DD16: First Job

[Mummum25]

Dd has just got her first job, McDonald’s. They pay £8 an hour and she will work 10 hours a week divided into 2 shifts. Her choice and what she told her manager she is available for. This means she will get £80 per week or as it will be £160 paid every fortnight.

As she is our oldest and this is a new parenting experience for my husband and I and I don’t know how to proceed. Do we still give her pocket money? Should she buy her own clothes? Packed Lunches (she’s very fussy)? What about contributing to the house?

She was getting £40 per month Pocket Money before, so this will be a life changing amount of money for her. I want her to learn to be responsible which I feel she will with a job, but also learn how to budget and save.

I was thinking if she contributed monthly to the house then I could put that in an account for her when she’s older? As whilst I am advising her to save I know she probably won’t.

What did you all do with your teenagers? I want to be fair to her but also need to set an precedent for her younger siblings.

Thank you

I’d maybe take some ‘for the house’ but not a penny would be spent; it would all go into a little savings pot for her to have when she really needs it. Or put the £40 pocket money you were giving her aside for her instead.

I don't expect DD17 to contribute to the house, she earns a similar amount more with overtime.

She gets a very generous clothing discount and allowance so gets most of her own clothes and then buys her own make up etc. She pays when she goes out and tops up her Oyster card when she needs to, since she turned 17 she has also been contributing half of her diving lessons each week. We still top up her lunch money at 6th form and pay for her phone. Plus I buy toiletries etc with our weekly shop. She's putting some of her money each month into savings too.

DD(17) started her first job in a restaurant a few months ago. We talked to her about putting some money out of every pay cheque aside for savings…she forgot to do it for the first two 😂 but has got in a good pattern since and has saved quite abit.

We still pay for her phone and all the basics, but she has used some of her income on clothes and going out with her friends. We don’t give her pocket money now, she really doesn’t need it.

I'd encourage her to save some and I guess you could stop the £40/month, but contributing to the house? She's a kid, and she's working hard as well as school/college. I would continue to pay for lunches and clothes - she can pay for going out with her friends.

I didn't change anything for dd when she started her first job at the age of 16, but she already had a monthly allowance to pay for clothes, gifts, toiletries, entertainment, lunches etc. I carried on paying for her phone, her school stuff and her extracurricular activities. It was dd's decision to get a job, not mine, and personally I wouldn't have wanted to penalise her for doing something constructive.

I'm not a fan of taking housekeeping money from dc either, at least while they are in full time education. Yes, I know a lot of people do this and save it up for their kids, but personally I would rather encourage them to save for themselves as I think it's important for them to learn that discipline...my dd is 17 and has managed to save up £2000 over the last year or so, so it isn't necessarily the case that they will just spend whatever they have.

She's a child. This is a secure opportunity for her to make small financial mistakes and learn from them for her adult life - which will be a far more powerful lesson than if you control her money to save it in secret because you don't trust her. How will she learn if she doesn't get to make mistakes?

Totally agree with this. They have to learn to manage their own money. If you do it for them, then they don't get this opportunity.

Thanks for all of the replies, very helpful and appreciated.

I was only thinking to maybe save a bit every month for her, but I can definitely see the value of what you’re saying and I’ll ask her to save it instead. Although I know for sure she won’t! Perhaps if I frame it as saving for driving lessons she may be willing to, but ultimately I think what you’ve all said makes sense and I want her to learn and grow. And to do that she just make her own mistakes

Thank you for all of the input, I’m a novice at this and wasn’t sure what the best thing is