<p>That's what I've been doing, bookworm, but I think that my husband would prefer to say, "Since the ride board is the cheapest way home, if you choose some other method of transportation, you have to pay the difference out of your own money." </p>
<p>This is a type of pressure I'm not willing to put on my daughter. I did insist that the same daughter pay the difference in cost when she decided she wanted a single room in the dorm instead of a double, but somehow, this ride board thing feels different.</p>
<p>Marian - my daughter is getting a ride from someone from a nearby college home this Thanksgiving. I would prefer for her to take a bus, but she thinks it's quicker to get a ride. The driver lives by our house, but I want his name, his home address and number. My daughter thinks I am psycho. Maybe we start a separate thread, because I would like to know what other experienced parents have to say.</p>
<p>^^^I'm not an experienced parent on this subject, but I'm in agreement with Marian, and my husband is in agreement with her husband. I'd rather pay than have my kids in a car with a driver I know nothing about, and who might be pretty inexperienced at highway driving.</p>
<p>Marian,
Tell your husband he is lucky to just pay for a bus ride. Plane flights across country are double around winter vacation, and limo ride to airport is $80 each way. </p>
<p>How long is the bus trip? Is your D expected to drive? How many others will be in car? If she takes the bus, she can sit back, read, relax.</p>
<p>I always offer to pay for the bus for my son. I really don't like to have him driving or riding with others, especially in bad weather, and it's easier than having us drive round trip to pick him up or bring him back to school.</p>
<p>Marian, you may want to suggest to your husband that the bus is less expensive (in many way!) than dealing with hospitals, medical deductibles and copays etc. What value does peace of mind have? I would tell my husband that he should be willing to pay for the bus, or else he'll have to listen to me complain and worry for days on end -- he'd always prefer to pay the bus fare!</p>
<p>One thing that happened to both of my kids when they first went away to college--they started racking up LOTS of message units on their cell phones. I guess this is how everyone communicates on campus. I called the cell phone company and had them put on a fixed charge to allow that particular phone number to have more message units-approx. $5.00/month for 200 message units or $10.00 for alot more. Some people pay a fixed rate for unlimited message units for the whole family, but none of the rest of us use it enough to pay an extra $20.00 per month. Just beware of this or you will be in for a shock when you get your bill.</p>
<p>Haven't read the whole thread, but a big expense for us was that our D completely changed climates. She had no winter clothes, outer wear, scarks, boots, nothing. That, combined with the fact that she wore uniforms to school and had a limited other wardrobe, made clothes a big expense for us.</p>