Allowance for 16 Year Old

Not that I ever gave my kids allowance anyway but when they are 16 they got jobs for spending money.

It never effected my older two's ability to do homework, sports, everything. I think if anything they ended up with an advantage over their friends who didn't have to work.

Our daughter is almost 18 now but we never had a set allowance.

We are lenient with paying for things as long as she maintains her excellent grades in AP and honors classes and Varsity cheerleader as well as community service. Now if she were to become a slacker, the $ would dwindle. He$$ would freeze over if this kid ever became a slacker... she is very driven just like us.

That said, she buys all of her clothes, pays for most of her entertainment expenses.. We cover all car costs, food, and anything related to education.

My hubby frequently hides a $20 or so in her glove compartment of her car. It is now a surprise to her to see what he has left for her in her car.

She is on payroll for our company and I cut her a check monthy but it goes straight to her savings account. She shadows me learning how to run a business, manage financials, payroll, taxes, etc. She is also a very popular babysitter in the neighborhood and makes about $15 an hour CASH babysitting on weekends. Her babysitting style is not to sit on the couch... it is involvement as in teaching Spanish, tutoring if needed and the children's favorites are her arts and crafts she brings for them to do.

It is pricey for kids to go to movies a lot, etc around here. You can blow $50 on an ok dinner. My house is usually full of 4-6 teens on any given weekend night, including ballgame nights where I keep food stashed for them to cook, I keep my homemade marinara on hand by request and all they have to do is make pasta, then they watch movies, play pool, etc. My food bill is higher but that is perfectly ok with me because at least I know where they are and they are safe!

Good luck

We don't do an allowance for our teenage daughters. Anytime they need gas, food, entertainment or whatever financial need that arises (there are truly too many to list!) we pay the expense. That being said, we expect them to maintain grades (honor society level), continue to be involved in extra curricular activities and volunteer work, handle their chores around the house and make time for family. Are there limits? Yes! My oldest has a part time and extremely flexible job that pays for a lot of fast food and cute outfits, I believe that is helping her learn the value of a dollar. We chose not to put that value on being a vital member of our family, being a part of our family unit and doing your best to uphold the values we cherish means you benefit from what we can provide. We wanted to put value on working hard because that is what our family does, not because it can earn $$.

As a teen in the '90s, I received a small allowence of $20 a month, which included all my personal expenses including gas. However, I earned extra money around the house by ironing my dad's shirts, running errands, ect... It was an informal system though. It usually went like this:

"Dad, can I have some money to go to the movies this weekend?"
"Use your allowence."
"I don't have any left."
"ENTER GUILT TRIP HERE. Oh okay. I've got 5 shirts you can iron and some packages you can take to the post office. Here's $20. Make sure you get to the post office before 3pm!"

It worked for us ;)

We look at things a little different. Our kids 'job' is to be the best student possible. Our daughter is a HS senior taking 4 AP classes and 2 honors classes along with a couple of regular core classes. Plus some community service and play softball. She does work during the summer and uses that money to buy her clothes.
As far as a monthly allowance, she gets $150 a month. Which does sound like a lot but not only does that have to pay for movies and eating out, it also have to pay for her gas. She sometimes has to take food to her 'advisory' class at school so that also covers things like that. She does manage to save money month to month, where our son could barely make it month to month at that age.

Our daughter babysat, worked odd jobs as they came around.. like
Gift wrapping, personal assistant, pet sitting, watering neighbors plants.. tutoring, helping at shopping fairs.

and she was given money for her birthday. She used to save all of his money. and then spent some of it as she wished. . .

Sometimes we wanted her to go out so we just gave her $20.. But no official allowance.

I would give only like $20 a month - enough to allow him/her to do SOMETHING, but not enough to get carried away. I'd instead encourage a kid that age to get a PT job if they want to spend more than $20/mo, or to do odd jobs for neighbors/friends.

I didn't get an allowance. I got my first part time job when I was 15 and never looked back. Can your teen not get a job?

I have a 7 year old, but waaaaay back in the 80s I received $50 month. For that I: vacuumed the house twice a week (yes, twice), dusted the house and cleaned both bathrooms (weekly), emptied the dishwasher (daily), set and cleared the table every day. That $50 was all my parents gave me. They gave me nothing else for entertainment, gas, clothing, haircuts, etc. Therefore, I had an outside job on top of that, beginning at age 14.

Oh yeah, and my parents hired a maid as soon as I moved out at 17. I wonder why? ;)

12 years ago I got $25 a week this did not include my gas. My dad filled up my gas for me usually in Sundays. I was the captain of the softball team. Took an AP class. Played travel softball and lettered in 4 sports. I did chores at home as long as my grades were up and I was on time to school I got an allowance. I also was able to earn extra moola for straight a's (10 per A - straight as hot me an extra $50 a report( card etc. )

My sks got $10/week in HS. We then did not give them money for gas, for movies, treats, etc. We did give SD some money during the last week of rehearsals for the plays but that was an exception and it was in part b/c dinner spared us having to get her and bring her back to school. But that was pretty much her pocket money and she was expected to do chores and keep up her grades or it would be taken away. We also charged "cab fare" whenever the sks missed the bus - $10 per trip. So that was incentive not to miss the bus.

There were also opportunities, like $1 per shirt they could iron or extra money for mowing the lawn or doing other yard work. Once they got a job or graduated HS the allowance ended.