<p>I have seen threads on this subject before but can't seem to find one now. What is the collective wisdom of this group on how much cash students will need beyond tuition, room, board, books, and transportation? I'm not focusing on where the money comes from but rather just how much is "needed". I'm curious what the range of opinion is on this question. How much is clearly too little? How much is clearly too much?</p>
<p>I am interested too… replying here so I can find this thread later. My personal take is that $200/month ought to be plenty so they will not have to deprive themselves of anything. If they need more then it should be up to them to get a part time job.</p>
<p>Location, location, location.</p>
<p>If you’re in a major city and want to be able to join your friends in their activities, $200 may not be enough. </p>
<p>If you’re in a small town where life is mostly campus centered, $200 may be more than you need.</p>
<p>Also, take into consideration whether the student is interested in the Greek system. There are some extra costs involved in joining a fraternity or sorority.</p>
<p>We came up with $300/month from nowhere in particular.</p>
<p>Marian, how much more is the appropriate big city number? And for non-greeks is there a some amount that is appropriate to support a comparable non-greek social life?</p>
<p>I don’t know. I don’t have a kid going to college in a big city.</p>
<p>I’ve only got a hs soph and an 8th grader, so my idea is probably totally out of touch with reality. But…</p>
<p>I’ve been planning to give them 10x their cum GPA from the last semester each week. Maybe a little more if they go Greek. </p>
<p>Ask me again in 3 years how well this works. :)</p>
<p>Whatever my kids earned over the summer was their spending money. They never asked for more and we never offered. That said, both of my kids are bargain hunters, not into designer clothes, clubbing, etc. Probably the most expensive outing would be to go to a concert. My daughter worked all four years at college and earned about $50 a week, used that for spending money and then kept her summer earnings for abroad trips. Son worked his freshman year, also earned about $50 a week but spent quite a bit less.</p>
<p>We give our D $200/mon. She is in a college town and in Greek life. I don’t think it costs her more monthly to be in a sorority, we get charged for social due. Next year she is going to live at the house. The cost is actually going to be lower than on campus. Sometimes she spends as little as $100, but never more than $200. To be in the Greek life, the cost for girls is actually clothing. Their mixers are paid by fraternities.</p>
<p>If you go to school in NYC, I think it would be a lot more than $200 - dinners out, movies, subway, taxi (when it’s late), and drinks. I would double it. At the same time, I think there are many ways they could entertain themselves cheaply if need to (movie rental, use student id to go to museums, always take subways, go to good local restaurants instead of expensive ones, free concert at the park).</p>
<p>Both of my kids attend(ed) colleges in very expensive urban areas…don’t know how much to allocate for spending money because THEY earned it all working in the summer, on vacations, and for a few hours (up to 10) each week.</p>
<p>DougBetsy - interesting concept…lol. I have a hs soph and a 6th grader, btw. </p>
<p>I have already told D that I expect her to have a part time job while she’s in college. Not that I wouldn’t be willing to help her out, but I think it’s important that kids feel like they are contributing something at that point. Having said that - if she managed to get a full ride or even a full-tuition scholarship that was dependent upon her maintaining a specific GPA, I would re-evaluate my options depending on how she was handling her courses.</p>
<p>they will not have to deprive themselves of anything.</p>
<p>clearly a fate worse than death</p>
<p>:rolleyes:</p>
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<p>I am always amused by parents who think that intentional deprivation teaches their kids anything. I grew up in a situation where I had quite a bit more than most of my friends. Did not grow up to be a spoiled brat… I think. Always paid back my parents anything I borrowed from them, including $2k to buy a car when I was supporting a family of three on $6k/year in a major metropolitan area in the US. My parents always taught me to live below my means, but if your means are plentiful then there is no sense of depriving yourself. </p>
<p>To paraphrase Warren Buffet, I plan on giving my child enough to enable her to do anything (reasonable), yet not enough to do everything she wants. Responsibility is not taught by having less, but by having enough and being aware how to deal with it.</p>
<p>P.S. Despite us being able to comfortably afford all her college expenses, she will be expected to contribute a few k$ per year to her own education, either through summer earnings or loans… her choice.</p>
<p>I’m with thumper and kathiep – whatever D spends is her money, not ours. We do pay for books (plus room, board & tuition), but not her sorority dues, crew team dues, etc. She became a certified personal trainer and earns money from several clients. At D’s sorority, the girls are constantly swapping/borrowing clothes, so that’s not a major cost, either. D learned very quickly that eating out all the time was beyond her budget, and didn’t make sense if we had already paid for a meal plan.</p>
<p>thumper,</p>
<p>I would be interested if you had some idea of how much they spent, since you have the large urban experience to draw from. Even a wild guess, based on how much they earned, would be helpful.</p>
<p>OK…wild guess…the Boston kid earned about $50a week. So I’m guessing he spent about that much on average. Some weeks were less expensive and some were moreso. His major entertainment (concerts at the BSO) was free as he worked for the BSO as an usher. </p>
<p>DD earns about $60 a week at her part time job. She hasn’t touched her summer earnings so that must be enough for her to enjoy herself in an expensive CA area.</p>
<p>Both are pretty thrifty and are careful how they spend their money.</p>
<p>Neither of my kids buys clothing or eats at expensive bistros. They also both took heavy advantage of student discounts offered by their schools as well as activities sponsored on campus (plentiful in both places).</p>
<p>Thumper, thanks.</p>
<p>I am also interested in the group’s collective wisdom on the issue or whether these expenses will tend to increase or decrease over time.</p>
<p>I would say that a large urban area would cost about 75.00 per week, although we gave our son more than that. Depends on what they do in the city, how many concerts they attend (big $$ item for our son), how often they eat out, what activities they do, etc. Although I deeply inspired by the parents on this board who expect their kids to pay everything beyond tuition & room & board, I paid/am paying for everything their frosh year and then cut back as they get older. I remember asking friends about this and it differed wildly. I think some were embarrassed about the amount they gave (whether too much or too little), but generally most people I know said their kids needed between 400.00 on the low side to 1200.00 on the high side, which is wretched excess, I know! That is FAR above what I read in a thread here in 2006, but seems to be enough to cover everything and leave them with money in their account to splurge on a date, event, clothing, or whatever without calling home for money. They can get by on far less, but the minimum I would suggest is 200.00 per month. Those are “dorm” prices. When they get their own apartment and have to pay utilities, cable, and other things, the expenses go up. Frats and Sororities can cost a lot so make sur eyou take the dues and activities into consideration. As one who “started high” and then had to cut back, I would suggest starting lower and then seeing if your kid actually NEEDS the extra dough. College kids can be very resourceful.</p>
<p>My son spends far less than this in IA on a campus where almost every activity is free–AND where there is almost nothing to do off-campus. He refuses to spend money for off-campus food when he’s already paying for the food service. No need for nice clothes there–it would be silly. They go to consignment shops for their cross-dressing ball costumes. I’d say $50 per month tops.</p>
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<p>In some situations, this may be true. We told out kids what the monthly expenditure for on-campus housing was costing us (we paid tuition/room/board). The kids had to show us that living off campus wasn’t going to cost us more than living on campus. In both cases (those expensive urban areas) they were able to do so. </p>
<p>It is our family’s decision to have the kids pay for their own discretionary spending. BUT in my opinion, that is a family decision. Some families are comfortable contributing towards these expenses and others are not. I honestly do not think there is a right or wrong here. </p>
<p>I will say…my kids are MUCH more careful spending money THEY earn, than they are spending money that <em>I</em> earn and send them. At the same time, my kids also enjoy working and having the control over their spending money.</p>