<p>I checked the threads and I didn't see this subject. My question is,.. S will be attending a Big Ten school about 900 miles from home. So, he'll be somewhat on his own. The deal in our family is a combination of splitting costs of college. One of his items was to provide all of his own spending money. ( to be earned at a summer job ) His question to me was, how much should I have in savings to start school. Other than the standard answer of , as much as possible !, what would be a good target.. 40 weeks at say $ 25.00 a week ???, ...I could cover him for holiday breaks at home ... but do people budget for spring break ? $500.00 ??? Any thoughts ?</p>
<p>i'd double that 25 to 50 per week.</p>
<p>Obviously it depends on the kid. Our son has been able to pay his personal expenses for the year at a midwestern school on less than $1500. I think he's being pretty thrifty, but college is a great time to learn thrift. We do make sure he has the clothes he needs, and send him the occasional care package full of odds and ends like granola bars and ramen and such. However, we did point out to him when he asked us to send detergent that the cost of shipping would exceed the value of the product -- so that's part of his personal expenses now. :)</p>
<p>Dozens of threads on this topic. I'll try to find a few.</p>
<p>Bottom line, as I recall it over the last several years:</p>
<ol>
<li>Depends on a lot of things, such as urban/rural location, size of meal plan, appetite of kid, whether school food suits kid, what "spending $" is to cover (trips home? clothes?books? laundry? .....)</li>
<li>Average seemed to be $200/month with huge variations by kid/family.</li>
</ol>
<p>Here is a link to the first dozen threads I found in a search:</p>
<p>Here is a link to one of the most-heavily posted:</p>
<p>Also, our DD earned money during her summer jobs after high school and her freshman year of college. That money is STILL in the bank. She works 10 hours a week at her college and earns more than enough money for spending money each week. We found that both of our kids actually budgeted their time better and worked more efficiently when they had part time jobs....less time to whittle away. DS earned $50-$75 a week. DD earns $75-$125 a week (she has a high paying job). That's PLENTY of spending money.</p>
<p>Whatever they can earn, supplemented by care packages and the occasional $20 stuck in a letter from home. S burns through money and fortunately has good part time earnings potential (also higher cost of living in a city, however) while D at rural LAC is the epitome of thrifty. She didn't even notice that she'd left her ATM card at home for a month after the spring semester began!</p>
<p>I spend about $800/month on average (that includes my rent and electricity though). I'd say I spend between $400 and $500 a month on personal expenses. I like to go out a lot though, so that definitely brings the amount up by quite a bit.</p>
<p>Our son took full advantage of on campus weekend activities and spent less than $20/wk on social activities and personal spending. We sent him back on some breaks with snacks, personal products and a few seasonal clothes.</p>