How much allowance do you give a teenager?

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Forum -> Parenting our children -> School age children

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amother

Thu, Sep 18 2014, 11:33 am

How much allowance do you give your child a week? Can you please say how old or what grade your child is in. My son will use the $ to go out to eat. He can bring home lunch if he chooses.

boysrus

Thu, Sep 18 2014, 11:54 am

my 14 yr old son in high school gets $3 each week from us (OOT USA)
13 yr old middle schooler gets $2 each week.

they mostly save up their money. They rarely go out to eat with friends, and on the rare occasions that they do we give them extra money specifically for that.
Their allowance is to teach them how to save a bit, how to give maser and for very small things that they want and I don't buy for them, eg occasional slurpee, to buy a25c box of lemonheads for a siblingsbirhtday gift etc

amother

Thu, Sep 18 2014, 11:58 am

I got $20/ month in high school, about 10 yrs ago

granolamom

Thu, Sep 18 2014, 7:37 pm

In my dd's high school, different vendors come in every day and sell food (soups, sandwiches, salads, pizza, etc) I think its a different vendor each day of the week. anyway, I give her enough money to buy lunch 2 times per week, sometimes she brings lunch from home and just saves the money, which is fine with me.
we had to compromise on the meaning of 'enough for 2 lunches' because obviously buying a soup is less than pizza & fries. I give her $10/week which is enough for one 'small' and one 'regular' lunch in her words. she is always welcome to take something from home too if she thinks she doesnt have enough. I think this system promotes good planning, decision making and saving. so far it works for us, she's in 10th gr btw, we did this last year too.

amother

Thu, Sep 18 2014, 11:47 pm

OP I would like answers from New Yorkers where kids have access to many stores. My son now gets $20.00 a week and the $ is gone usually before the week is up.

amother

Thu, Sep 18 2014, 11:52 pm

My DS is in 9th grade and I give him $10 a week. He dorms in an OOT community with quite a few restaurant options.

granolamom

Fri, Sep 19 2014, 12:52 pm

amother wrote:

OP I would like answers from New Yorkers where kids have access to many stores. My son now gets $20.00 a week and the $ is gone usually before the week is up.

I am in NY. My dd not only has the vendors I mentioned in my post but access to starbucks, Dunkin Donuts, a pizza store and a bagel store.

I think the dollar amount should depend on your budget and how much fast-food you want your kid eating.

you might want your ds to be more accountable, maybe he needs to budget better. or maybe he is lending other kids money and they arent paying it back. or maybe he's buying too many snacks. or maybe cost of food has gone up or he is going through a growth spurt and you need to up his allowance. I think you need to talk to him to come up with a workable amount.

amother

Fri, Sep 19 2014, 6:40 pm

A dollar for every year of their age, but they have to put 10% aside for tzedakah and I give cash incentives for putting a % in the bank to save. They can spend that money on anything we agree on, but if we don't agree, they just get their own money out of the account and I don't comment on their decision ( and I try to truly act like it's their choice). I agree to most things they can explain wanting--a day in the city or ticket to a play, clothes, accessories, an iPhone -- just not junk food, and they have to be able to explain why spending it is a good idea. I like that they have to think about what they want. Some DC even save for extra college things. Anon because I discuss my matching plan with others.

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