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<p>Maybe you and the people you know, but out of all my friends, cousins, and my co-workers children, ZERO provide an allowance in college. Most get tuition, room, and board paid for and that is all.</p>
<p>Like I said, if you took a poll of parents (not just on here), I think the majority would say that they don’t give their children a $200 a month allowance.</p>
<p>“I didn’t know there was a requirement to post on here.”</p>
<p>Insomniatic, it is the parents forum. Over the years, we’ve had some students post and it’s fine to a degree but, really, this post wasn’t directed to students. I don’t mean that rudely. I just think most of us are starting from a different point on the learning curve. When you have had children for decades, you understand that words like ‘never’ and ‘always’ probably shouldn’t be used when relating to childrearing. </p>
<p>To explain further, decades ago, I received more than $200/month from my parents. Yes, I would buy food with it but that number does not seem that huge to me. I would say that I don’t give my kid $ per month-- however, there are also unexpected expenses that come up and I fund them fully. For example, when my kid’s computer died, I paid for it. I do not have a huge budget and, had I been giving kiddo more per month, I might not be able to fund some of those things but ‘those things’ add up to more than $200/month. So I could say kiddo buys her own computer-- but then I would probably give her spending $. </p>
<p>Another issue which is probably more controversial is that it depends on the kid. One of my kids is a musician and I spend hundreds more on that kid. I think if I were to ask a bunch of students about it, they would say it’s not fair… but the way I think of it is that I try to provide what each kid needs. </p>
<p>Anyway, all that to say I would appreciate it if you stopped hijacking this thread. We have heard and understand your opinion. Certainly, not giving college age kids any spending $ is a valid way to raise young adults and certainly, you represent a part of the population-- but the other opinions expressed here are just as valid.</p>
<p>It kind of comes down to what the definition of “board” is, imo. Is it just food? Does that include food outside of the institution? What about essentials- toiletries like toothpaste and shampoo? What about transportation costs for extra-curricular trips? These are good questions to discuss before the kiddo goes off to college, just to eliminate any misunderstandings.</p>
<p>We all might agree on “just room and board,” but that still leaves room for differing views on what exactly that entails.</p>
<p>I paid for all of my expenses while in college - including tuition, books, food, etc. I worked part-time and in many cases full-time throughout college to fund it, and have loans as well.</p>
<p>One thing I find interesting is that on other boards, a lot of parents <em>don’t</em> suggest other students work too much, and rather them focus on grades, or only work 5-10 hours/week on work-study for absolutely necessity (which doesn’t fund a whole lot of “fun” stuff). But on this board, it is totally expected that students work and pay for everything. I don’t think either way is right or wrong, and a lot of it can depend on major/workload and family finances. I just found that to be an interesting observation. Personally, I think students should work, even if it’s just full-time in the summer to save up for year-round expenses. I don’t think college graduation should be anyone’s very first job experience.</p>
<p>Again, so what? I don’t see why I should live my life by what the majority of people do.</p>
<p>Resentment masquerading as pity - whoever said that was right on target.</p>
<p>Oh - once the monthly allowance transfer happens, it IS their money. They can spend it on pizza with their friends, or save it for all I care. Oh - and to add insult to injury, I didn’t stop it in the summertime either. I’m glad if they start off life after college with a little nest egg.</p>
<p>Some kids have trust funds, too. Do you resent that?</p>
<p>Oh, and get this - we plan to buy our kids cars when they graduate college. Is that ok with you, or should I not spend the money I work hard for unless you approve?</p>
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<p>I don’t resent anybody. I am very appreciate of what I have and what I have earned, so no point in resenting anybody.</p>
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<p>Don’t think there is anything wrong with that.</p>
<p>What the heck is the difference then? Either way, I’m using my money to make my children’s lives nicer by funding something that they’d otherwise have to fund themselves.</p>
<p>When I was a young adult in the workforce (in the era where women still wore business suits), my parents would periodically take me out shopping and buy me some nice clothes. They didn’t have to, but it was nice and I was appreciative. That’s what people do with money, insomniatic. They make the lives of those they love easier. Your resentment of people above your family’s income bracket is both palpable and doesn’t reflect well on you at all.</p>
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<p>A graduation is a milestone event. Just attending college isn’t. Like I stated before, students should learn independence in college and getting an allowance won’t teach that.</p>
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<p>LOL! STILL with the resentment? Have you not read any of my posts?</p>
<p>Actually, I never even stated my family’s income bracket, so I have no idea if you’re “above” me.</p>
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<p>There ya go. </p>
<p>When someone has achieved something one way, and they assert that it is the only way to achieve that, it comes across as smug.</p>
<p>So does getting your tuition, room and board paid by your parents mean you’re not independent? I would say, yes, it does mean that.<br>
When parents are paying for their kid’s education, room, board and general upkeep (insurance, whatever is involved) then no, they are not financially independent. Whether there is an extra $50, $100, or $200 on top of the stipulated college fees doesn’t change that one way or another.
But that’s a different question altogether from “learning” independence. That is something that begins when a toddler takes his first steps away from his parents, and doesn’t end until one is entirely self-sufficient. It’s a process. But as long as parents are basically footing the bill for college, room and board expenses(defined differently by each family), the kids aren’t really independent. </p>
<p>That doesn’t mean they can’t earn spending money! Both of mine have always done so. My son was making money on his own at 12. But that didn’t mean he was “independent.”</p>
<p>My son worked at college- several odd jobs that came up, plus two paid internships during school, and full-time jobs every summer. We still gave him his incidentals money. He must have been very confused! “Independent/ not independent. Independent, not independent.” ;)</p>
<p>The spouse and I come from similar middle/upper middle class economic backgrounds, but our parents gave us very different levels of financial support in college. I had to work part time during the school year and full time during the summer; the spouse got all expenses paid. In the years when our children were young and we thought college would be a lot cheaper than it’s turning out to be 
I’d say that the kids would work part time like I did because (long list of things in retrospect that were good about working). The spouse would argue that we’d pay for the kid’s expenses because of (long list of things that were good about not having to worry about working). </p>
<p>In the end, D1 used savings and earnings from a previous summer job to pay for freshman year incidentals, allowing her to not have to worry about work. She’s hoping for a tutoring job next year, and some well-paying internships in future summers (reasonable given her major). Kind of a mash-up of her parents. Nature or nurture, you be the judge. 
D2 is far more spendy, so right now I’m voting the nature ticket.</p>
<p>It’s interesting to see how two kids can turn out so very different in the same environment. Mine are like night and day in most things, but honestly, when it comes to money, they are both misers! I don’t really get it. I mean, does my beautiful dd have to wear the skirt she found in the “lost and found?” Can’t my son spring for a new pair of flip flops?? They both seem to take enormous pride in their frugality (ie. cheapness). Maybe that’s their way of rebelling against all of the "spoiling’ they got growing up.</p>
<p>Sorry, op. Now we’re really off topic. :o</p>
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<p>That’s what still confuses and baffles me. If he is making money on his own, shouldn’t he use that money as spending money?</p>
<p>I would LOVE to be able to get a credit card so I can build up credit. It’s really hard to get one though. And since I don’t have a steady job right now, it is NOT a good idea to get one right now. </p>
<p>My first year in college, I didn’t have a job and my parents paid for my cell phone bill and gave me money every month. Probably about $100-150 a month and from this, I paid my phone bill and bought anything else I wanted/needed. This last year, I worked eight hours a week at a work study job and didn’t get any money from them. The ~$60 a week I made was more than enough for my cell phone bill and for the occasional late night wings and pizza. </p>
<p>I would love it if my parents gave me $200 a month! lol I feel like I’d save a lot of it but then again, knowing me, I’d save it for a while then blow it all on stupid things. So it’s probably good I earn my own money. </p>
<p>I think it’s fine, if you have the money to help out your college kids, why not. It’s not my money.</p>
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<p>Very smart. :)</p>
<p>2collegewego,
Your point in this thread seems to speak to how young adults learn maturity, responsibility, courtesy and respect. One learns to respect costs as well as other adults. Fiscal and personal maturity. If my children acted with immaturity, they would be treated accordingly. They learned and earned respect.</p>
<p>Is there an advantage to having a student use their parent’s credit card rather than having a student get his/her own? Is it just so you can pay it off and such? I’ve never been on my parents’ CCs so that question just popped into my head. q</p>
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<p>Most likely a parent will have a higher credit limit than a student. Therefore, they have a better debt to credit ratio, this resulting a higher credit score. If the student is an authorized user on their parent’s credit card, then that will benefit the student and increase their credit scores.</p>
<p>romani: For us it made sense to have D on our account since she would only qualify for a secured card…one where she’d give the CC company a deposit of some amount and then in turn get a CC card with a limit somewhere around 2-3 times the deposit. It just didn’t seem worth it. </p>
<p>Some other posters have mentioned that other people on an account - other than the account holder - will start getting a credit history. I hadn’t heard about this and would be very interested to know more. If it is the case that other card holders establish a credit history this way, it would be beneficial to the student - assuming the parents keep in good standing.</p>
<p>For us, it’s nice to collect the rewards points on one account.</p>
<p>romani-
Back before the 2010 credit card regulation changes, the student benefitted from the parents credit rating. That is, if the parent had the card for 20 years, the kid got credit for this, and the excellent credit history to go along with it. As I mentioned upthread, when my s bought a car, the cr. union he was financing through saw that he had a credit history going back to when he was 1!! Now, however, unless you were on the account before 2010, there is probably little benefit in terms of your credit history. You have been fortunate to get credit in your own name and develop your own credit history. That is harder for college students to do these days, especially if parents wont cosign. My kids were able to get their own cards without a parent cosigning, which was our and their preference.</p>
<p>*** crossposted with dietz</p>
<p>And the cr. card of ours we gave our s’s to use for emergencies was a upromise cr. card, so the $ they spent, if they did, generated a small amount of dividend that went right back into their education. Win-win.</p>