Teens and finances

[SusanAR]

I rarely visit the General Board, but I have a question about which i would like your feedback.

How much $$ would you give monthly to your almost 15 y.o. dd to purchase ALL of her clothing, toiletries (makeup, shampoo, conditioner, etc.), giving, and entertainment/dining?

Trying to step-up our financial training:001_smile:....

susan

[gardening momma]

(I don't have an almost-15 yo ;) ) but--I would think a lot would depend on your income level, your spending habits, your lifestyle. I mean, do you normally buy Suave or VO5 shampoo, or do you have to have the expensive stuff? That kind of comparison would apply to all the other stuff too. Brand name, generic; lots of clothes, enough to get by on....

[Pamela H in Texas]

Yes....

 

Basically, I would try to add up what you think YOU spend for her to have those things and give her something similar.

 

But it REALLY depends. My kids pinch pennies more than many kids have to do to our circumstances. They also are REALLY good with garage sales, thrift stores, and grandma though :)

[MamaT]

I have a 16yo, but I'm not sure what the amount would be for the items you mentioned. We do not expect him to buy his own clothes or personal items at this age. He spends a lot of money (to me anyway) going to the movies, etc. with friends on the weekends. Track can also be expensive ($80 throwing shoes, $300 for shot, disc, hammer, glove).

 

We feel at this point it is our job to pay for his expenses. He does work for my dh 2-3 days a week during the summer. He is a very hard worker and is also very helpful around the house. He knows the value of money and if we give him money for something, he always brings home change. He is also very appreciative of all we do for him and says so frequently. Right now, especially during the school year, I feel his job is to do well and concentrate on his schoolwork.

 

He has taken some economics courses and has learned a lot from my dh who owns his own businesses.

[SusanAR]

(I don't have an almost-15 yo ;) ) but--I would think a lot would depend on your income level, your spending habits, your lifestyle. I mean, do you normally buy Suave or VO5 shampoo, or do you have to have the expensive stuff? That kind of comparison would apply to all the other stuff too. Brand name, generic; lots of clothes, enough to get by on....

 

 

I realize there will be a "range" of answers- I'm just interested in how much you would give as an average. I have a 29 yo dd and a 27 yo ds who experienced this years age:D.

susan

[Garga]

I'm not going to pull a number out of my hat, but if I were going to do that, I would assess how much you spend on those items per year and divide by 12.

 

For clothing, are you including more expensive items like shoes and coats and even bathing suits (some are pricey--depends)?

 

Take a look at everything she uses (hairspray, mascara, lip gloss, and whatever else you're having her buy--toothpaste?) and figure out the costs. Figure out how often each item is replaced per year, then give her that amount. For example, mascara needs to be replaced every 2-3 months, so she'd have to buy 4-6 tubes of it a year.

 

If it were me (and I'm hoping to do something like this when the boys are a bit older) I would give her enough to buy everything at a mid-range. The middle priced shampoo: not the cheapest or the most expensive. Then, she can decide which items she'll buy cheap and which items she'll buy expensive. (She might decide to go for the cheap Payless shoes, but the salon shampoo.) Then she has wiggle room to really understand the value of money and how to balance out needs and wants.

 

But I can't give you a number. Just suggest you very carefully figure out the costs of whatever items you want her to buy over the year and divide by 12.

[Renee in NC]

20 years ago my cousins got $40 a month to budget with and spend on their necessities.

 

10 years ago, my brother got $150, but he had to pay his car insurance out of that as well. He had about $50 left after paying that.

 

So, $60 is probably a good number if the teen is buying all their own stuff. That is probably about right for my 16yo, but he would have to buy his contacts out of that as well.

[cathmom]

$30 to $50

[Joanne]

I've got a teen and nearly another.

 

To make these teens responsible for clothing, shoes, under clothing, entertainment, food extras, etc, I'd be looking at around $100 a month. I'd probably expect $20 of it towards the cell phone with unlimited texting to arrange the entertainment, attire, style. ;)

 

As they move into part time work, I'd back that out and give a max contribution for hygiene, clothes, etc items. In other words, I'll give you $20 for toiletries but if you think you need the premium hair gel @ $6.78, speciality shampoos, non sale razors, and top of the line make up, you are on your own to make up the difference. Same especially with shoes, clothes, etc. I will assit to the point of reasonable cost. Anything else you cover.

 

I like your idea of giving them "their" part of the budget; I read about that in a parenting book somewhere along the way. It's money you would have spent on them anyway but you give *them* the money and they learn the sometimes humbling, limiting and complicated process of providing for the things that ages 0 - 15 seemed to land magically in their closets, bathrooms and drawers.

[Peela]

I used to give dd15 $20 a month for clothes. But to understand that in context, we go to swap meet every weekend and garage sales when it rains, and op shops regularly- we just love finding a good bargain and that is how the kids have been brought up. And since they dont go to school they are not so much into fashion (although dd has a very distinctive sense of dress and is uniquely fashionable in her own way). And on top of that, we dont go anywhere near fashion shops very often. SO $20 goes a long way. The thing is, she has so many clothes already. She would spend it on a bra or something often.

 

But I stopped giving her money when Dh started giving her $20 a week pocket money.

 

On top of that, she works part time, getting maybe $50 a week. She earns far more than she needs and she is saving a lot.

 

Of course I am in Australia but I think it is comparable. I think $30-$50 a month would be ample.

[TammyinTN]

For our teens girls a couple of years ago we did $100 a month each. It was their responsibility to buy what they needed. They also worked and that paid for all their clothes and they saved quite a bit. It was funny when they had to dole out the money from their pocket even though we gave it to them they were much more frugal. :D

[Pamela H in Texas]

We feel at this point it is our job to pay for his expenses.

 

You WOULD be paying for his expenses just WHILE also giving him the opportunity to practice life skills, life skills with which the great majority of the people in America struggle greatly.

Edited June 30, 2009 by 2J5M9K

[MamaT]

You WOULD be paying for his expenses just WHILE also giving him the opportunity to practice life skills, life skills with which the great majority of the people in America struggle greatly.

 

Okay, I get it now. She is just giving what she would normally be spending and making her teen responsible for budgeting. That makes more sense. In that case, I would think about $75 to $100 per month.

[Hikin' Mama]

we started giving him $35/month for clothes. We did this because we were always butting heads on how much he thought I should spend, which was more than I thought I should spend. This way he could buy whatever he wanted, but he couldn't ask for more money. It worked great! No more hassles, and he started actually thinking about the prices of what he was buying.

 

When he turned 16, we opened up a checking account for him and bumped the monthly amount to $80. He now has to pay for everything we were paying for, such as school registration, gym membership, all entertainment (unless it's a family thing), etc. I also add to that $80 the money for his guitar lessons and lunch at school, and he is responsible for keeping paid up on those. He is also responsible for keeping our car that he drives maintained. So far it has worked really well, and he thinks much more about how he is spending his money than he would have otherwise. He doesn't have a cell phone, because I told him he has to pay for that himself. He could pay for it out of the allowance, but he chooses not to. I don't think he needs one, and I let him borrow mine when he goes somewhere at night. He also has a job during the summers, and is currently saving for a car, which he will need to buy after he graduates.

 

I hope you find something that works for you and your daughter!

[Irene Lynn]

I rarely visit the General Board, but I have a question about which i would like your feedback.

How much $$ would you give monthly to your almost 15 y.o. dd to purchase ALL of her clothing, toiletries (makeup, shampoo, conditioner, etc.), giving, and entertainment/dining?

Trying to step-up our financial training:001_smile:....

susan

 

For our dd, I think that $75 would be ample, but she doesn't do makeup and doesn't go out much. She is a saver. One of her bigger expenses is gift giving to her friends. She has a strict limit of funds, but they keep having birthdays and Christmas comes around before you know it, then there is her immediate family, too. She doesn't like to shop, though I try to encourage it a little. Right now she doesn't have a nice dressier summer shirt/blouse to wear to church or other events. She needs to get out there to find one.

 

Depending on the circumstances, I would go up to $100, but like someone else suggested, I would just look at your budget now and use that as the guide. When it came to clothing money, we did not give her all of it, but then like I said she hates to shop. I wanted to have a little left in our budget to be able to pick up a good bargain that I thought she might like. I like to have the option to still bless her with some of those things that I want her to be responsible for. That way she feels the responsibility and can't depend on us, but I can still offer to buy her a treat or some bargain I found without breaking OUR budget.