<p>Just curious how much spending money your student needed on campus. My son will be living on campus, full meal plan, which will have dining dollars he'll be able to use at the food court/starbucks and for laundry. He won't have a car.</p>
<p>This will just be extra spending money, pizza to the dorm, movies, parties, social spending, etc. He's been saving his money forever and is now worried about spending it - lol. But our thing has always been that he'd have to use his own money for these extras.</p>
<p>Once we figure out how much he wants/needs we figured we'd set up an account on campus with whatever bank is there and just put in that semesters money so at first he can really learn how to budget without blowing through his entire savings.</p>
<p>He is good with money, we just don't know what is realistic.</p>
<p>Here is my free advice. We also had our kids pay for the things you mention…books, all discretionary spending…using their OWN money. </p>
<p>We had THEM open a bank account and we had THEM put the money into it. We really had nothing to do with the management of their spending money for these items. The ONLY time we put money in their accounts was for more expensive things should the situation crop up (e.g. DD was in the hospital and her medications upon discharge were name brands with a high copay…so we put money in her account for that).</p>
<p>Since our kids earned the money…and spent the money…we felt that they should handle the accounts. Hands off from us. Oh…and we made it abundantly clear that we would not fund discretionary spending or books…and we would NOT bail them out if they overspent.</p>
<p>This was a good time for them to learn to manage their own funds. We KNEW they would have a roof over their heads and food…so if they overspent…it was their issue, not ours.</p>
<p>P.S. How much did they spend each month? We seriously have NO idea since we had nothing to do with these accounts or expenditures.</p>
<p>It depends on where they are and on what type of campus. All three of my sons chose schools with lovely real campuses but in large cities. I think that as a result their spending was somewhat higher than students who chose to go to large state school campuses.</p>
<p>For example, my sons’ expenses included things like metro fare so they could take advantage of the reasons they had chosen to go to school in a large city…for example, a lot of the concerts at the Kennedy Center in DC are free, but metro fare to and from the campus is several dollars, and once the students are down in that area they are likely to go out for a bite to eat. My sons have all had the experience of having an important but unpaid internship off campus…and again, there are transportation costs.</p>
<p>My boys have all been fairly frugal but we do subsidize their social lives. It is our choice, and we realize that a lot of families make different choices. But in our family, we decided that to have them choose a school for various characteristics, and then have them not be able to take advantage, was not the way we wanted to go.</p>
<p>I would be surprised if my sons in DC see a movie at a theater even once a year…they would consider that a complete waste of money. But they and their friends do fun things that don’t break the bank but take advantage of where they are. For example, the week my son went back on campus before the beginning of his freshman second semester, he and his friends organized “eating tours”…one to Chinatown, where a big group of them sampled just one dish at each of the little restaurants along one street…the criteria being that when they looked in the window of the restaurant, the clientele had to be all Chinese. Another “eating tour” involved going down one street in another area and eating one dish at each restaurant, with each restaurant having a different ethnic menu (thai, ethiopean, greek etc).</p>
<p>My sons do keep a lot of food in their rooms for snacking or for missed meals. However, for a lot of students, that “fourth meal” is often important. Kids get hungry again around 10 or 11 and often choices are limited; it’s also a very social time. I wanted my sons to be able to say “yes” sometimes to going out for wings or ordering in pizza. Not all the time…because learning limits is also important too.</p>
<p>It depends. At an isolated school, one of my kids actually saved money from her allowance during the years when she lived in the dorms because there was nothing to spend the money on – and this despite the fact that her allowance was half of what I thought she should get (my husband thought a smaller allowance was more appropriate, and he won the argument). </p>
<p>But when she moved off-campus and had to find ways to eat without having a supermarket within walking distance (she had no car), she ended up spending the “extra” money on delivered take-out food.</p>
<p>Thumper, I think you might be a little hard on the OP here. She did not say she is giving him his spending money. And regarding opening an account, the “we” may just mean helping him figure out what bank to use and how to get the money to it. I helped my D think about her banking options. We looked together at branch and ATM location, and also what kinds of fees they charged for basic checking accounts and ATM transactions. But she is the one who actually opened the account when she got to campus and got her funds transferred to it. She had a bank card from her bank at home (debit/ATM) to tide her over until she got the setup done.</p>
<p>D did set it up so her statements come to our house. It was a hassle to have to change the address every time she moved at school, and she just watches the balance online.</p>
<p>The only difference I see from what you did and the OP did was book money. Like you, we also have our kids be responsible for their textbook purchases. But I don’t think the OP needs “free advice” on this… she is asking her kid to shoulder his spending money expenses, and I think that is a good thing. I think NO financial responsibility for spending would be bad, but the OP isn’t saying that.</p>
<p>Oh, regarding the question of how much, it makes a big difference where they are going to college. D1 goes to an LAC in a smallish town, has no car. She says she is hard pressed to spend $25 a week. But she did consider going to Georgetown, and now says she would have needed a LOT more spending money if she had been in DC – so many more places to shop and eat, a city full of activities she would want to try, and (honestly) a lot of wealthy classmates who would probably be spending freely. Not that there aren’t some of those wealthy classmates at her LAC, but there aren’t too many places to spend it…</p>
<p>My sons did use a lot of their own money in funding their social lives. But because of choices we let them make in high school, they did not make as much money as they could have otherwise. For example, one of my sons volunteered for several weeks at a soccer camp for handicapped children, and during the season, he helped coach teams in a league for handicapped children. For him, a labor of love. He also refereed a lot of soccer games to make $$. He could have refereed more and volunteered less, given his crazy busy schedule. He would have had more of his own $$.</p>
<p>But we didn’t really think about it at the time, and it didn’t seem right to punish him for it later. We are lucky enough to be able to subsidize him, and he is more than grateful and lets us know it in many ways.</p>
<p>When my S went to college we couldn’t afford to give him any spending money. He had never really had a job, so he was fortunate to have a small cushion of money he had been given for graduation and birthdays. He also had a few thousand that had been put in trust for him as a backup, but if he wanted to use that he had to go through H. H helped him arrange a bank account, but from then on it was up to him. </p>
<p>He is frugal, and doesn’t ask for things or spend much money. He knew he had to get a job if he wanted more spending money, and eventually he did. Part of the growth process. Now he’s talking about getting two jobs this term because he wants to do some things after graduation…</p>
<p>When we were looking at schools, I pointed out to him that it would be much more expensive to go to Columbia, for example, than to a rural school, or even a school in many other cities. I don’t think that it played much of a part in his decision about where to apply, though.</p>
<p>Receiving an allowance in college was awfully rare amongst people I knew. In fact, I don’t know for certain of anyone who did. And on-campus jobs were reserved for students on FA. I’ve always viewed enduring student poverty as part of the rite of passage. :)</p>
<p>$50-$100 a month for social expenses, clothes, personal items, gas, and extra food. </p>
<p>I had to ask d what she budgeted. I don’t know because it’s not my money. </p>
<p>I will point out that “circle of friends” has a lot to do with how much money a kid goes through. D’s friends are likely to go “out” to Peachwave for $3 worth of ice cream rather than out to dinner at Olive Garden, which would cost closer to $20, which a fair number of kids also do. Some groups of kids think clothes from Good Will are awesome. Some groups are big fans of Hollister.</p>
<p>If we take out the Greek expenses, I think that my son went through $200/month. This also included a few medical copays of $40, a few OTC meds, and copays for RX during the entire year. My son also did not have a car so the 3 times he went to the MD he either needed to pay for a cab, or he took the person who drove him out to an dinner (either way it cost money, but it was a LOT less expensive than having a car). He did not pay for books out of this, but he did have a few unexpected school supplies that he paid for, but not too much (might be $100 for that, but I am guessing).</p>
<p>We loaded him up with expected OTC meds, toiletries, ink for his printer, paper, notebooks, other schools supplies for the year, so these costs were minimal to him.</p>
<p>My guess is that $40/week went strictly for social expenses eating out, and late night pizzas (if we do not include fraternity, medical stuff, school supplies). He also had an on campus w/s job last year where he cleared that $40/week. This year he did not have w/s, but he worked on winter break, and he worked on and off during his first semester. Over winter break he earned more than he made on his w/s job for all of last year.</p>
<p>He did not pay for books btw, on that $40/week.</p>
<p>I didn’t mean to be “hard on the OP”…but really…we did not put money in our kids’ discretionary spending accounts. They did that. </p>
<p>If the OP is looking for guidelines…here is what my kids told me.</p>
<p>DS went to school in a major, expensive metro area. He says he spent an AVERAGE of $25 a week…sometimes he spent $100, and sometimes he spent nothing. It all depended on what he was doing. He took advantage of the free and very inexpensive offerings his school had in the big city. He was not a clothes horse, and had very few real expenses. He worked 10 hours or so a week and had no trouble with his expenses.</p>
<p>DD went to a school in an expensive metro area also. She was a much bigger spender. She routinely went to Nordstrom, and got her hair done every six weeks to the tune of $155. She had a very well paying job that she worked 10-12 hours a week. Thank goodness!! My guess is that if her resources had been less, her expenditures would have been also. She says she spent about $100 a week on average…again, some weeks a lot less, some weeks more (like the weeks she got her hair done!).</p>
<p>DD was willing to get a job to subsidize her social costs rather than going through her savings. We told her that for the first year, we wanted her to concentrate on ehr coursework. We said that we would deposit $150 a month in checking and $150 in savings. We signed up for a joint credit card, which she uses for books and direct education expenses. She is to buy her own clothes from this as well as all other living expenses. She has been extremely mature about it, but does struggle with staying under budget as Boston is an expensive spot. we did increase it for the reasons noted by one of the posters above - what is the purpose of going away to school in Boston if she can’t take advantage of what the city offers? She has only dipped into the portion allocated for savings once - when she went on a trip to New York with friends. She had straight As, great friends, and behaved responsibly her first semester, which is far more than I did. I see no reason to change now, but we may change next year.</p>
<p>I also did not give either of my kids any spending money. In terms of amount spent, it varies a lot with the kid as well as the campus setting. Both kids had jobs.</p>
<p>We give our D $200 month allowance. This covers eating out, toiletries, clothes, haircuts etc. Some months she spends it all, others she saves some of it.</p>
<p>BUT, D is on a free ride and this plus the cost of her books is all she costs us.
If we were paying her college costs I doubt we would be as generous.</p>
<p>S1 went to school in a very rural area. S2 currently attends in an urban area–Worcester, MA. Their spending money is whatever they have saved. For both kids, the biggest expense has been extra meals and snacks. At the moment, both are home. I cannot believe my grocery bill! </p>
<p>S2 is very active, eating 4-5 meals per day. He says his current meal plan allows him to eat as much food as he needs, although Freshman year he requested lots of snack food. If you have a student who eats frequently, look carefully at available meal plans. If he had a more restricted meal plan, I imagine he would spend a lot more.</p>
<p>Expect higher spending levels if one is attending a college/university in an urban area with a predominantly upper-middle-class or wealthier student body(i.e. Columbia or NYU) and less if one is attending a school in an isolated rural area* and/or one where well-off students aren’t the majority or a campus culture where conspicuous consumption isn’t “cool”*. </p>
<p>Both of these applied at Oberlin when I was there. Even eating out a few times a month…ended up spending far less than friends who stayed in NYC, attended universities in other major urban areas, or universities where well-off students were dominant and campus culture accepted conspicuous consumption. </p>
<p>One thing I find interesting is how some parents consider book money to be grouped in with student discretionary spending. Most parents I knew growing up and in my neighborhood with the ability to be full-pay would regard books as an integral part of their children’s educational expenses and include it with the undergrad tuition. If their kids find better deals on used/discounted textbooks…the difference is given to them to spend as they wish to award them for their diligent frugality. </p>
<ul>
<li>Both of these applied to Oberlin College during the '90s and from what I’ve heard from more recent grads…that ethos still seems to apply for the most part.</li>
</ul>
<p>This thread comes up every year so if you want lots of opinions just search. My kids “worked” for their spending money (we didn’t give it to them). Just guessing at their spending over the past 6 years and knowing what a 10-15 hour minimum range job pays it ran about $50 a week for each of them…zero spending weeks they had no money so similar to Thumper’s post. Once they hit 21 it goes up…they go “out” to the bars more.</p>
<p>Just to re-clarify, though I did say it initially, this is his money. It’s his to do as he pleases. However, where I disagree with thumper and more hands off parents, is that managing finances is a big part of learning to be an adult. Giving him guidelines and having him work within a budget will be a way for him to start learning to manage money. To that end, I really don’t know how much kids really spend at school. He in now way will be going to nordstroms for a $100/haircut - lol. We’ll be lucky if he gets his hair cut at all. </p>
<p>I was just looking to see what kids tend to spend a week/month/semester so we had a jumping point for him. </p>
<p>He probably spends more money living here than he will at school.</p>
<p>S1 just left for his second quarter at Stanford. First quarter he spent $125 per month on average. He is not much for the “night life” or parties and says that some kids spend much more.</p>
<p>I agree that having your child use their own money they have earned is a good idea. He doesn’t have a job on campus but had a summer job where he saved every penny in order to have some spending money for the school year. Mom and I talked to him about that before he left… he had received an allowance since he was five years old and I told him the last one would be the month before he left. He is probably more frugal because he knows he has a limit for the year and he wants to do something with his friends for spring break. Before school started, he had figured on $250 a month to be safe but is spending less than that. </p>
<p>We also make him purchase his books with his money. It has taught him to rent books, look for used books, ask friends, and generally do anything to lower the cost since he has to pay for them. He also has made sure to resell the one book he could resell. Anyway, we have found it a good way to make him accountable for at least some of the costs of his education. We cover the rest.</p>
<p>This may be a cultural/regional thing, but on both sides of my extended family and with most families I’ve known growing up…renting books was often viewed disdainfully as something only done by students who weren’t serious about the academic side of college and are mainly interested in “cramming” for a degree. </p>
<p>If this was proposed by my friends, classmates, and cousins/myself to those types of families…assuming the parents/older relations are able & willing to be full-pay…they all would have felt their mindset wasn’t in the right place to attend college at that point. </p>
<p>Instead…would be encouraged to work a full-time service job/enlist in the military to appreciate the “value of a good college education”.</p>
<p>Our kids cover their social expenses. DS was a spender, but after overdraft charges once, he paid a lot more attention to his account. He had his own acct funded with his own money. Got an on-campus job after first quarter. We paid all school expenses—tuition, room, board, books and fees. Also necessary clothing, medical, stocked up first aid kit and toiletries. All else was his–so basically social. DD is coming up and she hoards her money. She will go off with twice as much as her brother in her checking acct. She is very frugal when it is HER money. haha.</p>