<p>@pizzagirl, if you can’t see the point in what I posted, I’m afraid all the explanation in the world won’t help.</p>
<p>We haven’t been able to afford to give our S an allowance since sometime during grade school. He isn’t in the habit of spending money, and he’s frugal. He has an interesting on-campus job, but the hours are low and he doesn’t make a lot of money. (He could choose to work more by getting an additional job.) He also has had some money given to him as Christmas/birthday/graduation presents by relatives. We generally buy his clothes, although he paid for half of the expense of his internship wardrobe. He has no transportation costs to cover, since we drive him to and from school, about 3 hours away. (The exception being the few times he has managed to get a ride with another student, in which case he pays towards the gas.)</p>
<p>Our finances are now much better, but that means we are taking the big hit of paying a substantial portion of his COA. Which, I hasten to add, we are very happy to be able to do! We agreed to letting him go to school an extra term, which means we are paying more. We help him with unusual expenses, but still aren’t giving him an allowance. Frankly, he has never been one of those kids who is strongly motivated to work and make money, and I think it is good for him to have to.</p>
<p>annasdad, I hear you. Of course, my parents never gave me an allowance in college either, so I don’t have that expectation.</p>
<p>We have taken the approach of looking at our sons’ reasonable expenses, and planning from there.</p>
<p>For example, my son had a meal plan with 150 swipes for the 16 week semester, and it also came with 300 campus bucks. That averages out to less than 10 meals a week in meal swipes and maybe 3 meals a week with campus bucks. A lot of places near campus also take campus bucks.
My son took 18 hours and also worked an off-campus unpaid internship–great experience , exactly why he chose the school he is at–definitely worth it. He also plays a club sport with daily practices, and there are expenses associated with the team–club dues, uniforms, some travel expenses, and some social things like meals and an occaisional party with other teams.
I will say that in general he is not a big spender. Zero on clothes and other personal items. Much more likely to pay for experiences than things, and he plans those out carefully.</p>
<p>He needed $$$ for Metro fare, food away from campus, expenses for maintaining his professional wardrobe…and additional meals on campus. He likes to eat a hearty snack late in the evening to break up his studying. He is 6’2" and 155 lbs.</p>
<p>He had some earnings from summer work.</p>
<p>We looked at how much things added up to, divided that in to weekly/monthly amounts, and after discussion with him, decided on a monthly allowance. He gets $250/month.</p>
<p>We are lucky to be able to do that. Our priority was for him to be able to take full advantage of the opportunities available to him at his school. We think he will have an easier time getting well paid internships because of the amazing opportunity he had.</p>
<p>And of course, he is a great kid and extremely grateful for his opportunities. He is always offering to do things for us and for others too, so we don’t mind so much</p>
<p>I can’t remember how much I spent for D1 her freshman year. But I think something like $75/week for her groceries for sophomore year when she lived in an apartment near campus. D1 has worked every year since her senior year in high school. Some of that earnings were for her spending money in college.</p>
<p>We will pay tuition, room, board, and travel to and from home. D is responsible for books and personal expenses with her summer employment earnings and scholarships. I want her to appreciate that stuff (eating at a restaurant when the meal plan is already paid for, going to a concert, fun spring break trips) costs money which SOMEONE has to earn. For example, that Vera Bradley bag is 8 hours of babysitting. If D had taken the full ride to local U or was on a smaller meal plan, I am sure I would pay for the books and food, but we feel we are already providing generously for her opportunity. So, no allowance, but I am sure I will slip her some cash at move in and in any care packages/cards. I view college as a transition to independence, which includes financial independence. D has had it pretty cushy to date (really only paying for gas for the car she uses and some of her social activities to date), so it might be quite the learning experience!</p>
<p>I recommend talking to your son or daughter on cost of living in the particular city/town the college is in. In my opinion, with many parents saving up over the course of many years it is important to have your college student begin to undertake the true costs to live. We do a disservice to them if this last 4 years of semi parental assistance is not used to understand the cost of living.
My wife and I spent several hours looking at all costs in our sons Univ town and determined what was suitable to allow for in dorm snacking, misc pizza or burgers in town and and
and an occasional movie or “date night”. We arrived at a sum of $75 a week. With the understand this may decrease or increase by 10$ or so based on real life expensesHis daily meals are included on a meal plan. Fuel costs will have to be saved out of the weekly allowance if he wants to drive during school. We would cover trips home.
As mentioned he is on a meal plan, we cover all supplies and books outside of this amount.</p>
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<p>My twins are both attending school in fairly comparable settings (suburbs of major cities) where the cost of living and range of weekend activities is likely generally comparable, but I have to say I couldn’t see myself giving them different amounts if one were, say, at NYU and the other at Grinnell.</p>
<p>My D babysat thru HS but doubt she will have time in college- she hopes to babysit some - I agree that they need to learn how to undertake their own bills etc but they also need to study and be a student. I plan to give a certain amount and after that she will be responsible for anything else.</p>
<p>i settled on $700/month</p>
<p>I have to ask, smile12157 what are your son’s expenses at Tulane that he will be using the $700/month for? You stated he has full room & board and does not have a car.</p>
<p>When D was a freshman, she didn’t have a car, was on the full-meal plan, and we bought her books. She was expected to pay for toiletries, snacks/going out to eat, entertainment, and incidentals like printer paper. For this, we started out at $150/month and later reduced it to $100/month. I should note that she’s in a small town in rural Indiana, so costs are pretty low.</p>
<p>I’m sure the fancy restaurants on Bournon Street will appreciate the generosity. </p>
<p>Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using CC App</p>
<p>I put $50 per month in my daughter’s school account (she can use it for laundry, student center meals, book store, etc.). She has a fairly substantial checking account from a well paying summer job and family gifts. We decided she should budget $150 per month from her personal account. </p>
<p>We can afford to pay all her expenses but think it’s never too early to learn how to manage money. We pay tuition, full meal plan, books, cell phone, sorority expenses, etc. If she needs to spend a large amount for something, for example a pledge formal dress, we told her we would pay for that. </p>
<p>I would worry about giving a kid too much money at school. IMO there’s too much temptation for an unsupervised teen.</p>
<p>I have to ask, smile12157 what are your son’s expenses at Tulane that he will be using the $700/month for? You stated he has full room & board and does not have a car. </p>
<p>hey blueiguana…I do not know why I decided on $700/month. To be honest I will probably go higher if my S is doing his part. I do expect certain things for the generosity. Great grades, participation in campus activities, communication, etc. Somewhat of a bribe that can be rescinded. LOL
If my S is doing his part then I do not mind giving him the money. I would like my S to have enough money to take a young lady out to dinner at a nice restaurant occasionally. I would like him to take a Spring break trip with some of his friends or go deep sea fishing or drive over to Destin, Florida for a long weekend. he is my only child and I suppose that I am spoiling him. In the end, he will inherit what is left anyway. As long as I am not stressed financially, I would just as soon let him experience things along the way in life. That is why he is at Tulane in the first place.
When he was young, my wife and I would take him to the state fair for the day. He would see this or that and want to buy things. We would end up spending $50 on junk. The following year, I gave my son $50 before we walked into the fair and I told him the money was his. He could spend it all or save it all, it did not matter to me. He spent $5 and saved the rest. For the most part, he has handled money fairly well.</p>
<p>$200 per month, plus a credit card for textbooks, transportation home and emergencies.</p>
<p>**I would worry about giving a kid too much money at school. IMO there’s too much temptation for an unsupervised teen. **</p>
<p>hey deega…I will be monitoring his use of funds to some extent and will pull back if I sense a problem. I appreciate everyone’s point of view and it does have me examining my plan.</p>
<p>We were giving D the amount that the least expensive meal plan cost when she lived in an apartment, plus rent & utilities. We didn’t really give her an allowance. We also paid for plane ticket to go to Spring Break with her friends to East Coast (it was a few hundred $$). This year, we’re giving her about $250 month above the cost of her rent & utilities so she can buy groceries & some extras with. Any additional funds are from gifts and whatever she can earn.</p>
<p>She did have a job & some savings, but after budget cutbacks, they could no longer keep her on payroll and excluslively hired work-study students. 
She’s busy anyway with all her school work and activities.</p>
<p>With regard to giving a kid too much $$, so much depends on the individual kid. Our S was given a LOT of $$ by his aunt when he started at the U. He spent it very carefully and wisely and even had a little bit left at the end of his 4 years. He also had access to other funds that he’s had since he turned 18, which he NEVER touched in college. He has a nice nest egg now. We have always trusted his good judgment. </p>
<p>D has always had a bit more trouble budgeting her funds, but is learning and becoming a more careful spender as well. D also has access to funds we have been saving for her since she was born & has had access since she turned 18. She has likewise never touched those funds.</p>
<p>One of the places of concern to me in the finance area is these video games and all the paraphernalia that goes with it. Spending a lot of money and time in that area really irritates me. LOL…this has been an on going battle for years.
My S has also had funds available to him since he turned 18 that he has not touched. To be honest though, he knows that if those funds are used in a way that I do not agree with then other sources of money (mainly me) will dry up.</p>
<p>Our girls have a full meal plan, plenty of campus activities, concerts, movies and dorm parties. Their dates generally take place on campus and occasionally they go out for a cheap meal or make a WalMart or mall run, with friends. We send maybe $200/school year- a twenty in a letter or a small amount into their bank accts to tide them over before their next paycheck. </p>
<p>Each has school-related jobs that pay about $2300. For them, it’s more than enough. When we’re together, we fill in the gaps- toiletries, certain clothes items, etc. I let them know they could count on this. We buy first-semester books and they usually buy 2nd (for some reason, this hasn’t been a large expense; 2nd sem has run around $100. One rents books for non-major classes. If a book turns out to be expensive, we will cover it.) When each needed extra funds for study abroad, we paid for that. When they want something more expensive, something they know is discretionary, they generally plan for it. They also have great summer jobs, so trust me, they know how it feels to spend. We just want them to understand living within their means, setting their spending goals accordingly.</p>
<p>Interesting thread. Giving me an idea of what to anticipate for next year.</p>
<p>My son is a senior in HS. We split the cost of his car with him and it costs $50 every 2 weeks to mostly drive around our town with a filled gas tank. He selected the car (honda accord 2003) for its low gas mileage. It seems amazing how fast money can go to purchase something that seems pretty basic.</p>