Establishing a monthly budget for a teenager has become an increasingly present theme in many families in Romania, against the backdrop of rising costs in big cities and changes in the way young people build their social lives.
Beyond the amount itself, the discussion touches on a deeper area: family education, financial responsibility and how children are prepared for adult life.
Family education and “the 7 years at home”, extended to financial education
The concept of “the 7 years at home” is traditionally associated with respect, common sense and behavior in society. In practice, however, it is increasingly extended by specialists and parents to basic financial education.
How a child understands the value of money, the ratio of work to reward, and the difference between needs and wants is often formed long before adolescence. At this stage, parents no longer provide only rules of behavior, but also the first tools for managing money.
In many families, the monthly budget for a teenager thus becomes an exercise in balance: between independence and control, between freedom and responsibility, but also between the financial realities of the family and the social pressure felt by the child in the group of friends.
The online debate: between 500 lei, personal experiences and differences of perspective
The discussion about the right amount for a high school student was opened in an online community, where a parent asked if a budget of 500 lei per month is enough for a teenager’s social outings.
Divided by 30 days, the budget of 500 lei means approximately 16-17 lei per day. With this money, a teenager could buy, for example, a juice and a chocolate croissant, a coffee and a pretzel or similar snack. At fast food, the cheapest product, which is only 109 grams, costs 7.90 lei, and a juice between 4.60 and 6.80 lei. A simple, promotional menu, which contains only a burger, a juice and fries, costs 14 lei.
Conversely, for activities that involve socializing in the city, such as a meal with friends, a movie or an outing to a cafe, significantly larger amounts are usually needed.
“Hello! To break the string of posts about politics, I come to you with a question related to the cost of living for a high school student in a large city in Romania (Cluj, Iași, Timișoara, Bucharest). I have a 16-year-old and we’re trying to figure out a monthly budget for pocket money that’s fair – not starving, but not blowing money on crap. At the moment, his budget is 500 lei per month, but every time there are discussions that it is not enough and that ‘everyone else has more’. Considering the current prices, a simple outing for a burger and a juice takes you easily to 70-80 lei, I’m starting to wonder if I’m not stuck on the prices of a few years ago. What do you think is a reasonable amount in 2026 for a teenager who wants to have a normal social life?,” one parent wrote in an online discussion.
The responses came quickly, and many of the participants compared their own teenage experiences to the situation described by the author of the post.
“500 lei/month just for expenses for a high school student seems super ok to me. At most, I asked my parents 10-50 lei once every few weeks when I wanted to go out somewhere“, said an internet user.
Along the same lines of comparisons with his own experiences, another participant simply said: “My budget was the scholarship“.
A similar perspective, related to limited resources in adolescence, was expressed by another user: “My budget was the allowance. I also got 42 lei and 84 lei later”, added another participant in the discussion.
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Generational differences and how lifestyles influence spending have been addressed in other comments. Some participants pointed out that it all depends on the social circle and consumption habits.
“It also depends on what friends he has. If she has colleagues who burn her for coffee every day after high school and on the weekend she goes out to billiards/bowling/padel, the budget doesn’t fit, but she has to learn this: money flies, especially if you don’t spend it consciously. The goal after all is for the kid to understand the value of money“, said an internet user.
In the same vein, another comment brought up the difference between occasional and frequent consumption, relative to current prices: “I can’t say that I can relate to the current prices, but until the fall of 2024, when I moved from home, I was strictly below my expenses, but I didn’t have a budget set for such a thing, however, I think that in general the outgoings were around 200-250 maximum per month… I only went out for coffees/juice”, replied another.
However, there are also opinions that claim that the amount of 500 lei is sufficient for the needs of a teenager, with an emphasis on discipline and careful money management.
“No, 500 lei is ok. To learn to value money, to do in the future and to learn from a young age about situations where you don’t have money… you can have a normal social life even with 10 lei in your pocket”, stated one panelist.
On the other hand, there are also direct comparisons with the cost of living in big cities, where even a seemingly generous budget can quickly be consumed.
“In Iași, with 500 per month, you can manage even as an adult strictly for going out, I don’t know what the hell a high school student would do with that much”said a netizen.
Another perspective emphasizes the flexibility of the budget and its adaptation to the reality of each family, but also the role of financial education in the context of adolescence.
“The question can’t be answered, it’s too general. I think you have to help him live his adolescence. How can you better afford it… Maybe some kids would learn something from the jobs they have access to…“, said a participant in the discussion.
The discussion continues in the same direction in other interventions, where the focus is on how the lifestyle of the group of friends directly influences spending.
“It depends on what lifestyle you want to give him… if his friends are always drinking and going out and he can’t afford it, he’ll stick around, and he’ll also accumulate frustrations because he sees that he can’t afford what others can“, said an internet user.
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Adrian Negrescu: the budget is not the central problem, but the way of management
Economic analyst Adrian Negrescu emphasizes that the focus should be on financial education rather than on the exact value of the amount offered.
“It’s not the amount that matters, but how the child uses it. This should be the focus of every parent. The child should become able to manage money, understand its relevance, how to spend it wisely, understand its options, priorities. Yes, it’s very good to teach our children to manage money from a young age, to understand the value of money and to make plans. It will help them have a predictable financial path in the future. In other words, by at an early age we should give children a small budget that they can manage on their own“, said Adrian Negrescu for “Adevărul”.
Asked about the level of the monthly budget, the analyst emphasized that it depends on the situation of each family and the structure of the child’s expenses.
“It’s hard to say, depending on the financial strength of the family. It should be calculated according to children’s consumption habits, from games and toys to clothes, shoes, sweets, hobbies, etc. Each child is special, has different expectations, but, certainly, the budget cannot be an exaggerated one but a maximum of a few hundred lei. I would say 500 lei if the parents have where, money from which to allocate a part of the usual expenses“, explained the analyst.
