Teens/College Students Clothing Budget?

[MrsPete]

my parents stopped giving me money for clothes as soon as I got my first part time job (at age 16).

Playing devil's advocate:

Wouldn't that defeat the purpose of the kid getting a job? I mean, they're working now . . . and yet with the loss of the allowance, they can't afford any more than they could when mom and dad were paying for everything? Why not have all the free time and still have the same amount of money?

I ask this because my parents used a similar approach with us, and it didn't work with all of the kids. One of my brothers in particular just didn't buy into the philosophy at all. They wanted him to work and buy himself a car. He just didn't want to work, and though he sort-of wanted a car, he wanted the free time more -- so he didn't get a license, didn't get a job, didn't get a car. And he was FINE with that. With another brother, it worked too well; he was sooo into working and earning a dollar that he essentially forgot all about school and constantly wanted to work, work, work.

It's a tricky thing to hit the right balance.

 

[MrsPete]

My daughter is 22 and a full time college student. She takes a full load of classes and works part time to pay for her rent, groceries, and gas. There is NO money left to buy clothes or anything else, for that matter. For her birthday last month, I took her shopping and we bought "school clothes"!
The way I see it, she is doing as much as she possibly can and I am picking up the slack. What's so odd about that? Once she is out of school and working in her career job, she'll be buying her own clothes. Untill then, that's what I'm here for.

I intend to buy SOME clothes for my daughters while they're in college. I clearly remember having to wear tennis shoes with holes in the sole during college because my parents did NOTHING financially for me, and literally every penny I earned went towards tuition and other necessities.

I don't mean I'll take them shopping every couple months and shower them with multiple outfits "just because". I don't want to over-indulge them so that they'll be set up for failure when they get out of school and must support themselves on an entry-level salary. But I will make sure they have a couple new pairs of jeans, a few sweatshirts, and a decent pair of tennis shoes for back-to-school in the fall. When my wanna-do-something-medical daughter reaches the clinical stage, I'll make sure she has a couple sets of scrubs to wear to the hospital. Basics.

 

[missypie]

Playing devil's advocate:

Wouldn't that defeat the purpose of the kid getting a job? I mean, they're working now . . . and yet with the loss of the allowance, they can't afford any more than they could when mom and dad were paying for everything? Why not have all the free time and still have the same amount of money?

Can you PLEASE explain that to my husband? Once Son got a job, Husband wanted him to start paying for everything. But with the economy the way it is, the teen workers got very few hours...many weeks, Son would hand over his entire little paycheck and would still be in the hole...much easier and a lot more profitable to not work and get an allowance.

 

[mtemm]

Playing devil's advocate:

Wouldn't that defeat the purpose of the kid getting a job? I mean, they're working now . . . and yet with the loss of the allowance, they can't afford any more than they could when mom and dad were paying for everything? Why not have all the free time and still have the same amount of money?

I ask this because my parents used a similar approach with us, and it didn't work with all of the kids. One of my brothers in particular just didn't buy into the philosophy at all. They wanted him to work and buy himself a car. He just didn't want to work, and though he sort-of wanted a car, he wanted the free time more -- so he didn't get a license, didn't get a job, didn't get a car. And he was FINE with that. With another brother, it worked too well; he was sooo into working and earning a dollar that he essentially forgot all about school and constantly wanted to work, work, work.

It's a tricky thing to hit the right balance.

well to be honest I didn't really get a clothing allowance since I wore a uniform. and I liked being independent...I went out and got the job, then told my parents I had one.

of course, I also did that with my car. bought it at 17...just came home with it one day. lol. and yes, I paid for gas and insurance and all that good stuff. it never would have occurred to me to ask them for it.

I did get a regular allowance prior to it, but it wasn't much, and I was making way more than that ($3.35 an hour at mcdonalds...I felt positively wealthy!), so I think I just stopped asking for it/expecting it. my parents never told us to get jobs or expected us to, but if we wanted more than was provided, well, that was how we got it. made sense to me at the time, still does today.

 

[golfgal]

Great topic and good timing! DD12 and I discussed her school clothes budget last night. We tend to get very frustrated when shopping together with me continuously asking "do you like this" and getting smirks for a reply She has asked if she can do her own school shopping and I have agreed

DS started his own school shopping at about age 16 when he began getting picky but it seems that 16 boy years = 12 girl years at least in my household.

So, here's what I've decided:

1. She needs to go through all her clothing/accessories and make a list of what she needs vs. what she wants. She did this yesterday and we discussed the list. I was surprised to find ankle bracelet and black hat on the list

2. We'll decide together what items she can buy. It's going to go something like this: 2 pair jeans for $40, 2 shirts for $40, one pair of shoes/sneakers for $30, accessories $25, socks and underwear at $15, school supplies $25, with an extra $25 to make up any differences for a total of $200.

My biggest problem is where to go that I'll feel safe with her going off on her own for a bit with a friend. I think we've decided to start at Target for socks and underwear and to "check out" the clothes and then head to Wrentham Outlets where she'll have large selection of jeans, etc. If she doesn't find what she wants, we'll go to Marshalls and Sears (which is where we usually shop).

So, short answer is $200 but she doesn't need much to start school.

Can you really find socks and underwear for $15??? That is the one thing I hate to buy the most because they cost so dang much.

As for a place to shop, Kohl's is good too. Could she bring a friend along so she isn't alone?

The other day, D16 casually said, "I think we need to start buying my jeans at Buckle instead of American Eagle."

At American Eagle, the jeans cost $30-$50 and they have frequent buy one get another for half price sales.

At Buckle, the jeans cost $70-$150 and they don't have sales.

I absolutely have to give this child a set clothing budget this year...she can buy one pair at Buckle or five at AE...her choice.

Sure honey, here is the $30 I am willing to spend at AE and you can make up the difference at the Buckle out of your own pocket .

I finally got around to getting the twins a debit card (teen checking account with our bank). We did this for DS17 when he went to China and he now uses it for whatever-usually when I need him to pick up milk from the store, etc. We put money on the card so he can do this kind of stuff then he has his own money there too. He has to keep track of the difference. For the twins I got them the card so I won't ever have to step foot in one of those loud teenage stores again!!!! They have plans to shop with their friends, I will give them a budget and put that money on the cards for them. Much easier on my already bad hearing .

 

[AshleyW]

Well, my situation is a little different than most college kids.. but I'm 22 and go to school full time and work full time. I also have a mortgage, car payment, etc etc etc.. and pay for everything myself. I started working part time when I was 14, and paid for everything myself pretty much starting then. I always felt bad asking my parents for money, I guess. Anyway - my parents live in Florida, so since they can't go shopping w/me, I usually get a $100 gift card to American Eagle for my birthday in June and I just use that to get school clothes.

My little brother on the other hand.. not quite so responsible. He's living with my parents in Florida and mooching off them, pretty much. He has no shame. For awhile, they were buying him whatever he wanted - $100 sneakers, $70 jeans, etc. Once he turned 19 and wasn't going to school and didn't have a job, they kind of cut him off, outside of the necessary expenses (like food) that they bought for him. He started classes this term, and I think they gave him $125 for school clothes for a year and a new pair of shoes.

 

[merryweather20]

Playing devil's advocate:

Wouldn't that defeat the purpose of the kid getting a job? I mean, they're working now . . . and yet with the loss of the allowance, they can't afford any more than they could when mom and dad were paying for everything? Why not have all the free time and still have the same amount of money?

I ask this because my parents used a similar approach with us, and it didn't work with all of the kids. One of my brothers in particular just didn't buy into the philosophy at all. They wanted him to work and buy himself a car. He just didn't want to work, and though he sort-of wanted a car, he wanted the free time more -- so he didn't get a license, didn't get a job, didn't get a car. And he was FINE with that. With another brother, it worked too well; he was sooo into working and earning a dollar that he essentially forgot all about school and constantly wanted to work, work, work.

It's a tricky thing to hit the right balance.

I don't think its tricky at all. If they aren't motivated to find a job then you are giving them waaaay too much allowance. $2 per week vs $12 per hour teaching swimming it wasn't a hard decision. As for the other brother no school, then no work and you're stuck with the $2 again.

And no the $2 wasn't from back in the day either.

 

[autumnpalm]

I'm a university student right now. I work part time during the school year but all of my money goes toward tuition, student loans and textbooks with a little bit of spending money left over for things like movies, dinner out, etc. My parents do help me out with clothes twice a year. I tend to buy classic, fairly basic pieces that I can wear once I'm finished university but are still cute. Most of my clothes are from places like the Gap, although I never pay full price. You can buy a lot on sale there!

When I was a teenager my mom took me shopping every fall and set a back to school budget. It was my choice where and how I spent it. Every year I regretted going to expensive stores and having to do laundry every few days.