Question: I like your column, which shows a great deal of common sense. But I question your advice to the family on the Oprah show suggesting that they give their 17-year-old daughter a clothing allowance of $400 a year. For an affluent family, $400 a year for clothes is really, really unbelievable.
Answer: Believe it or not, that's what my own 17-year-old daughter gets as a clothing allowance, and it seems to work just fine.
It's true that there's no magic number that's right for every family. Parents and kids should decide on an allowance based on their means, spending habits and personal preferences. But parents like to have a benchmark that they can adjust up or down.
Here's how I came up with my $400 recommendation to the family I counseled on the Oprah show.
First, it was a good compromise between the $200 Mom had suggested (too low) and the $1,000 Dad had come up with (too high). Because they couldn't agree on a figure, they weren't giving an allowance at all. Both parents felt comfortable with a neutral third party suggesting $400.
Second, an allowance doesn't have to cover every item of clothing. If parents really wanted to get out of the kids' apparel business altogether, they would certainly have to increase the size of the allowance. But in my experience, most parents don't turn all clothes-buying over to the kids.
In our family, for instance, I take care of coats, shoes (up to $50 per pair), prom gowns and other special-event dresses (within reason), underwear and socks if they're getting particularly ratty, and an occasional surprise.
The point is that kids should be budgeting for their own shirts, shorts, jeans, skirts, sweaters and accessories — the type of thing they buy on excursions to the mall with their friends.
Third, don't forget the gift factor. That $400 clothing budget was seasonal, $200 in the fall and $200 in the spring.
In between there are the holidays, when most kids get an infusion of new clothes as gifts, plus birthdays and visits from grandparents and generous aunts.
Fourth, teenagers can — and should — supplement a clothing allowance with their own earnings. At Christmas, for example, I always buy bathing suits for my daughter, who is a year-round swimmer. But in the summer, when she's flush with cash from her summer job, she makes her own trips to the swimming-supply store.
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.