to give him extra money but wow some of the amounts on here!!

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