How much pocket money are you giving your 15 year old?

[HardRockOwl]

Or a teen around that age?

I think the time has come to work out a proper budget for my 15 year old DS. He has £25 set a month and on top of that Im paying £60 a month for his school lunches (I know that's not a treat for him!!) , im buying caps, t shirts, the clothes he likes, going our money, money for his gaming , oh all sorts - and it's racking up

I can afford to give him a decent amount a month and I think it's time to stop a tenner here, 20 quid here etc etc and give him a set amount out of which he must buy his snacks, gaming stuff, the expensive clothes he likes (not the basics) and the line the spends on snack food when out with friends

What are you giving yours and what do you expect it to cover?

Wow, I'm really tight.... Mine gets £10 a month!! But doesn't have to buy anything out of that really. I pay for phone, transport, reasonably priced clothes, toiletries etc and would give money for them to go to cinema with friends etc. She babysits and saves up her money from that and from birthdays etc then ocassionally blows it on some overpriced merch.
If I was giving £50 month to all of my kids that'd be nearly £2k a year! Not willing for that much to be wasted on buying constant sweets and chips, and costa coffee which us what a lot of her friends seem to do.

£25 a week and she buys her lunches clothes and all going out etc with that.

DS14 gets £5 pw but I give extra when needed eg cinema or going somewhere with friends

Watching

We chose for dd not to work. We could afford to do that.
Instead she used those hours for voluntary work relevant to the university course/choice of career she wanted to do. This was more beneficial to her than working part time elsewhere. But that was a choice we made together, and we were happy and able to give her pocket money to cover her expenses.

DS gets £40 per month, to pay for computer games, trips out with friends, cinema, train, burgers etc, plus clothes – but he's very into the thrift shop look so not expensive. He's still only 15, but he's longing to get a job once GCSEs are over and he turns 16.

14.5 year old earns £30 a week from his paper round, sometimes more if he does extra routes. On top of this we pay for his phone and Xbox subscription, and most essentials - clothes, school stuff, toiletries.

DS is 15.

he gets £5 per week if he’s not had any written warnings in his school planner (they are the usual, missing homework, late today class, not having the required equipment, etc)

he also gets £5 per week for doing his chores, emptying the dishwasher every time it’s run, keeping his bedroom tidy, mowing the lawn on a Saturday.

he takes packed lunches to school but often goes into town with his friends on the lunch break, so he gets £5 a week to get himself a snack in town, we agreed to reduced the amount we put in his lunch box to balance it out.

we pay for his phone contract, all clothes.
he mostly spends his pocket money on computer games.
he’s very good at saving though.

£30 per month.

We buy 'core' clothing, but she buys fashion stuff.

Also pay phone (payg)

My DD does 3 4 hour shifts to earn her £60 a week. She still has time for her studies and for dance and family games/movie nights etc.
I understand if you are very well off and you choose to give the spending money to teens of course it's your perogative. I still give my teen some pocket money and clothes money but I am so proud of her having her own money and the responsibility and maturity to have a little Job.
She is so thrilled when some more books arrive she's bought or some fancy shampoo she wants to try.
I will definitely make her reduce her shifts next year though when she goes into GCSE'S.

My dd, 14, gets £40 a month, but out of that she has to buy her own clothes, friends birthday pressies, make up and any special toiletries, pretty much anything she wants, she recently saved up for a pair of second hand AirPods. I buy anything school related and bog standard shampoo, conditioner etc.

@ilovebagpuss and I'd love my son to have a little job too but it's not particularly easy for a 15 year old to be employed as you'll probably know, due to employers just not wanting the hassle of the insurances / extra breaks etc. Next year, yes absolutely. Right now? Tricky, despite trying.

And you say she earns money yet you're giving her pocket money plus clothes money ... so doing the same as the rest of us?

I'm not especially well off. Comfortable maybe and very lucky to be so.

😱😱😱

DD will be 15 in July and I think pocket money will go up to £50/month. She didn't really use a lot thanks to lockdown and only recently started going out again with friends and shopping.

We pay for clothing unless she thinks she needs something but we think she wants it. She pays for make up but we pay for normal toileteries incl. skin care.
She pays for coffee shop and McD but if she is out for a whole day I give her money to cover lunch.

Yes it can be a nightmare to find a job sometimes for the younger teens. We are lucky that the local pubs are happy to have the younger ones as pot washers and then move up to waitress.
I think they can work 4 hours without a break but I know some chain pubs won't take them.
Her pocket money really started in lockdown as she had to take care of her younger sister due to various tedious circumstances and I kept it up. I also didn't want to pull it just as she got a job as that seemed unfair when she's working hard.
Sorry I didn't mean to sound critical I just find some people are very " oh how could you let your teen work we like our teen to relax and enjoy family time" implying working teens are like Oliver Twist!
I had a job from 14 so I suppose its just that work ethic I found really useful as I got older.

I had a job from 14 so I suppose its just that work ethic I found really useful as I got older.

I agree with this - I worked in a small shop and tea room from 14 and as a shy geeky academic teen learned a lot about social interaction and practical things, even down to how to cut open a baked potato! I worked every Saturday or Sunday, sometimes both, until I went to university but really never felt I missed out on anything. I am really proud of DS for getting his paper round (they are all constantly advertising for paperboys and girls round here) and "supporting" himself - he is learning adult interaction, discipline around going to bed on time so he can get up on time, how to react to the unexpected, how to tell his boss when he needs holiday etc etc.