At what age do you give your kid $ for clothes and have them budget/buy clothes for school?

[Anonymous]

At what age do you give your kid money to buy school clothes and walk through the "you have $400 to spend for all your clothes, do you really want to spend $200 for one pair of jeans?" example? Is this in middle school? The start of high school?

[Anonymous]

We just started. DC about to start 11th. I don't know if she would have ready sooner. It definitely is nice not to have these arguments.

[Anonymous]

DD is a rising fourth grader, and we've just started with budgeting. We will go into a store and she'll have a list of what she needs to buy (2 pairs of jeans, a jacket, pair of shoes) and money for them. She's very goal-oriented, so I could really see bringing her to the store, and then sitting and reading a book while she runs around working off her list.

[Anonymous]

We started budgeting very young. my kids had allowances and were saving for things by age 7 or 8. by about 12 they were contributing to clothing purchases. I would say - I am willing to spend $50 towards a winter jacket. If you want something that costs more than that then you have to pay for it. Sometimes they decide it is worth the money and sometimes they go with the cheaper item because they are saving for something more important to them than the jacket or whatever. Now at 14 we are starting to move into a clothes budget. You have X dollars a month for all your clothes / personal stuff you want to buy - spend it as you wish but when it is gone it is gone. If you want something more expensive you save up or spend your own cash.

[Anonymous]

All I can say is Thank God for uniforms!! Love them. So we don't do "school" clothes shopping, but I started giving my DD a budget in 7th grade and letting her make the choices. It's amazing how they look at the prices when it's their money. I actually give her cash vs using the debit card so the money actually leaves her hand.

[Anonymous]

My parents started it with me when I was 13.

[Anonymous]

Still haven't. Rising fifth and eighth graders.

[Anonymous]

18

[Anonymous]

Started in 2nd and 3rd grade. By 16, she had a job and often bought me lunch/goodies for presents I certainly wasn't buying her clothes, she wouldn't let me.

[Anonymous]

Did this for both daughters at about 10, and never looked back. Bonus: they know how to use Excel now.

I didn't (and mostly still don't) hand them a big wad of cash, though: I use a credit card or hand them a small amount, and they log the expenditures against their 6-month allocation.

[Anonymous]

To all the PPs who are doing such a good job with their kids and budgeting: what is your HHI? I'm curious if there is a correlation. THanks.