We’re now in Month 2 of our financial experiment where I give my 13-year-old girls $100/month and they are responsible for buying ALL their own clothes and makeup, plus any “fancy” toiletries (I will continue to buy all their basic necessities).
I appreciate the comments and feedback I received on my last post when I shared our experiment. I updated the contract I shared with the girls to clarify I would cover ALL basic necessities (e.g., face wash wasn’t originally listed; and the contract said floss OR mouthwash when I really meant floss AND mouthwash, etc.).
The day I gave the girls their first $100, we sat down together and worked out a budget. I told them that we typically spend for back-to-school clothing shopping ($300) and what they might budget for summer time clothing (including swim suits, flip flops, etc. approx $200).
We had a rough timeline
We need $200 by May/June for a summer clothing haul, and another $300 by July/August for back-to-school.
From there we worked backward.
We have 7 months from Feb-Aug, which is $700 worth of money; but we need to set aside $500 of it for these planned expenses. That leaves $200 for makeup/skincare and fancy toiletries or other clothing incidentals between February and August. That’s only about $30/month!…