Teens and Clothes Budgets

I am very fortunate. Neither of my kids is consumed with clothes like many teens are. DS, bless his heart, will wear whatever is in his closet. His wardrobe consists of jeans and shirts from Salvation Army and off the clearance racks. He hates to go shopping and only recently made his first clothing request: Cargo jeans. He has a few pair already and now that he's growing again and needs longer jeans, he would prefer that I find cargo jeans if I can. DD is a very modest girl. She refuses to wear shorts, refuses to wear V-neck tops and refuses to wear anything without sleeves. Now, I'm definitely not complaining about her choices, but it is very difficult to find items that meet her standards and fits her. At 14, she is a very petite girl and it can be difficult find not only petite clothing but also modest clothing. Anyone with a daughter knows exactly what I mean. Trying to find a pair of slim PLAIN jeans at a decent price is almost impossible, even at Wal-Mart (too many decorations) and you can forget about finding anything at Salvation Army or Goodwill for her. Thank goodness for Meijers and their jeans and the clearance racks elsewhere!



During a recent discussion with DD, I mentioned that in 2008, I had probably spent a total of $225 at the most on her clothing. She thought this was too much until I broke down what I spent, and she said she thought she could get through the year on less. I told her that I had thought that at some point in the next year or two, I would be turning over her clothing budget to her, giving her a set amount at the beginning of the year and then giving her the responsibility to plan ahead and outfit herself. She is pretty much done growing, so many of her clothes will still fit her. In fact, she has some tops that still fit after (gulp!) 4 years! (She likes big shirts and wears them forever.) She was really enthused by the idea and asked if she could start being responsible for her clothing purchases now.



So here's the plan: with my next paycheck, I will start setting aside an amount to give her for clothing. We are going to start with $150 to cover all clothing and shoes. I told her the amount would be a bit bigger next year to cover a winter coat and that I would cover any unexpected required clothing but she would be responsible for everything else. For example, she has been involved in a theater production in the past that has required the students to wear specific items that we did not have in her wardrobe. That sort of thing I would cover, but if she joined a club at school and needed a specific T-shirt or something, she would be responsible for that. If she runs out of her clothing budget before the end of the year and needs something, she will be required to use her allowance to purchase it. Of course, we will set down, write out the guidelines and sign it (this has proved to be invaluable in the past), but she is really excited to do this. I will probably implement this with DS at the beginning of 2010. He is still growing, but at least his shirts/tops should be in good shape through next winter. I'll let you know how things progress!