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Teenagers

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

Original poster

Who Should Pay For Phone Chargers?

122 replies

RabbitsRock · 20/04/2025 22:57

DD16 got a new phone a couple of months ago. An Iphone 16. At the moment she pays just £5 a month towards it (with the clear understanding that this will increase when she gets a job). DH & I pay £40 between us. DD gets £25 a week pocket money which she is always complaining isn’t enough. She’s now asking us to shell out £15 for a magnetic ( I think) charger to use in the car on a 4 to 5 hour journey & refusing to buy it herself. She uses Spotify constantly & claims that it drains the battery, so our suggestion of charging her battery fully before we travel might not be enough. DD has mental health issues & her music is a form of therapy. She’s trying to guilt trip us by saying if her phone dies when she’s out & about then she’ll blame us. There’s a festival coming up where we will need to be able to track/contact DD. Tickets already paid for. How would you handle this situation? This sort of thing comes up a lot, with DD believing she shouldn’t have to pay for stuff.

OP posts:
shellyleppard · 20/04/2025 23:00

@RabbitsRock your daughter sounds a bit spoilt. She gets a generous amount of pocket money, surely she can use that to pay for the new charger??

Original poster
RabbitsRock · 20/04/2025 23:07

shellyleppard this is what we say to her but she thinks chargers are a normal thing for parents to buy. She also says she’s trying to save for merch at the festival but it’s not until mid June.

OP posts:
faerietales · 20/04/2025 23:07

She should pay for it - it’s hardly an essential.

MayaPinion · 20/04/2025 23:10

She doesn’t need a magnetic charger. Most cars have USB points so she can just plug in her charging wire directly.

LuLuRN · 20/04/2025 23:11

She’s 16, not working etc I presume so if she needs a charger would you not just buy it for her.

Original poster
RabbitsRock · 20/04/2025 23:11

I think when she first mentioned it, we said it might be a possibility for the festival as it’s a long day & she’ll need to be able to contact us as we’re not staying with her & her friend who will be almost 17 by then.

OP posts:
WestrayWife · 20/04/2025 23:11

My iPhone 16 battery lasts nearly 2 days!!
Surely it’ll be fine for a 4-5 hr car journey?
For the festival she’d be better with a power bank - I’d say that’s an essential household item anyway, so I wouldn’t mind paying for one for her. We often get power cuts etc and they are worth their weight in gold then. When she returns from the festival anyone can use it though.

comedycentral · 20/04/2025 23:11

Are they thinking of getting a part time job, it might help them to feel more in control of their money.

Original poster
RabbitsRock · 20/04/2025 23:13

mayapinion the sat nav will be plugged in as we’re travelling somewhere we’ve only been to a couple of times

OP posts:
juneisjuly · 20/04/2025 23:13

I would class a phone and charger as essential and pay for them at 16 but sounds like you have bigger problems if she’s complaining, demanding and refusing

Original poster
RabbitsRock · 20/04/2025 23:14

WestrayWife she’s had power banks before

OP posts:
Darkclothes · 20/04/2025 23:15

Which car is she charging the phone in? Yours? Does it have a cigarette port? If your car is as old as ours, it still has one and I bought a connector like the pic for less than £5. Similar is £3 at argos, £5 on amazon and likely £1 at poundland! Modern cars likely have a USB port which needs no connector. Check what yours has. Why does she need a magnetic charger if other options are available? Why isn't she using a power bank fully charged at the festival?

MumChp · 20/04/2025 23:16

Iphone16? It's around £900?
She would be asked buy her own charger here.

We have phones around £250. And share chargers and power banks. If you want more and fancier you pay it upfront your pocket money.

Original poster
RabbitsRock · 20/04/2025 23:19

comedycentral she is looking for a job but unfortunately the mental health problems tend to get in the way (although we still don’t know for sure how genuine DD is & how much she is playing the mental health card). Sorry if that sounds harsh but a lot of the time, barely anything she says is true 😢 She’s restricting herself with what she applys for.

OP posts:
Original poster
RabbitsRock · 20/04/2025 23:21

Mumchp the phone is being paid off monthly.

OP posts:
Darkclothes · 20/04/2025 23:22

This is the pic of a car, cigarette port which didn't upload in my thread, and less than £3. If she wants, seems to NEED, a £15 magnetic one, she needs to buy it herself from her generous pocket money IMO!

Who Should Pay For Phone Chargers?
MumChp · 20/04/2025 23:22

RabbitsRock · 20/04/2025 23:21

Mumchp the phone is being paid off monthly.

But still a very costly phone. I wouldn't pay any extra for her.

Flipslop · 20/04/2025 23:24

RabbitsRock · 20/04/2025 23:13

mayapinion the sat nav will be plugged in as we’re travelling somewhere we’ve only been to a couple of times

Get a split multi USB charger

batterypower · 20/04/2025 23:25

I would organise a way for my teens to charge their cars on a long journey. As it is our car has 2 usb c ports in the front and another 2 in the back but previously we just bought an adapter that went into the cigarette lighter. I do think it’s normal for parents to buy chargers, she isn’t wrong. It wouldn’t cross my mind to ask mine to buy a charger.

DelphiniumBlue · 20/04/2025 23:26

RabbitsRock · 20/04/2025 23:13

mayapinion the sat nav will be plugged in as we’re travelling somewhere we’ve only been to a couple of times

You can have more than one device plugged in at a time, if you get a double charging port and 2 leads.
I think as a parent I'd pay for a portable charger for safety reasons, and you say it's about £15. If you can afford it, then get it. If funds are really tight for you, then she can get it out of her pocket money. But it t sounds as if all of you could afford it so this is really an academic question, and I would say depends on her attitude generally - if she's normally obliging, then it would be nice for you to get it. If she's acting up, then she can buy it herself.

Original poster
RabbitsRock · 20/04/2025 23:30

I think the main issue is that DD is constantly asking us to pay for stuff, despite getting her very generous pocket money. And as a pp pointed out, it’s an expensive phone so perhaps she should be buying her own additional charger.

OP posts:
Original poster
RabbitsRock · 20/04/2025 23:34

noughtpercent why the laughing emoji?

OP posts:
MumChp · 20/04/2025 23:35

RabbitsRock · 20/04/2025 23:30

I think the main issue is that DD is constantly asking us to pay for stuff, despite getting her very generous pocket money. And as a pp pointed out, it’s an expensive phone so perhaps she should be buying her own additional charger.

You can say no?
She has a charger. Any extra and fancy is out of her pocket money.

BiologicalRobot · 20/04/2025 23:39

DD16 gets £25 a week pocket money

A WEEK??? I think you need to sit her down and go through her expenses. She will need to learn how to budget if she leaves home and now is probably the right time to teach her a valuable life skill. Her outgoings need to be less than her "income" otherwise she will end up in debt or demanding more and more from you.

Original poster
RabbitsRock · 20/04/2025 23:39

I guess we could refuse to take them to the festival if DD hasn’t got a charger that will let her phone last for about 10 hours.

OP posts: