Finances at college

Parents Forum
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<p>We have always used Visa and Mastercard for over 15 years, and gotten American Airlines miles. It is embarassing to admit that I will whip out my card for even $5.00 purchases.But we have travelled to all sorts of amazing places on these miles :) I guess I should be making a phonecall to MC to get info for D.</p>

<p>I was also going to open a bank account for my D (once we know where....), and let her have a debit card and check-book. She does have a UGMA checking account here at home, and is pretty good with that. </p>

<p>Is the declining balance card not a good idea?</p>

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<p>Banking In Hanover </p>

<p>These banks are within walking distance of campus. This is not an exhaustive list. </p>

<p>Ledyard National Bank, 38 S. Main Street, Hanover, NH Phone: (603) 643-2244</p>

<p>Citizens Bank, 44 Main Street, Hanover, NH Phone: (603) 640-1150</p>

<p>Fleet Bank, 6001 S. Main Street, Hanover, NH Phone: (603) 643-1000</p>

<p>Mascoma Savings Bank, 80 S. Main Street, Hanover, NH Phone: (603) 643-1537</p>

<p>She is going to need her papers (state ID or license, birth certificate & ss card or Passport) for fulfill the I-9 requirements to get a job- on or off campus. Daughter took original documents with her, locked them in her trunk for safekeeping, and brought them back home when she came home on break. </p>

<p>She keeps a copy of her insurance card with her school ID. Their Dash, BB1 and meal plan, and electronic access to their dorm is all on their student ID which is their lifeline on campus </p>

<p>She took her NYS State ID for officical identification when traveling (because it is easier to replace and has photo).</p>

<p>She won't need the passport until the study abroad thing comes up. If she doesn't have one or needs to renew, she can always take the picture in town and have it processed at the Post office in hanover if she hasn't done it at home. </p>

<p>If D is not 18 by the time you bring her up to school, then you will have ot open bank accounts for her.</p>

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<p>It's been so interesting to read all of these posts. I'm a senior in high school and have dealt with all my own banking activities for years, this has mostly been savings. Next year I will probably open a checking account designed for college students and eventually, a credit card (for things I buy regularly and pay off at end of month) to start building good credit. Of course I will have a job (can't exactly bank with no money). My parents are totally uninvolved in the management of my life. They didn't even know what colleges I applied to until after the fact. I have even had to do the FAFSA and PROFILE on my own with a bit of help from an older sister. </p>

<p>Wow, I guess this was kind of a vent. When your mother is the most financially irresponsible person you know, you have to figure it out on your own whether you like it or not. All in all though, I am happy to feel that I am able to go out into the world independently and succeed. I hope all of your children will feel the same way when the pursestrings are finally cut.</p>

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<p>Great ideas all. The thought about the passport was this - I know she can go to Montreal without it, but I'd feel better if she had it. Also, I'm thinking ahead until she does go abroad, as far away as we are it is possible that she might leave directly from school. I like the locked box, locked trunk idea, I also would prefer her to keep some of her papers, like birth certificate with her, since she will be so very far from home. I'm going to call my office manager, to begin arrangements to get her a copy of the health card.</p>

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<p>The study abroad trips usually coordinate with their return to school, so the likelihood is that she would leave from your house rather than school.</p>

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<p>Many kids go off to college without having any idea how to manage finances. For a lot of these kids, there has been no reason to ever have to do so. Since school is their major obligation, most of their financial needs have been met, and it is only the extras they have to manage on their own. And in many of our households, we want to give these kids whatever we can, so there are not many gaps. When they go off to college, it becomes a whole different story, as they will have many more ways to spend money, and the parent's checkbook is not readily there. Also with the hefty tuition costs these days, the family may well be on a budget for the first time in years. </p>

<p>I really suggest getting a good book, workbook, system for your students' finances. It gives them something they can use if they need it. Although they may be bright kids, just throwing a check book, credit card and atm card is not really instructing them on the basics, and when someone is drowning , it is not the time to start the swim lessons. And a lot of kids sink financially when they go off to college. I know many kids who spend way to much money, spend the cushion--the credit line for emergencies in the checking account and end up having to call home for money. Not a nice way to start the lessons on finance. And these are not irresponsible deadbeat kids. Just inexperienced. I can tell you that I got myself in a financial hole several times starting in college, and it really is no fun trying to figure out a system yourself out of necessity. And you have a deficit at that point that is in the picture. Subjects like , can you afford a $5+ a day Starbuck fix that can add up to quite a bit. How often can the student afford a pizza or Chinese or sub out? What should be the average cost of his meals? Many of the schools make it very complicated. In our day most of us just ate whatever we wanted at a cafeteria so many time a week determined by the meal plan. Not so any more. Many school have a card where you charge the meals, and if the student is not careful, he can spend $30 a day on food. He needs a system and a limit if he is not going to go over the top in just eating. And advice like " if you go out to a restaraunt that costs more than a campus planned meal, something has to go that week." If the kids have an entertainment budget of $20 a week, and decide to go to a steakhouse, that means two weeks worth of eating out is spent on the meal. You get the general picture. My daughter never caused us any problems about money, but I can tell you that now that she is at college, she is spending more freely than she ever did. Alot of kids were always free with mom and dad's money but careful with there own, but that was because the parents covered a lot of things at home. They are not there at college and money eating opportunities always come up. And they are always so tempting, so wonderful, such opportunities! And they are young, and if there is a play, an opera, a chance to go to a big sporting event, roommate invites you to go ski... the list does not end. I think any of us are being presumptuous to assume that these kids who have been used to living a culturally enriched life to suddenly stint. They deserve some guidelines in dealing with this new issue.</p>

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<p>Excellent post, jamimom. Now if you can explain how to work on my S's time management skills. :D</p>

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<p>it's great hearing what other peoples set up is.</p>

<p>i got my first credit card when i turned 16. My mom had to cosign for it, and when i turned 18 i got a lovely letter saying that her name was no longer associated with my account, and that my credit limit had been raised (imagine that..)</p>

<p>i'm now 22, and i charge everything... big items, gas, and some groceries... dinners at resteraunts, etc.. i use my debit card about once a month to take $20 out of my checking account.. that way I have enough cash for little odds and ends that I can't charge (a movie at penn state, for example). i have my car payment automatically withdrawn from my checking account each month, and i transfer money over to my mom each month for cell phone and car insurance. i also pay my credit card bill off in full at the end of each month.. i always have about an extra 1000 left in my bank accounts (that i have saved up), just in case of an emergency (for example, i used to be afraid my car would break down.. but now i have a new one). i work part time at school (about 10 hours/week), and from that i pocket about 400-500 per month.. that pays for my car, insurance, cell phone, and any expenses that i have... there is usually enough left that can be saved up for something big.. such as my yearly spring break trip to florida, and various trips to NYC, DC, and other places..</p>

<p>like i said, i got my first credit card when i was 16, and it has worked out great, i have a great credit rating because of it. But then again, i tend to be more responsible with money than most college students.. probably because i've been doing it for so long. It depends on how much you trust your kids, and what you feel they are capable of handling. I'd say a checking account isn't such a bad idea - most come with debit cards, and you can make payments and whatnot online. and credit cards really do help credit ratings.. as long as you pay for them. :) hope that helps.</p>

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<p>Strick, now you've got to work on his time AND money management skills And if you succeed, you have some books to write and some seminars to run. Actually, only he can work on these things. I figure I have been nagging and harping on the time management since they could do more than one thing, so they must have some of that imprinted in the brain. But seriously, my kids did not spend much money until they went away. They did not have much available cash. What they had was specifically for a purpose. It's not like they had to worry about senior picture, an impromptu pizza night, the class ring, the yearbook. We got them the stuff. And if we felt they should pay for it, we would give them some sort of plan to do so and it was not like they had to juggle 50 obligations to do it. Not the real world at all. When they go off to college, they should not be calling you for every expense that comes up. There are decisions to make , priorities to set and budgets. I don't think it comes automatically. Just as you don't expect them to call and tell you where they are going, what they are doing, they are not going to call you and tell you what they are spending. But you don't want a huge credit card bill either. Some groundrules need to be laid and some sort of plan put into place. And now is the time to start thinking how you want it to be. Some of us don't really have much financial planning going on either. You don't want them spending without some thought and balance and limit, but you don't want them living like a miser, scared to make a decision either.</p>

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<p>Debit card connect to HIS account with HIS money for incidentals.
We pay for tuition, R+B. We do not monitor his use of his money.</p>

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<p>Just a note-the earlier in high school that you start giving your kids financial responsibilities the less stressful it will be when they have to begin making the bigger decisions away from home. We set up checking accts for both of our Ds when they turned 16 this permits us to assist in teaching financial decision making while they still have the safety net of home. Our older D spent the summer in a precollege program at NYU and there were no money issues because at 17 she knew how to budget her money so that she wouldn't come up short at the end of the 7 weeks.</p>

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<p>Whoa, jamimom, we're on track with what you say, it's just that our S hasn't gotten around to transfering some money that's in his checking about to another account the way he promised. Just one of those little things he never quite gets around to. (And he's got more in his checking account than we do ours... :D)</p>

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<p>Because my son is far away from I keep a fair amount of cushion in his checking account for emergencies. I’m a co-owner of the account but I don’t receive monthly statements. My son sends them to me periodically. He also has a few hundred in traveler's checks. </p>

<p>He has both a debit card attached to his checking account and a credit card attached to one of my cards. He uses the debit card for miscellaneous cash and the credit card for major purchases. Our deal is that he “clears” with me all credit card purchases over $100. I also get the statement. He writes checks for his cell phone, miscellaneous school charges. Uses his credit card for most everything else.</p>

<p>He keeps his passport and airline tickets in a designated place in his room. We’re more worried about things being misplaced than stolen. We keep photocopies of everything at home.</p>

<p>I would imagine that Hanover is a lot like Williamstown. It’s hard to spend more than $10-20 a week.</p>

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<p>DS has bank accounts that have an ATM/Debit card, a Visa, and a check book. He uses the ATM card to get cash about once a week. He only uses the checkbook for items where he MUST send a check (he used a couple for application checks for summer programs, for example). He also has his college card which he puts money into each semester for books and other school expenses. His school card is used for laundry, books, vending machine, and a lot of different retail vendors near his college (including pizza delivery, Starbucks, etc). He also has a part time job (about 12 hours a week) and that money is his to use also. He earned a couple thousand dollars at his summer job too. He has been managing it very well. We pay the tuition, room, board, and cell phone. He pays everything else (including bus fare home).</p>