<p>My daughter, our first child, first year in a college in Los Angeles, gets $400 a month for extra meals and outing with friends, etc. </p>
<p>She lives on campus and has a 14-meal per week plan already paid for.</p>
<p>I did ask around before coming up with the number and it seems like 400-500 is about what parents give in our area…</p>
<p>Interesting to see the different spending habits. In my two months at college, not including textbooks and tickets back home, I’ve spent about $50. Then again, I know people who go out to eat every other day, etc.</p>
<p>Interesting to see the different spending habits. In my two months at college, not including textbooks and tickets back home, I’ve spent about $50. Then again, I know people who go out to eat every other day, etc</p>
<p>I think that’s exactly it-everyone is different and so is the cost of living in different locations. Movies here cost $7, before 5:00 they are $5-I saw mentioned $10.</p>
<p>When we visited the campus last week one of the girls we spoke to, giving us a tour of the dorm, said she spends about $50 or 60 a month most months, more if she needs new shoes or something. She has a car there, but only drives it home, and then maybe to walmart once a month, and then just down the road to the closest grocery store. She says she goes home about once a month to restock her shelves, as she put it. She says they are all broke, so they hang out on campus mostly. I thought this seemed like a very low amount, but really, if you can eat as much as you want in the dining hall, and you don’t need money for gas, what else is there really other than some entertainment money. My kids don’t drink(now anyway) so they won’t be spending money on that.All the school’s sporting events are free to students, and movies on campus cost $3. All printing in the dorms is free so she won’t need to make a mad dash to walmart for ink or paper.The one that will be off campus won’t have to worry about rent or utilities, or much food. If they work 10-20 hours a week (both now work about 20) and I give them another $100, and replenish their “shelves” when they come home, I honestly don’t think they are going to be suffering too much. The oldest thinks groceries will be about $100 a month, and she will have some gas expense commuting, Knowing the younger one, she will leave school with a nice wad of cash in her savings account. These kids don’t require a lot of “wow” in their lives. I can’t imagine them needing $400 or $500 a month to live on if all the basic necessities are covered. Oldest’s boyfriend comes home every weekend, and the only money he has in his pocket for the week when he leaves is like $25, and he isn’t working while at school. I don’t know how he lives on that, but that’s what he’s decided he can afford to spend each week while he’s at school. He has money saved from summer, and this is what he calculated out he had. His parents pay for all of his gas, and school related expenses. Like I said, I thought this seemed low, and I initially thought helping mine out with that amount was low, but now that I have thought about it, I think it will be fine.</p>
<p>I think that it ultimately comes down to two things - how much the student is planning to spend on meals (which takes into account meal plan and how many meals/week the student will have to pay for out of pocket + snacking habits + how often the student will go out even if meals are paid for in the plan) and what the student will do for entertainment (going to the movies and shopping are more expensive than going to an on-campus party or just hanging out in someone’s room).</p>
<p>My D goes to school in a major (and expensive) city. However, she and her friends are finding plenty of free and low cost ways to have fun. Student discount tickets for the theatre, street festivals, campus activities, house parties are all relatively affordable. D works every summer and usually saves about $2000 for books, entertainments, public transportation, etc. She gets no money from parents other than tuition, room and board. She eats at the dining hall (or other campus outlets) 90% of the time. If her savings don’t last all school year, then she needs to get a job near campus. And yes, all of her summer jobs have been low paying, mundane, etc. - day care assistant, nanny, sandwich maker. Now she wants to learn to tend bar (lots of tips!).</p>
<p>OP - Aren’t you a student? As you can see, every family is different.</p>
<p>We are paying for a full meal plan, books, laundry, cell phone, car insurance.</p>
<p>DD uses her summer earnings for gas and fun. During the school year, she comes home and works one weekend each month. Sometimes we give her money towards her groceries - I saw my hubby give her $ before she left from being home for fall break. She told me it was $50. While she was home, we went shopping and I bought her around $100 worth of clothes.</p>
<p>She has been to the mall near campus a total of 2 times. She is a Sophomore - not a big spender! She has never been out to dinner with her girlfriends. I am thinking of giving her/them a gift card for Olive Garden so they can have the experience of having a nice dinner out together.</p>
<p>She never has been a big spender and her friends seem to be thrifty, also. She doesn’t need hundreds of dollars a month.</p>
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<p>$400 a week on top of room and board? Wow! That’s $19,200 for 4 years!</p>
<p>er, the post you referenced says $400 a month … not per week.</p>
<p>(It’s still $400 more each month than I generally gave my kids, but still – both your reading and your math are off the mark in this case - $400 x 12=$4800, less if the parents are not paying an allowance over the summer.)</p>
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<p>$4,800 for one year and $19,200 for 4 years. That’s what I posted.</p>
<p>$200k for 4 years of college.</p>
<p>Well, you posted “$400 a week”, whether you meant to type that or not. </p>
<p>I think its a mistake to assume that parents who are giving their kids a specific allowance during freshman year intend to keep on paying that for all 4 years. And what about other areas of savings? Suppose the kid drops the college meal plan or moves off campus to an apartment that is less costly than the dorm? Maybe the parents who are paying the allowance are doing it in part to compensate for other costs savings, such as opting for a minimal meal plan. </p>
<p>I don’t know. As noted, I didn’t give my kids allowances while at college, and I had the poor graces to drop the news to my daughter that she wasn’t getting an allowance a couple of weeks after high school graduation. (In my defense, the fact that my daughter had found a good paying summer job played into that announcement – I certainly wouldn’t have wanted her to start college with no funds at all). </p>
<p>But I don’t think $400/month is excessive, depending on specific circumstances related to the campus the student attends-- and what the parent thinks will be included in that. I was absolutely appalled when my son started college and parents were encouraged to put their credit card on file with the campus bookstore for the kids — I expected my kids to pay for their own books – but maybe the parent who is giving the $400 allowance also expects their kid to pay for their own books, whereas some other parent who is paying no allowance or a smaller allowance is handling other costs such as books or their kid’s cell phone. (I did pay cell phone bills for my kids during college). </p>
<p>The parent who posted that she gave her daughter $400/month also said the kid was attending school in Los Angeles, which is a city with notoriously poor public transit options. Maybe the kid has car expenses to worry about. Anyway, I can see a kid going through that much even when living fairly frugally.</p>
<p>I remember reading this thread as a high school senior and thinking, “Wow, $200 a month! That’s a lot!” Now, reading this thread as a first semester freshman, I think, “Wow, $200 a month! That’s a lot!”</p>
<p>I have FWS so I managed to find a job within the Honors College I attend. I make about $165 every two weeks, sometimes more, sometimes less. I have gone home once since the start of school, and my dad and aunt stocked me up on some food and cooking/baking supplies (about $200; I live in the dorm). That’s all the money my dad has given me, but it’s my choice. He says if I ever need money to just ask, but I like being independent and budgeting my own money. </p>
<p>I think it’s great that parents give their kids an allowance if they can afford it. I payed for school this year with all scholarship money, so my mom is paying my $10 a month cell bill (I prepaid her for the data package). I don’t really need money for anything right now, though that may change.</p>
<p>we give 300.00 a month for spending.Lives in NYC so things can be expensive.We pay all college including books cell phone ect.Has credit card attached to ours to use for clothes transportation home,occasional cabs.Don’t know how much she spends only has fourteen meal meal plan so I know she eats third meal on the go but not expensive.Orders out chinese ect. with roommates also has a campus cash card for laundry and odd and ends.Put $1,200 in her account in September knows it has to last till Christmas break.Is looking for job to take up some free time but I don’t want her out late by herself thought she had a job but turns out she would have to work in different bouroughs of the city which would mean more cab fees on my end so she will keep looking</p>
<p>I also love to supplement the dorm food and my D’s budget with random care packages. Just sent one with Halloween candy corn, fruit cups, cheese crackers, popcorn and a mask, halloween pencils and a 10 dollar bill. Not a lot, but most of it is practical and they love getting these!</p>
<p>My son is living off of his summer earnings. We pay for books and his cell phone. He goes to school in suburbia though so there isn’t much to spend money on even if he wanted to.</p>
<p>He has hardly spent anything so far. I think he has gone out for ice cream once. Most entertainment is provided for free by the university.</p>
<p>I know things would be different if he were living in a city.</p>
<p>bhmomma-</p>
<p>I also enjoy sending care packages. It usually elicits a phone call from DS too, LOL. Now that he is living off campus and he and his roommates have to shop and cook, I decided to send a slightly different kind of care package. Rather than send halloween candy, I arranged for a freshly cooked meal to be delivered tonight. I decided not to surprise him, but to let him pick the meal for him and his roommates. They are getting 2 whole roasted chickens, 2 side vegetables (he picked mashed potatoes and peas, IIRC), a salad, rolls and a dozen chocolate chip cookies (freshly baked). He is stoked, and so are his roommates. Stay tuned-- I’ll report back after they eat tonight.</p>
<p>^^Great idea.</p>
<p>Our daughter is a junior in college. Over the past three years we’ve weaned her from depending upon us for extra spending money to her earning her own keep over the summer and winter break. We still pay tuition and fees, room & board, cell phone and auto insurance. We’ll also be paying off her Stafford loan. Books and personal expenses are on her, however, which includes sorority dues.</p>
<p>Thanks, MD Mom. He was really thrilled.</p>
<p>We are also making D pay sorority dues and any additional cost for study abroad. In my opinion, those things are extras that are not necessary for a college degree. We are paying her cell phone this year, as she is still on family plan, but we’ll probably switch it next year.</p>