Three questions in one. When will you start giving clothing allowance, how much clothing allowance do you actually give and why would you give clothing allowance? These are questions that every parent will face at some point. Sometimes the child comes up with it himself and sometimes the parents think it might be smart to give clothing allowance. We have now reached the point where we can say that we have experience with giving clothing allowances and that we again attach restrictions to this. I am happy to tell you more about it, so that you can take our experiences with you in the considerations that you will make.
Let's start with the most important question...why should you give clothing allowance?
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The majority of parents start by giving clothing allowance because they want to teach their child how to handle money. Because that is of course the principle of clothing allowance. When your child gets a little older, it is in principle smart to give them an x amount each month, from which they have to do their shopping themselves. This way your son or daughter learns how much money they have to spend each month and what they can buy with it. If they want something expensive, such as designer clothes or brand shoes, they will really have to save before they can buy something with their clothing allowance.
Children who like a lot and actually spend money very easily learn in this way that they really have to be more economical with their money because otherwise it will run out. And it's gone. That is the maxim of clothing allowance that you should also use as a parent. If the clothing allowance for that month is gone, too bad. Then your child can no longer buy anything. In this case, you should therefore not give in and, for example, 'borrow' your child money to buy what they have set their minds on. Otherwise they will not learn anything and you will miss the target. Because why would you give clothing allowance if you immediately replenish the shortage when asked to do so. That's useless.
It is also useless to give clothing allowances to children who care nothing (or not much) about clothes and shoes. We have one of those around. He doesn't care much about clothes and doesn't spend his clothes money on new clothes or shoes. Now I hear you think… that's nice. But unfortunately that is not the case. On the one hand, he doesn't care about (expensive) clothes and shoes, but on the other hand, he has a hole in his hand when it comes to food and drink. A real teenager who spends a lot of money at school in the canteen (or currently the vending machine), in the supermarket and in eateries such as the Mac, the Subway and so on. Clothing money for this 16-year-old teenager turned out to be pointless. But turning back is not easy either.
We therefore regret that we have been giving him clothing allowance for a while (from the age of 14). In fact… we had to make adjusted agreements with him to keep it somewhat meaningful. Later in this article I will tell you more about the distribution of clothing allowance and pocket money with him.
There may also be an advantage for yourself in giving clothing allowance. Certainly with teenagers and - in my opinion - even more with girls than with boys, it also ensures that you do not always have to say 'no' when your child asks for new clothes or asks for expensive branded clothes. Because to be honest, it is not always necessary to purchase new clothing and branded clothing. Sometimes they just want something for the sake of having it, not because they need it. If they don't have to pay for it themselves, then it's easy to ask or even nag. But if you give them clothing allowance, you will see that they learn to make choices.
I therefore think that you reap the greatest benefit from giving clothing allowances to children who are either crazy about designer clothes and shoes, or children who simply love to shop and buy new things. This way you do not have to refuse clothing yourself and the costs remain reasonably limited. In addition, it also works well for your child because he or she really gets to know the value of money. It will certainly work better with our daughter than with an adolescent son.
According to Nibud, your child is ready from the age of approximately 12 years. Of course, every child is different in this, so also take a look at how your son or daughter is put together and whether that clothing allowance would be a good option for him or her. One child can start working with it earlier than the other child.
Nibud also has advice on this. Where would we be without the Nibud 😉 . On average, Dutch children receive € 50.00 per month in clothing allowance, but the children do not have to pay all of that. Sportswear and swimwear, for example, are often excluded. I have to say that we ourselves are a bit above that with our 16-year-old. We give him €100.00 in clothing allowance, but he has to pay for everything, including his telephone subscription and gifts for friends.
Still, I doubt that we don't give too much and make it too easy for him. If he wants, he can score some nice things on clothes every month. If he were to go completely for branded clothing and branded shoes, it might be a bit difficult, especially when you consider that he has a 4G subscription for his phone. But as I wrote, if I could determine it again now, we would give less. But turning back is a bit tricky, isn't it?
We did discuss with him that of that € 100.00 eventually € 20.00 will go to his current account every month and that the € 80.00 will go to a separate account that he has to ask us for if he wants to buy clothes. That is only an agreement we have made in recent months, because we see that too much money is spent on good food and drinks and he has still not bought new shoes that we think he really needs 😉 .
I find it a difficult job, all that raising! How do you deal with giving clothes money? I am very curious about your approach so if you would like to leave a comment, I would be very happy!
