<p><<<< I get $700/month from my parents, buy everything and at the end it is always gone...>>>.</p>
<p>Is that to pay for rent/food/car, etc???? Or is that just "fun" money???? IF so, what could you be spending that much on?</p>
<p>man if that 700 isn't including rent that's crazy. i mean, i spent about 400 a month, and that was for car payments, insurance, gas, cell phone, groceries, and whatever other entertainment expenses i had.. and I thought i was pretty good with money :)</p>
<p>Depends on what the kids are paying for. Books - assume $600 per semester, or reimburse the cost. What about cell phone? Land line? Car insurance? Car repairs? Clothes?</p>
<p>My parents did not give me an allowance in college; I paid for everything but car insurance on my own. It was much easier when I got a nice-paying summer job - as my dad said, I was the only college kid he ever knew who wasn't poor.</p>
<p>A lot of my friends got credit cards or allowances from their parents. It can be hard to keep up - and I think that girls might spend more because their friends spend more. Guys will take their $500 allowance and buy a HDTV or whatever. All the guys come over, watch it, and the big friend expenses are $4.29 for a Blockbuster rental and $2 for popcorn. Girls would take the $500 and go shopping and out for dinner - which, unless you just don't buy anything and starve while your friends nosh - costs those who don't have the same resources. </p>
<p>I do think that there's nothing like working minimum wage to:
1. learn the value of the money you spend;
2. Learn the value of the education you are getting so you don't have to work minimum wage;
3. Make you appreciate every job you work afterwards; and
4. Make you not look completely spoiled to potential employers, who want to see at least some work experience before they give you a bunch of money to work for them.</p>
<p>i agree with her. my sister was talking about her part time job that she works year round (she gets 6.50/hr at it.. and at her summer job she gets 8/hr) and she was saying how she can't believe it only pays 6.50 and this and that, and i was like dude when i worked in highschool i got 4.75 until they raised the minimum wage to 5.15.. then i got 5.15.. so deal with it. (minimum wage is still 5.15)</p>
<p>she shut up quick :)</p>
<p>fender:</p>
<p>I am SOOOOO old that when I was a senior in HS, the minimum wage was under $2 an hour (I think it was 1.60) LOL And the funny thing is that it cost me as much to buy a top and a pair of pants back then as it did when I took my niece shopping last summer. The dollar goes a lot farther these days with clothes.</p>
<p>haha, i'm the most thrifty shopper i know. i'm so cheap... haha :)</p>
<p>i went shopping this past weekend.. ended up with two pairs of pants, two pairs of shorts, and six shirts.. for 43 dollars... :)</p>
<p>my parents give me $30 a week, but that usually gets left in the checking account. I hardly ever go off campus to eat, because I feel like I'm paying for a meal twice, which personally for me doesn't seem logical.</p>
<p>Sometimes I go see a movie, but most movies are not worth their cost, IMO, so that happens rarely.</p>
<p>My parents do take care of housing (I will be on campus all 4 years), meal plan (trying to decide what kind of plan to get next year b/c I'll hopefully be in an apartment), books, etc. They do buy me essentials at the beginning of the year and on breaks and things. I would work in the summer, but I'm doing this activity from the end of May until the middle of August that actually costs about $1500, which my parents are paying for. When I get back from this, I'll probably be volunteering with my high school band. I'm disappointed I won't be home long enough to referee soccer, because I made about $500 last year between when I got home and the season ended.</p>
<p>But in short, getting $30 a week, the balance in my checking account goes up in the long run.</p>
<p>I love Ross! The stores are such a mess but the feeling I get when I find something I like is spectacular. Anyways, no allowance, work for your own spending money.</p>
<p>D attends boarding school. We had been giving her $15/wk (recently increased when BF began attending sch nearby - - don't want him always paying for her).</p>
<p>It may not sound like much, but it we cover most her expenses. We load her up w/ toiletries, cleaning supplies and snacks at the beginning of each sem, as well as pay for her transportation, books and most clothing (luxury items, like Longchamps are her responsibility, purchased w/ gift $ or summer earnings).</p>
<p>To Kwibbles, Jlauer is right, for a lot of us it depends on how you define allowance. I would consider allowance a certain defined amount/month. We found, though that there were so many variables, particularly as a freshman so far from home, that it was impossible to know what her expenses would be. In a sense, we said, you earned this much over the summer, we are giving you X amount, and you have to make it last, plus buy books. Buying books injects a certain amount of the uncertainty of real life - you don't know from term to term how much that will be.</p>
<p>The other piece I haven't mentioned is that next year she will be doing a study abroad term, and we told her that all travel would be on her. So she has to make her this year's money last long enough, and earn enough this summer to cover expenses over and above what a term at school will cost. Sometime during the summer, we will sit down and see how that is going, but right now I think she is on track. We may have to supplement a little, but while I'm all for hosteling and cheap travel, I want to be sure she is safe and has access to communication, etc.</p>
<p>Wow, I spend SO much money compared to what most people have described. I average out at about $100 a week. To be honest, sometimes I do wonder how I manage to spend that much money...</p>
<p>However, most of this money is money I make from a paid internship I have. My parents do give me some money at the beginning of each semester. </p>
<p>I pay for everything, quite literally, besides room&board, tuition, and books. So I pay for plane tickets home, toothpaste, printer cartridge, prescriptions, toiletries, all clothes (I never do the massive shopping trip with parents during break), cell phone (not on a family plan). </p>
<p>I eat out a few times a week, admittedly (my meal plan would definitely not cover every meal though anyway). Maybe three or four times a week, at about $8 each time. What else...concert tickets on occasion, movies (really not that often), BART tickets to go to San Francisco, probably a little bit of an excess of clothing, books, DVDs, magazines.</p>
<p>Wow, this thread offers a lot to mull over. Our son has some savings from gifts & should be getting more from his summer earnings. We have gotten a credit card for son & daughter under my name with a $3000 credit limit with the bill coming to our home for emergencies & plane tickets as needed.
When I was in school in the 70s/80s, my parents were always asking me if I needed any money & I always refused. I used the money I earned over the summer for any expenses--got scholarships & grants for tuition & most of room & board, plus small student loan. It worked fine & I tracked ALL my expenses. I managed to live within the FAid budget & save more than expected, even with plane tickets to & from HI every summer, as well as a plane ticket round-trip somewhere for winter break.
My son is pretty responsible about money & doesn't spend much. I suspect he'll mainly eat on campus with the meal plan, but will have to play it by ear as a freshman. He has been able to get his books pretty inexpensively for private school. I generally only pay $100-200/year for all his books & often much less. He sells his books & buys 2nd hand books from friends. Daughter is also able to borrow & trade books with friends. She spends a bit more than son but is also fairly responsible. </p>
<p>For HS, I give them about $20/week or so for them to buy lunch with variable prices of $2-4+ ala carte. It seems to work fairly well. If they run out or want to save money, they bring lunch--I have lots of stuff around the house or will buy whatever they want to bring. It works pretty well.</p>
<p>My D spends around $400/month at school in NYC - I am sure that she spends more during a month that she buys tickets to a concert or something like that. This includes a Metrocard, food and incidentals (books not included). She is off of Columbia's meal plan. She earns what she can during the summer and takes on occasional part time work during the school year. We add more to her savings account at whatever point during the year that her savings run out. </p>
<p>I do not keep track of her day to day purchases. During her first year away we had to have a discussion about the difference between "need" and "want". Even then her spending was not out of hand. She is pretty responsible about money.</p>
<p>
[quote]
morningtheft,
What do you do with your money? We all know that it costs more to live in the city and that there are many more opportunities to spend money but if you are on a meal plan at college, what are you doing that costs so much? I can see a meal out on the weekends and a concert but our family doesn't even spend that much a week normally if you exclude the basics.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Tube/bus pass costs £59 a month... so about £15 a week. Plus, my boyfriend lives outside the zones covered by the pass, so I see him a couple times a week and that adds another £10-15.</p>
<p>Meal plan only includes breakfast and dinner, so I have to spend money on lunch, plus the occasional missed dinner (since it's only served from 6-7), and occasionally a snack or two... that's another £10ish.</p>
<p>Phone bills.. maybe £5ish a week</p>
<p>Laundy is £2.60 per load (washing and drying)... plus laundry detergent, when I run out.</p>
<p>Books (I study English) probably average £5-10 a week.</p>
<p>Plus toiletries and little things like that that everyone needs. And when I can afford it, the occasional piece of clothing (from some place cheap like H & M) or makeup (from the drugstore).</p>
<p>
[quote]
Yes, what do you spend 135 a week on? That is about $19 per day? Do you smoke? Drink? eat out? You are wasting money and that is a horrible habit to get into. If you were a "couple" then you would be wasting 270 per week!
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I do none of those things, except very occasionally eat out at a cheap restaurant.</p>
<p>What do you suggest I cut out of my budget... food, transport, books, laundry?</p>
<p>It's not just me. One of the colleges in London, UCL, lists on their website these as the estimated expenses (per week) for a first-year student in London:</p>
<p>
[quote]
£90-£95 for accommodation
£35 for housekeeping (food, toiletries etc)
£50 for entertainment
£10 for travel
£7 for books/equipment
£7 for insurance/TV licence
£10 for clothes.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>thanks for the budget info, morningtheft - you do look sufficiently frugal to me. I find it interesting that UCL assumes 50 pounds weekly for entertainment - do you suppose that would include dining out or would it be only for show and concert tickets and so on?</p>
<p>wow.. this is eye opening. i get about $150/wk for food and gas (i live off campus) and my mom pays for everything like clothes, movies, etc ... i cant imagine getting such little money. i guess i'm luckier than i thought.</p>
<p>
[quote]
thanks for the budget info, morningtheft - you do look sufficiently frugal to me. I find it interesting that UCL assumes 50 pounds weekly for entertainment - do you suppose that would include dining out or would it be only for show and concert tickets and so on?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>It probably would. I assume it's mostly referring to clubbing (+alcohol) and pubbing. Most students here go clubbing a lot...</p>
<p>My S is not going to get a cent (spending $) from me. That's why he's working fast food now, in HS. Cars can be a big $ drain--I believe kids should put off owning them as long as possible.</p>
<p>(I was shocked when I went to college -80's- and heard girls talking about "allowances" they got from their parents. I thought, "How childish," but of course I was jealous! I never understood how some students could pay $ to eat out, order pizza, etc. when they'd already paid for their meals in the dining hall--which had excellent food. With all the free/cheap events/movies/plays/sports on campus, it was possible to live well with virtually no spending $).</p>
<p>I def. don't get anything from my parents, and haven't for the past 4 years. I've coughed up for books, supplies etc, and have been fine. This year I def. go through a LOT more, as I'm providing all of my own food (no meal plan), taking arch. studios ($$ for supplies etc.), car insurance, gas etc. etc. </p>
<p>On the flip side, my roommate buys everything on her own, except food, which her mom pays for. However, I don't know anyone who gets a regular allowance from their parents. Most of us do work study for any money that we get, or save up from our summer jobs!</p>
<p>I'm with you atomom -</p>
<p>I don't thnk D should be asking me for $ for meals out after I've already paid for her meal plan - - that's one reason her allowance is so low (now $20/wk - plus a roll of quarters for laundry). DH, however, disagrees, citing other students at her school, many of whom get $50/wk. </p>
<p>I'd increase D's allowance if she assumed some on-going financial obligation (BF pays for his own cell phone and trips to visit D; we cover those expenses for D) - - so she'd actually learn budgeting. But for purely discretionary income, most of which will go to junk food, I think the $20 is plenty.</p>