We don’t give our daughter an allowance. We pay for all of her school expenses and we paid for her car. She is responsible for paying for all of her car expenses, personal care items, clothing, and fun money. She waits tables at a popular lakeside restaurant during the summer and makes a lot of money. She can easily take care of her expenses with her summer earnings. She recently started a part time job as a personal care assistant where she works about 12 hours per week. They know she’s a college kid who will go home for breaks and the summer. She figured if she had time to watch the first seven seasons of Grey’s Anatomy and take a daily nap during her first four months of school that she probably had time for a part-time job.
I guess I’m a cheap charlie. I give anywhere between $50-200 a month but she does not have a meal plan. She has her own money and manages it well as she has held a job during high school, over the summers, and at college. She spent about $800 this semester of her own funds.
Almost none. He uses our CC to purchase staples for meals. He uses it once a month and spends about $100 or less, usually it’s around $50. I stocked him up with a variety of cooked and raw meats to save money because i knew he would throw whatever in his cart without looking at the price.
He has a job. He makes most of his money during the summers and breaks. He puts money aside for books, dues, 1/4 of his rent, clothing and spending money. If he called and needed money, I wouldn’t hesitate giving him some. I always ask. It really helps us out that he helps pay for these expenses since we pay everything else.
Hi @Pizzagirl
I always enjoy your comments, I will clarify a few things concerning my parents decision.
"My parents deposited all college monies available to me into my savings account prior to my freshman year. It is my responsibility to make those monies last my entire college career. I pay 100% of my education and entertainment expenses out of these monies and currently have them budgeted to cover grad school as well as under grad. "
.
That doesn’t seem to make financial sense to pull such a huge chunk into a savings account and leave it there. It would make more financial sense to pull out a certain amount as needed and let the rest stay in investments until such time as they are needed. Always remember the compound value of interest!
I apologize for for leading you all to believe that my parents are poor money managers. I feel fairly confident that in the eyes of most they are pretty successful investors. But in all fairness i did say they deposited all of the monies in a savings account which was technically incorrect. It was actually deposited into my brokerage money market account. Which is kinda the equivalent of a savings account with regard to current yields. I then conservatively invested about 72% (had to look that up) of the of the monies in various investments based on the advice of my dad. I did keep 28% cash which may not seem smart to you, but I felt that met my needs based on my time frame for using those monies. Ironically I went to a much stronger cash position (once again based on my dads advice) over the course of the last 7 months and am pretty happy with that decision based on the current markets and my time frame for using those monies. I may start reinvesting over next few months but have not decided definitively. Well there you have it… smart or not I sure have learned a lot about money management with regards to investing, budgeting, FAFSA and taxes.
So with that said I am still for turning over all of the money that you have allocated for allowance to your student in a lump sum and see how they do maybe they will surprise you. Of course this is coming from a current Jr in college so take it for what its worth.
When the spring semester starts, we are changing the amount of money we give our son for meals, etc. on a weekly basis. It will be $80. He has some leftover dining dollars from the fall that will run over, plus a meal plan of $285 for the semester. He told me that he’s tired of eating the campus food all the time, and since he lives in the fraternity house that has a lovely kitchen, he plans to purchase groceries with some of the money and cook.
To help out that decision, my husband and I are giving him a crock pot for his birthday, which is just after Christmas. We’ll also give him some groceries including the fixings for the beef vegetable soup he loves, pasta, cereal and some other items. We are hoping he does carry through with his plan, because he will save some money and more importantly, learn to live on a budget (he has a girlfriend, too). We will give him gift cards so he can go out with friends to various eateries, as well as a gas card every once in a while – although he does not drive a lot at school.
I really hope that he does stick to his plan to cook. His older brother had a beautiful apartment with a great kitchen his final two years of undergrad, but rarely cooked. He burned through lots of money going out regularly. Now, he is in law school and has a smart apartment with a cute kitchen. He has sent me notes several times saying how much he loves the cookware I got him, as well as the crock pot. He really likes cooking. He is eating healthier, too.
@momreads: My oldest is a boy, in his second year at college, and I absolutely love the way you have written about your boys. My son has had access to the shared kitchen since he was a freshman, and I don’t think he ever cooked except for heating soup when he was ill. Still, my hope is that he learns to do as your older son has done and take a second look at the items I have given him, maybe find the really good 3-qt. saucepan he let become “communal” property last year, and begin to cook small, tasty meals for himself.
I hope your current undergrad finds his way in the kitchen as well.
Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for clarifying, 2017girl. That makes a lot more sense.
We pay all room, board, tuition, books, travel plus $100 month into flex dollar account so he can eat at other campus locations besides standard dining room. We expect him to work summers and over winter break and save his money for discretionary spending, which he does… He has saved several thousand dollars over past 2 years and he draws (frugally) from that.
We pay for tuition, room, and board. Our kids pay for their own books and other expenses. No allowance. They all work full time during summer breaks and earned enough to get through the next school year.