A quesion about allowance for my 14 year old daughter?

Question

My daughter is 14 and is a straight-A student, but she loves to shop. i have started giving her 30 dollars every two weeks. with that she has to pay for any movies she goes to, any times she eats out, some of her clothes, and by summer has to contribute $200 so she can go to a camp. in return she also does dishes, makes her bed, babysits sparingly, and walks the dog.

Does this sound reasonable and a fair trade?

Answer 1

This sound more than reasonable!I really like the part that you get her to chip in for summer camp!It shows you are teaching her the true value of a dollar!No debt in her future!Keep it up!

Answer 2

One should never make allowance a trade. As far as doing dishes, making her bed, etc, she is supposed to do that. Do you get paid for being a mom? I know I don't. I have a 20 yr old straight A student and she received $20 a wk from age 12 up through middle school and was expected only to pay for her lunch ticket each week. If she made her lunch each day then she had more. We had her open a saving account and took her to the bank every couple weeks to make a deposit (not a spender). She also had a little bank that had 3 slots, invest, save, spend/give. It helped her learn the different responsibilities she had in using her money. When I was a kid, we got $2 or $3 a week and to get allowance the next week we had to show half left. Worked for me....my brother borrowed alot from me...w/interest of course :-)

Answer 3

Well, I'm a few years older than that and I make 25 a week plus money I make by collecting bottles and cans- 10-15 dollars a week, not bad for just setting up a box by my trash can. I also do all that you stated plus groceries and all sorts of junk. So for 14, 15$ a week sound fair... It probably would be best to make it weekly instead of biweekly, it seems like its more money even though its exactly the same. As for camp... Saving is good, but spending that much on that "salary?" Personally, my parents have always payed for events like that. But if you are adamant about having your daughter spending the money, then you should raise it to $20 a week and set aside portions of it in a bank account, like $5 every week, so it will add up over time. Thats what I did to buy my N-64 back in the day..... When I was 10-12 ish

Answer 4

Ummm...no that's not enough money, especially if you're making her contribute to her her summer camp fund and she has to babysit. Why don't you just pay for her summer camp and have her save a few dollars a week for spending money at camp. If your daughter is doing well in school, and is helping out around the house...and babysitting you should give her at least $60.00 - $70.00 a month...that's just for entertainment stuff (movies, restaurants, etc.). You should pay for her clothes (w/ in reason) and the summer camp.

Answer 5

That sounds like a very fair trade. I'm 14 and my parents, in my opinion, give me too much for allowance. Not complaining or anything because I'm very grateful, but I don't feel like I've earned it. My point is that by making her work for money, it instills a good work ethic and helps her feel as though she has earned it. Although, I think that making her pay THAT much money for camp is a little unfair for her.

Answer 6

I'm the mother of teens also.

Sounds like you have a really with-it daughter who is not only a great student but who also helps around the house. How lucky are you!

I don't know where you live, but here a movie costs $7.50 for a student ticket. Popcorn is $3.50 minimum and pop or a slushie is at least $2.75. That right there wipes out an entire week of allowance.

If you don't ask for her $200 until the end of june, that is 5 months during which she can save money. So that comes out to $40 a month.

As it is, she gets $60 a month. Take away the $40 she needs to save for camp and that leaves her only $20 per month to spend.

Or.....$5 a week. Plus, you stated she has to buy some of her own clothes.

So if she wanted to go to a movie and enjoy the normal treats, she would have to save the $5 she has left each week, for 3 weeks in a row, just to attend one movie. Then that leaves her $5 for the rest of the month and/or clothes.

I don't see how your daughter can realistically do all that you stated on the amount of money you give her.

I am not saying you are not generous or that what you give shouldn't be appreciated by her, but the cost of anything is so expensive nowadays that I would consider upping her allowance.

She seems willing to work for it, so maybe offer more money as long as she takes on more jobs or responsibility at home. How about she babysits one whole evening while you and your hubby go out alone? Or you can make a list of bigger jobs that you allow her to chose to do in a given time.

Like, one week she has to clean out the fridge and one week sweep the garage and one week pull weeds and one week vacuum out the car, etc.

That way, she still learns how to work for her money and she appreciates earning and budgeting and working with her own money....but she also gets to be a kid and to reap some of the benefits of working so hard for her money.

Maybe $25 a week? That's $100 a month. $40 automatically gets saved for camp. (And after camp is paid for, being in the habit of saving $40 a month would be great experience for her in learning how to save for later). Then she would have $60 a month for free spending. That's $15 a week. Enough for one movie a week or going to eat one or two times a week. Enough for a new lipstick or a cute top if she saves a couple weeks.

It won't buy her many clothes, but some little extras every now and then.

What I do with my kids when it comes to shopping is I give them a set dollar amount to spend. That teaches them to make their money last. When I would shop with them they would just pile clothes on the counter but now they check the sale racks, look for better prices, etc. Knowing their limit makes them shop like I would shop!

Answer 7

No. How does she afford any cloths, or movie tickets when she only has $30 a fortnight to pay for food and beverage. And how is she then suppose to pay $200 to a camp trip?.
Sorry but I think you are being unfair, weather she does chores and contributes around the house or not.

Answer 8

Thats not enough money..
She's getting $60 a month and you want her to contribute $200 to go to camp?

Say for the months of March to June she get's $240 - $200 for camp. Either you spring for camp.. or give her $100 a month.

Lets play fair here.

Answer 9

Yes that's reasonable interms of the biweekly thirty bucks. In terms of the camp- I'm a very fair with things and I think you're ripping her off. I understand that she has to pay for everything with this allowance, but a 14 year old girl shouldn't have to pay for her own camp. Camp is like a gift from the parents to the kid. The thirty bucks thing is fine, but I don't think the camp thing is fair.

Answer 10

If she's that bright, you might also want to consider talking to her about banking and an introduction to personal finance. Credit cards are an awful idea for teenagers at least until they go to college (looks like your daughter is well on her way), but she needs to learn some responsibility with using it.

Teach her small tips about saving money. One of the easiest things is to tell her to only pay in bills, putting loose change into a jar; it adds up quickly.

Help her create goals (like going to camp). She'll learn far more quickly by doing chores for her money, and getting a job when she gets old enough. With that in mind, she'll begin to weigh what she wants to buy against what she has to do to pay for it. For example, if she's going to buy a jacket that she had to do the chores for two months to earn, she's probably going to make a practical choice based more upon what she NEEDS, and value it more, take better care of it.