<p>Would like opinions on how much a typical boy (assuming gender may be somewhat of a reflection on how much one eats, although I know this is not always the case) might need as spending money (outside of books) for a year in the dorms. For those of you living in the dorms, what have you typically spent each month?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>The question for parents of boys is not only food, but how often will he go to game stop to buy a new Xbox game? </p>
<p>Our DS when in the dorms lived on 100 a month. OMG :eek: He used every penny. He went into DC at least 2x a month, and I know Chipotles was a weekly thing, plus late night wings from Ratsies.</p>
<p>HOWEVER, before he left I gave him a jar of $50 in quarters, so his laundry was paid for. We (his Meema —grandmother and I) sent goody packages about 2 x a month, for basically a total of 1x a week. In those packages, he had more junk food than you could shake a stick at. SO if you tallied what we spent and shipped, it was probably about another 100 a month between the 2 of us. </p>
<p>UMDCP does this mid term and final goody packages delivered to the dorms. I found it to be a huge waste of money, so I would ask him when he would be in his dorm that week (pretense a good time to call him), and had Ratsies deliver wings to him. I also used Giant Peapod to have his birthday cake delivered every yr. Giant is a grocery store in the MD area, Peapod is their delivery system.</p>
<p>Finally, we also bought him a Smart Card with 50 bucks on it (that is the Metro card here). This way when he went into DC he already had the money on the card and he didn’t need to worry about that cost. Instead of taking 40 to pay for the trip and food in DC, he took 20. </p>
<p>It really has to do with what your child is like. If you put everything together I would say 200 a month is fine if you are not doing our system. </p>
<p>We opted to do the coin jar, and the smart card because we knew our child. If he had to hit the ATM for laundry money or a Metro ticket he would burn through more money. I.E. Most ATM’s require a 20 min withdrawal. It costs 3 bucks for laundry, the next thing you know they are buying chips and soda out of the machine, then they still have 10 bucks to burn so now they buy more crap everyday. By sending him packages of Poptarts and Beef jerky from home, plus shipping was still cheaper than the 1.50 they charge for a pack of 2 poptarts at the Stamp. By having Giant deliver his birthday cake, they all had a party in the dorm room, instead of going out to Applebees.</p>
<p>It is not only about them, but you too. Our DS hated me when he moved into his dorm with all of the snacks (it was embarrassing to him). He loved me 24 hours later when he was the social hang out because he had treats. </p>
<p>He hated me for sending that coin jar…again embarrassing. He loved me later because he would raid it to buy sodas instead of hitting the ATM. </p>
<p>It is all how you think about using your money. If you can afford to give them 200-300 a month for spending, they will blow through 200-300 a month…and it will be on crap. Give him 400-500 and he will blow through 400 -500 a month.</p>
<p>Our DS was the popular kid in his dorm because every week there was a goody box, and believe it or not kids like that fact. He was like the pied piper. OOHHH look Bullet’s kid got a package! They would follow him to see what was in it. It is always like Let’s Make a Deal, what’s behind the door? Sometimes it was cans of silly string, sometimes it was Swedish Fish and sometimes it was a bottle of aspirin and AAA batteries for the Xbox controller. Yet, it was always fun and killing time at school.</p>
<p>His favorite package to this day was one that I sent for spring finals…silly string, water balloons, nerf football, chalk, frisbees, and a Costco size of blow pops.</p>
<p>OBTW, we also always took them when we moved them into the dorm to the bookstore to buy t-shirts and hoodies. Kids have a habit of going into buy a t-shirt or hoodie and walking out with that and CRAP too, like stickers, coffee mug, in essence crap!</p>
<p>Also make sure that their bank is on campus, those $3 fees will really start to rack up, if they are hitting the ATM weekly…3 X15 (that is only 1x a week) and you handed the bank $45 bucks is a semester.</p>
<p>Excellent post above!</p>
<p>Bottom line is they will spend whatever you give them.</p>
<p>We opted for a different approach - their spending money is whatever they earned over the summer or during their workstudy jobs. It’s amazing how industrous they’ve become.</p>
<p>We do not send $$, only care packages of treats. I’m sure they are the poor college students, but isn’t that what they’re supposed to be? </p>
<p>We buy their clothing, books, meal plan and living space - that’s pretty much it.</p>
<p>I think bullets idea for Peapod, Ratsies, laundry, and Metro card are great ideas for gifts or special treats. i would stay away from cash - but that’s just me.</p>
<p>Ready,</p>
<p>You’d be amazed at how many students are like ours and wkwkwk. </p>
<p>It really is a personal choice, but in the end of the day, ask yourself as an adult, if food, shelter, clothing and the other essentials are covered, how much would you need to survive for the week?</p>
<p>We are obviously with wkwkwk, cash is not our route unless you know your kid. If they burn though it because it is there, than you need to expect that they will do the same at college.</p>
<p>I think college is not only about academia, but it is also the time that they start learning about being fiscally sound. If you set X amt and call it a day at that amt, you are helping them as an adult. You are making them understand how to be an adult.
You do no good to them if you can spoil them and give them unlimited money, unless you expect to continue this process for the rest of their adult life.</p>
<p>CRUEL TO BE KIND!</p>
<p>I agree with all above, but would ask what is he doing with the money? </p>
<p>If you give him money, does he use it for what he needs? Paper, ink for printer, food, sundries? Or is he using it for beer (or worse)? A kid living in the dorm doesn’t need a lot of money because he has food and shelter. I know kids at Maryland that get by on next to nothing and do fine. But I also know that at my daughter’s small art college, they spend a ton of money on art supplies and I really didn’t expect that. </p>
<p>I am a big fan of care packages too. My kids love getting some necessities, some fun stuff and a batch of brownies. Both are a good distance away from home so I try to get a package to them once a month.</p>
<p>Sorry I haven’t been back to check this thread. My son is finding that the budgeted dining points aren’t enough so one of the extra things he is buying is food. (We see this on his Terrapin Express card, but some of the boys order delivery at night as well.) Son is 6’ 3" and does put away a lot of food. Laundry costs about $5 per week because he has to run the dryer three times to get his clothes dry. He also likes to have water bottles to carry around, and does not have a car to go and get cases of water. The little things seem to add up, but the food bill is the biggest thing so far. I remember spending money in college on ordering takeout, and I was a smallish girl! (I also spent a lot of money on film, but of course those days are gone.)</p>
<p>So far, he has also need a calculator and some books he initially thought were optional, but those will of course be more one time expenditures. (He has to pay for his own books; he has a job in the summers to earn money for that.)</p>
<p>I don’t think my son is a “silly string and asprin” kind of boy. We do send him some food, but it’s junk and wouldn’t take the place of a reach sandwich at the Stamp.</p>
<p>P.S. BulletandPima…I wonder what your son did with all the AAA batteries you sent. The controllers take AA. Didn’t he tell you? Maybe he was selling them on the battery black market to get money for beer… :-)</p>
<p>I’ll preface this by stating that i don’t know your son and what he is telling you could be absolutely accurate. That said, I believe he can eat all he wants at the dining hall until his meal points run out. It’s not a per day plan. This happened to my son his first semester and i just added money to his plan (Terp bucks) to get him through. I’m unclear as to how he could be out of meal points this early in the semester. sounds like he either doesn’t enjoy the diner food all that much and is buying food elsewhere or is supplementing with junk food at the school convienence store (students call this the Incon).
Laundry is an expense and $5 a week isn’t too bad I guess. My boys probably aren’t the best at washing clothes regularly and thus their laundry bill is a bit less.
Pretty sure he can buy water bottles at the diner and that would be on his meal plan. Maybe the diner isn’t convienent for him to get to on a regular basis?</p>
<p>On of the things that impressed me highly during my first tour at Maryland was that they have water dispensers everywhere as part of their Green initiative. They encourage the kids to use reusable water bottles and refill them. I know my son does this. You need to get your son on the “find a girl and let them buy you food” plan. :p</p>
<p>wk,</p>
<p>He is not out of points but is trying to budget them. In addition, you’re right, he’s not a big fan of the dining hall food although he will eat there. But, he’s often not there at the right times. He is in the business school and can eat at the cafe there, but they only take the Terpbucks rather than the dining points, which he is running through more quickly. I also see the charges for the food in the Stamp on his Terrapin express account, usually from Panda Express or Sbarro’s. </p>
<p>You mentioned that you had to add Terpbucks to his plan to get him through. This is the kind of thing I was talking about it my question. How much does a kid need in “spending money”? This can be any money outside of the normal expenses.</p>
<p>We did this first semester freshman year and haven’t had to do it since (now a junior).</p>
<p>We added Terpbucks because you can’t add money to their meal plan. </p>
<p>You mentioned that “he’s not a big fan of the dining hall food although he will eat there.” </p>
<p>In our case, unless he’s paying for it with his money, he HAS to eat there. I’ll leave it up to someone else to answer your “spending money” question. We don’t give it and i have no idea how much my boys are spending since it’s their money. I think if you are giving your son money to spend at Sbarro’s or Panda Express, he will continue to do so as often as your money will allow. </p>
<p>Just my opinion - hope it works out for you and your son enjoys his time at UMD.</p>
<p>We did a Costco run before school started and loaded both guys up with popcorn, soda, hot chocolate, sports drinks, etc. Cheaper than the on-campus snack shops, etc. We haven’t sent food via care packages – suspect it would go stale by the time either one picked it up from the mailroom. 
</p>
<p>Otherwise, spending money and books are on them. Amazing how quickly they both managed to find jobs… 
They both avoid spending money on junk food and save it for book/video downloads, plane tickets to see GF, etc. It’s interesting to see their financial priorities!</p>
<p>Thanks again for the insight. Wkwk…the difference is that you buy your kid’s books and my kid has to buy his own, which eats up most of what he earns during the summer. Your kid can spend whatever he makes during the summer (or year) on whatever he wants but you have no idea how much that is. I suppose I could buy the books and then he could spend what he earns, but he would have waaaay more money to spend on leisure things. I like my method better because he knows he has to earn at least the money for books and whatever else is left over is from his own hard work or maybe a gift from his parents. </p>
<p>He would never buy a bottle of water with his dining points…what a ripoff! A case of water for $5 at Target (or $7.99 at The Stamp, which is what he has been doing but it’s hard to lug it back) is way cheaper. Of course, the cheapest thing is to get a water bottle, but the taste of the water from the faucet is a little bit icky.</p>
<p>Counting Down’s method is the harshest because his kids have to earn their own everything! Tough parenting! Of course, some parents make their kids pay tuition too. We are fortunate that we can give that to our son. It’s all perspective I guess.</p>
<p>yes perspective indeed. </p>
<p>btw, we make our kids pay for their car insurance which takes up most of their summer earnings. they have actually very little to spend on whatever they want while at school. My oldest got a job in his major’s department after burning through his limited funds, my younger is a miser and is making his last (so far). We consider books a part of the cost of attendence, which thankfully we are able to pay for - you consider meals beyond the meal plan to insure your son has enough to eat. As you say, different perspective.</p>
<p>I have to say this, and I think it is really important. I have seen this question on other college forums, and the Parents Forum. </p>
<p>If I had to say on a %, the majority of people say the kids get a small amount of monetary assistance. I think a lot of kids do the blustering of what the family gives…in other words they exaggerate. </p>
<p>For example our DD (not at UMDCP) has a roommate who says she gets 400 a month for spending money, BUT, after several conversations, the reality has been revealed. She gets 400, but must pay the gas for her car and her cell phone bill. Put those 2 things together and she is down to 200 on a good month. Her parents sent her with hygenic products (soap, shampoo, etc), when they moved in, but now they expect her to use the spending money to replace these things, plus do laundry or buy ink for the printer.</p>
<p>We on the other hand, sent her with back ups for her personal products, coins for laundry, laundry detergent, Costco size of gum, snacks, packages of pens and pencils, plus ink and paper for the printer. If it was on sale between May and August, I bought it! I do send her goody packages too, but if it costs me 10 in goodies she has hit the JACKPOT! Our DD actually has more free money than her roommate because of how we approach the issue.</p>
<p>400-500 sounds like a lot to kids who feel they are now the pauper, it is important to keep it apples to apples and oranges to oranges.</p>
<p>If you are sending 500 a month as spending money like a good friend of mine, GOOD ON YOU! I just know that in her kids case, she has a to die for wardrobe because instead of studying she is at the mall shopping. She doesn’t need to worry about money since the folks make sure she doesn’t have that worry. We are very good friends, her kids are my step-kids, and yet when we get together, her DH asks constantly why their kids see them as the never ending bank? I finally got to the pt and said, because to my kids they want to come back as your kids in their next life, since all they have to do is call, and you put money into the account. What do they get from us when they ask for money? I guess you shouldn’t have gone to the mall and bought a shirt or pr of jeans you didn’t need since we bought you a new wardrobe before school started. Not my problem you decided to buy a new shirt when, I spent a day at the mall buying you everything.</p>
<p>We also tell them, no problem, we will give you that spending money, but you need to take loans out since we have limited money and right now we are paying your tuition. Very interesting how quickly they tally up that the spending money of 500 a month is not worth 20K in student loans where they are responsible for.</p>
<p>BulletandPima, I missed your $200/month estimate earlier. That makes me feel a bit better about how much he is spending on food outside of the meal plan. Right now so far I’ve given him $50/month on his Terrapin Express card, which also has to include laundry. He seems to blow through it before the month is over, and he then has to use his own money. He does have a bunch of classes right in the middle of the day near The Stamp, so he has been getting lunch there. Is there anyplace in The Stamp that takes dining hall points? If not, I don’t really want to tell him to skip lunch just because I think he should always be using the dining hall points.</p>
<p>You know, I don’t send my kids a lot of money. But both of them have been around kids/roommates with a whole lot less than they have and that has been a great lesson for them. Both are very very hesitant to ask for money and are very cautious with the money they have. I just got back from visiting my daughter at school and she was so thankful for every bit of help she gets.</p>
<p>They both have also seen kids who took out loans and then splurged when they got refund checks from the school. Instead of putting it away for living expenses or next semester’s room and board, they have seen kids who bought computers, went on trips, etc. And they both understand that we are doing our best to keep their loans to a minimum so they can finish college with relatively little debt but that those friends who took out thousands in loans are going to be in debt up to their ears, in an economy where getting a job is a chancy proposition.</p>
<p>Sorry for the tangent. :)</p>