<p>My school has a crappy meal plan, my parent just put money on my school id for food and whatever I need in terms of schools supplies (these are literally all I can buy with the id). I'll spend something like 1000-1500 dollars on food in a year from them, and then everything else I buy (alcohol and most dinners since I'll order in and anything I fell like buying when I shop) comes out of my own pocket. I think I spent more myself than they spend on me, so I feel good in that sense.</p>
<p>I got 20k this year for everything--housing, food, plane tickets, and all other living expenses. Apartment costs like 11k though...</p>
<p>Besides tuition, room/board, mealplan, I'm not anticipating any money from my parents. I work about 10 hr/week now, I work fulltime over the summers, I've got money saved up. I currently buy my own clothes, textbooks, inessentials...that's just how my family has always worked. After all, they're putting themselves into financial pain already to put me through college, least I can do is cover the stupid stuff myself.</p>
<p>I commute, so it's a bit different. I get $20 a month from my parents and am expected to save half of it. However, I only have to buy my clothes (they buy some stuff, but I buy most of it), shoes and random stuff I want (iTunes cards, violin/viola strings, DVDs, snacks, doing stuff with friends, etc.). I do have a job, and have had a job since my senior year of HS, so it's not that bad.<br>
Once I graduate, though, I have to pay for car insurance, gas and anything that goes wrong with my car. If I choose to move out, I have to pay for everything with my house or apartment.</p>
<p>$50/month for groceries. Anything else is bought with money from my summer jobs and my paycheck that I get for working at my school's newspaper. I'm getting a better job on campus in addition to the newspaper job in the fall. My mom did not want me working this year. I don't have a car (I drive my mom's car when I'm home), so gas isn't an issue and my insurance is suspended when I'm at school.</p>
<p>Clearly it's not the norm to have mom and dad pick up the tab for every last thing while you are in college, and I personally don't envy you if it is your norm. When college is over and you are out in the real world, you'll be embarrassed to have to borrow money from your parents to pay your rent if you blew your paycheck on junk you didn't need, so why not get used to having a job and earning money that you will spend responsibily now, making it easy to do later on? I'm not saying that you should never ever indulge on anything, but your parents shouldn't be your sole source of income anymore. If you're mature enough to move out and take care of yourself while maintaining decent grades, then why can't you earn your own money for AT LEAST buying non-essentials, like DVDs and dinners out w/friends?</p>
<p>Wow, i am actually so shocked by the number of ppl who get no money whatsoever. we are still 'tweens' you know. i am going to uva next fall and getting 550 every month.</p>
<p>'Tweens' refers to 10 to 13 year olds, or something like that. Anyway, I'm in high school and I don't work; my parents pay for everything. That being said, I don't know if they could afford to drop 550 a month for me at college. The real question is why you actually need that much. I am not saying you're a bad person for getting a hunk of cash from your parents (it's your life, whatever), but I'm curious---what exactly are you going to spend it on?</p>
<p>My parents don't give me money on a monthly basis anymore after high school. Now they give me everything at the beginning of the year - money for tuition, books, housing, groceries, etc - and I'm supposed to make my own budget. If I run over (and I have), I get a job.</p>
<p>I think I would actually feel bad taking about $4500/year from my mom after she paid tuition, room and board, and shelled out money for books. </p>
<p>I'm with Pherdre, I too would love to know what you plan to do with all that money? Unless you'll be living off campus(in which case $550 isn't enough), I can't imagine you'll need that much. I would scale that back by $200-300, really. Most of the kids there will be like us fellow CCers, and not able to spend money like it grows on the trees outside the dorm room windows. You're going to be a little sad if people are constantly saying they can't eat out again or see yet another movie because they don't have the cash flow that you do.</p>
<p>Dang. I feel jealous of everyone who gets like $500 a month. What do you spend it all on? I get $0 per month, and spend very little.</p>
<p>i use around 4-6 hundred a month w/a credit card.</p>
<p>The agreement between my parents is that, since they're paying for my tuition, room and board, food, and probably books as well, I'll buy anything else that I want. </p>
<p>Honestly, past that... what do you really expect your parents to cover? I work for a reason. Besides, if you want them to start treating you like an adult, you've got to act like one.</p>
<p>Agreed. I think everyone would agree that it would be unreasonable for our parents to dictate what we spend any money we have on(from anywhere) at our age. So, why is it reasonable to expect them to pay for the majority of things at our age? My mom doesn't benefit when I get a new pair of jeans, so she's not going to pay for them. They took care of all that when we were too young to have jobs and make any real money on our own; that is not how it is anymore. If your hs and college class loads are too demanding to make a job possible during the year, then at least get a camp-counselor type of job during the summer.</p>
<p>I get $40/wk child support from my father, and $150-175/mo from my mother, but not every month (just most). Outside of that, tuition and books is covered by the state and my scholarship plus money my father gives me aside from the child support plus a little extra from my mom covers my dorm and unlimited meal plan, so my expenses are really minimal. I don't work during the school year, but I work over the summers.</p>
<p>I just turned 18 in March. I'm not sure how much longer my father will send child support. That's how much my mom has gotten from him for like... the past 8-10 years (before that she was getting half of that). It didn't help her substantially in raising me, but it's definitely substantial as spending money for me.</p>
<p>none....i'm paying for everything.</p>
<p>Parent's credit card. Basically whatever as long as I'm not ridiculous.</p>
<p>seriously, it's college. You go to college to learn, not to work to make your ends meet... how can you focus on your education and getting the college experience you want if you are entirely responsible for money? No offense, i think parents who give their children $0 are pretty irresponsible, even if the child does work. Gosh, I am feeling spoiled because I get money from my parents.</p>
<p>well some people don't have parents with good income. therefore they can't provide for the student.</p>
<p>Well I think it's irresponsible for a student-turning-adult to be above earning any of the money they spend at school. Who says you can't be responsible with your money and get the whole college experience? You said you go to college to learn; learning to manage money and live within a budget is part of it.</p>
<p>@letsgetstarted23: Sure. I think parents should theoretically pay for living expenses, tuition, books and such, but do you really think that your parents should have to pay for you to go to the movies? My parents don't even do that now.</p>