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<p>I’ll list a couple for now:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>somebody who petitions to have their $200 a month allowance raised</p></li>
<li><p>anybody that gets an allowance in college (I am not talking about the occasional dinner out, but spending money for movies, concerts, etc. should be earned)</p></li>
<li><p>somebody who complains about their allowance</p></li>
<li><p>somebody who says “Billy gets more than me, so I should get what he gets”</p></li>
</ul>
<p>etc. etc.</p>
<p>I was going to post in this thread til I got to the current pages. Nope. No thanks.</p>
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<p>Oh shucks. :(</p>
<p>My kid doesn’t act spoiled, but I admit to spoiling her, lol! I admit it…</p>
<p>Insomniatic, I don’t appreciate your hijacking my thread. I asked a question to <em>parents</em> and have heard a number of thoughtful responses. Not one parent said they give their child carte blanche that they can’t afford. The simple truth is that families with money can and often do use that money to make life easier for their kids and that is their right. I think there’s no reason to be judgmental to the parents or their kids.</p>
<p>Most parents do what they can for their kids, and I do find most kids are very appreciative of what they have.</p>
<p>Actually, for many of us parents, it gives us peace of mind, knowing that we can do little (or sometimes bigger) things to make our kids’ lives more pleasant and somewhat less arduous. If that makes us or our kids spoiled, so be it. We all have different experiences in our lives–each of us and our families have unique situations and circumstances that lead us to where we currently are. Some of us and our kids have health challenges that they have overcome (and/or are still struggling with). </p>
<p>It is wonderful to have an array of attractive choices and to decide what works for US and OUR KIDS & FAMILY without having to justify what we do or don’t do for our kids.</p>
<p>It is admirable when kids and families work out what works for them, whether or not it is mainstream.</p>
<p>It seems we all agree that it is upsetting to read about children who abuse the trust of loved ones via credit cards (& other means). We all seem to also agree we’re happy when our kids earn money to help pay for/defray expenses. I’m glad H & I are in a position to help our kids defray expenses, as summer & part-time paying jobs are not easy to get, especially in some fields like cinema.</p>
<p>“I didn’t say I was better at managing money. I didn’t say I don’t have student loans. All I said was that they can be wonderful if used correctly.”</p>
<p>And Roma is absolutely right. Why begrudge someone a common sense approach purely because they are a college student? If you don’t carry a balance and use your credit card for everything, you can earn a wonderful amount of rewards. We never pay for an airline ticket, we get credit card companies to send us thousands of dollars every year, why not it let it work for you?</p>
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<p>If you child was appreciate of what they have, she wouldn’t have asked you to raise her $200 a month allowance.</p>
<p>To answer the OP’s question, I guess we’re in the minority. Our kids have 3 credit cards each (and I’d imagine a very good credit rating). We tell them which card to use, when, to optimize our airline miles and rewards. They have had those cards since they started driving. I have always said, with a cell phone and a credit card, no matter where you end up, you can get by in an emergency. They know they can use those cards for gas or food. I expect to pay for those things, they don’t have a monthly allotment. They don’t eat expensively, but sometimes they do pay for friends. My youngest said that several people have had a tab with him, and always pay him back. They both know that if they are with someone who doesn’t have much money, I want them to pay for the event without embarrassing them. </p>
<p>My oldest doesn’t have a meal plan at college, so he uses the card for food and books. I’m always begging him to go out and get a nice steak dinner, don’t eat out at fast food all the time, please be healthier. They don’t abuse it at all, and when they buy something that they know they should pay for (like a video game), they tell us immediately, and we transfer money from their checking account. I guess I’d think twice if they abused the privilege, but they don’t. I figure that we all do our jobs in the family. They do theirs quite well, I don’t need them to reimburse us for food.</p>
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<p>I understand, but it is not NORMAL for a parent to give their child a $200 a month allowance in college.</p>
<p>Ask 100 parents. I would say 95% don’t give their child a $200 a month allowance. I can even bet most don’t even give any type of allowance to their kids in college.</p>
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<p>Wow…</p>
<p>Actually, it depends on the world you live in. I know many, many parents who give their college kids an allowance. Have never inquired as to the amount and they have not volunteered it, so am not sure whether $200/month is high or low. Don’t really think it’s my place to ask or judge other families as to how much (if any) they give their kids as spending money in college, as long as it’s THEIR money, not MINE. We all come from very different situations, as posted above & throughout this thread & CC.</p>
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<p>I guess it just intrigues me about students getting allowances. I thought allowances stopped in high school. I know all my friends in college never got allowances and none of cousins ever did. I thought kids in college are supposed to be independent and pay for a concert, a movie out, a video game, etc. But, I guess I was wrong.</p>
<p>Allowances stop when the need for them ends and/or the parties paying the allowances decide they stop, based on whatever criteria has been set. Heck, I know parents and grandparents of MARRIED young adults who are helping their kids/grandkids as best they can–treating them to a meal, sometimes even a place to live, sometimes a vehicle, down payment on a place to live, whatever it takes. I am also surprised sometimes at the range of funds that families consider appropriate and what the children are expected to purchase with the funds. </p>
<p>We all live in different situations and somewhat different worlds, insomnia. Obviously your world is not the same as world many of the parents posting on this thread live in. None of us need to apologize that our worlds are different–they just are. A different world isn’t right or wrong, it is just different.</p>
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<p>I understand what you’re saying and I agree. I am not saying the “different world” is wrong, I am just baffled by it.</p>
<p>Part of empathy and understanding is TRYING to understand and respect different world views & different ways of life.</p>
<p>The common theme I have read about on this thread is that while some parents do give their kids money and/or credit cards, they expect their college kids will not abuse the agreement reached between parent & child. All of us also seem to agree that kids whose meals are all pre-paid should not be charging expensive meals on charge cards that parents are expected to fund, UNLESS there is some other agreement between kiddos & parents.</p>
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<p>I am trying to understand and I stated it before in that thread. Like I said before, I am just baffled by it.</p>
<p>I didn’t and I know a lot of friends I know didn’t even get $200 graduating from high school, so it’s just hard for me to understand and grasp the idea of getting $200 a month while in college.</p>
<p>Welcome to the world, insomniatic. There are people in different income brackets. Plenty of the kids I went to college with got $200 a month allowance, and that was 30 years ago.</p>
<p>Insomniahtic, now you’ve met another person. I wasn’t going to say the amount, but yes, my kids also get $200/ month spending money, on top of room, board, books/school supplies, and in son’s case, fraternity dues. They are at expensive, elite schools that they earned their way into by their hard work (which is not to say that they werent fortunate, too). Like dietz, it brings us joy to be able to have them enjoy a college experience by not having to work a crummy job or eating ramen noodles. Too bad if that’s out of your realm of experience. You are very constrained by your economc situation and seem unable to process anyone who has “more” without thinking of them as spoiled. My kids are down to earth, hard workers, appreciative of what they have, and not spoiled in the least. So get over it.</p>