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<p>Yes, this is our rational, as well. Our daughter is on an urban campus, and we always want her to have enough money just “in case.”</p>
<p>But we do give it to her as a lump sum, just that we’ve let her know it adds up to 100 a week.</p>
<p>^^1K wouldn’t even feed me for 8 months off of the dollar menu. What’s he eating for $125/month? Ramen?</p>
<p>qwerty - room and board means room and food. Money mentioned was in addition to regular dorm food fare.</p>
<p>^It was in the post that I quoted, and not in the post it was replying to. Hence, why I commented. If room and board are paid for, then there’s no other physical need.</p>
<p>We do the needs v wants as well. Moving off campus is saving us $3000 this year. No extras, but she gets her spending money from 2 pt on campus jobs, off campus tutoring (great $$) and working an occasional sporting event at the school. Too busy to spend much of it, except for visits to us at home.</p>
<p>S1 gets 1800/month for everything (including 970/ month for rent) in an urban school. S2 gets 400/month for incidentals (fun stuff).</p>
<p>We don’t give our DS an allowance at all. Not $100 per week or $100 per month kyl2525. my freakin mom only gives me a hundred A MONTH We already pay for tuition, R&B, books, his cellphone, flights home, and his laptop. He has to pay for incidentals, laundry, movie/music/comedian tickets to whatever, and any extra food he decides to buy.</p>
<p>However, this really gets me totally annoyed. How is it the only jobs to be had are for kids on work study?
Why is it all-or-nothing?</p>
<p>My D’s school has both WS and non-WS jobs. She has two non-WS jobs.</p>
<p>Do you all think things change if big merit aid comes into play? For example, if your kid had a full tuition merit scholarship, would you be more open to giving your kid spending money because they were already “paying” for their tuition? Half tuition merit scholarship? Full ride? Just curious.</p>
<p>As for me, my parents paid for room and board and a few hundred dollars in left-over fees (merit aid covered tuition and most fees), cell phone, and sorority dues (about $800 a year) for all four years, though I paid the direct amount due (room, board, fees) Fall semester of my senior year. They paid for my books and provided some modest spending money ($300 a semester, maybe?) my first two years, though merit money from high school helped offset that a bit. I got two jobs my junior and senior years and covered books and miscellany with some of that. They also paid for my transportation to grad school interviews, and I paid for application fees. They also paid for the two summer classes I took (one each freshman and sophomore summers).</p>
<p>I thought they were generous (and I was a bit surprised they paid my sorority dues, tbh, as they -well, my mom-made it clear they didn’t like sororities that much), and I tried to do my part by securing small supplemental scholarships and fellowships on top of my main merit aid and by covering all my expenses fall of senior year. I’m thankful. :)</p>
<p>Qwerty, if only he’d eat ramen noodles! World’s pickiest eater.</p>
<p>Psych, if my kids had taken full rides over where they are attending, yeah, we’d be able to help with other things, such as a car or a down payment. I still wouldn’t fund spring break trips to the beach, etc. They knew not taking the big merit $$ meant they’d have to put serious skin in the game.</p>
<p>^^I hope most kids are thankful for whatever their parents provide. Circumstances are different among families, and what works for one may not seem right for another.
Kids who don’t have to take out large loans for their undergrad education have every reason to be thankful! And grateful!</p>
<p>None. I don’t believe in babying an intelligent college student. And she’s grateful for us paying for room and board. Although I know H gives her an allowance sometimes.</p>
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Me! Me! Oooh! Oooh! Call on me!! </p>
<p>Well, let’s put it this way…she had a very generous discretionary spending budget , a 21 meal plan, an apartment on campus with all bills paid, a scholarship that covered books, a car + ins and maintenance, an unlimited cell phone plan, netflix, health insurance, vision and dental, sorority dues, and she usually exceeded the budget … oh, let’s see. Hmmm. Every single month for 4 years. Ta-dah. What do I win? ;)</p>
<p>^
Yale med school? (Sounds like a good prize to me!)</p>
<p>No Mexico Spring Break trips here, though I think my mom might have paid for my flight to DC for me to present at a national research conference my senior year (though I might have paid her back? Honestly can’t remember). She came along, though, and it was honestly worth every penny–we had a wonderful time together and loved seeing DC. 
In my family, we always went camping for vacations (nothing wrong with that, mind you!), so I had never been to any big, East Coast cities before–actually, I had pretty much never been to East Coast before, except for one quick college visit. It was a great start to my conference-presenting career and great mother/daughter time. No regrets on that one!</p>
<p>Son1… We covered tuition, room and food as well as cell phone and car insurance (did not have car at school). He was responsible for his books and part of his tuition from freshman to senior year. His tuition cost ranged from $2,800 freshman year to just under $4,000 by his entering senior year. He had internships every summer and worked for us every winter break. We paind for all of his toiletries, school supplies, and food staples that he needed. </p>
<p>Sons 2 and 3 We did exactly the same thing as we did with son one. Son2 got full time employment (his choice and his passion) while at school and has saved enough to start paying off his loans (son1 did the same). They share a car this year (senior year). We pay for car maintainance so far it has not needed any. </p>
<p>Son3 same as the above but struggles a bit more with having enough money to get by. He works alot during the winter to ensure enough money for the spring semester. </p>
<p>daughter…We pay tuition, phone, insurance,and all medical bills. She lives at home and works part time while attending school. She does not get any allowance but we do purchase clothes for her. </p>
<p>We have noticed that each of our kids have managed to fulfill their financial obligations with very little, if any, proding from us. They have all managed to have great college experiences as far as we could tell.</p>
<p>They each cover all of their own vacations that they take with friends. They manage their finances very well.</p>
<p>We have paid for D1’s all necessary expenses while in college - room and board, books, toiletries,clothing, car and insurance, and an allowance. We paid for things as if she was living at home. We always thought we would support our kids until college graduation, and after that they would be on their own. </p>
<p>D1 has always lived within what we have agreed. She is never one to come back to ask for more. This past summer she worked at an internship in NYC. She had an option of living at home (it would have been difficult with her long hours), but she opted to live in NYC. She had a housing allowance, but she paid for all other living expenses. She budgeted $x to spend each week. I noticed she would splurge on something if she happened to have more dinners at work. </p>
<p>We probably paid for more things for D1 than some other parents (even though our allowance isn’t overly generous), but I don’t think D1 is not as financially irresponsible because of it.</p>
<p>No allowance here. We pay for tuition, room & board and S is responsible for his books & spending $. We find that this makes him more enthusiastic about working over the summer & during breaks (and more financially savy overall). He is attending a college where he was fortunate to receive generous merit aid and, as a result, he can finish his education loan-free and we can help if he goes on to grad school.</p>
<p>We do not give an allowance in a true sense to our son. He has a NM scholarship that covers his tuition and housing. Other scholarship money covered his meal plan this year. We still pay his car and health insurance, along with his books, other school supplies and cell phone bill. We send him gift cards once or two a month for various eateries, so he can save a few bucks when he’s out with his friends. I also like to send him a care package with things he likes or needs once a month, so that helps out with his expenses. Once or twice a month, I’ll drop something into his bank or school dining account, which pays for his laundry and other food places. He’s a responsible kid (and an econ major), so he likes living on the cheap – peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are just fine for days he cannot get to the dining hall.</p>
<p>I figure that my youngest will be the same way, but not only does he like PB&J, but mac and cheese, eggs and cereal.</p>
<p>I wasn’t going to give D an allowance, but I noticed her shoes and realized I haven’t bought her any since before she went to India last year- they look like they came from the dollar store & while she is of the generation that would live in flip flops- I know that she will regret that one day.
She does spend her own money from her summer job on " wants"- but I feel like it is my responsibility to make sure she has medical care & good shoes & warm coat.</p>
<p>ek,</p>
<p>All those things you mention are needs. Since she can’t get a job, she may have needs you help with that you might otherwise not have had to help with. I know from your posts over the years that both your D’s are independent, but from time-to-time all can use extra help in college.</p>