Question: I have a 14-year-old daughter who loves to shop. She is our only child. I feel as though I spend too much on her clothes and would like to put her on a clothing allowance, but I haven't got a clue as to how much would be sufficient. I want to tell her that this is the amount she has to manage, and I will not give her any more. Any help would be appreciated.
Answer: While I admire your goal, I'm afraid you're setting yourselves up for failure unless you and your daughter do some planning.
Before you can set an amount for your daughter's clothing allowance, you need to get a grip on how much you're actually spending. And before she gets an allowance, she needs to learn how to shop on a budget.
Tell your daughter about your plan, and explain that the allowance will be a substitute for money that Mom is spending, not bonus cash.
Then, over the next couple of months, keep a careful account of how much you spend, and on what. If you can attach a dollar figure to your "feeling" that your expenses have gotten out of hand, you'll have a better idea of where you've gone overboard.
With your daughter, take an inventory of her closet and make a list of "haves," "needs" and "wants." Once you have a handle on your outlays, you can eyeball the list and set an appropriate allowance.
Don't worry about low-balling your estimate. You aren't obliged to pay for all your daughter's "wants," and she can always earn extra money.
Shop with your daughter and help her buy the things on her list while staying within the budget. That means giving her a lesson in looking for sales, and shopping at a mix of trendy shops and bargain stores. If it's too easy to buy everything, you know you've aimed too high and you can lower your target.
Once your daughter has had training, both you and she will feel more comfortable when she has money of her own. Give her a seasonal allowance — in the fall and spring — or divide an annual figure into monthly installments.
And don't give her responsibility for buying all her clothes right away. She could certainly be budgeting for things such as tops, jeans and accessories. Once she's proved she can handle that, you can increase the amount, along with the responsibility, as she gets older.
Have a question about kids and finances for Dr. Tightwad? Write to Dr. T at 1729 H St., N.W., Washington, DC 20006. Or send the good doctor an e-mail message (and any other questions for this column) to jbodnar@kiplinger.com.