<p>As with so many others here, the answer is no. We cover room, board, tuition & books, and that's it. (OK, except for what we pay for when we go see her on Parents Weekend because we miss her so much! And yes, she knows how to work the system!)</p>
<p>Our son is in an apartment -style dorm, with full kitchen. The dining halls are on the other side of campus (the new ones near his dorm have been "opening soon" for a year and a half), so we give him weekly about what a food plan would have cost. This is more than he actually spends on groceries, but as long as he keeps his grades up (so far, so good... knock wood....) we're willing to give him enough for pocket money, too.</p>
<p>I won't be getting spending money. My parents are paying for tuition, room & board plus books.
I have a part-time job now, and will work more over the summer to save for during the year. I won't have a WS job, so I'll need to keep my part-time job during school (i'm close enough to come home every 2 weeks, which is the max before you're taken off payroll). Between now and August I'll hopefully have saved enough for first semester, my christmas presents I'll need to buy, and some of second. Then I have 1 month for x-mas break, and spring break to work for the rest. </p>
<p>I don't get spending money now, and I don't think I should get any while I'm in school, considering HS is free, and college will be costing $20,000. Why should I start expecting an allowance now?</p>
<p>We pay for partial tuition, room and board, books etc. He is quite thrifty with HIS funds. He worked all last summer and is still living off of that. He has a meal plan which he uses, but does have meals left at the end of the week. Next semester he will try to adjust that. He will be strapped with paying off his school loans when he is done, but this is the only way we could do this. I stayed home when my kids were young and therefore didn't have a huge nest egg to spend on their education. My husband and I agreed that a Mom should stay home and this is the decision we made. I think kids' need to have a stake in their education.</p>
<p>I pay my son's tuition (next year about $34,400) and airfare. He is responsible for EVERYTHING ELSE. He pays room, board, books, laundry, and all misc. items (about $14,500 next year).</p>
<p>We cover tuition, fees, books, room and board.
Anything after that is on them.
Our kids have always had summer/after school jobs. IN fact the youngest has been the most industrious about this.<br>
Our policy (high school and later) has always been that extra things that were judged important we would pay half of if the kid earned half. Band trips, summer exchanges, class trips, etc. If your kid won't work for half, why pay but if they will - I'll fill in because stuff is expensive.
Youngest has just sent her money off to a summer program that I would have thought expensive. If she pays half by waiting tables, I can pay the other half and good for her for working for what she wants!</p>
<p>We pay tuition, room and board. Our D pays for everything else (just like her older B and S). She has a summer job at a camp and another job at the mall when she comes home for breaks. She is very responsible and careful with her money (just like B and S).</p>
<p>No. His college does that.</p>
<p>(As a further data point, I also didn't give him an allowance in high school. I tried to, but I mostly couldn't afford to do it consistently. Child support money went directly to the children's expenses, and any leftover he sometimes got some of. He has more spending money (from the college) than he had at home. So I'm pretty much doing what I did before he went to college.)</p>
<p>In reading some of these posts, it seems that parents have different levels of support -- and perhaps that's partially dependent on how much they're paying in tuition. </p>
<p>In our case, D received a full tuition merit scholarship, so we only pay room and board. That makes it a lot easier to throw her $75 each week. (Her tuition, were we paying it, would be about $35,000 per year. So $75 per week in allowance is a good deal!)</p>
<p>My parents don't pay for any of my school bills. I was given the balance of a CD that they had in my name-- was around $950 or so. My mom took out the balance and put $1000 into my checking account. That's really it as far as bills go. They bought my computer and my start-up supplies.</p>
<p>Occasionally they'll slip me $20 or so, but other than that I'm on my own. I worked last summer (first consistent job I've had) and I've worked during the year at the Rec Center. First semester was a lot tighter when it came to money for me because I paid nearly my entire school bill out of pocket with the exception of a Stafford Loan which didn't cover much. This semester I took out a loan so my work money has been put into the bank. I've made about $700 so far this semester at the Rec Center and will end up making around $1000. This summer I hope to make around $2000 but it's hard to say.</p>
<p>In high school my parents would also slip me money occasionally. And my mom paid for most things that I wanted to do because it wasn't very often that I would need money with the exception of gas.</p>
<p>No allowance. We pay tuition, room & board, and the occasional (only 2 this year) visit to her. Sometimes we'll shop a bit then, but bare minimum. She pays for books, bought her laptop (in fall 2006) with graduation money. She worked summer before & after freshman year nearly full-time. Has a lab position with a stipend this summer on campus. That's her spending money. </p>
<p>We also reimburse her for anything medical, including OTC, if she sends me the receipts. And we're doing the expensive Gardisil injections, but those could save lots of problems and money later on.</p>
<p>I really didn't keep track. We paid full tuition, room, board, books, airfares home, entertainment, vacations, frat club dues etc. They also spent their own money earned from summer jobs.</p>
<p>However, both kids know that if we run out of retirement savings, they need to supplement us.</p>
<p>No, the summer job has to cover all the personal spending for the year. So far it seems to work fine.</p>
<p>Our DD saved about $2000 from her summer job. We told her it average about $65/wk. Well, she has already tapped us for $500 more. She realized she spent too much too quickly {Panda Restaurant} her favorite vice. She promises to save more this summer!</p>
<p>If spencing money is defined by those daily incidental expenses like entertainment, the occasional eat out, personal products etc, it will vary depending on what their spending habits have been in hs.</p>
<p>Our son was always responsible for earning his own spending money so he has gotten by just fine on $25-$30 per week. But other students would find this totally unacceptable.</p>
<p>However, in order to encourage freshmen to learn the discipline of budgeting, take advantage of the free entertainment offerings on campus and learn to use the dining hall as much as possible, it is probably wise to limit the spending money they can expect out of their earnings and from home.</p>
<p>We cover tuition, room, board, books, basic cell phone and airfare home at holidays and end of term. I have also provided $$$ on his campus card for laundry and cleaning supplies (he and suitemates are responsible for their shared bathroom/shower room). Summer and campus job provides $$ for entertainment, food, weekend travel, fraternity fees, and the costs to build a server for his dorm (that was nice of him). Since we sold his car while he was gone, we also sent him 1/2 the cash. But he's also responsible for the cost of texting, and that may be his major undoing.</p>
<p>There is a different plan for every family.</p>
<p>We followed these guidelines - the student should contribute some money from earnings, either summer or during school year or both. Flexibility is very important - it is really hard to plan how much money they will need, especially the first year, because the cost of airfare and number oftrips may vary widely, books can vary a good bit from semester to semester. Some semesters D spent very little others she spent right up to the top of her allowance.
finally, we did not include initial clothes in her allowance, she had to have a completely new wardrobe because she went to a completely different climate, now however, she buys her clothes as well. Another example of flexibility.</p>
<p>We give our s spending money each month. If this thread is typical we must be the only ones in the entire country who do this.</p>
<p>^^^, I am sure you are not the only one... ...</p>
<p>may be one of the only two.</p>
<p>altmom, you are not the only ones out there.
Son #1 gets $250 per month. $100 in cash and $150 on prepaid credit card. I want him to save his summer earnings to be used to get a head start on life when he graduates college. We will do the same for child #2 this fall.</p>