<p>Our son has an ATM card into our checking account and there’s typically $10K in there so he has access to what should be more than enough for any situation. I wanted to give him a credit card too but it didn’t get around to it last summer before the fall semester started. I’d guess that he uses $50 to $70 per week - note that he is not on a meal plan.</p>
<p>I have 2 kids, one S and one D.
With regards to my comments here, they both attend college in urban areas…one slightly larger than the other. They both lived on campus. The monthly spending amount was only to cover “walking around” money as all books, dorm costs, meals, etc were paid. Neither worked the 1st semester (at our request). </p>
<p>Our experience was that D was much more expensive to maintain than S. This is consistent with their behavior prior to attending college, however, so was no real surprise. D much more concerned about clothes, fashion, and going out in general. S is very low maintenance and tends toward the practical, frugal side.<br>
Four years ago we started off with $150 per month for D. It appears based on the surveys here that we were underfunding them! They each have since worked in most semesters. S in particular complained about the high cost of eating out with friends who did that often. </p>
<p>The other unexpected influence on spending was that they both attended private universities with a relatively high percentage of students who seemed to come from money–in some cases, SIGNIFICANT money. We do not. They both acknowledged that this fact was a challenge because they were unable to spend at the same level, sometimes meaning they were unable to join people for dinners, etc. But they adapted. D became good at eating at her place first, then going out with friends and ordering the appetizers. </p>
<p>We struggled with this–should we just give them more money? Well, we raised out amounts slightly. However, I think it also taught them to recognize excesses. Both have commented on this to us–not in a whiny way, but rather as an observation.</p>
<p>Interestingly, this sense of being surrounded with people who have “much more than you” actually had some influence on D’s ultimate choice of graduate school.
She had several fabulous options, but chose a school that didn’t have as much of a vibe of “privilege” when she was on campus interviewing, touring, etc.</p>
<p>I think that the student population and the environs of the university have to be layered on top of the individual student’s personality. For example, my D will ALWAYS want to spend more, no matter the place!</p>
<p>curiouser, my daughter hasn’t gone off to college yet, but we’ve already had this conversation many times, that she will ALWAYS encounter people who have more than she does, and can spend more than she can, and so she will have to pick and choose. So if she has friends who are going away for the weekend, she can go, but she’ll have to forego the next shopping trip, or she can get new jeans, but will have to skip the concert. Whatever those choices are. I think that it will be hard for her at times, but you know what - it’s hard for ME at times, but that’s life. I don’t get to do all the fun stuff I want to do either. Oh well. </p>
<p>I haven’t yet set a spending amount, I suspect she’ll have to figure that out for herself, out of her own money. One of the unfortunate things is that it’s always easier to see the spenders and partiers than it is to see the savers. I mean, if you don’t go out on a shopping spree, you don’t announce that to your friends on your floor, right?</p>
<p>I gave my kids a little less than $200/month while they were in college. That was plenty, but since I required them to account for it, they both chose to have 5-10 hours/week jobs so they had money I couldn’t ask them about. </p>
<p>That said, I was stunned by how much LESS they spent on some things (and how much more careful they were) once they graduated and it was their money they were spending instead of ours. If I did it again, I might give them less money and ask them to justify additional amounts instead of giving them the money up front.</p>
<p>The last couple of summers, D1 received a paid summer research internship on campus. She was surprised that we made a deposit into her checking account before the beginning of classes. I guess she didn’t expect it…but it was definitely less than what we gave her in the 1st yr…and averaged under $200/mo. D1 is a chem major and this also helped supplement the huge cost of her textbooks.</p>
<p>Thanks for all of the advice.</p>
<p>curious14, Thanks for starting this thread! As you can see, it has generated quite a bit of good discussion and sharing. One more piece of advice that I received from a parent last year: Get your DS/DD an “emergency” credit card - that is, a credit card that s/he can use in case of an emergency that is not a debit card. This can come in especially handy if your DS/DD gets stranded somewhere - like missing a connecting flight and having to find a hotel in an airport.</p>
<p>curious14,
I confess that I didn’t read all the posts. My son is in Boston. He likes nice clothes, goes out a bit, likes to eat out etc. He spends about $85. dollars per week on groceries…no money for gas/car etc. obviously. He has a T pass which I pay for. He pays for everything else out of summer earnings. I think he spends about $300 per month but he fluctuates a lot. The other day he spent $47 on a sushi lunch for two but then he will cook the rest of the week.<br>
Obviously travel fits in too. Because we are on the opposite coast he does travel a bit to visit other friends, especially on smaller holidays. Amtrak is pretty pricey. Next week he is going to NYC but he is taking the chinatown bus because he doesn’t want to pay the amtrak fare.<br>
I would think that somewhere in the $300 range per month would be comfortable.
You can also easily paypal funds from your banking account to a childs if you have a paypal account. There is a $5.00 fee which is considerably less than a wire transfer fee.</p>
<p>After reading this thread for the first time, I feel, simultaneously, like a cheapskate and a genius! (Haha just kidding - everyone’s circumstances are different). I give my D at H $100/mo. and nothing more for clothes or entertainment. She has never asked for more, but instead, she got a part time job! (Only about 3 hours per week starting in April, but she makes about $18 per hour.) The funny thing is, I avoided reading this thread because I was afraid I was being too generous. Whew.</p>
<p>I made a deal with my mom that the money I made from working would be “mine” and that I could spend it as I wished. I also offered to cover the cost of my own textbooks(thus also giving myself the responsibility of trying to buy them and sell them for maximum profit online) and random fees that might come up. Basically, she pays the bill sent by the University and my plane tickets, and I cover the rest. </p>
<p>This year I spent around $2100 for my entire freshman year(books included). I spent this money on textbooks, supplies(lab goggles, for example), detergent, shampoo, gifts for friends, the occasional dinner out for birthdays or a special occasion(girls night out for Valentine’s Day), gifts for my parents, clothes, the cost to get into random shows and parties on campus(usually $3 each), membership fees for clubs, and a somewhat expensive trip up to Boston for a swing dancing workshop that included the cost of transportation(train&cab&shuttle=$$$), two nights of a shared hotel room, and the workshop itself. </p>
<p>Being on my own budget really forced me to take a different approach to clothes. When I was in high school, I shopped at Banana Republic and Nordstroms and my mom would pay for things so I never even LOOKED at the price tags. I was kind of in shock when I visited it in college and looked at price tags and realized that oh my, that would cause a large hit to my budget. I started to shop at a second-hand store near campus and was delighted to find all sorts of cute items at around $25 or $30.</p>
<p>I think I did a pretty good job spending money this year. The major cost was that workshop–a couple hundred dollars, but I averaged $300/a month(though much lower if you take that workshop out). Unless your child is going off to NYC, $300/month should be plenttttyy.</p>
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<p>Hey, my claim to fame is that I proposed the amount first 
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1060362981-post2.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1060362981-post2.html</a></p>
<p>To put this into perspective, D is our first (and last) student. She LOVES clothes and would probably spend ungodly amounts on them if she had the money. To her credit, she has learned very well to live within her means and never complains when she “needs” more money. I strongly suspect that she will get a job to supplement whatever we end up giving her.</p>
<p>My parents are putting $3500 in my account when I move to college (urban, expensive town). I’ll live in the dorms with a meal plan and have no car. They told me the $3500 is for monthly incidentals and for me to buy the tickets to come home. They expect me (and I will ) to budget accordingly. The plane ride to go home is about $380</p>
<p>Didn’t have the time to read all of this post, but I have a suggestion for you, Curious (unless this has already come up?) based on what we did.</p>
<p>I, like your daughter, received merit scholarships and worked over the summer for most of my spending money. My family’s financial situation is such that my parents can afford to give me an allowance without much hardship. We talked about my budget a little bit, but for the most part my parents know my spending habits and approve of them. (I like to go out to dinner and do things with my friends rather than buy clothes or expensive stuff)</p>
<p>We ended up deciding that the easiest way was to connect my Mom’s bank account and my bank account. We both use the same bank and have online access, and I have overdraft protection, so she occasionally adds $100 or so to my account when I’m running low. I don’t have the balls to ask her for more than what she already gives me, and for the most part I’ve been just fine all year. It’s nice to get an e-mail or a text message from her saying “I bumped over $100, love mom” every once in awhile. I owe my parents $100 from a running-a-red-light ticket and maybe a little more money too, but other than that I’m not expected to pay them back.</p>
<p>They didn’t want me having a job during my freshman year (as a bio major, pre-med, doing lots of interning at a big research lab) because they want me to concentrate on school and coursework. They know that a consequence of that is them paying for my everyday stuff, and it hasn’t been too much of a problem. I will point out, though, that much of the money I spent this year is money that I had saved from last summer and some graduation money, and that most of the money my mom gave me has been this semester.</p>
<p>I’d say my parents will probably continue doing this as long as I’m in school, but since I’ll be making more money this summer and will likely have a part time job next year, I will need even less from them as the years pass.</p>
<p>I’m sure you guys will figure it out just fine, but transferring money on an as-needed basis worked well for us!</p>
<p>So…what about cell phones? Are your students on your plan? Do you make them purchase their own phones?</p>
<p>Regarding cell phones, my son’s phone is on our family plan (shared minutes), with unlimited texting. We’ll keep it that way while he’s in college. I can keep track of how many minutes are being used per month through Verizon’s website. If he loses/breaks his phone or wants an upgrade, he can pay for it.</p>
<p>Similar to oregonian, D is on our family plan, and she has unlimited texting – which was clearly a case of "if you can’t beat 'em, join 'em. By some quirk w/ Sprint quite a few years ago, we have the most amazingly inexpensive family cell phone plan. I jump through all sorts of hoops to keep it.</p>
<p>Thanks for all of the responses. I am sending D off to NYC and have used various threads on CC to help gauge the appropriate amount. Like many of you, I am not concerned about my D’s attitude toward money–if anything she is very frugal whether it is hers or ours. This was a lesson learned in HS because she has attended an affluent public HS and many of her friends thought nothing of eating out at higher-priced restaurants. She had to learn how to suggest alternatives or keep her own spending within some limits or find herself spending all of her pocket money on food. She does have her own earned and gifted (she has saved practically every monetary gift or award she has received since she was young on my advice that she will want it when she is older for travel and other things for which she does not want parental oversight) money from which to draw. It’s my intention to cover all of her basic expenses–housing, meal plan, books, other fees, trips home, clothes she NEEDS because of the big difference in weather–and then give her a monthly allowance that will enable her to do some of what she wants, but not necessarily everything she wants. She’ll have to pick and choose and figure out how to do things more inexpensively. I do not expect her to jump start her earning years in college with jobs based on how much they pay. If anything, I’d prefer it if she would seek out the most amazing work experiences possible that help her figure out what she would like to do with her life even if they are unpaid experiences. While she will be more independent in college and will learn even more fiscal responsibility, I still see her as primarily a student supported by her parents. I do not want her to limit her educational choices inside or outside the classroom because of money. </p>
<p>I do think that a lot of the way I, as a parent, assess this is based on my D’s attitude. Since she is totally accepting of monetary limits and extremely responsible, cooperative and unspoiled, I will probably be very easy going about money if I find that she needs a bit more than expected. I do not respond as well in instances where there is a sense of entitlement.</p>
<p>We have pay-as-you-go phones from AT&T. Minutes cost $100/year. We do most communications via email and instant messaging.</p>
<p>We have pay-as-you-go phones from AT&T. Minutes cost $100/year. We do most communications via email and instant messaging.</p>
<p>Im interested in $100 a year 
but the cheapest go phone plan I saw from ATT was $30 a month for 200 minutes</p>
<p>I expected D to pay for all her personal expenses which she did with her workstudy job.
We covered books or at least I helped her find the books she needed through Powells & set up an account at her school bookstore- because she was hesitant about spending money even for books she went without a very expensive book and flunked the final.</p>
<p>Families that even are considering giving college students an allowance, have more choices, some of us don’t have that choice- but I also think some of us have found that even though they make some mistakes, by giving them more responsibility around their spending rather than less, helps with living on their own after college.</p>
<p>We did get a family cell phone plan when she was a junior in college as even though it is Verizon which is one of the more expensive, it has good service- no dropped calls even if behind the times phones.
She is also still on the family plan as then we can call her anytime.
( But we pay more than $100 a month let alone a year- including all the stupid taxes anyway)</p>
<p>For the cell phones, when we did the tours I checked to see if there was a signal. My daughter got a cell phone to use when she started driving, so she’ll be bringing that with her. It has unlimited texting and no roaming or long distance charges. We all share the minutes and my kids have all been told about the nights and weekends, so as not to use up all the minutes.</p>
<p>The only issue I can see with that is that if, for example, she makes a friend whose phone has a New York or Oregon area code, it will be long distance for them to call her. But I think most phones these days have the unlimited texting or nationwide long distance or something.</p>