Allowance/spending money for 12 year old

[Anonymous]

Doing some market research here on how much money I should give my 12 year old DD every week for allowance/spending money. We live in NW DC, I currently give her $10/week and she takes care of the dogs, and takes out the trash. Usually she just buys books with the money, as she is not very materialistic If she wants clothes (which is rare) I buy them, and give her $ to go to movies, etc… she has asked for an "inflationary" increase this year to $15, and I am just trying to learn more about what is standard.

How much do you give your child every week for spending money?
Is the money linked to chores?
What do they have to buy with the money (clothes, toys, going out)?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Doing some market research here on how much money I should give my 12 year old DD every week for allowance/spending money. We live in NW DC, I currently give her $10/week and she takes care of the dogs, and takes out the trash. Usually she just buys books with the money, as she is not very materialistic If she wants clothes (which is rare) I buy them, and give her $ to go to movies, etc… she has asked for an "inflationary" increase this year to $15, and I am just trying to learn more about what is standard.

How much do you give your child every week for spending money?
Is the money linked to chores?
What do they have to buy with the money (clothes, toys, going out)?

We give $1/year of age.

Not tied to chores.

I am still purchasing clothes and shoes before school starts, but birthday $ is used for extra wants.
My son is in HS this year and he also gets $10/week to eat out at lunch 1 day per week.

If he goes to the movies, we tend to pay for that because 1 ticket would use most/all $14.00 allowance. He can use his money for popcorn, snacks etc.

[Anonymous]

We give a monthly budget. He needs to decide how to spend. The budget is 150.00 a month, and before you gasp, here is what he expected to pay for:

Entertainment including food at movies, etc.
Clothes - we will pay for school clothes (he has a dress code), but anything else is on him.
Sporting equipment that isn't absolutely needed- he usually ends up getting for birthdays and Christmas (special bat, etc.)
Games, electronics, etc. that he may want.

He is expected to walk the dog when asked, clear plates, help with dishwasher, help put clothes away, keep room neat, clean up after friends over, take out trash and other chores when asked. Attitude results in $10.00 reduction.

I had similar plan growing up-- it was great and really helped me manage my money as a young adult.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We give a monthly budget. He needs to decide how to spend. The budget is 150.00 a month, and before you gasp, here is what he expected to pay for:

Entertainment including food at movies, etc.
Clothes - we will pay for school clothes (he has a dress code), but anything else is on him.
Sporting equipment that isn't absolutely needed- he usually ends up getting for birthdays and Christmas (special bat, etc.)
Games, electronics, etc. that he may want.

He is expected to walk the dog when asked, clear plates, help with dishwasher, help put clothes away, keep room neat, clean up after friends over, take out trash and other chores when asked. Attitude results in $10.00 reduction.

I had similar plan growing up-- it was great and really helped me manage my money as a young adult.

Very interesting, do you give cash or an ATM card? Do you require savings?

[Anonymous]

$10/week.

He's old enough now to do odd jobs around the neighborhood if he wants or needs more money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We give a monthly budget. He needs to decide how to spend. The budget is 150.00 a month, and before you gasp, here is what he expected to pay for:

Entertainment including food at movies, etc.
Clothes - we will pay for school clothes (he has a dress code), but anything else is on him.
Sporting equipment that isn't absolutely needed- he usually ends up getting for birthdays and Christmas (special bat, etc.)
Games, electronics, etc. that he may want.

He is expected to walk the dog when asked, clear plates, help with dishwasher, help put clothes away, keep room neat, clean up after friends over, take out trash and other chores when asked. Attitude results in $10.00 reduction.

I had similar plan growing up-- it was great and really helped me manage my money as a young adult.

Very interesting, do you give cash or an ATM card? Do you require savings?

ATM card - makes him feel more grownup and he likes to check balance and he has to think a bit about withdrawal

[Anonymous]

We do 50 cents per year. So my 14-year-old gets $7/week. Not tied to chores, although we may pay him for something extra like the potential shoveling of our driveway this weekend.

[Anonymous]

We don't make our 12 yo pay for anything (like movies or clothes) and we don't give an allowance. He gets cash/amazon gift cards from relatives so he usually spends the gift cards and saves the cash. Every once in a while he asks for something and we say if he wants it he should pay for it, but he usually doesn't.

[Anonymous]

Wow - I am really surprised by these numbers! We stopped allowance for our 13 year old, since she is now babysitting and earns plenty of money, but for our 10 year old, we do the amount of his age PER MONTH (not week). Like other PPs, we don't require him to buy his clothes or entertainment himself, so this is really just extra money for him to have. I can't imagine why he would need more than $10/month!

[Anonymous]

12 yr old DS's basic allowance is $5/week. But he's given the option to save it in "Mom & Dad's Bank" which gives a very high rate of interest. We pay interest on up to $100 of savings. Amounts over $100 are transferred to a regular bank. With his current savings level he's getting another $4/week.

He uses it to go out to movies with friends, the occasional buying of snacks at 7-11, saving up for videogames. He rarely gets other cash since relatives don't typically give cash gifts. A couple times in the summer he might make some money house/plant sitting for neighbors.

[Anonymous]

$5 per week for a 13-year-old. Not tied to chores. The money is supposed to go towards things she wants that I won't pay for.

[Anonymous]

I think there is a huge difference in the amount of $ needed based on age and where you live. We live in DC and my kid has been moving about independently around the city since age 11. If we lived in the suburbs, it would be different because there would be less opportunities to need money.

[Anonymous]

I never received an allowance as a kid. My parents gave money as needed and I worked junior and senior year of high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think there is a huge difference in the amount of $ needed based on age and where you live. We live in DC and my kid has been moving about independently around the city since age 11. If we lived in the suburbs, it would be different because there would be less opportunities to need money.

OP here, that is why I am asking about what other families do… DD is in NW DC and I am hopeful that she will take advantage of the city as much as realistic for a kid her age

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think there is a huge difference in the amount of $ needed based on age and where you live. We live in DC and my kid has been moving about independently around the city since age 11. If we lived in the suburbs, it would be different because there would be less opportunities to need money.

OP here, that is why I am asking about what other families do… DD is in NW DC and I am hopeful that she will take advantage of the city as much as realistic for a kid her age

I am PP with a city kid. Consider the kid's week. Where does she go? What opportunities does she have that may require money? My kid and his friends are very generous with each other, sharing food and money.