<p>What you should do is try to establish a budget with your child. Set what you think is a reasonable amount. Then keep track of it all and review it with your child after one month, and adjust up or down depending on need.</p>
<p>Also, you need to determine what expenses you are willing to pay for in college for your student. Are you willing to fund tickets to see Bruce Springsteen, or do you hope your student will look for less costly concert options? Do you want to fund expensive meals out every night, or just on occasion?</p>
<p>Would you like to see your student earning some of this discretionary money…or not?</p>
<p>I will say…$1200 a month is more than we gave our kids when they lived off campus…and that included rent, utilities and food. </p>
<p>But really, it’s up to you as a family to determine the amount you want to spend each month. $1300 seems on the very high side to me.</p>
<p>We pay for our son’s phone and all school related expenses such as books or club sports dues. We give him $80 per month for allowance. I do pay for necessities such as toiletries and needed clothes. If he wants more trendy clothes that are pricey, we split the cost with him. He is working full time this summer, but he didn’t work during the school year, and we expect him to pay for his own gas for his car and any food that is off the meal plan and entertainment. </p>
<p>He lives on campus so his room and board are all taken care of by us.</p>
<p>Hope you can figure out the right amount! It is tricky the first year.</p>
<p>My parents have me on their phone plan, probably are going to give at most 200 a month. I think it depends on her current lifestyle. If you have given her that amount of money to spend on clothing, phone, and extras in the past, it may be reasonable for her. However, as appealing as $1200 is, I would probably feel uncomfortable if my parents gave me that amount of money in monthly allowance.</p>
<p>Re: post 21…$1200 a month would fund more than one Springsteen ticket! Maybe the OP would like his kid to be able to take her roommates and a couple of friends. :). Just save for a couple of months…or ask for an advance!</p>
<p>Pay for her necessities. But 1200 is way too much. Maybe pay for going out to eat once a week and groceries as well. But she should get a job. My friends and I all spend hefty portions of our paychecks on fast food and stuff like that because we really have nothing else to buy…</p>
<p>I suppose it depends on what standard of living she’s used to and how you want her to spend her time in college. I really think spending $ depends on your family circumstances. If she’s planning on joining a sorority, you will need to factor in dues and other expenses. </p>
<p>My opinion…$1200 is way too much. But for your D that might be fine. </p>
<p>Have you thought about this in terms of a salary? That is $14400 per year! With her living expenses already paid that is pretty high! I give my son $40 per week. He makes money over the summer to supplement. We also pay for his phone, air tickets home, and textbooks. </p>
<p>My D will be off campus this year and we will pay for the house -$450 per month includes rent, utilities, everything. We will also pay for her food shopping and smaller meal plan- but we paid for room and board while she was on campus. My estimate is that her entertainment budget will stay the same - maybe $50 ( if that- she does not spend much at school) a week which basically pays for a dinner or two and maybe a coffee to go on occasion on the way to class. She stocks up on all of her toiletries at home ( we pay) and goes back with them. All of her clothes shopping is done at home and I buy what she needs- she pays for extras. The cost of her off campus room and board, phone, and spending money comes to much less than $1400 a month. I can’t imagine why a student needs this much money. My friend’s kid who attends school in Manhattan does not even spend this much. </p>
<p>D could easily spend ( but doesn’t) a ton of money when she is home with her HS friends going out to dinner every night for sushi, etc. One of her friends shops almost every single day at expensive department stores. D works during the summer and sticks to a budget- eating out every night is off limits. </p>
<p>$1200 is a lot. We make our kids get summer jobs for any spending money needed during the year. We figure if we are covering cell phones,auto insurance, tuition, room and board, they can be responsible for spending money. Now if they had to take an unpaid internship, we would of course give them spending money. My son had an unpaid job his sophomore summer, and we sent him about 100-150 per month, spending. Now I know boys tend to cost less than girls, but 1200 is a bit much.</p>
<p>Perhaps this is a student whose parents think that $200 a month is fine…and he/she wants more. Maybe it’s me, but I find it hard to believe that a parent would be offering up $1200 a month in discretionary spending money. </p>
<p>$1200 a month is a lot, particularly in Texas. I would separate the cost for travelling and phone bill from the allowance that are more controllable. After that, a couple hundred dollars a month would be more than sufficient for basic needs. Anything extra is up to you. For my D, I am not giving her any fixed amount allowance. I cover all the bills and any specific items. I did give her a scholarship bonus though which is 10% of whatever amount she received. Other than that, she worked in the Summer to earn her own pocket money.</p>
<p>I did not read what $1200 is covering, but if it is total, than it is very low.<br>
We have been supporting our D. for about 7 years, UG + Med. School. Her TOTAL estimated (by my H.) average living expenses have been about $25k / year. D. has never lived in any expensive place at any expensive location. She is in Ohio, one of the cheapest states. These $25k / year are not covering any academic related expenses, like books…etc. Some fo the clothes shopping is not included either (when we go shopping together, it is just my treat)
So, if you start with about $25k (or more if a kid is at some very expensive location on either of the coasts) and subtract some things that you are already covering, like rent, food plan,…etc. then you can come up with the amount of spending money. </p>
If the college-aged kid starts to have a car, or starts to date, I do not think $40 per week is enough for a person who lives in an area where the cost of living is high.</p>
<p>I do agree that $1200 a month is too much unless the kid goes to an expensive college AND most of his/her friends happen to be from a wealthy family. (This could be an “disadvantage” of attending an expensive college, as such a college may have a higher percentage of students from such a family so your kid may more likely have a friend like this.)</p>
<p>
Is this true in general? I guess it may be true in the clothing cost. And boys do not need a handbag which costs extra! This reminds me of what one of colleagues told me: when he grew up, his sister got a better car from their parents.</p>