How much spending money does a freshman need?

Parents Forum
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<p>Well dry cleaning is actually wishful thinking on our part. D didn't read her "care" labels and laundered several items first semester that are now perfectly sized for her younger cousins. We went up on the budget so that she didn't have any excuse. (She has yet to use one this semester either.:eek:. She doesn't have that many clothes. )</p>

<p>I don't know that this semester will be any better. One skirt made it home from last semester having never been drycleaned but worn many , many times and I think it could stand up by itself. This coming from a kid who always wore shorts and T's to high school. Who knew?</p>

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<p>Curm, After reading such posts I warned my son about not putting a woolen suit, slacks and sport coat into the washing machine. I did buy some washable dress pants to make his life easier. I did get 2 laundry questions in September, even though son has been washing his own clothes since the end of junior year of hs.</p>

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<p>I'm sending this thread to my d. She is burning through $350-400 a month. But I can't really say anything, because it's her money. She worked all summer as a waitress and put her earnings into a savings account to use just for this purpose. (And she cashed in a portion of some matured bonds that are in her name.) So truthfully, her spending money is costing my dh and I nothing. But $400 seems excessive to me....I worry she is just spending it because she has it. (I'm a CPA who thinks budgeting and planning makes the world go 'round....so I can't help it.)</p>

<p>One thing I have discovered....she only wants to eat once a day on campus. She likes to keep groceries in her fridge and cook in the dorm kitchen or using her microwave. I think a lot of her money is spent on groceries for this purpose. We'll definitely get a smaller meal plan next year. Laundry is expensive too. She is a nut for clean clothes and clean sheets and that definitely adds up. Cabs to the airport if she can't get on the OSSA bus ...which is a $40 each way...is also another expense. And she had to hit the clinic and pharmacy a couple of times last semester because of respiratory infections. Clinic is free I believe, but each time the doc had her on three different prescriptions...$10 copay for each.</p>

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<p>My parents can't afford to give me any money and my grandfather is funding my entire college education- transportation and spending money included.</p>

<p>Due to my schedule, there's no way I can have an on campus job. I'm taking a courseload twice as hard as the average freshman and my health would seriously suffer if I took on a job (I make it a point to get at least 7 or 8 hours of sleep a night and there's no way that would happen otherwise).</p>

<p>That said, I get about $500 a month, which is almost entirely sent straight to the bank. First semester, I spent very little. Maybe $60 a month (mostly on food.. delivery is so expensive!), laundry, and T (subway) tickets.</p>

<p>Now this semester, I'm really thankful for banking the money. This coming weekend, I'm spending $300 to go to Washington DC Friday-Sunday for the anti-war protest as well as other events. Then next month, we have a week break in which I'll probably go somewhere. Then we have our week and a half Spring break in April. </p>

<p>Money spendage comes in spurts.</p>

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<p>Hmmm, I just realized after reading HImom's post that I could have predicted my older kids spending habits years ago if I judged them by how fast/slow they ate their Halloween candy.>></p>

<p>Kathie, ROTFL! Actually, your analogy works pretty well for my two too!</p>

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<p>With my kids, we often end up throwing a good portion of the Halloween candy away, after the eat their favorites & it ages around the house for a suitable time period. S gave up trick-or-treating at a young age, since he was never all that fond of candy. D is fonder of candy, but even she goes on spurts & loses interest. Compared to their friends, enither spends much at all.</p>

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<p>It's true for us; our son has always eaten very little of his Halloween candy, spends almost none of his allowance and buys his clothes at second-hand stores.</p>

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<p>Wow, great input. My d is the type who hates spending her own money, but will very happily spend mine! The problem is that she has little of her own money because she did internships for the past two summers. So, I want to be careful about the monthly amount we give her. I figure that if I give her more than she really needs, she will spend it on unecessary luxuries. So, am I hearing that $200 a month is probably too generous?</p>

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<p>It so depends on the kid, the college, the location, the major/ecs. Mostly the kid though. There are those like Carolyn's daughter (I'll take her!) who are just careful with money, and may spend less than COA allowance recs, regardless of where the college is even with additional factors. I use the COA the college gives as a starting point, since I am trusting that the number is one that the college has calculated from experience since certain government limits and allowances are made on that official COA. I then try to adjust it, given my kids special needs. For instance, if you have a kid who is in a major that tends to have activities, supplies, books that are over the average college kid's, than it is reasonable for you to raise that cost accordingly. If you have a kid who is active, in club sports, and eats alot , if the college has those mall court type eating arrangements that are not all you can eat, his food bill is going to be higher. A girl who eats little, and cheaply, may have a much lower board cost, as would kids who have a kitchenette, and you maybe invest in a small freezer and some meals to prepare. If your kid is in a major city, it makes sense that he is going to avail himself of the specialties there instead of just using campus resources and that is going to cost more than for a kid in an all inclusive campus in the middle of nowhere.</p>

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<p>DS1 doesn't eat much Halloween candy (or much regular food either). Makes me wonder why we should bother paying for a meal plan. Then I remember that he would never remember to go to a grocery store to BUY any food. </p>

<p>The main way DS1 spends his money is this: he leaves it in his pockets and it winds up in the dryer. This could become a VERY expensive habit at college! While he's at home, the Laundry Lady's Retirement Fund reaps the benefits of all funds found in the wash :). Not even this has motivated him to do his own laundry, though it's a skill he knows well.</p>

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<p>S will be going to Davidson College next year where laundry service is included in the fees. I can only imagine how wealthy the laundry folks are going to become with the money he leaves in his pockets. His mom has raked in huge bucks over the years.</p>

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<p>Something I want to bring up: Many schools now use campus cash where the student's ID becomes a credit card of sorts. At a school like my son's, which is a complete state U with all amenties, it means that he can get just about anything he needs on campus, since there is a CVS, grocers, all kinds of food options including Subway, Burger King, Sbarros, Starbucks, and many ethnic food choices along with mall food court places, cafes and traditional cafeterias. Businesses that deal with students alot take the card as well, including taxis, and some local eateries. Even the soda/water/gatorade machines, laundrey machines, and snack shops take the card. At orientation, we were told that pretty much all they cannot get with that card is contraband so that parents should think twice about giving a lot of cash to their kids there. Also, since you can replenish the card with a credit card on-line, by phone, or in person, you can track every cent your kid spends on the card easily. Also items are pretty clearly identified. For us it has meant spending less than COA on basic things. He has a credit card for going to shows or things off campus and we have joint ownership of that account so again, we know what is being spent. We do not put much cash in his bank account, nor do we give much in cash handouts. I suspect we spent a heck of a lot more for Son 1 since we did not keep track of all the cash we slipped to him during visits. Also we had friends near his college that gave him meals and shopping trips that that minimized in telling us, and we are still finding out stuff he got from them. </p>

<p>Though the campus cash is working well for us, there have been parents who are really horrified at the monthly, weekly replenishment that the kid needs on it. Kids that were careful with cash, often don't think about that card as money. A regular stop at Starbucks for a frappocino and a muffin, several bottles of water from the machine, lots of little half eaten munchy snacks like sushi, tapas, etc can add up to a lot of money. Also CVS purchases for some kids can go way up there. I suspect for some families, it is reckoning time, and the expenses have always been there but swallowed within household expenditures and are now highlighted by the monthly college statement. But in many cases, I have heard that the school COA is a "joke", given their child's expenses. But I can see how the swipe of the ID card can be pretty danged distant from the actual parting of cash on the part of the student, and it is very difficult to keep track of expenses that way. If you have a $20 in your wallet, and start spending it, you can see the $$ diminish and pace yourself accordingly. If you are buying coffee, snacks, drinks, pizza, gum, breathmints, sundries all through the day with a swipe of your card, there is no easy way to track that since some of those expenses may be less than a dollar and you feel it is negligible until they are accumulated at the end of the month. I know I have to watch myself at the CVS, Costco, grocery store, as it is just so easy to plop something in the basket that catches your eye, if you are paying by credit card and not limited by the cash (which I carry very little of) in your wallet. If you are not tracking $$ by a card bearing the brunt and keeping record of the costs, you can fool yourself with cash handouts, and doing bulk shopping for your kid when he comes home so he can stockpile some things. Not saying, not to do that; but to keep track of those costs too, as they truly can add up to a lot.</p>

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<p>I can definitely see some possible pitfalls in the campus cash system. At one presentation we went to they were merrily telling us (parents plus prospective students) how they would not be limited to what they can spend on their ID on food - 'you can spend $200 in a day if you want - if friends or family come to a college event you can treat them to dinner'. Glad they warned us so I could tell D - er no you can't do that. I would rather she was dealing with cash that way she has to keep track - and she is pretty tight with cash.</p>

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<p>
[quote]
if friends or family come to a college event you can treat them to dinner

[/quote]
This is true with most dining systems, I think. If we're talking about a freshman with a certain number of meals a week, in most cases there are a lot more meals allowed than the student will actually end up taking, so swiping visiting friends or family makes sense.</p>

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<p>Cpt, my son's college has the campus cash system but we chose not to put any money on it. If a student has a debit card they can use their own money just as easily as their parents. Maybe I'm misunderstanding how your students card works, but ours has to be loaded with a certain amount, it's not like a credit card.</p>

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<p>It's easy to spend when it just takes a swipe of the card. Hard to corelate that with real money. I guess it would be good training for credit card use for after college. We have not had this problem with my son with the campus cash card, but he has had spending issues with cash (perpetually broke) and his credit card when he first got one. He has an ATM cash card and credit card joint with us so we can monitor, and he is under the threat of losing either/both if he abuses them. His campus habits are such that the campus cash card just does not get used much. He hates to shop, and deplores going to CVS, Walmart like stores, tending to go in, get what he absolutely needs, and leaving with tunnel vision so he is not distracted and tempted by other merchandise. He is trying to keep his weight down, so he is not eating that much, and tends to drink water with meals and at water fountains, so that is not an issue. Laundry? From what he brought home Christmas and Thanksgiving, it is clear he is not busting the bank with that.
I think cash is easier to track for the student, but harder for the parent to track if giving out cash to the kid every time you see him without tracking it. I know we did that with our first one. Not anywhere as generous with the second one, especially given the campus cash situation. Son1's school had a much more limited campus cash card with a weird, hard to understand meal plan, and it was a school with the city right at the campus entrances, so there were many outside opportunities to spend money outside the gates. No CVS, fewer food chain type things, no grocer to speak of, but choices abound within a few minutes walk off campus. Completely different from Son2's environment which is an encapsulated campus with little within a comfortable walking distance from college property.</p>

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<p>Corranged - I don't actually have a problem with her treating family and the occasional friend. But we were rather stunned by the kids being told they could spend $200 a day if they want. As if there is a bottomless pit of money (us?) out there. Her school does not have a certain number of meals - you put a certain amount of money and they have tons of options where to eat - all at varying costs - chic fil e, etc etc. They can carry some over to next semester. I actually preferred the system my son had with a certain no. of meals as I knew, even if he ran out of money, he would not starve.</p>

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<p>Kathiep, yes, you can load the card--the student also can load the card as needed, and it is billed to the parent. We preferred him using the campus card as meals are not taxed when charged on it, and the school owned eateries will not take credit cards, just cash. This way, he has virtually no cash on him, and my son has cash issues--it goes right through him. Also, I don't trust him with cash/cards as I do the campus card, because you can't buy beer, liquor, drugs, cigarettes, and other contraband with the campus cash, and it limits his flexibility off campus. If he does go somewhere off campus, he lets us know if it is going to involve his credit card or if he needs more cash in his bank account to withdraw by ATM card.<br>
As I 've said, it has worked remarkably well for us, as he does have some justified additional costs over COA given by the college, but he still has stayed very much in range. For whatever reason, he is more disciplined with the campus cash card than he is with money or credit card.</p>

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<p>Swimcatsmom, parents have found that when they buy a certain no. of meals, their kids were not using them. Some of those plans had a set time as to when you could use the meals or they expire, and someof those rules were ridiculously complex. It was so much simpler when I was in college. You got your meals at the cafeteria cuz it was the only game in town other than a greasy spoon snack shack. The choices were so limited. When we went to visit a few years back, what a change. The campus now had so many choices and every food chain in the US had set up shop in rings around the campus. The cafeteria was virtually empty. Only freshmen ate there, and only because there was a requirement. Some schools are even getting rid of their cafeteria system because it isn't being used. Our kids have a lot more choices these days, and a lot more money. The idea of paying for tea and coffee was outrageous to us--we all had hot pots in our rooms (illegal now, in many dorms) and had soup broths,hot chocolates,coffe and tea at very low costs. Now they are lined up at Starbucks spending $3 for some designer coffee, having carry out delivered from local restaraunts. They have to have the money to do that. In my case, and for most kids I knew, it was the cafeteria, or no food other than dried soup packs and pilfered saltines. And EVERYBODY was at the cafeteria so it was a meeting place of sorts. Big change now days.</p>

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<p>Whittierst -- Now <em>there</em> is a work-study job that'll get you more than your COA!</p>