$120 Weekly allowance for a 16 yo!!

[MrsPete]

Wow! That's more spending money than I had PER MONTH my first two years in college! Of course, I sometimes went hungry at that point in my life, so I'm not suggesting that I was middle-class by any means.

Seriously, though . . . fast forward a decade, and these poor kids are going to wonder why they "can't live" on a starting salary right out of college -- in fact, if they don't decrease their standard of living, they'll end up going into debt. Mom is not doing them any favors; she's setting them up for failure.

 

[eclairemom]

DD is only 4 and she gets paid every week from a Responsibility Chart it averages around $3 per week because we pay her a dime for every magnet she earned on the board. Right now they are simple like brush teeth, no whining etc but I figure as she gets older we can add more difficult ones for her to do and up the price paid. The chart has really motivated her and all of her money has been going in a jar for our December disney trip.

I on the other hand didn't have to buy gas, pay for my insurance or clothes. My dad wouldn't entertain the idea of me getting a job his theory "You'll have to work enough after you get out of school".

 

[gilby]

Ok, this is already teaching this 16 year old that money is no object and this daughter is going to think she can spend that every week as she gets older and them we wonder why people have thousands and thousands of dollars on credit cards. We wonder why so many people are loosing there homes due to living out of their means and guess what they learned it from their parents. I don't think I need to say more.
My 16 year old is already saving for a car, has to contribute for car insurance and her own cell phone. This will in the end make her more responsible at paying her bills as she becomes an adult and guess what she learned from her parents. Yes responsibility.

 

[momofpirates]

Any chance the mom in the article would like to adopt a 40yo daughter? I would be happy with only $100 per week. That's all I get now and I work FT and have a family of 5 to feed. OK, my gas money doesn't come out of the $100, DH has a different budget for that. I guess I would be open to the $120!

 

[kermie1975]

If I liked the food at school, I got the 1.25 for the meal. Otherwise I had to make my own lunch at home. If I wanted a car, great. I had to pay for the car, the insurance, and the gas. If I couldn't, the bus would get to me to school. I only graduated HS in 1999 so inflation isn't that bad. Had a job starting at 14 and was still expected to keep A's and honor roll. $120 is outrageous.

This was my life too only I graduated in 1993.
It's not asking too much and I will do the same for my kids.

 

[jdes88]

$120---WOW!! That's almost what my paycheck is a week! And I work FT!!

Anyways---I grew up with NO allowance. You did your work because it was expected of you---not because there was a finacial reward at the end. My parents had us brown bag it most of the time---every once in a while we bought lunch at school. (and I just graduated in 2000)

If you wanted a car---save up $$ and buy it yourself. My parents paid for my car insurance until I was 20---or until got a ticket or an accident---but since I didn't have either of these, they created a cut off.

I had a great childhood and I don't have my head in the clouds. You wonder what's going to happen when that generation is in charge.

 

[crisi]

My sister's ex-husband came from a family like this. Dad was an executive at a Fortune 100. Kids all got $100 a week in allowance, cars at 16, taken to Aspen to go skiing every year. He paid for their college and then...the day they graduated, cut them off.

Guess what, five of five kids declared bankruptcy. They couldn't do it - had NO idea how to budget. Couldn't get their heads around not needing to carry Coach purses (for the girls).

Another family I know ran a business that supported the family in very good style. But as the kids got married, and the family grew, the business revenue stayed the same. A business that had supported one household very well did not support four households at the same standard of living. They took too much out of the business and it failed.

 

[Crisgw]

My sister's ex-husband came from a family like this. Dad was an executive at a Fortune 100. Kids all got $100 a week in allowance, cars at 16, taken to Aspen to go skiing every year. He paid for their college and then...the day they graduated, cut them off.

Guess what, five of five kids declared bankruptcy. They couldn't do it - had NO idea how to budget. Couldn't get their heads around not needing to carry Coach purses (for the girls).

Another family I know ran a business that supported the family in very good style. But as the kids got married, and the family grew, the business revenue stayed the same. A business that had supported one household very well did not support four households at the same standard of living. They took too much out of the business and it failed.

But not all kids who have parents that support them like this and pay for cars/college are inept at budgeting once they are on their own. Once my sister and I were done with school, my parent's paid for our way until we each got a job then we were "on our own". I have to say, we're both perfectly fine and successful, so it's a very person to person type of thing IMO.

 

[Rootskate]

I wish somebody would float me a $120 allowance every week.