<p>Can anyone give me a very general sense of how much money for monthly expenses a freshman might need? We don't know what school our daughter will end up attending; it might be Chicago or it might be Cornell (big city vs. small city), but I wondered how everyday expenses like snacks, movies, etc. (not books and supplies) are covered? Is $100/month reasonable (or are you all laughing at my innocence)?
Thanks!</p>
<p>there's a couple of other threads on this if you look around.. i don't feel like posting them, but i'm sure someone will :)</p>
<p>it really all depends on the kid. i've never had an allowance in my life, so i'm laughing. (no offense :) ) my parents would say get a job, and that's your spending money.</p>
<p>but aside from that, my freshman year i made about 30-40 dollars per week living on campus and that was enough to pay for my car insurance, gas, and whatever snacks, movies and stuff. my insurance was 60 dollars a month... so that's about 60-100 a month for my expenses (gas included). i kept that same job soph. and junior year and continued the same way. i also worked full time every summer to have extra money in my bank account in case i needed it for things (which i did. i loved going away on spring break trips, weekend trips to new york city, etc.) my senior year i made about 100/ week at another job and with that extra income i decided to buy a new car .. which meant i needed 170 for the payments for that, plus about 105 a month for the insurance.. so i had a little over 100 a month left for expenses then, however i was living in an apartment and had to purchase food and random other living expenses not associated with dorm rooms. (toilet paper comes to mind.)</p>
<p>hope that helps :)</p>
<p>I make it in NYC on $50 every two weeks from my work-study pay check, and usually it's fine, but it's hard to fit in more one-time expenditures: concerts, having to buy winter clothes, etc.</p>
<p>DS makes it in Boston on an average of $30 a week spending money. Some weeks he spends little to nothing, other weeks $100. However WE don't give him a dime of spending money. That is his to earn during summer, or breaks...or from gifts for holidays and birthdays. Since we are paying his room/board and tuition, the spending money is his to earn...AND spend. The amount he needs is truly up to him...he has to earn it.</p>
<p>My parents give me $20/wk for spending money ($80/month), plus an extra $100 per term ($300/year - Dartmouth students generally take three terms a year) for food expenses out of my meal plan. But Hanover's a pretty small town so there's not much to spend things on - usually the $80 ends up spent at the salon or on a going-out shirt. Also, if your daughter ends up at a school (like Cornell, at least according to friends that go there) where there's a dominant Greek scene, I would imagine she would need less spending money than if she went to a city school - there would be no cover charges or bar tabs to pay for.</p>
<p>Depends on the kid. </p>
<p>When my son went off to college he had no allowance, but paid all expenses from amounts he had saved up and from his work study job. I've told my daughter I want the same from her- I'll pay tuition and room & board, but I want her to work and pay the rest on her own. If she comes up short or there are unanticipated expenses, then of course I'll help her out ... but I honestly feel that kids need to shoulder some of the responsibility when parents are shelling out thousands of dollars to send them off too college. And a kid who is earning their own way is going to be more careful with the money - there is nothing like an hourly wage at a low paying job to get them to appreciate the value of a dollar. </p>
<p>But we'll see how it goes --I think in general girls spend more than boys, so I won't be suprised if I get some panicky calls from my daughter by the time November rolls around.</p>
<p>My rule is that a child will spend only half as much money if it is his or her own. So, we set aside a certain amount for college, and that's it. No allowance. His spending money comes out of his own savings. He's found ways to get used books, uses his prepaid meal plan to the fullest advantage, asked for specific items of clothing for the holidays, etc. Admittedly, girls have a few more expenses, but the idea is the same.</p>
<p>When I feel guilty about this, I send a care package.</p>
<p>Lots of activities at Cornell are free, and all freshmen get a free local bus pass as well. You can purchase some of the dining dollars (Big Red Bucks) on a flexible plan that can be used anywhere on campus, even the laundry and convenience store.</p>
<p>When kids have to use their own money, it gets used less often.</p>
<p>Kwibble, perhaps this will help.</p>
<p>D's freshman year books - about $600-700, depending on how well she does reselling at the end of the term, this term's books were more than both the first terms together (she's also at Dartmouth)</p>
<p>Movie tickets - $10/term
Other entertainment - maybe 10-20 dollars/month. They don't have much time for outside entertainment, most of this expense is from a 1 time trip to boston, divided over 2 terms
Eating out - this varies widely, her group of friends does not go out often at all so I would roll that into "other entertainment" - I think she told me they ate out once in the fall and ordered pizza a couple of times in the winter</p>
<p>PE - this was her big expense, she took ski lessons through the school, Graciliasae could comment on the cost perhaps, but it was a couple of hundred dollars for the lessons and equipment, a friend gave her a helmet</p>
<p>The other big expense for her has been travel back and forth - she spends more on food at the airport than she does on 2 months of eating out - and buying a new wardrobe.
On the flipside, we took her off our car insurance as a principal driver, and her car is the cheapest to operate so we drive it more than she did.</p>
<p>A lot of the budgeting depends on whether or not they will need a car, what things are free from the college, are they in a city, will they need a new wardrobe.</p>
<p>We also followed the "this is what you get, make it last" philosophy, plus the "we expect you to have a job", and this has worked well. I think they want to have some of their own money at this age.</p>
<p>Another important thing to consider is emergencies. We followed the advice of a partner of mine who sent his oldest child far away to college, and gave our daughter an emergency credit card. this is basically a credit card of ours with no annual fee that we have had, but not used for a long time. It has a $30000 credit limit, and is only to be used in emergencies. For example, if her Dad, brother and I were all hit by a truck, she would be able to come home, pay tuition, pay the house payment, etc. until the estate was settled. Of course she has been threatened with death and dismemberment if she uses the card for anything else. The need in this regard is, of course, going to vary from one family to another, but my partner's advice was imagine the very worst contingency you can think of, then plan a way for her to have money in that instance.</p>
<p>No allowance from us!!</p>
<p>She has her own savings in a bank account, from summer jobs and gifts, and transferred it to a campus account last Fall. When you are using your own debit/ATM card for entertainment, you think twice. There is much to do on campus, with friends, clubs, and frugal students have the most fun for the least money.</p>
<p>I do send fun packages to her every few weeks, and there's quite a gathering in her room when she opens these, as the surprises are quite funny sometimes.</p>
<p>No allowance from us, either. Kids were expected to fund books and day to day expenses. Since we are covering everything else (no loans for them) these seems fair, and keeps them very frugal.</p>
<p>Same here. We parents pay our share of the tuition, R &B, after college F.A. aid has paid their's. DD covers all else (shampoo, toothpaste, clothing, meals out, books, transportation, entertainment, recreation) through summer work and 10-hour per-week non-work-study job. It is SUCH an important learning experience for young adults. I do also cover her cell phone - but only because we are on a "family plan" and her line is $9.99 a month. :) Frugality is a good thing to cultivate - and the incentive is there, because the money isn't!!!!</p>
<p>No allowance. We pay for books, clothes, room and board and transportation home.</p>
<p>My son is pretty tight with his own money (less so with ours) and whatever he earns over the summer is plenty.</p>
<p>A kid blowing through money should be at least slightly suspected of extreme alcohol/drug use.</p>
<p>Cangel: We have the same thing with the credit card. An old account we weren't using, a card with his name on it. If he uses it without permission he's dead. Kids who are travelling really need emergency funds. I hope you don't all get hit by a truck though!</p>
<p>I like the idea of a credit card for emergencies only. I have heard too many horror stories of college kids using credit for impulse purchases -- food, drinks, junk, trips, entertainment, etc. It's just too easy for a kid to "forget" how much he/she's charged each month and be "shocked" when the total comes in each month. It's easy to nickle and dime oneself to death with credit cards (that's why all businesses take them).</p>
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<blockquote> <p>A kid blowing through money should be at least slightly suspected of extreme alcohol/drug use.>></p> </blockquote>
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<p>unless they are musicians...then they should be accused of spending money on mutes, lessons and music. DS's visa bill comes here. Money he earns goes towards these things...and it seems excessive. I don't think he's "smoking the music" :)</p>
<p>kwibbles: Will your kid take a part-time job while going to school? If so then why would he/she need extra money from you for "spending money"? </p>
<p>Or, do you mean money for "basics" like shampoo, soap, laundry, etc?</p>
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<blockquote> <p>do you mean money for "basics" like shampoo, soap, laundry, etc?>></p> </blockquote>
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<p>Don't know about the others here....but we do a stock up shopping at the beginning of the year and at the winter break for these items. Anything the kids want in between THEY pay for.</p>
<p>My D is a junior in h s and I am learning so much from this thread.</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>my D has a work study job that pays for most everything she need- except she is on our family cell phone plan
We pay for room and send her about $200 for groceries a month since she is off board
we tell her to charge her books at the student bookstore where she has an account
We also cover her medical expenses</p>
<p>Freshman year I gave mine a generous allowance. By 2nd year, he was earning enough in the summer to cover everything (not tuition or R&B). Since HS, he has a shared credit card with me, so I can check on-line what purchases he makes outside the campus bookstore. He charges airline tickets on this card. The more maturity a child shows, the easier it is to give them control.</p>