<p>Part of the reason for more debt--students of today want the to spend like they were working.</p>
<p>Yep--on another thread, amounts of $200-500+ in monthly SPENDING MONEY for students was mentioned. That seems high to me, especially if the student is living on campus, with a meal plan & living expenses paid.</p>
<p>The idea of a "frugal college student lifestyle" does not seem to be in the consciousness of many HS or college students these days. Sitcoms including Gilmore Girls which show college students having lavish lifestyles support the vision that you can have a very posh lifestyle while in college. Colleges also support this idea by building more plush dorms to "compete" with other colleges who have "plush" dorms & off campus housing options. Where are kids & families supposed to get a reality check? When the loan payments come due?</p>
<p>It's up to the parents. If the parents put down strict guidelines about financial matters, the student has no choice but to abide, or else forego financial support. My parents and I know that if they were helping me out with the costs of school, then I would be spending foolishly, so they decided to 'loan' me the money if I needed it, but no handouts. Fortunately, I've yet to ask them for money because I have savings, loans, and employment, but that's the best way to teach a lesson- make 'us' earn it. This adds to the whole 'growing up' aspect of college, and it makes me appreciate the education I'm getting a lot more.</p>
<p>Being a poor student isn't hip anymore. Just as, for many parents, living within their means isn't hip either. </p>
<p>Himom, I agree that spending money discussion shocked me too. $500/mo ????Where are these kids eating out (and why?)</p>
<p>It seem unrealistic for parents to indulge their children with all sorts of worldly pleasures from infancy through hs and then expect them to be happy with the lifestyle of the impoverished college student. If we want them to be happy and thrifty then our households should be a model of that lifestyle too.</p>
<p>Our son is very happy living frugally on about $550/mo. But before anyone gasps, that amount includes his room and board. My wife says that the apple has not fallen far from the tree.</p>
<p>I'm hoping my S will not spend much & so far he doesn't appear to be (never has been a spender). I feel that for me, a valuable part of the college & grad school experience was learning to make do with what was available rather than always wanting & spending. We were very conscious of the money our folks & we were spending for the privilege of our education & very careful consumers.
As a family, during our kids' lifetime, the only loan we have ever had is the mortgage on our home, which we are trying to pay off so that we won't have a mortgage when retired. We have always tried to live below our means so we can save for the kids education & our retirement. I think our kids absorb what they live--tho we never spoke much about living below our means, I believe our kids have gotten the message and are pretty careful with money & purchases.<br>
I'll be surprised if our S will spend more than a few hundred dollars for the entire semester in LA at USC (we've already paid his dorm & meal plan & books & activity fee). The campus appears to have many free & low cost activities for the students & their friends. This is something I really like about the school, that some of the other campuses did NOT provide (I asked at our campus visits).</p>
<p>after you just bought their new college outfits, and furnished their room. Food is essentially paid (excepting weekends), computer was purchased; What's left to purchase ? </p>
<p>Booze.</p>
<p>Made clear to my D that once she got to college she could get a job and have more spending money or choose to not work and live more frugally. Those were the only choices. She chooses not to work and lives within the limited funds she has.</p>
<p>Also made it clear that a credit card was not an option for her as a freshman...</p>
<p>I was shocked to learn a few weeks ago that a girl who graduated high school with my daughter receives $180 per week from her parents! According to the friend who told me, that money is to cover food, sorority fees, and spending money. I guess that makes my daughter who receives $0 per week from us feel cheated. We fill up our DD's gas tank when she visits and we buy her a few groceries to take back with her, but her spending money is earned by her. She has worked for the past two years and saved, and she'll work again during Christmas break and over the summer break. We purchased the unlimited meal plan for her, so the only thing she needs money for is entertainment and gas. Each time we've seen her (we visited once, she's visited twice), we hand her a twenty, and she certainly doesn't appear to be hurting for money. I gave her an Old Navy card that she can use there, at the Gap or at Banana Republic. She rarely uses it, but always calls first to make sure it's okay if she does. She never complains and never asks for money, so I think she's doing okay. She got a wonderful scholarship, but we still pay $10k per year for her education, so we figure she can contribute by paying for the fun stuff. It's easier to spend someone elses money, and I think it's good for college students to make a contribution.</p>
<p>My D works 8-10 hours a week when she's on campus. Gives her spending money, including for any traveling, plus she has to pay her cell phone bill.</p>
<p>This year she's off-campus but she's already learned valuable things during her internship: "Mom, I have to hang up my clothes because dry cleaning is so expensive." Of course, she's now wearing clothes that <em>have</em> to be dry cleaned, but that's a different story.</p>
<p>I haven't spent a dime, except to buy textbooks. Comes from being a work-study student, I guess. Not much point in working if you're just going to spend it. :rolleyes: Then again, I've always been the person who holds up traffic to bend over and pick up a penny off the sidewalk.</p>
<p>MY D remarked that all the "fairies" disappeared when she went away to school: </p>
<p>the free clothing fairy,
the free beauty products fairy,
the free fully stocked fridge fairy,
the free Netflix fairy,
etc...</p>
<p>D can make $100 last a looong time at Rhodes without a car.</p>
<p>Yeah curmudgeon, Memphis is kinda cheap that way:)</p>
<p>I think working is best, really. You learn more from working hard.</p>
<p>It's all anecdotal, but my daughter is much as I was at the same age - what money gets into her bank account is "her" money, and whatever becomes "her" money is held on to much tighter than Ebenezeer ever clutched his stash! College is actually an improvement, because we're not around to give her money once a week or so - what's she's got, has to last. I wish you could have heard the negotiations over sorority dues ;).
Actually frugality is one of the best values we have imparted to her, I'm thankful she has absorbed it.
A harder lesson is responsible management of credit, budgeting, and assessing what you need to live. I think that would make an interesting thread. My D is beginning to look at internships, and consider what she will do with her degree, she doesn't understand how someone lives in a big city on a starting salary in most any field, and we're no help because we have never lived in a big city - only in moderate to low cost of living places. It worries me (we never stop worrying), because I think she is limiting her decisions based on a perception of not being able to make ends meet - I don't know if she is right or wrong. How does a mid-level employee in, say Boston or Chicago live?</p>
<p>For your D, the notion of making ends meet in a big city might well be like what eating sashimi was for me the first time: lots of other people do this and don't die so I might as well try.</p>
<p>Some considerations for rookies: small apartments, roommates, doing without a car (the latter doesn't work in L.A. but for NYC, Boston, D.C. it should be fine).</p>
<p>The bottom line is that there's a strong correlation between some of the most exciting initial opportunities and ultimately high-paying positions and big cities. Shying off of big-city locales is penny wise, pound foolish imnsvho.</p>
<p>Lots of roomates...</p>
<p>Professionals in cities with higher costs of living are able to figure out how to work things out by living with room mates or renting a room in a home or other options. Honolulu has a very high cost of living and has a lot of folks utilizing such options. Some folks have more than one job to pay all the bills & live a lifestyle that they prefer.
Salaries in areas with higher living costs tend to be slightly higher to help with these higher living costs.
Some folks live in less expensive areas & commute from further out, which is another way of economizing.</p>
<p>S is paying his way through school with scholarships he earned. Since we are not paying for school we do send him $200 each month to help with gas and groceries (lives off campus, big truck loves gas). </p>
<p>He is working 16 hours a week at a grocery store to supplement what we send. Worked 25-30 hours a week all thru h.s. Says he would feel strange not working and contributing. Takes 18 hours every semester.</p>
<p>Packmom,
Your S is the envy of so many of us! Glad he's able to handle so many hours of work & a full course load. Also glad he earned so many scholarships to put him thru school. Sounds like you've raised a very strong, resourceful & level-headed child!</p>