<p>It’s all relative–30 points out of a score of 850 isn’t really what I’d consider a “great decrease.” I don’t track my FICO & the only reason H & I know what ours is was because we read it on our HELOC approval papers.</p>
<p>Anyway, back to the OP–it sure does seem there is a signficant range of opinion as to spending amounts for college kids, whether they are given by parents, earned or some combo thereof. There is also considerable variation in the amounts considered appropriate by families. Have read of amounts from parents of $0 to $600+/month.</p>
<p>Among D’s friends, one who is an only child has pretty much carte blanche & has had it since HS. Several of the others work over summer and some during school year for their spending money. Several others get various sums from their parents. It does seem unreasonable to me that a child who knows parents are struggling to put them thru college & whose parents are funding full meal plan would charge meals (especially expensive ones) on a charge card & expect parents to foot the bill. If that ever happened around here, the card would be immediately closed and the kids would be expected to pay it.</p>
<p>My MIL has been unwell and my kids called one another and decided to send her some flowers to cheer her up (on their dime). But they needed to use a credit card to place a delivery order, so one of them called me and asked if it was ok to use the card and they’d pay me back. It was a sweet thing to do and I was proud of them for being thoughtful. Oh, that’s right, they’re spoiled @@</p>
<p>In my opinion, it is better to give a set amount to kids, whatever the amount to be ($50 or 1000), instead of carte Blanche or have them come to you whenever they need extra money. It is good to let them know what they are responsible for upfront. Part of the reason we gave our kids allowance in high school was we didn’t want them to be asking us for money every time they wanted to go out, and had to make sure we were in a good mood to ask for the money. The allowance was given independent of their grades or chores around the house.</p>
<p>A friend’s son posted his club bill on FB (1000) for 2 bottles. Needless to say, his credit card privilege was taken away, and the money was taken out of his acct to pay back the parents.</p>
<p>Obviously, each situation is different. We put $500 in our student’s account each month which is used for groceries, part of the utilities, gas, and however they choose to spend it. She also has one of our credit cards and almost always calls to ask prior to using or has occasionally put something on the card. In those cases, she calls after the purchase to let me know the bill is coming. Recently she sent Mother’s Day flowers and made sure after Mother’s Day that I knew when the bill came home to deduct that amount from the next month’s deposit. This summer she is working and told me putting the $500 per month into her account is not necessary. Pizzagirl, as you can see I have one of those spoiled children as well.</p>
<p>I don’t know why you say it’s “for nothing.” It’s a gift. If I give my kid a birthday gift, it’s not “for nothing” - it’s because I love them and want to do something that expresses my love and makes them happy. I pay $50K for each kid’s college, I don’t “get anything back” - is that for nothing?</p>
<p>Sadly, apparently it’s not possible to “roll over” into a Costco-branded AmEx. We looked into this and were told we’d have to close our existing AmEx account and open a new one. But perhaps that has something to do with the type of AmEx account we have (a no-fee card with cash-back features, not branded or linked to any loyalty program).</p>
<p>romanigypsyeyes, like most kids, you have no idea how much money your parents spent to raise you. So, you received all of that money for doing “nothing”.</p>
<p>Every family has different ways they spend and don’t spend their money. You really can only say what you would do for your own kids and believe me, when you actually have them, you will find you spend money on things you never thought you would.</p>
<p>Did I say there was anything wrong with it? I just wish I was that lucky. Seriously, I do. I would LOVE to be in a family that could afford to kick me a few hundred dollars every month. I would LOVE to work less than 40 hours a week. I’m not that lucky, but I wish I was. That was all. It wasn’t a snipe or anything. I sincerely wish I could get a few hundred dollars a month just for being an awesome kid.</p>
<p>$500 may sound like a lot of money, but if you consider that a meal plan would cost about 4K/year (just guessing), if the student doesn’t have a food plan, that plus some extras is about the same anyways. Our son decided not to go with a food plan because he thought it was expensive and a waste of money, so he just puts what he wants on a credit card. And we don’t have a limit because we don’t want him to watch it. We want him to eat, please eat more, and we’re happy if he takes a break and goes to a movie or something fun. I want him to do that, he works hard and he really spends very little. Kind of weird for some people that when they have no limits, it becomes unimportant to them. He has never been particularly interested in eating or spending money. Now kid #2 might be a different story$$ so we make have to change our tactics.</p>
<p>So true that some kids are sometimes too frugal for their own good. D1’s school requires all freshmen to take the big enormous expensive meal plan. There’d be times when D1 would be working late on a project and would miss meal times. She could’ve bought a quick bite from a nearby place, but it wasn’t on the meal plan. So she went hungry, despite our saying that for heaven’s sakes she should just buy some food in these cases. :rolleyes:. Next year she’s opting for a cheaper meal plan. We’ll give her the difference in cash for exactly these kinds of situations. </p>
<p>We’ve not discussed this, but I’m thinking that for many of us parents it’s not just a question of what we can afford. If a kid was living at home, or had a low GPA (e.g. below 3.0, especially after freshman year), that would probably drive down parental generosity.</p>
<p>The required meal plan first year was around $5K. Since then we have chosen the minimal required meal plan around $1K. It is interesting…there are students we know with parents that send money as the sons/daughters ask for it and they seem to ask for it all the time. We found it easier to have money for them to budget from with a credit card in reserve and have not had a call home asking for additional funds. I also try to do something special from time to time like a surprise pedicure/massage after semester finals. I get pleasure from hearing the surprised or appreciative voice.</p>
<p>Several refi’s’s ago I noticed on my credit report that I’d supposedly had a rather large mortgage in my name (at the age of 10) and had been the proud owner of a Macy’s charge card at the age of 5! Oh had I only known about that Macy’s card at the time, the fun I could have had in the toy department ! My name is only 2 letters different than my dad’s and since I kept my maiden name…all that crossed history carried forward. It was a surreal conversation with the credit bureaus…the robo representative kept reiterating that their records were correct. I asked them to do the math on my BD and the time of the supposed loan and Macy’s card. …momentary silence…and then…let me speak to my supervisor.</p>
<p>Funny world this little planet.</p>
<p>We also subscribe to the logic of granting a set amount each month rather than an open ended situation.</p>
<p>Our student has a card on our Visa and Am Ex for emergancies.
and a debit card for own banking acct.</p>
<p>K1 does not eat out much and beyond a haircut…the expenses have been very low…less than $40 a month for an occassional late night snack while out, or picking up more shampoo and laundry soap etc from Walgreens etc.</p>
<p>With a full meal plan, we appreciate that our student is very careful managing money.</p>
<p>I have heard from parents whose kids get much more per month than our student spent in a semester. We cannot afford that.
Our student would never buy clothing etc without asking and certainly doesn’t have a budget for that.</p>
<p>Slithey, this reminds me of the time my young teen S complained loudly that he was starving. I was so surprised because we were out running errands & I had left him where there was a good supply of restaurants and he had a lot of money in his wallet. I asked him why he had allowed himself to go hungry rather than use money he had to feed himself & he said that was HIS money, not money from me for him to use for food! Fortunately we were able to help him realize that he did no one any favors by “starving” himself, waiting for me to get around to getting him fed.</p>
<p>Last night I received an email that The worm had to use my Amex because he didn’t have enough credit (these were tickets abroad). He said he’d reimburse me. Makes me glad that he has the card and knows when to use it.</p>
<p>Yes, we made sure that the cards we have our kids as authorized users had a high enough credit limit to handle plane tickets, auto repairs and other things that may be emergencies but not so high that we’d be overly stressed if the cards were stolen or lost. It gives us peace of mind, knowing that the credit card is available for these situations.</p>
<p>We subscribe to the auto deposit spending money crowd. We signed up for a B of A card in Boston, and I am a joint holder in CA. This way, if there is an issue she can handle it if it is her problem, and I can handle it if it is mine. </p>
<p>We did get a nasty surprise at the beginning of her freshman year. She had cash for graduation presents as well as a bunch of small bills and change, and wanted to buy clothes, so we deposited all the cash in the morning and then headed for the mall. Guess what. Debit card worked, but we will charged $15 each debit because our “money wasn’t available.” WHAT??? The money we personally handed to the teller inside the bank was not available for our use??? Yup. We made a stink, and they reversed the charges, but be aware! If you end up putting money into your student’s account in a rush situation, talk to the bank to make sure you know when it will be credited to their account. Believe it or not, I think if I had deposited a personal check the money would have been available!!!</p>