How much money do yours get?

[Namechange58665]

And what do they have to spend it on?

So for example at the moment mine get £18/month but we pay for hair cuts, bus fares, going out with friends, clothes, phone data.

There’s nothing they have to use that money to budget for so it’s all theirs. Whilst they get less than my friend gives hers, I think maybe it’s ok for this reason. Just wanted to get a larger sample though as I don’t want them to be getting less than their peers.

They are 14 and 15.

DS is 14 next month and gets £10 a week. We pay for his phone, clothes, shoes, army cadet trips etc. if he’s going bowling or to the cinema with friends for example, we pay for the ticket and he pays for drinks and snacks so he can choose whether to buy expensive cinema snacks and a Tango ice blast or head to the pound shop and get more for his money. He usually chooses pound shop sweets and a Tango ice blast. He also sometimes pays for sweets and drinks that he fancies but we do buy him some too. He occasionally pays for ps4 games and when he wanted custom Air Force ones he paid the difference between standard ones and custom ones.

He’s hoping to get a Saturday job at a cafe that DH’s friend is opening soon but it’s not definite yet.

He wants to set up a savings account and save £5 per week but it’s proving surprisingly difficult, he’s also with Nationwide. Surely making it easy to a teenager to set up a savings account linked to his bank account would be a good and easy thing for banks to offer??

DS is 14 years old and gets £60 a month allowance. This is dependant on various chores being completed and homework always being done on time etc.

We provide a (2nd hand) phone and basic package, various subscriptions (Tidal etc), anything he needs for school, basic toiletries and haircuts. His allowance is for him to spend on clothes, trips with friends, birthdays etc. He also has a very part-time job which means he can add a bit more to the pot occasionally.

My 16DD gets £15 per week. She actually left school last July and is an apprentice agricultural engineer bringing home £1000 a month. Out of this she pays her horses livery and all associated costs and her own clothes, toiletries, socialising etc.
If we have a takeaway or meal out we will pay for her and her boyfriend though. I know pocket money is excessive when she earns what she does but my train of thought is that actually she is still only 16 years old!

This thread has made me feel like I'm tight. My DS who is 16 gets £16 a month pocket money from me and £16 from his dad. He pays for his mobile phone from that which is just £7 a month. Bus travel is free and I pay for his lunches at school and haircuts.
He does have a part time job though and earns about £80 a week from that, although he may have to give that up when he is in year 13 and has more school work to do.

I used to get £10 a month in the mid to late 90s, which was comparable to my friends at that time. I also didn't have to pay for the things you list that you pay for - parents paid for most clothes, trips, food, etc. They also gave me money for school lunches, the bus, etc.

I was 16 in 1999 and I also had a job from aged 12 (paper round @ £2.66pw, then waitress from 15 working 8 hours a week @ £2.50 ph, I worked consistently year-round, and more in school holidays).

My grandad also gave me £1 pw.

Using an inflation calculator that equates to £19.37 now from parents, so a little over £20 including grandparents contribution.

So £20 a month seems about right to me.

I am always surprised how much kids get when I see these threads.

To be fair, activities are completely separate and somewhat irrelevant. Most families do both

My eldest is nearly 13. She sometimes goes to the skatepark with friends (is in a local skateboarding team) or perhaps once a month to the cinema or similar.

During term time she is very busy so not out much, but we give her £20 a month to cover her individual socialising but we pay for all activities, hair cuts, standard clothes etc.

During the hols I may up it more. They all have a separate savings account for long term stuff

my 12 & 10 year old get £20 a month to flitter away

I just pay for things within reason when needed. I might change this though as the youngest is much more likely to spend than her brother so she needs to learn how to budget.

Buses are free in Scotland so don't have cost of that, we pay for school dinners , phone contracts, hair, clothes, toiletries etc. They usually have money from birthday / Christmas / random relative to spend if there's something they really want.

Oh and both mine get activities / gym membership paid for. I've never thought of it as being either that OR socialising money, thankfully I haven't had to which I'm grateful for.

I have a 13 year old and an 11 year old.

They get £10 and £8 a week respectively. This is for them to spend on robux; savings; takeaway. I pay for everything else they might need like clothes and shoes.

16 year old Foster Son gets £11.56 a week. We pay for his phone, give me £5 a day lunch money for college and buy ice creams etc when we go out. He uses some of it to buy some of those water drinks with protein. He is very sporty. We pay for all sports related costs e.g. karate, Crav Magar, cricket. I know he throws what he has not spent into a jar each week. I know there are some £5 notes in there as I've seen them when cleaning his room. When he goes bowling with friends or the cinema we pay.

Nothing! I pay for their expensive phone contracts and any necessary clothes/toiletries/hair cuts etc. I also pay DD’s (17) car insurance. DD has a pretty successful eBay business going on, so she doesn’t ask for anything extra. DS (15) rarely needs or wants money (I pay his gym membership) because he doesn’t really do a lot. If he wants to go out or get a new game he has to mow the lawn/deep clean the bathroom/hoover the house etc. or he will ask his Disney dad. I prefer to give them money as and when they need it, otherwise they just waste it on crap. Maybe I’m a tight arse!

@Tabbytabs I don’t think you’re a tight ass, but I do think it’s wise to give teens the opportunity to practise budgeting with small amounts of money and low stakes before they are adults with larger amounts of money and much higher stakes.

My 15 year old works part time and spends her money on what she wants. I buy her things as an when she wants them (within reason). I do the same with my 12 year old and 3 year old too. We don’t give pocket money

My daughter has had a standard bank account with Santander since she was 4 with a debit card

I mean 14 not 4 lol

I got more than that in the 90's. Money does not go far now.

My 15 year old gets £20 per week and I pay for her phone, haircuts etc. I pay her yearly gym subsidy which makes her visits cheaper and she only has to pay for the gym session as and when she goes and can spend the rest on whatever she wants… usually books. I clean her room but she does all sorts of chores as asked eg. Dishwasher, walks the dog, plays with little brother for an hour while im cleaning.

Mine get £10 per month spending money and £50 into savings we are with nationwide for current accounts

Mine get nothing I pay for stuff as and when they need it (clothese etc) otherwise their money wouid be wasted on sweets other crap

Are your children teenagers? Younger children might, that's why if they get pocket money, it is a small amount to reflect their spending needs. However if your DC are actually teenagers, not giving them any money is not teaching them any financial understanding at all. If they get £10 a week and blow the lot on crap, they then can't afford x, y or z, that's a real learning point.

@MyBloodyMaryneedsmoreTabasco yes I do agree with you (they are teenagers) but they rarely go out or ask for anything - my son wanted to build his own pc so in that instance I said he has to save for it I'd give pocket money for chores etc

but they don't go out much or want anything specific to save up for

when I was giving pocket money they had so many sweet wrappers / bottles of coke I stopped as it was going on junk

13 year old gets £20 a month, additional £10 from his dad, 15 year old gets £25 and additional £15 from dad (we're seperated) plus £10-20 every month each when they visit their great grandmother. This is for additional sweets, games they want etc. Toiletries, data allowance, spending money for going out with friends is paid for them. I do charge £3 per car lift to school too as having to take them makes me start work late. Hoping they'll be able to get in the habit of learning how to manage money and saving.

I agree @MyBloodyMaryneedsmoreTabasco that's my logic too, I want them to learn some money management while they're still under my roof and don't need to pay for food / rent etc, also why it's monthly.

My teens have Halifax accounts, a currant and savings account is opened at the same time that lets them easily transfer money between the two. I had a Halifax currant account myself at the time though, not sure if that's a requirement to opening the teen ones.