<p>Congrats, fendergirl!! I remember that exact same feeling when I bought my first house. I also remember signing a gazillion pages, including signing away my constitutional rights for something (I forget what, but they made a big point of it)</p>
<p>My oldest daughter will begin college in Fall 2011. I guess I must be crazy to “spoil” my kid, but I suspect we will give her a minimum of $500 per month as an allowance.</p>
<p>I respect all the parents on this forum who limit their support, and do not judge them one way or another. And I give much kudos to the kids that earn their own spending money, as they get a head start on one of life’s most valuable lessons.</p>
<p>But my philosophy is to try to allow my kid to go to college and roughly maintain the same lifestyle that we have always provided for her. We really do see the college experience as her job, as she will be pursuing a BFA degree that is very time consuming.</p>
<p>I realize that this philosophy doesn’t work for everyone, and that many kids take advantage of the situation, or worse, they never learn financial responsibility. To date, my daughter has proven to be extremely responsible, and she isn’t wasteful or flashy. She usually saves a decent chunk of her allowance, and basically never asks for anything.</p>
<p>I’m sure most people would think that we must be wealthy or stupid to choose to provide in that manner. But we are not wealthy in a relative sense. The stupid part is yet to be determined.</p>
<p>Will you adopt me, arrdad??</p>
<p>$0 allowance. They both work full time during the summer and during the long winter break.
They use their earned money for books, food, gas, entertainment, clothes, and whatever incidentals they need.</p>
<p>Younger son (junior in college) wanted to get a new laptop. IMO–his older laptop worked just fine and he didn’t NEED a new laptop (there is a difference between NEED and WANT).
He paid for the new laptop himself.</p>
<p>IMO–kids today need to learn how to live within their means, not within their parents means.
Too many kids falsely believe that they are entitled to live the same lifestyle as that of their parents who have spent 30 years trying to work their way up to the economic ladder. </p>
<p>My younger son tells us all the time that he’s the only one up at his school who has to pay for his own books, gas, clothes, and food (beyond what the very basic food plan offers). Our response is—“You may think we’re being tough and unloving, but someday you will appreciate the lessons learned by our action.” </p>
<p>Don’t get me wrong–when they come home to visit during the breaks, we often slip them a few bucks (maybe $50 or $100) and surprise them with something like a new piece of clothing. </p>
<p>They have everything they need. They may not have everything they want. There’s a big difference between the two.</p>
<p>Its interesting ( & depressing) to me that my oldest who attended a private college where tuition is probably more than 4X tuition at her sisters in state university( 8 yrs later)- had a much easier time money wise.</p>
<p>Because COA was way above our EFC, she was able to receive work study as part of her 100% need met finaid package, freshman year, she worked as a math tutor in a nearby high school( which was hard because she didn’t have a car- however PDX has good transportation), & the last two years she worked in computer services learning things that got her some tech writing jobs after graduation ( & which paid really well)
Her work study job, paid for her personal expenses & books- ( albeit which weren’t much- except for the books).</p>
<p>But while her sister, took a much better paying job over the past summer, than her well loved but low pay camp counselor position- she doesn’t qualify for work study- and there are no jobs to be found on campus without it.</p>
<p>The town doesn’t have good public transportation ( they also have made recent budget cuts, limiting it even more- including cutting Sundays) & she doesn’t have a car. ( I did find her a free bike, which she thinks her friends can help her fix- but soon the weather will be such where that won’t be feasible.)</p>
<p>We can’t really afford to give her much of an allowance- we pay for her books- and living off campus is a tinier bit cheaper than living on- but I would have preferred for her to live on campus- wouldn’t have to worry about her having to plan and prepare meals ( I am paying for a food card)</p>
<p>I do know some people who live in the area however & they are eager to help- so I am going to ask to see if they can refer job contacts to her. She wants to work & is an excellent worker- it is frustrating that while she did qualify for subsidized Stafford loans, she didn’t for work study. ( but we are happy about the subsidy- last year she didn’t get it)</p>
<p>Haven’t figured out how much she will need yet- if she still doesn’t find work. RIght now she is living on savings from the summer.
As her EFC is higher than her sisters was -( because she was an additional dependent at the time), but our income is roughly the same, while our costs are higher, we aren’t able to be as generous as we would like- I did get on her bank account though so I can keep tabs on her needs.</p>
<p>My daughter didn’t really spend a lot; a lot of the campus social activities are free; eating out is maybe pizza. She and all her friends have part time jobs. I don’t think she could spend $500/mo on discretionary expenses.</p>
<p>100 a week, but she doesn’t seem to spend it all.</p>
<p>We gave both of mine $100 a month for incidentals. We paid for books, phone, and college fees. My daughter didn’t work during the year, but didn’t spend much either and never said she needed more.<br>
My son worked during the school year all four years- probably took home another $400 a month, but then he had a car to support. I do think that makes a big difference in how much money they need, as well as what other opportunities they may have to spend money.</p>
<p>Put me down as another parent who gives my student ZERO monthly allowance for “incidentals.” I pay for everything billed directly by the college (tuition & fees, room & board, medical), as well as textbooks/supplies required for classes and travel expenses between home and school. Anything else (all those “extras” like toiletries, attending movies & other entertainment, weekend trips into the city, etc.) is my son’s responsibility – which he has to pay for out of his summer earnings and his part-time job on campus.</p>
<p>The OP’s question is rather disingenuous, though, as he already has a de facto budget. His parents gave him $2,000 to last the entire school year, so if you divide that into 10 months (Sept. - June) – or however long the academic year at his school is – then he has a monthly “allowance” of roughly $200 a month. It looks like he’s just trying to justify asking his parents for more money – a request that wouldn’t get anywhere in our house!</p>
<p>Getting the whole nut in a lump sum would be quite a learning experience, I think. Lots more temptations, a feeling of financial ease at the beginning followed by horror at the end if spending isn’t kept within bounds. </p>
<p>Interesting…</p>
<p>^^Not a “spending money allowance”, but when S1 moved off-campus his sophomore year, we parceled out his housing money (equal to the on-campus dorm charge) monthly. Then junior year, we deposited it in his bank account each semester. This year he was responsible for cashing in the CD for the balance and making it last the entire school year. It was a really good money-management learning experience.</p>
<p>And to the original question…no spending allowance. All costs above school-billed charges and a monthly housing/meal plan equivalent, was covered by S1, including fraternity costs.</p>
<p>This is one of those parenting things I’ve just never been able to figure out. It seems my kids’ needs are somewhat unpredictable and I hate having to worry about whether they have enough to meet their needs and reasonable wants. So with both of them I’ve pretty much given them a lump sum, with instructions to only spend what is reasonable. So ds has $1000 in an account for the year. I don’t expect him to spend it, but he can if he needs it. He has a bit of a work-study job, and his expenses come first that money and then from the joint account, and I guess if he went past that from his savings. I’m thinking I should do some sort of incentive that he can share in the savings, but with doughboy the problem is that he WONT spend money, even on stuff he needs.</p>
<p>Dd is abroad and that was even more of a problem, because its harder to get money to her, and the expenses are all the more unpredictable. I want her to be able to travel and to enjoy herself, but I don’t want her to waste money. And for her a job is out of the question. So I gave her 6 thousand for the semester, but she knows that is basically emergency funds. I’m thinking she shouldn’t spend more than, well I can’t even guess, but maybe 2 thousand at most. With her I think I am doing her a disservice not having a clearer limit, but maybe life is like that. Both my kids have proven themselves trustworthy, but dd is more confused I think, about what’s okay to spend (and so am I guess). </p>
<p>I don’t have huge amount of money myself, but its a priority for me to meet my kids’ needs at least through college.</p>
<p>this is comparing apples and oranges. it all depends on location, meal plan, etc. my d is a fresh in nc. on the $ i am paying room board and tution, she saved $ for her books working over the summer. she is allowed 100.00 a month for meals/fun/medication ($10.00 each month/ whatever.
the $ goes to her checkbook on the first and that is it. no conversations need to occur. she has to budget i do not ask what is spent on, or if she has enough.
she had a checkbook and a job at 15 and a credit card at 18 in her name. i DO NOT overseee any of it or have access to it, they need to learn to budget and plan.
what happens if i am hit by a bus tommorrow?</p>
<p>We need more info to have any meaningful input on this.</p>
<p>$2,000 is indeed very generous if it truly is “allowances”, i.e. money for “extras”. But it appears that the OP has to use this money for coast-to-coast travel home on breaks, winter cloths, etc.</p>
<p>We’re in the room, tuition, board and cell phone (family plan) group. The rest is his responsibility. When he lived off-campus, we gave him his room and board money to spend as a monthly funds transfer. I think it is very important for kids to be a little concerned about where the money is going to come from, and about budgeting for their needs with the income they have available! :eek:</p>
<p>I just transferred “a little extra” into my daughter’s account. She’s invited to her brother’s new apartment for dinner and, since she’s traveling by herself, she’ll take a cab rather a bus back to campus if it gets to be late. She’s very frugal (or, you could say, she hates to spend her own money) and I wouldn’t want her to trade safety for economy.</p>
<p>DW received a text message from DS. Moved into an off campus apartment and is now responsible for everything less tuition, medical and transportation home during breaks. His resources include merit scholarship, summer jobs and anything else he can do to hustle some cash.</p>
<p>“Mom. I love not being on a meal plan. I am less than half my budget for the month.”</p>
<p>DW is going to reply and tell him to find a discarded Sunday paper and find the coupon section. Priceless!</p>
<p>We cover all items deemed to be “needs”. D earns $300 per week between her RA and campus jobs. She pays for books, her cell phone and entertainment. No allowance.</p>
<p>“We pay tuition, room and board, flights to and from school, and cell phone (family plan).”</p>
<p>$2000 Doesn’t buy a lot of food. Where I go atleast, board is far more than 2K/year.</p>
<p>For one of my kids, $2,000 food budget would be laughable. He’d spend maybe half of that in a school year. For the other one, it would be woefully inadequate in the other direction.</p>