My kids have an allowance, which goes 50/50 to savings/spending. This is not tied to chores, but they take care of their bedrooms, bathroom, do their laundry, often cook for themselves, and extra stuff for the household when asked. The rules we set was that they are not supposed to touch the savings portion unless it was something big and discussed with us (very rare - once for a game console, once for a donation).
The problem arises now with the 16-year old for whom the spending part ($75 a month) is not enough anymore. We live in NJ (not a cheap place) and she goes out often with friends, buys presents, snacks, makeup, etc. We just realized that she will be $15 short for next month's credit card payment. Per her recent statements, she is now running at $150-200 a month. Some of this she can reduce, but some she would prefer not to. She can't get a job during junior year, as she has seriously overloaded her schedule - 8 AP/honors classes, leading 3 clubs, theater roles, sport, music, volunteering. She did advertise to do peer tutoring but no takers yet.
It seems we are down to 2 options: up her allowance or allow her to use the "savings" portion - and I was wondering where others stand
- for a teen in HCOL area, is $40-50 weekly fun money too much? Feel so, but on the other side I see how much things cost.
- what makes sense as a rule for the savings? Maybe it's up to her, and what she uses now, she has less for the college years (for out of pocket)
The problem arises now with the 16-year old for whom the spending part ($75 a month) is not enough anymore. We live in NJ (not a cheap place) and she goes out often with friends, buys presents, snacks, makeup, etc. We just realized that she will be $15 short for next month's credit card payment. Per her recent statements, she is now running at $150-200 a month. Some of this she can reduce, but some she would prefer not to. She can't get a job during junior year, as she has seriously overloaded her schedule - 8 AP/honors classes, leading 3 clubs, theater roles, sport, music, volunteering. She did advertise to do peer tutoring but no takers yet.
It seems we are down to 2 options: up her allowance or allow her to use the "savings" portion - and I was wondering where others stand
- for a teen in HCOL area, is $40-50 weekly fun money too much? Feel so, but on the other side I see how much things cost.
- what makes sense as a rule for the savings? Maybe it's up to her, and what she uses now, she has less for the college years (for out of pocket)
Statistics: Posted by vveat — Sun Sep 29, 2024 6:11 pm — Replies 9 — Views 498