Most teens need some help learning how to manage money. We tried several approaches; money for chores, money for 'good attitude' and then just giving the money we would have spent on her anyway. Obviously each child is different and this might not work for your teen, but so far (one year) that last option is working pretty good for us.How We Decided on the Amount:
My husband and I looked at our family spending and separated out what we thought was the average amount we spent each month on things for our daughter. Teen girls tend to 'need' a lot. :)
Then we decided what types of things we would buy for her no matter what. Since we wanted her to attend a private school that required uniforms we would pay for the actual uniform clothes (skirts and blouses), one or two pieces of outerwear that would be acceptable at school, several pairs of shoes that met the code as well. We want her to participate in after school sports so we pay for sport specific items, special shoes, ball gloves, etc. We will pay for general personal care products that are available in a grocery store, ie; bar soap, shampoo, etc. (flexible within reason)
We will pay for activities that are school or church related and give a small sum to buy a meal or snacks at said events.
The spending that was left was mainly those things that she would choose to get on her own;
clothing... anything not mentioned above (yup, ALL other clothing , including outer and under garments)
makeup, specialty haircare products, magazines, video games, jewelry, craft projects, gifts for friends, etc
Food bought while out with friends, entertainment while out with friends.
Instead of just giving her cash at the beginning of each month or week we divided the amount in half. At the start of each month we put one half on a reloadable VISA card in her name (www.greendot.com) which we bought at a local drugstore and signed up for online. They sent her a card with her name embossed on it. This is something she is responsible for. She can check the balance online and can make purchases online as well (we usually ask that she show us before buying online, so we can make sure it's a safe site and that the items are not objectionable to us) We have weekly balance emails sent to us, and can check purchases online, and reload online as well.
The other half of the month's allotment we divided into four payments, which she receives each week in cash. That way she has cash on hand for places that do not take credit/debit cards (flea market, garage sale, vending machines, etc) Obviously she is responsible to keep this safe as well.
It has been one year and I am happy to report it has worked out fairly well. At first she spent most of it as soon as she got it (beginning of each month) and was a bit upset about having to buy ALL her other clothes. After a few months she settled down in her spending practices and realized she needed to 'pace' herself and comparison shop. She started asking herself, "will I really wear this enough to justify the cost?" or "can I find it cheaper at a non-name brand store?" Some stores she would not have considered shopping in looked much more appealing when the same T-Shirt was 5$ instead of 15$ at the trendy shop. :)
We have made exceptions and paid weekly monies early if the reason seemed valid. We also realized that summer time meant many more 'fun' opportunities and made a one time larger addition to her funds to cover the cost of a 'season pass' to a nearby amusement park. Which she had already decide to pay for on her own, but that we thought would be a good investment since we did not take a long family vacation.
I wish I could say she has taken much better care of her clothes since she bought them with 'her own' money, but alas I can't hope for everything all at once. One thing she did do recently was to go through all of her clothes and bag up what she did not really wear any more and we took them to a trendy consignment store and she got some store credit for future purchases... I like that kind of thinking. :)
We feel this has really given her a chance to have some freedom while at the same time learn how to use her money wisely, compare quality, value, and bear the consequences when 'something better' comes along and she has no money. Of course with most plans you have to revisit them from time to time. Occasionally a purchase came up that we had not thought of. We considered its' use, needfulness and value. Several times we opted to pay for it for and other times we told her she had to pay for it herself. Nothing is ever 'in stone' :)
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