Allowance for 13 year old girl?

[MaryRose]

Just wondering how much other parents give and what 'rules' might be attached. Dd, 13, currently gets £4 a week for going to town with friends etc, I pay her phone, essential clothes, toiletries etc, she has to get any extras, but £4 obviously doesn't go far and I tend to end up topping her up, I was thinking about an increase to between £7-£10 a week and an understanding that there will be no regular top-ups without some chores in return, what do others do?

Since she turned 13 we have given my DD 30 per month direct into a bank account and she has a debit card. It has been fantastic for her independence but also her awareness of money. Like you, we pay for phone, bus pass, essential clothes, shoes and basic toiletries- she pays for non essential clothes, cinema/ lunch trips , make up , friends' birthday presents (this was the last straw that lead to the allowance being set up) etc. She tends to get "holiday money" when we are away as a family and top ups from relatives for birthdays/ rewards for exams etc.

Now at 14 1/2 she is earning her own extra money teaching swimming (her main competitive sport) and babysitting for the neighbours so she is starting to finally save up some money for concert tickets/ larger purchases.

£15 a month for both 13&16y DDs, plus £5 lunch when they go off with their mates.

However, both are good at emptying the bank of mum for this that and the other.

Allowances are difficult to get fair, because DD2 does far more small trips off with DFs and DD1 has more expensive tastes, but goes off far more rarely (especially at the moment as they are all tied up with GCSEs and ASs) and also her crowd tend to shop less and watch DVDs, go hiking and talk more.

I pay direct into my daughter's bank account too 3nationsfamily and she has a debit card too which she loves. I was thinking of upping it to £32 a month so I'm not far off the mark with what you're doing. Funnily enough DD is a competitive swimmer too, but they don't pay them to teach round here at this age, it's voluntary if they want to so your DD is fortunate!

RE the swim teaching- she volunteered for a term for her Duke of Edinburgh and at the end of it they asked would she stay on if they paid her as a pool assistant so she said yes (5 per hour- 3 hours per week). Over this last term she has actually been teaching a small class of her own and now they are upping her pay to 7.50 per hour as a trainee teacher; and she can't even sit her level 1 qualification until she is 16 ( which the swim company will pay for!)

3nationsfamily that's great! Our swimming club will pay for them to do their level one but even after that they don't pay, unless they can get a job through the council which is difficult.