D has earned a large merit scholarship, not a full ride but close and she hopes to fill the gap with outside scholarships and part time employment. She will have one of our credit cards at college, she’s had one since she started driving and is very responsible.
We will pay:
her health, dental and auto insurance, plus eye ware, co-pays (including prescriptions)
car maintenance (oil changes, new tires, registration …) *car is in our name!
Gas (mostly for tavel home and required for major and minor)
Parking permit
AAA membership (family plan)
toiletries
hair cuts
clothes (if I can ever get her to buy something!)
scholarship will cover meal plan and laundry but not detergent or dryer sheets, we’ll cover that.
Cell Phone (family plan)
instrument insurance and maintenance (regulation and new strings as needed)
we’ll pay for a lifetime membership in her national music association as a graduation gift
misc. educational expenses - printing, clicker, books not cover by scholarship, lab fees not cover by scholarship…
she’ll continue to have access to our Netflix and Amazon Prime Accounts
She pays for:
movies
club fees
concerts (not required for minor)
books (not required for school)
music (not required for minor)
snacks
dinning out
travel (excluding trips home or to visit family, or for college credit)
gifts
entertainment
Let me know if I left off any other expenses!
She plans to have her own credit card for her expenses and will pay it off every month to build credit. She currently has about $5k in her personal savings and has applied to work this summer. I believe she will spend LESS just using our credit card for authorized expenses than if we gave her a set allowance.
My son also has a credit card tied to one of our accounts. We paid for books and that was the easiest way to manage it. He’s used it for a few other things that we agreed to pay for and hasn’t used it otherwise. We will give D one before she goes to school as well. I like knowing they have it in case an emergency cones up. So far that hasn’t happened.
When my son was in UG, I got a phone call from his Apple Store. He was buying a new laptop, using our mutual credit card, and they wanted to verify that I was the responsible party. For a CS major, that was an emergency. In 15 years that we have shared a credit card, that was the only emergency and only time I was called.
It All comes down to the young adult. Is he/her responsible? Do you communicate? I recall son calling me about a dental charge that wouldn’t be covered. Of course I approved, but I was glad for the heads-up. I’m happy that he doesn’t have to sweat the money stuff.
We never gave either kid a precise allowance. We helped them to set up accounts at a local bank, so they could withdraw money (ATM) for incidentals. We put a certain amt of money in at the beginning of each semester. We asked the kids to work in summer and perhaps a few hours a week at school. That worked well for #1, b/c he got good summer jobs at a debate camp.
The younger one was attending an art school, and we seriously underestimated the costs of her art supplies. Also she became ill (strep) her first semester so the idea of taking on a job was out of the question. So after one semester we topped up the bank account (we were in joint accounts), and we adapted as things went along.
I think that in general you can’t know the spending needs until the kids have been at school for a semester or two.
I read the article. Uh. The kid could work summers and part time during school. And could have saved prior to college (including money from grad gifts). Cars, sorority fees – if my kids wanted those, they’d have had to fund them. But they didn’t. They paid for books & spending money. The only way I might have considered an allowance is if my kid were an athlete – between the time constraints & rules for them, I might have done it then.
Gave both kids an allowance. Both worked anyway and were able to fund (partially) Roths each year. My H actually borrowed money to fund an IRA in his 20’s - smartest thing he ever did.
Whatever your family’s choice, I strongly recommend that the parents pay for books. If they are the student’s responsibility, the student may try to get away with not purchasing them – which is unlikely to be a good idea.
I give my S $200 a month. I know I spoil him. (But even my own mom, who had nothing to spare sent me $10 a week in college until I told her to stop:). So it’s a family trait!)
At any rate, there are people who believe either way, or like me, in both ways. It just depends on your kid, their time, and your finances.
Full disclosure I don’t have kids. I wasn’t given an allowance - I had to work in the family business and in the yard weeding, planting, watering, etc, in order to make some spare money.
If I ever had my own kids and I was somewhat wealthy - I would give them money IF they volunteered with some of their spare time. They have money to do cool stuff, and the world is a better place because of it
We provided the CoA recommended amount for books and incidentals, plus 1/2 of sports season tickets for Freshman year (we are a sports crazed family). He’ll be expected to contribute by working if he does not attend school in the summer session, and for spending money beyond that amount, and for part of his other expenses (rent) as an upperclassman.
Before son left last fall we added him to one of our credit cards and told him we wanted him charging everything he spends on it. From his savings he is expected to pay for his gas, eating out, haircuts and entertainment. Every month we Email him his total and he sends us a check. Big BUT- I’m always slipping him cash when he’s home or we visit him. My guess is my Hubby is also. Probably if I looked at his bank acct I’d see he has more than when he started in the fall.
My D pays for her own books, incidentals (I stock her at the beginning of the year), gas and spending $$ out of her summer earnings and work study. She opted out of work study last semester and wont’ make that mistake again lol.
In the article, the daughter seemed to have a spending issue and the parent was controlling that by only giving the allowance every month. The daughter couldn’t handle having a lump sum like many kids get.
My roommate in college got a lump sum from her father every semester. She needed to pay her rent, buy food, etc. from this pot of money. She did have a gas credit card for gas that he paid. Her mother gave her $20 cash every week.
