Here is one thing I did for DS and myself as the payee: go to the college Academic Calendar and set up Outlook events for important dates, such as days the dorms and cafeterias open and close, orientation dates, tuition due dates, etc.
I know I can’t remember all this, work and take of the rest of the family. Do you have any other ideas?
I just noted dates payments were due and reminded myself a few days prior, plus dates that proof of health insurance was due. The other dates were for the kids to refer to and remember. I told them I finished college–it was their turn.
I needed the extras to make sure we have flights arranged and he has money to eat. (We are too far to drive.) I wanted to show DS how to track the year. I expect him to send me dates for year #2.
We are way too far to drive as well. S was gifted from his aunt a significant amount that covered ALL his spending money for all 4 years of college. We paid for him to have a meal plan, so we didn’t give him any additional funds. When he was no longer in the form, we gave him semester cash disbursement equal to the lowest meal plans. It seemed to work out pretty well. We’d ask S when we should book his flights for summer and Christmas. It wasn’t always the dates we expected.
Put it on him to let you know if he’s running low on eating $. Most kids - especially guys - are pretty good about making sure they can eat, unless they’re going through funds fast and know their parent’s will ask questions lol
You could have your son be the payee and let everything go through him. Transfer the $ into his account and let him manage it. That way, if anything falls through the cracks, he’s the one who has to correct it and will be quite motivated to do so. It’s honestly not that much work, especially if you don’t use a budget plan to break up payments.
If you are going for Family Weekend, make your hotel reservations now.
I reminded my kid to forward all emails about stuff like payments, insurance, etc to me. Some things are only sent to them (FERPA, I guess). Also joined a parent Facebook page for the school, as parents or a rep from the school will sometimes post important info.
I write all the important dates down in my actual paper date book where I keep track of all appointments. I also tell my kids to send me the important emails but I have complete access to all of their college accounts - I pay the bills, I have the access. I will send my kids a text to remind them of certain things.
Notice all of the posts where the parents keep track of important dates. THE most valuable thing you can do. Do not rely on your kid to inform you. Knowing in advance when s/he is likely to come home, have finals et al is useful. Knowing when payments are due ahead of time also useful. I got son’s schedules from him so I knew when he was to be in a class and definitely not available. Also I looked up the final exam schedule so I knew when he would be done at the end of a semester (easier than trying to make him do it).
Try to identify a mutually acceptable weekly phone call time- then forget about your kid the rest of the time. Presume s/he is doing well. No news is good news. Do NOT micromanage or ask about exam/test/paper/homework grades. Let your kid tell you if s/he is excited about a great grade et al. otherwise assume things will vary and the final grad is all that counts.
I was wandering around with my daughter in her account and even though there are instructions on adding other users, those options aren’t appearing? I’m wondering if it’s because it’s so early in the process and classes aren’t even selected yet.
DS and I had a laugh last night. He needed to do the student loan on-line counseling. My super mellow DS said that completing and reviewing the financial sections made him “angry” and that he couldn’t understand why someone would want to do this as a career. Long story short, DS has “hired” me to be his financial advisor going forward to handle all of this, since I think it is fun.
We also couldn’t find the section to provide me with secondary access but will look again once the completed counseling section is updated on his Fin Aid summary. If it doesn’t show up, DS is going to forward every email to me.