At 15 I didn't get pocket money for doing chores or anything around home. But my parents (middle class, I guess) paid for what I needed. I started babysitting and cleaning neighbours' houses at 12 to earn my keep.
I've got a few years yet before my little girl is at that age, but I plan to educate her (and any others that pop up) about the rights and responsibilities of money as possible. Life is NOT a free ride.
We were allowed to have friends around to 'play' 'party' whenever we wanted. We ended up having loads of people around to play music and 'silly buggers' out in the garden etc. Mum cooked for us and we were allowed to drink some wine cooler, beer and weak Midori lemonade. Fun doesn't have to be expensive, but you'd need to be very relaxed parents.
Good luck to the OP. I would recommend sticking to the 55CHF and suggesting that the kids find more creative ways of having fun. DVDs at home are a lot cheaper than the movies, and all their friends can chip in for a pretty decent party with wine or beer etc and home made pizza or hamburgers.
I paid my 16 year old son 275 chf into his bank account. He had to buy his lunches, snacks and manage his cash. The incentive was if he did not buy junk food etc he would have enough for something like cinema or what ever at the weekend.
He also got a job in a hairdresser and worked selling tuckshop at the local youth club to make it go further.
I think you should give them enough to take control and make decisions that pay off to be wise, without discouraging them to go out and earn money for themselves.
How about sitting down and having a conversation based on the money is to cover - realistically looking at needs, wants and dreams. Take into account what you can actually afford, and jointly come up with a budget. If your daughter then blows money on other things, that is when the learning expereince will increase.
There has been soe discussion regarding going to eat at Starbucks or elsewhere. IS this realistic within your family? ie, if you go there yourslef once a week ( or once a day) then it is probably realistic to expect that your daughters allowance will also cover that. However, if that sort of thing is totally out of your general budget for yourself, then it should be out fo hers as well.
Movies? Decide on whether to budget for once a week , or once a month. Are there sports or hobby interests to be taken into account? Do you want to include an allowance for clothing, cosmetics and other personal items?
Sitting down and doing this together, and being open about your own income and spending, may make for a far calmer atmosphere, with more joint understanding of both sides of the issue. Part of the negotiations could include what is expected from your daughter in return for the allowance, as a member of the family - ie: chores that are compulsory, and those that may be optional with a cash bonus. (keeping that cash bonus inside what you can afford.)
I don't have kids... but I really value the way my parents taught me about money. From the first, I was taught that money was first and foremost for paying for necessities, and that then anything left over was 'pocket money'.
From about 8, I had a small amount of pocket money. From this, I had to cover various small costs (40p to take to youth club, collection at church, 50p for non-uniform days etc.). The amount gradually increased, but only when my dad got a pay rise! For holidays, we would be encouraged to save up our own spending money, which my parents would then double. I think something similar happened with money for buying Christmas presents.
I had an allowance from when I was about 15. I had to pay for clothes, some toilettries, hairdressers etc. After about 6 months I had a nasty shock when I tried to get some money out of the bank and I didn't have much left - I realised I'd been spending more than my allowance each month and using up my savings. Taught me a very valuable lesson about living within your income at a young age, when it wasn't really a major problem to have overspent (no bills due etc.).
When I went to sixth form college, my allowance was increased to cover travel costs, lunch and school supplies. I got a Saturday job and saved for two years.
For university, my parents paid me £250 a month, which covered my accommodation. I used my savings and earnings from summer jobs to pay for tution fees and then had a student loan for living costs. I really appreciated how I'd been brought up to budget from an early age - a lot of my friends were often running out of money and having to phone home for more.
I'm not a parent, but perhaps you could give your daughter more money... but also more financial responsibility, e.g. paying for her own phone, clothes etc., to teach her how to manage her money?
I hardly consider a visit to Starbucks to be a luxury, but rather something to be avoided (been there once, NEVER again).
On the other hand, a visit to a 3 (or even one) Michelin starred restaurant IS a luxury, even if only once a year, though I validate such visits as learning experiences to improve my own cooking (which is generally the case, as I normally go for something I've never had before).
Teenage girls do NOT want to go clothes shopping with their father, especially for underwear and feminine stuff, so giving them an allowance that includes such expenses makes sense to me (and was cheaper, I'm quite good with numbers )
We give 45 a week to both kids - fixed cumpulsory chores+ penalties for excessively poor test marks. Both have saved to buy an xbox and laptop respectively.
It is another matter that we'll be contributing half 'for our share of usage'
wah. this thread scares me as my son is 11 and this isn't far away...
right now, my son has a few general chores to do (taking care of his room, his cats, etc) and receives no money for it- it's part of the work we all do as a family. he has the option of doing more work around the house to earn pocket money but for now he is happy with less work and less money. of course we pay all his things- lunch, clothes, etc.
what about paying children for their grades? i have a friend who does this but i am not comfortable giving money when he receives a good grade, we've told him as we have jobs to do to pay for everything, his job is to study (actually, we all do studying together with him) and get the best scores he can. so far this works and he knows if there is something special he wants there is always the option to do extra around the house to earn it...
i can't imagine what we'll do at 15, 16, etc. i just remember that the kids i went to school with who had money from their parents quite regularly would often spend it on things their parents wouldn't have approved of . anyway, at that age kids should be working a bit to earn money but not enough to take time away from school work. i started working at 13 in a bakery among other things and i do think that i worked too much and my schoolwork suffered, i wouldn't want the same to happen to my son...
Never, never, never. Any 'special achievement' by anyone in the family meant a special celebration treat for everyone together. It meant that we were all chuffed to death when something like this happened.
This is ridiculous. In my days it was FILA products, cd-players and game boys, nothing has changed about the peer pressure thing (I graduated high school in 2004).
I always had what I needed, but nothing more. My parents weren't poor, but they didn't think much of brands and gadgets. My clothes came from the second hand shop and when I wanted something I didn't need, I had to pay for it myself. When I was saving up for something particular, my parents would give me the opportunity to do extra housework for money (5.-/hour) or when they thought it was a reasonable thing to buy, they would double every penny I earned myself. I myself thought I was being traumatized at that time, but later I was very thankful for the way I was taught the value of money.
There is plenty of jobs for teenagers. I got my first job at 12 working for the Kiosk at the local swimming pool. I started teaching myself things and became very resourceful. I started programming websites for people, a skill I would probably not have acquired if not for extra jobs. I went on working for music labels which came with the extra of free concert tickets. I worked as a technician at a cinema to see all the movies I wanted. Since I was known for the girl that can work and doesn't mind doing so, I had plenty of job offers during high school. I was the first one in my class with a cellphone and I had a personal fetish for psions (anyone remember these? )
My brother was brought up a little different... He was 4 years younger and got pretty much everything handed to him. Today, he has no proper education and always money problems, because he never learned to deal with "real" situations and always went the path of least resistance.
Sorry, this got a little long, but it's a somewhat emotional topic for me. I personally get annoyed by all the spoiled brats around. I have some college friends that are a pain in the beep to work with, because they have never worked in their life and just don't know how to get stuff done.
What is better still I borrowed the money off my other daughter at 5% so she earns from saving, money goes round and round the family, everyone is happy.
are you licensed to offer consumer credit? does your daughter get a cooling off period? are you ready for a challenge from your daughter under the court of human rights?
Nothing new under the sun here. I clearly remember some kids at school were spoiled rotten whilst others wore threadbare clothes that had seen service with 4 siblings first. It is also normal for kids to test parents and push boundaries - "but all my friends have one"!
Generally I was paid much less pocket money than my peers. The matter was not up for discussion - my parents made that clear - they would pay generously for educational things but not for fancy gadgets, gizmos, clothes.
So like many others in this thread i earned money for the material things I wanted (usually music) by working - I started a paper round in our village, I washed cars for cash and so on. I did not resent my parents and, rather than feel downtrodden, actually pitied some of the unappreciative kids who seemingly had everything handed to them on a platter - often it seemed their parents were compensating with money what they couldn't deliver emotionally. May sound cliched but its the truth.
