Appropriate Allowance for Freshman in College

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:What do your kids do in the summers prior to going to college? My kid easily made $4K last summer as a 16 yr old. He saved around half of that. He will probably make the same this summer and next so by the time he starts college, he will have $6K or more saved. I'm not giving him an allowance. He is not 6 yrs old unable to make his own money. I had to use my summer earnings to pay for my books and as my fun money and he will do the same.

What exactly did he do in 8 weeks to make $4,000? 🤨

NP - my nephew caddied at a high end club last summer and made a lot more than that. He was making $800-$1000 a week. Crazy money.

My kids have real internships that help them get real jobs one day. My oldest just finished up one with chuck Schumers office. Definitely didn’t make money, but had a great experience.

I’ll continue to give my kids spending money so they can focus on school and securing good internships. My oldest works at McKinsey and definitely wouldn’t have loaded her 6 figure job one year out of college being the beer girl at a golf course

I'll never forget one lovely boss I had early in my career who asked me to sort through a pile of resumes. She asked me NOT to leave her just the resumes with only ivy league degrees and impressive unpaid internships. She wanted the final pool of candidates to include people who had worked paid jobs because not everyone can afford to take unpaid internships in the summers. As someone who worked all the way through college and never took an unpaid internship (because I couldn't afford that) I appreciate there are some people who recognize that the beer girl at a golf course might be as bright as your kid as just as capable of real work. They were just born in a family with fewer resources.

It’s not a matter of the internship kid being smarter than the beer cart girl. My oldest has graduated and did internships for all 3 summers. He graduated may of 2022 and started working immediately June 1 of 2022 making 75k as a starting salary at one of the companies he did an internship at. He had a standing offer summer before his senior year. The internships provide great leads for jobs and contacts.

Internships are great but they should be paid jobs so the companies take them seriously.

Like "beer girls" are taken seriously??

Beer Cart Girl could be making all kinds of useful connections now and in the future.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do your kids do in the summers prior to going to college? My kid easily made $4K last summer as a 16 yr old. He saved around half of that. He will probably make the same this summer and next so by the time he starts college, he will have $6K or more saved. I'm not giving him an allowance. He is not 6 yrs old unable to make his own money. I had to use my summer earnings to pay for my books and as my fun money and he will do the same.

What exactly did he do in 8 weeks to make $4,000? 🤨

NP - my nephew caddied at a high end club last summer and made a lot more than that. He was making $800-$1000 a week. Crazy money.

My kids have real internships that help them get real jobs one day. My oldest just finished up one with chuck Schumers office. Definitely didn’t make money, but had a great experience.

I’ll continue to give my kids spending money so they can focus on school and securing good internships. My oldest works at McKinsey and definitely wouldn’t have loaded her 6 figure job one year out of college being the beer girl at a golf course

I'll never forget one lovely boss I had early in my career who asked me to sort through a pile of resumes. She asked me NOT to leave her just the resumes with only ivy league degrees and impressive unpaid internships. She wanted the final pool of candidates to include people who had worked paid jobs because not everyone can afford to take unpaid internships in the summers. As someone who worked all the way through college and never took an unpaid internship (because I couldn't afford that) I appreciate there are some people who recognize that the beer girl at a golf course might be as bright as your kid as just as capable of real work. They were just born in a family with fewer resources.

It’s not a matter of the internship kid being smarter than the beer cart girl. My oldest has graduated and did internships for all 3 summers. He graduated may of 2022 and started working immediately June 1 of 2022 making 75k as a starting salary at one of the companies he did an internship at. He had a standing offer summer before his senior year. The internships provide great leads for jobs and contacts.

Internships are great but they should be paid jobs so the companies take them seriously.

Like "beer girls" are taken seriously??

Beer Cart Girl could be making all kinds of useful connections now and in the future.

For what profession?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do your kids do in the summers prior to going to college? My kid easily made $4K last summer as a 16 yr old. He saved around half of that. He will probably make the same this summer and next so by the time he starts college, he will have $6K or more saved. I'm not giving him an allowance. He is not 6 yrs old unable to make his own money. I had to use my summer earnings to pay for my books and as my fun money and he will do the same.

What exactly did he do in 8 weeks to make $4,000? 🤨

NP - my nephew caddied at a high end club last summer and made a lot more than that. He was making $800-$1000 a week. Crazy money.

My kids have real internships that help them get real jobs one day. My oldest just finished up one with chuck Schumers office. Definitely didn’t make money, but had a great experience.

I’ll continue to give my kids spending money so they can focus on school and securing good internships. My oldest works at McKinsey and definitely wouldn’t have loaded her 6 figure job one year out of college being the beer girl at a golf course

I'll never forget one lovely boss I had early in my career who asked me to sort through a pile of resumes. She asked me NOT to leave her just the resumes with only ivy league degrees and impressive unpaid internships. She wanted the final pool of candidates to include people who had worked paid jobs because not everyone can afford to take unpaid internships in the summers. As someone who worked all the way through college and never took an unpaid internship (because I couldn't afford that) I appreciate there are some people who recognize that the beer girl at a golf course might be as bright as your kid as just as capable of real work. They were just born in a family with fewer resources.

It’s not a matter of the internship kid being smarter than the beer cart girl. My oldest has graduated and did internships for all 3 summers. He graduated may of 2022 and started working immediately June 1 of 2022 making 75k as a starting salary at one of the companies he did an internship at. He had a standing offer summer before his senior year. The internships provide great leads for jobs and contacts.

Internships are great but they should be paid jobs so the companies take them seriously.

Like "beer girls" are taken seriously??

Beer Cart Girl could be making all kinds of useful connections now and in the future.

For what profession?

They could become a congress woman.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:My kids saved their money from summer jobs to use for play money and school supplies during the year. That was the expectation. We gave them a little bit here and there if needed but the majority of their fun money was money they earned themselves. No allowance

Same with ours and what was great was that they used their own money wisely. If you send your kid $500 a month they are going to party and piss away your money. Then they graduate and hope that the $6000/year subsidy will continue.

NP here. I got 1k to cover rent for off campus housing, utilities, food, and all other expenses. My parents definitely screwed up since I have a terminal degree and a solid career. They screwed up so much that I learned to budget and save. Totally sucked. I will do the same for my kids.

I'll say it again -- if my kid earns a college degree and can't get a job that allows them to spend $500 a month after paying their rent, there's definitely a much bigger problem. And it won't be because my kid got an allowance in college.

Besides -- almost every one of these "they have to earn it all themselves" posts is full of caveats -- "we gave them a little bit here and there," "they buy toiletries, etc from my Amazon account," "I send them with a stock of snacks," "I buy all their clothes," etc etc. These parents are subsidizing the lives of these students, they're just not doing it in a set monthly amount. How is that better? I'd rather give my kid a set amount of money and let him figure out how much things like clothes, toiletries and snacks really cost and learn to budget and make choices.

Pp here. Your last sentence proved my point and tells you that you don't get budgeting:

Rent 350
Utilities you set up yourself 150
Groceries 200
Spending: 250 (clothes, toiletries, entertainment)
Savings: 50

Where is the spoiled kid here? This was ages ago but I went to an affordable school with cheaper off campus housing. I learned how to set up my own utilities and interact with a landlord. It was thr nest gift. So you all can crow about how you will put your kids in dorms with their full meal plan but they are just being coddled since they don't have to plan much.i always had money at the end of the month, so really learned to budget and save.

DP here. Many schools require on campus dorms and a meal plan for freshmen if they are not living at home with parents. This is why this discussion is targeted at freshmen. None of this precludes the kid from developing their own financial management skills. Using that as an excuse to not provide kids with an allowance is irrational.

Pp here. I do agree with you and understand some schools require it--shoot some places require it all four years--but it seems like people want to find excuses not to give their kids money. There also seems to be a lack of faith in their kids or people just have failed with parenting skills. They seem to have this idea that their kids are running around drinking beer and doing weed. I know this is a common narrative but young people tend to be way more responsible than we give them credit for and these judgements are clearly more of a reflection of the posters rather than young people.

yes, my kids are very responsible. that's why they make their own money

Congrats you kid buys his own weed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do your kids do in the summers prior to going to college? My kid easily made $4K last summer as a 16 yr old. He saved around half of that. He will probably make the same this summer and next so by the time he starts college, he will have $6K or more saved. I'm not giving him an allowance. He is not 6 yrs old unable to make his own money. I had to use my summer earnings to pay for my books and as my fun money and he will do the same.

What exactly did he do in 8 weeks to make $4,000? 🤨

NP - my nephew caddied at a high end club last summer and made a lot more than that. He was making $800-$1000 a week. Crazy money.

My kids have real internships that help them get real jobs one day. My oldest just finished up one with chuck Schumers office. Definitely didn’t make money, but had a great experience.

I’ll continue to give my kids spending money so they can focus on school and securing good internships. My oldest works at McKinsey and definitely wouldn’t have loaded her 6 figure job one year out of college being the beer girl at a golf course

I'll never forget one lovely boss I had early in my career who asked me to sort through a pile of resumes. She asked me NOT to leave her just the resumes with only ivy league degrees and impressive unpaid internships. She wanted the final pool of candidates to include people who had worked paid jobs because not everyone can afford to take unpaid internships in the summers. As someone who worked all the way through college and never took an unpaid internship (because I couldn't afford that) I appreciate there are some people who recognize that the beer girl at a golf course might be as bright as your kid as just as capable of real work. They were just born in a family with fewer resources.

Yep. The kids I interviewed from GMU were not as naive as those from the Ivies. I loved the GMU recruits because they always seemed ready to hit the ground running at our IT / engineering company.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid has already earned his entire college tuition for 4 years, by being an excellent student (called merit scholarship). His second major has been earned by doing tons of APs in HS with all 5s, and testing out of lower level courses in college. So he has been earning what he and we value. I am sure other kids earn what they and their parents value.

By giving our responsible son the use of our credit card, I spend only a fraction of what I would have had to pay if I was paying for his tuition.

I think for my own kid, his unpaid internships will be more useful than paying part-time jobs. And that is ok too.

And if your kid did not have merit or APs would you have done the same?

[Anonymous]

$1000 at minimum

[Anonymous]

To me the answer depends on opportunity cost.

If giving my kid an allowance allows her to perform better academically or engage in unpaid extracurriculars or internships, then it's a good investment.

If my kid will not make productive use of the additional time afforded by an allowance, then she earns her own money.

[Anonymous]

$450

[Anonymous]

$0

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do your kids do in the summers prior to going to college? My kid easily made $4K last summer as a 16 yr old. He saved around half of that. He will probably make the same this summer and next so by the time he starts college, he will have $6K or more saved. I'm not giving him an allowance. He is not 6 yrs old unable to make his own money. I had to use my summer earnings to pay for my books and as my fun money and he will do the same.

What exactly did he do in 8 weeks to make $4,000? 🤨

NP - my nephew caddied at a high end club last summer and made a lot more than that. He was making $800-$1000 a week. Crazy money.

My kids have real internships that help them get real jobs one day. My oldest just finished up one with chuck Schumers office. Definitely didn’t make money, but had a great experience.

I’ll continue to give my kids spending money so they can focus on school and securing good internships. My oldest works at McKinsey and definitely wouldn’t have loaded her 6 figure job one year out of college being the beer girl at a golf course

I'll never forget one lovely boss I had early in my career who asked me to sort through a pile of resumes. She asked me NOT to leave her just the resumes with only ivy league degrees and impressive unpaid internships. She wanted the final pool of candidates to include people who had worked paid jobs because not everyone can afford to take unpaid internships in the summers. As someone who worked all the way through college and never took an unpaid internship (because I couldn't afford that) I appreciate there are some people who recognize that the beer girl at a golf course might be as bright as your kid as just as capable of real work. They were just born in a family with fewer resources.

It’s not a matter of the internship kid being smarter than the beer cart girl. My oldest has graduated and did internships for all 3 summers. He graduated may of 2022 and started working immediately June 1 of 2022 making 75k as a starting salary at one of the companies he did an internship at. He had a standing offer summer before his senior year. The internships provide great leads for jobs and contacts.

Internships are great but they should be paid jobs so the companies take them seriously.

Of course my sons internship was paid. However do you have an idea how expensive it is to live in a US city for a summer in an intern salary? Not only did he have absolutely no money left at the end of the summer I had to supplement when he was there. There was nothing left over to live on during the school year.

I’m perfectly comfortable with my decision to give my college kids an allowance so they could focus on school. My son is now living and working in Austin at an incredible technology company, has his own heath insurance and at age 23 has begun funding his 401k. Furthermore I matched his internship money each summer and helped him open a Roth IRAs as well. This really made him understand the benefit of investing in retirement early. His waiting period for his 401k id just about over and plans to try to invest 10k in 2022 which will put him in a shoe string budget, but his company matches dollar for dollar. Not too shabby if he can pull it off on a 75k starting salary.

[Anonymous]

I don't know.... I was able to do internships (some unpaid, some paid) AND serve cocktails at a bar in the evenings throughout my college career and each summer. I learned more about work ethic, life, and interpersonal relationships through that bar gig than in any of my internships.

The only internship that was of use to me was my last one, which was paid and turned into a full-time job offer straight out of college at age 22 with all health insurance paid and a generous 401K w/no need to match. PP DS isn't the special little angel she seems to think he is. All my unpaid internships were a waste of time mostly, and I learned little to nothing from them, and it was clear the employer had little respect of interest in me. But I see so many foolish parents that think unpaid internships are more valuable than a summer working at the local bar, or on a golf course, or what not. I'd gladly hire someone today that had to scrap by and worked a lot of different jobs and in different environments than someone who has no paid work history outside an internship that lasted 3-6 months. At least I know the person who had to scrap by had to hustle to get what they wanted instead of it being handed to them and taken for granted. But to each their own...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:$0. They can get a job and work 10 hours a week on campus, gain some paid work experience for their resume, learn some life lessons, and learn how to responsibly spend money they earn.

Seriously- I feel like this is a troll post. FFS.

This.

I stopped giving kids allowances when they were old enough to earn their own spending money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't know.... I was able to do internships (some unpaid, some paid) AND serve cocktails at a bar in the evenings throughout my college career and each summer. I learned more about work ethic, life, and interpersonal relationships through that bar gig than in any of my internships.

The only internship that was of use to me was my last one, which was paid and turned into a full-time job offer straight out of college at age 22 with all health insurance paid and a generous 401K w/no need to match. PP DS isn't the special little angel she seems to think he is. All my unpaid internships were a waste of time mostly, and I learned little to nothing from them, and it was clear the employer had little respect of interest in me. But I see so many foolish parents that think unpaid internships are more valuable than a summer working at the local bar, or on a golf course, or what not. I'd gladly hire someone today that had to scrap by and worked a lot of different jobs and in different environments than someone who has no paid work history outside an internship that lasted 3-6 months. At least I know the person who had to scrap by had to hustle to get what they wanted instead of it being handed to them and taken for granted. But to each their own...

I wonder why posters like this give their whole life story.

Give us a # and leave the rest for your therapist

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:$0. They can get a job and work 10 hours a week on campus, gain some paid work experience for their resume, learn some life lessons, and learn how to responsibly spend money they earn.

Seriously- I feel like this is a troll post. FFS.

This.

I stopped giving kids allowances when they were old enough to earn their own spending money.

And some of us want our kids to enjoy their college experience