Say YES to Kids' Allowance - Part 3 Teen Tips

Hi, everyone!  This is Lara Hammock from the Marble Jar channel and today we are talking about giving an allowance to kids.  This is the last of a 3 part series.  Part 1 went over the allowance basics.  Part 2 covered how to do it with a minimum of fuss.  In this last one, we'll give some tips for teenagers and allowance. 

My kids are both youngish teenagers now (15 & 13) and the issues we have now are different from the ones we used to have -- in every way -- allowance is, of course, no different. I'm figuring this out as I go, but I'll share some of the things I've decided on -- for now at least:

• Dining - This has been a little tricky. My kids as middle schoolers have liked to walk to Chipotle after school with a bunch of kids. This gets pricey and is not within their means if you figure a $10+ burrito 4 times per month.  The problem is that I do feel obligated to feed them, so I agreed to pay for half of meals.  It used to be that I would give them cash, but only subtract it from their Spend account every other time -- but that required me to keep a log to remember who's turn it was to pay.  It only recently occurred to me to just subtract half of the cash I dole out. So, if I give my son $10, I take $5 out of his Spend account. Easier and less mentally taxing. 
• Entertainment - this is a totally different deal. I feel no obligation to pay to entertain my kids. They are on their own -- movies, trampoline parks, ice skating, etc. Unless we go as a family, they pay their way.
• Cash - honestly, this was the bane of my existence for a while.  They CONSTANTLY seem to need cash, right?  I hate giving out $20 bills since I never get change back and they just find a way to buy candy with whatever is left over.  So, I started getting cash from the bank in $5 bills. I store it in a locked pouch (I have a video on this if you are interested).  Believe me, the lock is required in my house -- I learned THAT the hard way.  They get $10 for runs to Chipotle, $5 for snacks at the football game and $25 for mall shopping. All of this comes out of their allowance, but I like being able to dole it out in something smaller than $20 increments. 
• Clothing - I have 2 really different kids in this regard -- okay, in every regard.  My son doesn't think about clothes and doesn't want anything new most of the time (shoes are an entirely different issue). My daughter could always buy something new and loves to shop. Generally speaking, if they make a reasonable case about "needing" something, I'll pay for it. I draw the line at  . . .
• Brand names - my kids don't have to wear hand me downs, shop at GoodWill, or wear strange homemade clothes the way I did as a kid. And I know from painful experience just how important clothing is to being able to "fit in".  Especially in middle school.  But that doesn't mean just because everyone else has $200 UGGs, that I think YOU need to have them.  I have an established amount that I think is reasonable to pay for certain items.  I'm always happy to entertain arguments to increase that amount, but be sure to come with some backup data.  Here is some basic pricing in our area: $20 for a shirt, $30 for shorts, $50 or less for a nice dress, $70 for a nice pair of reasonable brand name sneakers (and yes, I've been told by an equally cheap parent that brand names matter in shoewear for boys -- within reason, of course).  So, what if my daughter falls in love with a shirt for $60?  She just pays the difference with her allowance. This circumvents a LOT of arguments.  It's never a matter of "Can I have it?" -- it's a matter of "Is it worth it to you?"
• Mistakes - as painful as these are to watch, they are necessary for the whole experience. My son is going to kill me for telling this story, but he has invested in some ridiculous things over the years.  By far the most ludicrous thing he has bought was this Vibrating Ab Belt "guaranteed to define abs in 60 days!"  His dad and I both told him that this was crap -- the only way to define your abs was by actually doing ab exercises, but $99 later he was the proud owner of a perfectly useless piece of snake oil machinery. He agrees now that was a stupid purchase, but I'd rather him make the mistakes now and become a more wary consumer than on more important things later. 

I don't pretend to have any of the answers here -- particularly with adapting the system to work for teens.  I consider all of these "decisions in progress."  And you'll notice I don't address teen jobs or the idea of giving enough allowance to older teens to buy both needs and wants.  These are bridges that we haven't had to cross yet, so I'll reserve my judgement on them until that time. 

I think it is important to have these conversations with teens about needs vs. wants, whether products are worth it, and paying extra for brand names. And I'm still a big believer in money management training for kids of almost all ages -- but particularly for teens who are on the cusp of financial independence.

I'd love to hear your experience with this!  Leave your questions, experiences and thoughts in the comments section and thanks for watching!