How much allowance for teens?

How much allowance do you give your teenagers? What do they have to
spend it on and what do you buy for them?

When i was 15 I got no allowance, but I did babysit and so got ample
spending money that way. Shaina (just turned 15) doesn't work. (Doesn't
have time, and it seems that teenage babysitting has gone the way of
the dodo-bird anyway.)

I currently give her $10/week allowance, but I also buy her everything
she needs (clothes, school lunches, swim-team expenses, etc.) and many
things that she wants, as far as the budget allows and I think the
request is reasonable (books, DVDs CD's, computer games, cell phone
top-ups, etc.). Her allowance tends to either get saved up for big
things (she just bought herself half a PS2 [with the other half being
her birthday present],) or spent on little things (library fines,
snacks after school, etc.)

She's been asking for an increase, and I realized that I AM in fact,
rather inconsistant about what I buy for her and what I expect her to
pay for herself. (I made her spend her own money on a Japanese Club
tee shirt, but I do buy her most of her clothes.) . So I got to
thinking --- I can give her a pretty substantial increase (say,
$25-$30/week) and expect her to buy all her 'wants' herself (including
non-essential clothing items, books. etc.), or I can keep it as it is,
and consider her allowance to be nothing more than pocket change.

What do y'all do?

Naomi

wrote:
How much allowance do you give your teenagers? What do they have to
spend it on and what do you buy for them?

I currently give her $10/week allowance, but I also buy her everything
she needs (clothes, school lunches, swim-team expenses, etc.) and many
things that she wants, as far as the budget allows and I think the
request is reasonable (books, DVDs CD's, computer games, cell phone
top-ups, etc.). Her allowance tends to either get saved up for big
things (she just bought herself half a PS2 [with the other half being
her birthday present],) or spent on little things (library fines,
snacks after school, etc.)

[snip]
What do y'all do?

Naomi

I typed a whole reply this afternoon but something went wrong when
I tried to send it. :-(

I have a DD18 (now at college) and DS16. Last year, DD got and
now DS gets $20/week allowance. I pay for clothing that they need,
school books, we have a cell phone family plan which I cover.
Starting in middle school their allowance included school lunches
if they chose to buy them. They always have the option of making
their lunch at home to take with them to save money but
DS never wants to bother. DD used to make her lunches.
They pay for CDs, miscellaneous extra clothing items
(souvenir-type T-shirts). They never buy books to read on
their own - they rarely read for pleasure. And if they
wanted to read, that's what the library is for.

My son bought his iPod 3 years ago with bar mitzvah money. My ex and
I bought DD an iPod for a high school graduation present.

If the kids go to a movie or to eat with friends, they pay. If they
go with me, I pay. Regional synagogue youth group events
(dances, weekends, 5-day trips during school breaks) I pay
for because I like that they've been involved with that. I pay
DS's ski team expenses.

DS does not work. I don't require that the kids work; I think
they're busy enough with school work and extracurricular
activities. I didn't work in high school either. DD did get a
part-time job after school last year so she could fund
a summer trip to Israel. It was her 3rd trip there and
I said I wasn't paying for this one. She doesn't have any
paying job at college.

I will say that it appeared last year from what DD said
that $20/week was on the low side among her friends.
Now she gets money from me monthly because she is
in a dorm with kitchens but no meal plan so she has
to get her own food. She'll be home for winter break soon
and will go back to her part time job that she had last year
the day after she gets home. She wants to earn some
spending money because she knows that her dad and I
are spending plenty to send her to college so she
doesn't want to ask for extra money from us.

-- Zip

wrote:
How much allowance do you give your teenagers? What do they have to
spend it on and what do you buy for them?

When i was 15 I got no allowance, but I did babysit and so got ample
spending money that way. Shaina (just turned 15) doesn't work. (Doesn't
have time, and it seems that teenage babysitting has gone the way of
the dodo-bird anyway.)

I currently give her $10/week allowance, but I also buy her everything
she needs (clothes, school lunches, swim-team expenses, etc.) and many
things that she wants, as far as the budget allows and I think the
request is reasonable (books, DVDs CD's, computer games, cell phone
top-ups, etc.). Her allowance tends to either get saved up for big
things (she just bought herself half a PS2 [with the other half being
her birthday present],) or spent on little things (library fines,
snacks after school, etc.)

She's been asking for an increase, and I realized that I AM in fact,
rather inconsistant about what I buy for her and what I expect her to
pay for herself. (I made her spend her own money on a Japanese Club
tee shirt, but I do buy her most of her clothes.) . So I got to
thinking --- I can give her a pretty substantial increase (say,
$25-$30/week) and expect her to buy all her 'wants' herself (including
non-essential clothing items, books. etc.), or I can keep it as it is,
and consider her allowance to be nothing more than pocket change.

What do y'all do?

Naomi

I don't have a teen now but had my niece as a teen. I gave her a
dollar for every year of age per week, and that depended on her doing a
list of household chores consistently. If she missed chores, money was
deducted and she knew exactly what each task was worth. I also gave
her extra money for helping me with special things (like pet sitting or
shoveling snow). She had to buy her own music, DVD rentals, hair
do-dads, jewelry, and any other "non-essentials" with that money (I did
buy her books though, within reason). I paid for all her meals, any
other snacks or fast-food she had to buy. I gave her a clothing
budget at the beginning of each term (twice a year) and she could spend
it on what she wanted or needed. If she needed new underwear but spent
it on designer shoes, she went without new undies unless she bought
them herself later. Anything above my budget, she had to buy herself
(except for gifts that I gave her on her Birthday, etc.) I think
giving teens money without responsibility is a big mistake. Learning
how to earn a dollar is a very important lesson.

-L.

I give all three of my girls (14, 11, and 10) $5 each week. However, they
all have paper routes that give them a nice chunk of money at the end of the
month. Also, the 14-year-old babysits quite regularly so she has even more
money, lol. With the 14-year-old, I still buy most of what she needs, except
that if she wants something really expensive as far as clothing or something
else, she has to pay for it or at least help me out (it really depends on
what it is). I am still buying the younger two their clothes for them. DD14
has a bank account and puts around half of the money she makes into the
bank.
--
Sue (mom to three girls)

wrote in message
ups.com...
How much allowance do you give your teenagers? What do they have to
spend it on and what do you buy for them?

When i was 15 I got no allowance, but I did babysit and so got ample
spending money that way. Shaina (just turned 15) doesn't work. (Doesn't
have time, and it seems that teenage babysitting has gone the way of
the dodo-bird anyway.)

I currently give her $10/week allowance, but I also buy her everything
she needs (clothes, school lunches, swim-team expenses, etc.) and many
things that she wants, as far as the budget allows and I think the
request is reasonable (books, DVDs CD's, computer games, cell phone
top-ups, etc.). Her allowance tends to either get saved up for big
things (she just bought herself half a PS2 [with the other half being
her birthday present],) or spent on little things (library fines,
snacks after school, etc.)

She's been asking for an increase, and I realized that I AM in fact,
rather inconsistant about what I buy for her and what I expect her to
pay for herself. (I made her spend her own money on a Japanese Club
tee shirt, but I do buy her most of her clothes.) . So I got to
thinking --- I can give her a pretty substantial increase (say,
$25-$30/week) and expect her to buy all her 'wants' herself (including
non-essential clothing items, books. etc.), or I can keep it as it is,
and consider her allowance to be nothing more than pocket change.

What do y'all do?

Naomi

Sue wrote:

I give all three of my girls (14, 11, and 10) $5 each week. However, they
all have paper routes that give them a nice chunk of money at the end of the
month. Also, the 14-year-old babysits quite regularly so she has even more
money, lol. With the 14-year-old, I still buy most of what she needs, except
that if she wants something really expensive as far as clothing or something
else, she has to pay for it or at least help me out (it really depends on
what it is). I am still buying the younger two their clothes for them. DD14
has a bank account and puts around half of the money she makes into the
bank.

Sue's method sounds very similar to my own. Both of my
girls received around $5 a week for doing their chores, and
both babysat and did odd jobs around the barn where we kept
our horse to earn extra money. One was very good about
banking, one not so much g I bought most things, but they
partially subsidized clothing items that I felt were over
the top, dollar wise. After the age of around 12 or 13,
they provided themselves with their own spending money
exclusively.
--
Ruth

When I was in high school, my parents did something which I feel now was
very intelligent. Instead of giving me an allowance, they gave me a monthly
"salary"-but everything had to come out of that salary. So, while my
"allowance" was much higher than most of my friends, I was paying for school
lunches (or packing my own-and if I was packing my own, I had a choice of
buying my own supplies or taking pot luck in the refrigerator), paying for
my own private music lessons, any school activity fees or supplies,
clothing, etc. In times when expenses were lower, I learned that I had to
save up for the big ones (for example, saving money in the summer so I could
afford school supplies and new clothes for the fall) By the time you
subtracted the regular stuff, I probably had less disposable income than
most of my peers-but since I controlled my budget, I was also better at
managing money. They'd help out in emergencies, but it had to be a real
emergency.

I still had some slip-ups in college (a $150 long distance bill in one
month, for example), but in general that money management experience stayed
with me.

--
Donna DeVore Metler
Orff Music Specialist/Kindermusik
Mother to Angel Brian Anthony 1/1/2002, 22 weeks, severe PE/HELLP
And Allison Joy, 11/25/04 (35 weeks, PIH, Pre-term labor)

Very interesting..........how did you feel about it at the time?
Did they teach you how to budget?
My 13 yr old never asks for money but we buy her everything..
Im thinking of following your parents example as it sounds a great
idea...but I dont think I have taught her enough about money yet to start.
Any tips?
Thanks
Fiona
"Donna Metler" wrote in message
...
When I was in high school, my parents did something which I feel now was
very intelligent. Instead of giving me an allowance, they gave me a
monthly
"salary"-but everything had to come out of that salary. So, while my
"allowance" was much higher than most of my friends, I was paying for
school
lunches (or packing my own-and if I was packing my own, I had a choice of
buying my own supplies or taking pot luck in the refrigerator), paying for
my own private music lessons, any school activity fees or supplies,
clothing, etc. In times when expenses were lower, I learned that I had to
save up for the big ones (for example, saving money in the summer so I
could
afford school supplies and new clothes for the fall) By the time you
subtracted the regular stuff, I probably had less disposable income than
most of my peers-but since I controlled my budget, I was also better at
managing money. They'd help out in emergencies, but it had to be a real
emergency.

I still had some slip-ups in college (a $150 long distance bill in one
month, for example), but in general that money management experience
stayed
with me.

--
Donna DeVore Metler
Orff Music Specialist/Kindermusik
Mother to Angel Brian Anthony 1/1/2002, 22 weeks, severe PE/HELLP
And Allison Joy, 11/25/04 (35 weeks, PIH, Pre-term labor)

"Grahame" wrote in message
...
Very interesting..........how did you feel about it at the time?
Did they teach you how to budget?
My 13 yr old never asks for money but we buy her everything..
Im thinking of following your parents example as it sounds a great
idea...but I dont think I have taught her enough about money yet to start.
Any tips?
Thanks
Fiona

I think the ability to save is an inborn quality. You can only teach it so
much. Some kids get it and some kids never will, but at least we can try.
That said, DS gets money every so often depending on how many stars he has
and if he is willing to trade them in for cash. We never buy him toys
except for birthdays and Christmas, even that is too much, considering what
he gets for gifts from everyone else. Still, he wants more toys. He must
buy them with his own money.

wrote:
How much allowance do you give your teenagers? What do they have to
spend it on and what do you buy for them?

When i was 15 I got no allowance, but I did babysit and so got ample
spending money that way. Shaina (just turned 15) doesn't work. (Doesn't
have time, and it seems that teenage babysitting has gone the way of
the dodo-bird anyway.)

I currently give her $10/week allowance, but I also buy her everything
she needs (clothes, school lunches, swim-team expenses, etc.) and many
things that she wants, as far as the budget allows and I think the
request is reasonable (books, DVDs CD's, computer games, cell phone
top-ups, etc.). Her allowance tends to either get saved up for big
things (she just bought herself half a PS2 [with the other half being
her birthday present],) or spent on little things (library fines,
snacks after school, etc.)

She's been asking for an increase, and I realized that I AM in fact,
rather inconsistant about what I buy for her and what I expect her to
pay for herself. (I made her spend her own money on a Japanese Club
tee shirt, but I do buy her most of her clothes.) . So I got to
thinking --- I can give her a pretty substantial increase (say,
$25-$30/week) and expect her to buy all her 'wants' herself (including
non-essential clothing items, books. etc.), or I can keep it as it is,
and consider her allowance to be nothing more than pocket change.

What do y'all do?

I think either route is fine. I find that giving
them more money and then expecting them to handle their
expenses is a royal PITA. Now, if I'm out and about and
run across something they need, or maybe want, I just get
it for them. When they have to spend their money for that
stuff, then I have to coordinate shopping with them. Ugh.
I think maybe part of it depends on what they need
in the way of growth opportunities. Is she a kid who could
use some lessons in budgeting and making priorities and
saving and so forth? If so, a larger allowance and more
responsibilities can be a good teaching tool. If, on the
other hand, she's got a good financial head on her shoulders,
then frankly, I think it's more trouble than it's worth and
you just have to decide what's a reasonable allowance for
whatever things it is that you're not willing to buy
yourself (however idiosyncratic that list might be).

Best wishes,
Ericka

-L. wrote:
I don't have a teen now but had my niece as a teen. I gave her a
dollar for every year of age per week...

Wow, I knew my parents were cheap, but this confirms it. I got *10
cents* per age -- so a grand $1.30 as a 13-year-old, and 10% of that
went to church. On the other hand, they paid for everything... I
did babysit, but I honestly don't remember what I spent that $$ on.
And I was a great money-budgeter once I got to college -- I managed to
fund 3 trips abroad based on work-study. Alas, my money-managing
prowess seems to have disappeared now that I'm married. :P

Em
mama to Micah, 11/14/04