<p>Hello. I was just wondering how much of an allowance I should plan to send to my student each month? In addition to books, tuition, etc, how much is needed for miscellaneous expenses: the occasional trip or movie? Thanks for your suggestions.</p>
<p>It depends. Depends on how far the meal plan will stretch. Depends on whether s/he becomes a fan of EBA or the burgers at Salt Hill. Depends if s/he takes up an activity (like a club sport) that has fees. Depends if s/he rushes, since the fraternities & sororities have fees. Gelato, movies, etc. – it all adds up. D actually tutored and worked in one of the student drop-in study centers from almost her first term on and worked on a college project as of her second year, and covered almost that stuff herself. I’ll take a wild guess and say $100 a month, but that might not be enough – depending.</p>
<p>Oh, you mentioned “sending …” What we did was set up a BofA account in our home town on which she and I were joint signatories. She had her own college account at the Hanover branch, but, when she needed money, all I had to do was stop by the local branch on the way home and write a check to myself (on my regular account) and deposit it. She could then withdraw money, as needed, for no charge at the ATM in Hanover. I basically just kept the account funded; she knew not to withdraw too much. If there was a major expense, we’d talk about it and I could add more. Much easier (and quicker) than trusting to the mail – and no wire transfer fees even to get $$ to her on the spur of the moment.</p>
<p>Thanks…we do have a joint bank account already, like you suggested. I do expect her to earn most of her money and expect her to live somewhat frugally, but to have some fun once in a while.</p>
<p>^^ You’re way ahead of where I was four years ago. 
Unless D is a big eater, most of the off-campus eating options (burger, burrito, etc.) should be less than (or right about) $10 a pop. I think the movie theater is relatively inexpensive. Many clubs/activities sell discount cards for local businesses as a fund raiser.</p>
<p>If she is going to have a campus job, I think she should be able to make about $80 a week, give or take. Assuming that you are paying for her books, that would seem like enough money to me. You could gift her the occasional $$.</p>
<p>Hello all- Another similar approach with the joint bank account is to have your son/daughter have a debit card tied to your joint account. I can transfer money between my main account and the joint account I have with my '16 - no trips to the bank or check writing required. It’s worked really well for my son. He uses the debit card seamlessly around Hanover and I control the incoming funds. He rarely has more than $20-30 cash and keeps that only as a back up. Most banks will help set up this sort of arrangement which can be done w/o fees if balances are high enough. Good luck - exciting times!</p>
<p>Good one- DD and I set up a joint BofA online banking only account. Its helpful because I can take photo’s of the checks for deposit from my smartphone and funds are available to DD.
@Aspiringlibby-Thanks, I bank with another institution but I will be looking into transferring monies from that account to the BofA.</p>