<p>Ill be a freshman next year at a college in PA. Ill be working on campus and my parents are covering everything like meals and my phone bill. I dont think I'll be able to work a lot of hours due to my workload. </p>
<p>My parents seem to think that in addition I will not need any other money for general needs like toiletries or spending money. I was wondering how much your parents gave you in terms of spending money you freshman year of college. </p>
<p>Hopefully this will give me and my parents an idea of how much money I might need.</p>
<p>I’ll go off the assumption that this isn’t a bored high schooler ■■■■■■■■… pay for your own stuff. Your spending money isn’t going to be that much if everything else is being paid for. Get a job now and save up money. Get a job on campus and 10 hours a week will MORE than cover anything you need.</p>
<p>I hope my post didn’t come off as rude. Of course I plan to work. I’m just the first in my family to go to college in the states and my parents and I are just lost in term of how much money I might need.</p>
<p>It sounds like they want you to get a little skin in the game. Try to work enough hours to clear a $100 a week. Some weeks you’ll spend more, some less, but you will need spending money. GL</p>
<p>Oh man, I wish someone paid my phone bill. I never even thought about getting an “allowance” - I’ve never gotten one in my life so it would have been an odd time to start. </p>
<p>Really though, you won’t NEED much spending money. $100 a week seems pretty excessive, IMO. Granted, I make more than that, but I end up with plenty for things like buying new clothes and going to movies! It just depends how much extra stuff you want and how many hours you’re willing to work for it.</p>
<p>Do you mean other than tuition, books, room, and board costs?</p>
<p>You probably don’t need much (unless the “books” category was underestimated, or you choose courses which your school has extra fees for). Of course, if you start doing expensive things, your costs could go up, so you would have to try to work more to earn more money to cover them.</p>
<p>If your tuition, phone bill, and meals are all being paid for, you shouldn’t really have that much in the way of expenses. You won’t be living the high life, but for most of us…college is a time of frugal living. I doubt that your workload is so heavy that you can’t squeeze in 8-10 hours of work a week. If you’re spending more than $80-100 a week, you should probably consider cutting some costs. This is a good time to get used to budgeting your money, because odds are you’ll be doing it for the rest of your life.</p>
<p>I do know people that get an allowance from their parents, and quite frankly, I found it shocking. If your parents are covering your necessities (food, tuition, books, etc), then they are already giving you plenty of money. If you’re working on campus, that should be more than enough to spending money. At my school, working 12 hours a week (at least) is pretty typical for students who have jobs. I have a full time courseload and I’ve never had trouble working 20+ hours a week.</p>
<p>And if you find that you really do need extra money for necessities (like textbooks or equipment for class, money for some emergency, etc) when you start school, you can always ask your parents for help, but it’s up to them whether they want to give you the money.</p>
<p>have you seen that personally? Because as per student VISA, you can work 20 hours/week on campus. Moreover, if university allows, you can work off campus. </p>
<p>As for OP, do some research. Typically it won’t be more than 75/week. It really depends on you. You can go for 50/week or 5000 to infinity per week.</p>
<p>Am I the only one who gets where the OP is coming from? I’d love a freshman year allowance! :D</p>
<p>My parent pays for things just your parents do. My mom pays for my car insurance, car payment, phone bill, and…I think that’s it. She has paid for four years of tuition and two years of dorms so I guess that another large investment! I, too, have been worried about my workload. I expressed this with her. </p>
<p>We came up with an hour a week limit that would allow me enough time for studying, relaxing, and whatnot and enough money to purchase toiletries, clothes, and go out. College isn’t a time for spending anything on everything, but there is definitely a nice middle that you can reach.</p>
<p>If they’re paying for housing, dorm food, tuition–you literally won’t need anything else to survive on, if that’s what you’re asking.</p>
<p>My parents don’t give me an “allowance.” If I asked them for something (like lunch or money for clothes etc), they’d probably shell it out. But I don’t do that very often.</p>
<p>OP - I’m a parent. My DS will be a freshman next year and I don’t want him to work the first semester of college. I did that and it was a mistake for me at least. I think adjusting to college will be enough. If he loses his scholarship it’s going to cost me a lot more than he would make working part time. So I will be giving him “some” money for things like laundry ect… I"m thinking $20 a week.??</p>
<p>In total outside of tuition and books, I got about $50 because my boss forgot to hand our payslips into human resources so I went a week without a paycheck. I think getting a job is a good way to keep occupied and organized.</p>
<p>@MichiganGeorgia, I’m with you. If I have to shell out 60k to send my kid to college, I want my 60k’s worth of focus on academics during Freshman year.</p>
<p>With a meal plan I spend less than $300 most semesters. With a job you’ll be fine even with few hours. Your parents are already paying for a lot…</p>
<p>My parents give me about $50 every couple weeks, and more if there is something I need. They also pay extra so I can have a single, and cover car + phone costs. I also have a full ride at my school, so really that is our only expense. In my opinion, you should need more than $100 per month.</p>
I, too, have been worried about my workload. I expressed this with her. </p>
I think adjusting to college will be enough. If he loses his scholarship it’s going to cost me a lot more than he would make working part time. So I will be giving him “some” money for things like laundry ect… I"m thinking $20 a week.??</p>