<p>Last summer my parents had to go out of state for their business, so I had to buy everything I needed during that time. I spent around $150 a week on food alone while only going out to eat a couple times a week. I would say that a meal plan plus a couple hundred dollars per month for going out and necessities would be okay. I don’t know how someone could use only $20 a week unless they didn’t do anything besides study. </p>
<p>I am a grown up and live by myself and spend about $300 a month for food. When my son was living at home, his presence boosted my food bill by about $50/week (something I only realized after he moved out) – but my daughter’s impact on overall food bill was negligible. I think that teenage boys can eat a lot. </p>
<p>Anyway, my kids did fine in college and managed to pay for their own food on their own after their freshman years; for the first year they were on full meal plans but paid for any extras they needed or wanted without my help. I know that my son was ordering a lot of takeout with his friends, because the dining hall closed too early for their habits and they would get hungry late at night. But that was his problem, not mine. </p>
<p>Resourceful college kids will find ways to make money beyond the realm of formal jobs. My son recognized an opportunity in the limited hours of his on-campus dining hall and the campus snack bar. He’d go to the local grocery in town and buy snack food items in bulk, then sell them of individually to other students – so my son’s dorm room became a de-facto after hours snack bar for the other students. (And that was years ago, before Amazon prime). </p>
<p>My d. saw an opportunity in the presence of kids like Nick who were well funded by parents and not too much in the way of real-world shopping experience. She’d offer to clean friend’s dorm rooms for $40 – it took her about an hour to straighten everything up, make the beds, sweep the floors, etc.-- but I imagine that many of these students came from homes where their parents always hired housekeepers and maids to do the cleaning, and probably never had to make their own beds or do their own laundry before - so spending $40 every once in a while for someone else to pick up after them probably seemed quite normal. Who knows? Maybe their parents thought it was fine, too. </p>
<p>I think most of us talking about 80-100 dollars a month are talking about for kids who are on a meal plan. I really don’t get where any necessities will require more money than that a month. It even allows for some pizza and other take-out. </p>
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<p>lol…thumper, why stop there? His parents should buy him his own plane.</p>
<p>Yes, just to clarify the $80 per month is in addition to a very robust meal plan. </p>
<p>Also for the OP, I set up a monthly automatic bank transfer so I didn’t forget and my son knows when he will get it.</p>
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<p>$1500 a month is certainly far more than necessary unless that’s meant to include rent in a very expensive area, but I just don’t believe that was the cause of her failure. If someone was going to fail that way they were gonna do it with or without money. Unless there’s some detail you’re holding back here, it just doesn’t seem to me to be a human quality that money makes you fail college. </p>
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<p>Depends on the meal plan. Is the cafeteria open 7 days a week or just 5? Is it open during dinner hours or only lunch? </p>
<p>^It also could depend on whether the kid has a fridge in the dorm room or access to a kitchen. DS is on a 14 meal plan this summer. The hours are limited but he does have a small fridge in his room and there is a small kitchen on his floor. So he can heat up stuff in the microwave if he wants.</p>
<p>When I was a college student, I survived on grant and loan. I received not even a dime from my family. Indeed, I gave a little bit money to support my family when I received the financial aid in the beginning of the year while I also worked in the Summer. I guess this generation is very different. For my D, I will pay for the necessities while she has a part time job to earn money for her leisure expenses. There is no allowance.
As the OP is going to UMich. the meal plan is unlimited from this year on. I am not sure if OP is going to LSA or CoE, if CoE, the included printing allowance is more than enough. Anyway, anything that can be put under the student account, the parent can see and pay for it. Laundry is a valid expense but $20 a week should be sufficient for that and some other household supplies.
College is the time and place to prepare for a career and independent life.</p>
<p>Didn’t realize the TC was going to Michigan.</p>
<p>I never had a meal plan so I never paid much attention, but it seemed like the dining halls were constantly closed during dinner hours. I don’t know if the hours changed or if I’m remembering wrong or what. And I think they’re closed on weekends? </p>
<p>Either way, hardly anyone lived on campus past freshman year, thus hardly anyone has a meal plan past freshman year. </p>
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<p>Even for LSA students, the limits are way more than enough unless you’re printing out every single reading from every single class and a bunch of other stuff. Which is really a waste of paper IMO. </p>
<p>^^^ It would depend on the major. It happens often a LSA student asking CoE student’s help for printing quota. I do agree it is a waste of paper most of time. I also had the habit of printing out something but never use it or read it afterward too.</p>
<p>To second calmom it all comes down to what you found normal in your household and were brought up to expect the last 36 semesters. </p>
<p>@Vladenschlutte The dining halls have different operation hours. Usually open from 7:30am to 9pm (some even later) on week days. Weekend has shorter hours. They are all closed for Summer. As 97% freshmen live in the dorm and unlimited meal plan is included. There is really not much additional food cost is needed at UMich for freshmen. Also, around 20% non-freshmen student live in dorm too.</p>
<p>Its too bad this question wasn’t posed a bit better. Something like, “What are the typical expenses I can expect to have at college?” </p>
<p>This is actually a good question for a parent trying to think about money matters for a future freshman. </p>
<p>Seeing other universities’ dining hall hours makes me think we should stop protesting our hours. My dorm’s dining hall is 6 AM to 2 AM…They are open on the weekends and breaks. </p>
<p>The good thing about it is that the extended hours keeps the food costs down. Many times I’ve been able to get multiple meals made, take them to go, and keep them in my fridge to hold me over for a day or two. </p>
<p>My god, a lot of vitriol here. I support kids not working freshman year if a family can afford it, so a child can acclimate. So I was on board with @stmarys14 (although I felt it could have been worded a bit better on her part). </p>
<p>And you know what? Families have different income levels. I have no doubt some families I know give their kids a $500-$1000 a month in spending. So what? People just need to focus on their lives and their kids and not start throwing shade.</p>
<p>@nickxx ignore them. Seriously. This is worse than the student forum, which is so much more polite. Big news flash: there are a lot of people with tens of millions, even hundreds of million in Silicon Valley and southern CA. To literally chastise someone as having a dumb plan because they’ll fly the kid home for visits and orthodox visits is insulting. It might be a drop in the bucket for them. I have no doubt they have “thought it out”. They’re not IDIOTS.</p>
<p>They may not be “IDIOTS” but they have more dollars than sense if they are flying a kid home for “orthodox” :)) or orthodontist appointments.</p>
<p>Yup, they are idiots. They don’t think so, but they are teaching very bad habits to their kids who may not end up with the resources the parents have. The thing about being a parent is that it is not always getting to be the ‘good guy’. By making kids earn their own spending money and being responsible, they grow up to be productive citizens rather than entitled leaches.</p>
<p>I have had two kids go through orthodontia at a specialist who builds his own appliances. He was fine with coordinating office visits when son was home for breaks and took no issue whatsoever with visiting ‘other’ doctors for emergency repairs.</p>
<p>Just because you can afford something, does not mean you should do so.</p>
<p>Not having kids work during freshman year (other than perhaps 10 hours or so of work study) may make some sense for many kids. If they are studying so much, they will not have time to spend anyway. The idea of them taking off the summer to ‘relax’ is moronic. Even if my kids cannot find a paying job, they will be working at home or doing charity work somewhere. It is no wonder that so many young kids fail at their first jobs when their parents do not have the fortitude to teach them the value of hard work.</p>
<p>This is not vitriol, by the way. “You keep using that word. I don’t think it means what you think it means.”</p>
<p>What you are hearing is compassion for kids who have poor role models who sadly believe that being their kids best friend will make them better people.</p>