<p>Forgive me if this question has already been posted (and answered) elsewhere on this forum.</p>
<p>But, if your college student will be living on campus and on the school's meal plan, other than textbook expenses, how much do you budget, on a monthly basis, for your student's "other" expenses?</p>
<p>I'm talking about the occasional dinners out with friends on the weekends, going to the movies, etc. I guess really, entertainment expenses.</p>
<p>I should say that my D doesn't have exorbitant spending habits and she knows that she will need to make choices with her budget (i.e., she won't be able to afford to "do it all"). But I also expect that she will want to go off-campus with her friends occasionally to go to the city, or take in a movie or go out to dinner on a Friday or Saturday night.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for your input and I welcome any budgeting advice!</p>
<p>I don’t think it shouldn’t be more than what she is spending at home now. Most activities on campus tend to be cheaper than off campus, so if your daughter’s campus is in a more remote area than her spend would be less than if the campus is closer to a major city - Boston, NYC, Phil.</p>
<p>My son has paid for all his extra expenses on his own from working during the summers. I know there were some larger things such as fraternity fees which were a strain and I also know that his room and board contract includes extra money which can be spent in the area near his campus so that part was already covered.</p>
<p>“Excuse me if this sounds harsh, but we used the “her expenses should be paid for by her income” approach. Honestly, it’s not that much.”</p>
<p>This is precisely the approach my husband and I have with our daughter. We’ve told her…if she wants spending money for fun stuff at school, she has to earn it. That’s the incentive to get out there and get a job and sock money away.</p>
<p>My husband is concerned she won’t have enough at this point…but I’m not. I already told him…if she ends up with only $10 a week to spend, that’s her fault. If she has to say no to friends to go out for pizza or to a movie, too bad. That’s real life, and after a few weeks of being poor she’ll know what we’ve been harping on, and have more incentive to get a better job next summer.</p>
<p>It may not be as easy to get a job this year. A lot of kids are not able to get summer jobs either. Many schools are cutting back on their work study. I certainly wouldn’t indulge my kid, but my main concern would be to make sure my kid has some spending money when she is so far away from home. Some parents also prefer their kids don’t work the first semester/year. Each family is different when it comes to finance, but I think OP is asking for the amount, not how it should be funded.</p>
<p>We said we would pay $100 per month for S in LA and the rest would be his responsibility. He hates to shop, but does spend $ on zipcar or gas contributions for trips around the area, amusement parks, some meals out and a concert or two. He has stayed well under the limit.</p>
<p>Mine paid all their own expenses of that sort from the time they were early teens. I understand jobs are hard to find, but there’s no reason a kid can’t mow lawns, babysit, odd jobs, etc. in order to save enough for spending money during the school year.</p>
<p>I agree with Oldfort: same as they are spending now.</p>
<p>Not one nickel. The kids are responsible for earning all spending money including money for books and all discretionary spending by working during the summers, and vacations. Both also had jobs during school that did not exceed 10 hours a week.</p>
<p>I have no idea how much they even spend each month and that is fine with me. They earn the money…and they spend it (or save it). It’s THEIR money and to be honest, they do a better job with it when they earn it than when I just give it to them.</p>
<p>I figure if I pay 100% of room and board, my kids can pay for their social lives. For what it’s worth, I think 10 hours a week at minimum wage (what I earned while I was in college) will pay for an adequate social life.</p>
<p>I actually volunteered to do what the other parents in this thread. My mom would’ve given me money for expenses if I asked. Instead I got a job the first day out of high school and worked full time the summer prior, as a camp counselor summer after my freshman year, and a bunch of part-time jobs my sophomore year and have covered, as I term it, “whatever doesn’t arrive in the mail.”(tuition&room). I pay for my own food, clothes, room items, textbooks, social activities, train tickets, plane tickets once I was old enough, etc. </p>
<p>That totals to around $500 a month—but I guess if you take out food, textbooks, and plane tickets, it’d come to much less around around maybe $100/month max? And even that is only if I’m splurging on a trip up to Boston to see performances and such.</p>
<p>We give our S $100 a month for toiletries, school supplies, haircuts, clothing and whatever else comes along. We pay for travel expenses home and textbooks. Any additional money for entertainment comes from his own savings from his summer/winter break job (camp counselor)</p>
<p>We’ve given D about $100/month (her summer “job” was studying & taking the GED & then figuring out her major & how to take courses that would transfer to her new U). S we have had use his earnings from summer job. This summer, if she has unpaid internship, we plan to pay her about $100/month again & S will likely net a few $ this summer + work during the school year to earn more. Both also have savings accounts & we’re paying all the rest of their expenses.</p>
<p>My son also pays his miscellaneous expenses. He’s a pretty frugal kid anyway and when choosing a summer job last year I said,“Would you rather work less, but have to be careful what you spend, or work more and then have the extra cash?” He chose working less. I think he started out the school year with $2200 in his account, and he’s got about $300 left. That averages to about $25 a week.</p>
<p>It amazes me how little D spends at college and I’m sure this is because it’s HER money she is spending. I pay tuition/room and board, she pays for books and whatever she needs. When we made the first walmart stop to buy things for the dorm it took about 2 hours. She went up and down every aisle to find the best price and elimated about half of the list. She said “mom, this is so much different when it’s MY money”. Stuff is cheap when you live on campus and there’s also no car involved which helps. She earns about $50-$100 in a work study check every 2 weeks and she hardly touches it. She’s done lots of dinners and day trips with friends which comes out of her savings but again she’s become very sensible with her own money. I have a friend who was putting $200-$300 in her kid’s checking account for monthly expenses. Then she started seeing restaurant bills for $75 at places like Chili’s and Applebees. Turns out the kid was treating her friends to dinner. That expense account ended immediately. The kid’s work study job is now being a janitor guess what? She’s now saving her own money. I think any kid can work a few hours a week. It keeps them from spending and teaches them the value of earning and saving.</p>
<p>My D didn’t have cash when she was in Boston, so with our consent, she charged a meal or two with her friends & they reimbursed her in cash so she’d have cash for the rest of the trip. It worked out fine. She is generally pretty frugal, as is her brother, so no complaints.</p>
<p>S & D are in LA. They have no meal plan. I deposited the equivalent of the lowest price meal plan in each of their checking accounts for meals. Since D had no summer job, I also gave her $100/month. Both have managed their funds responsibly. S supplements his funds with a campus job & selling a few things on ebay/craigslist.</p>
<p>When they were younger & we went on family trips, I’d give each of them a set amount amounting to a few $/day in advance for anything they wanted to buy that wasn’t part of the family spending. They were very careful about how that got spent & it ended any disagreements about whether to purchase the item. We got a good idea of what they valued by whether they would spend THEIR money on it.</p>