My daughter has had a job since the summer after her freshman year, so she has some money in the bank. And she’s planning to get a job right away.
Her meal plan will allow for unlimited swipes, so she won’t be hungry.
We’re not planning on any sort of an allowance at all. Sure, if she has some sort of a crisis we’ll bail her out. But the plan is for her to pay for any extras
@thumper1 Just because something is more common, it doesn’t mean it’s exclusive. That pretty much goes for anything, anywhere. “Always” and “never” are rarely part of my posts.
What I deal with most at school are students/parents feeling their kids will be left out because they can’t keep up with the Jones’, esp when they’re on large need-based aid awards. It’s not true. There will be several there just like them who either don’t have or don’t spend tons of money. It helps them to know this and to know where they’ll be able to find them.
FWIW, these kids (including mine) come back with stories of kids who have lots of spending money for everything from eating out to foreign trips to buying new computers, so even though you might not have seen it, they do. They don’t tend to hang out with those students. They hang out with those who have spending patterns more matching theirs. That’s what I’ve seen as very common and it’s reassuring to those heading out to know they won’t be alone with their ramen (or dining hall) while others go to the BBQ or Sushi joint on a regular basis.
Summer jobs fund their spending money. I pay for Tuition/books/room/board
Thinking more about spending, I should definitely point out it’s the spending pattern of the students that helps them guide peers - not the wealth or lack thereof of their parents. Some parents send money. Some don’t. Some literally can’t. Some kids have their own money and spend it on campus luxuries. Some kids have their own money and save it.
Like tends to align with like. There are plenty in the “don’t have it” or “don’t spend it” camp for the vast majority to find good friends to do things with.
@Creekland – I also think the college environs matter too. Some colleges there’s more and easier access to places to spend money. I think the general culture of frequently spending $$ off campus varies across schools.
But I’m sure most of us hope there’s plenty of great things to do on campus that cost no or little money, esp. at private schools. After all, don’t we all remember all the “free” things touted in those college tours?!? 
Both of my kids went to schools where there were plenty of free things to do on campus. The student ID card got them into almost everything on campus, including sports (one a D1 school and football and basketball were included). One school had Friday night activities that included everything from movies to hypnotists to ice skating. As others said above, lots of free food.
"@theloniusmonk – She actually gets $400 a semester dining dollars a semester. They can only be used on campus, but they have several on campus cafes that are popular for lunch and a coffee shop. AND during lunch time they can use meal swipes at certain of the cafes too – so that stretches the dining dollars farther. It’s complicated and my D doesn’t fully understand yet.
But you raise a good point – she will have to buy food (either through dining dollars or groceries) for 6 meals a week so we have to take that into account, though I’m thinking the dining dollars should cover at least 1/2 that…unless she buys fancy coffee every day which I am strictly against (see earlier post)."
That’s actually a pretty good amount of dining dollars, about a $100 a month, and you need to cover 5 meals a week right, 16-meal plan for 21 meals? I’d start with $100 as a budget and see how things go, if they don’t work out, maybe you can see if there’s a larger meal plan for the second semester that may ending up being more affordable and convenient. Good luck!
We cover tuition/books/room/meal card. Originally we were going to kick in $100/wk for incidentals and the occasional outside meal, but instead opted to tell S: “if you need to use your debit card go ahead - just be reasonable.” Net result, he spent on average less per week than what we planned. Even better, is that his summer internships more than cover his all his needs, and he is actually saving $$ over the year.
Well, I guess this is an upside to a military academy. The government feeds, clothes/launders, and pays my kid about $1200/month to go to school. Freshman year, they deducted uniform and starting equipment costs but, after that, it became a pretty nice “allowance.” We haven’t contributed any additional money.
@Rivet2000 This is pretty much what we do but gotta tell you, might rethink after reading all of this. Think I might be to lenient.
We give each kid $200/month. Oldest has a full ride and lives off campus. His scholarship refund gives him about $950/month which covers his portion of the rent and food and pretty much everything I guess. He has a paid research position this summer and will continue to have one for the school year. He is an editor at the school paper and gets paid a bit there too. He also works for a consulting firm (engineering major) and works when he has time.
Other kid has a scholarship that covers tuition/fees and about three months of living expenses each term. We pay his off campus rent once that runs out and he uses his $200/mo for food and utilities. He has an on campus job and works about 10 hours a week and uses that for his outdoor hobby and trips. He’s an engineering major and his scholarship requirements are more stringent than his brother’s. He’s also more likely to spend every penny he has, usually on climbing equipment or trips to use the equipment.
I think at this point I just give the oldest the same amount of $ as the youngest even though he doesn’t really need it.
We pay for tuition, R&B, transportation between school and home, books as well as an allowance for toiletries, haircuts, an occasional movie, concert, meal out or ordering in. $200 per month when on a basic meal plan, $500 per month when off the meal plan and cooking. Kids have usually worked 10-15 hours per week when in school. Both work during the summer but at times they have had unpaid internships. One has been good at saving $, the other not so much.
There friends are all over the spectrum from total carte blanche on spending from their parents to full FA and zero help from their parents. If students like each other, they’ll often find activities that everyone can partake in regardless of their spending money or lack of it.
I keep their debit card with around $500 on it at all times and just transfer money to it as needed. Didn’t set budget, they don’t abuse it and spend less than I thought they would frankly. If they need to do some clothes shopping or are going to some pricey outside event, they let me know if card is going to take a bigger than usual hit. Amazon prime is the best for so many things. It is fun to see the crazy things they order off of there - 5 pounds of gummy bears (of which most are still there at end of semester when we pick them up), cases of water, a white tie and black hat for some gangster dress up event…ahhh college days.
At my d18 orientation they had several students give personal testimony on various issues. This was one of the topics.
The girl related that she had zero funds for things and would make up excuses like having a headache to avoid the situation.
Once she fessed up her friends changed the options to free on campus and if going out really toned it down.
They wanted her to be a part of it all.
So she asked parents and students to think of this a little bit and watch for the signs of friend being priced out. To talk to your students beforehand. And also for students to be honest with friends. That it’s ok that you’re short on funds. No one really cares.
I really don’t think many college kids eat 21 meals per weeks in the dining hall. Some class is going to prevent them from eating lunch on MWF or dinners on Weds or they’ll oversleep on Fridays and miss breakfast. Friends will want to eat off campus on Sat after an event.
I had one kid who started with a 12 meal plan and she didn’t even get those in. She switched to a sorority house and she often had to scrounge for granola bars or left overs because she couldn’t get back in time for lunch (and the house was on campus, right across from the dining hall for the dorms). My other kid had unlimited swipes M-F and $500 in dining bucks to use on weekend. She had tons of money left over at the end of the year and I don’t think she ever went to the dining hall more than twice in a day.
I paid for a lot of food that was never eaten. The only one I ever knew who made out on the dining plan was her boyfriend who had a ‘lunch only M-F’ plan. Lunch was from 10:30 to 3, and he’d go several times during that period