Allowance for College Students

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are having the same issue. DC spent her summer earnings. Charges about $100-150 a month on stuff at the school bookstore. We give her another $150 month for clothing and entertainment. We pay for books, meal plan, sports team expenses. Still seems not to have enough.

OP here again. I was thinking about $150 a month too. She can't buy much at the college bookstore except books so maybe I'm low-balling things a bit. We want her to have enough to be able to do a few things and buy a few clothing items but not so much that she doesn't learn to manage to a budget. Thanks for your input.

She gets snacks and some personal care things at the bookstore. It seems to add up. It's a small town and getting to Target requires a car so she stocks up there when we visit or when she comes home. So that's not incuded in the budget. We were probably too lax in the beginning but now are trying to get her to manage to a stricter budget.

To those suggesting jobs, getting a job is not an option everywhere. On campus jobs go to financial aid kids and the town is too small to employ college students and deal with their limited schedules. Plus she is on a sports team that has practices every afternoon and games on many Saturdays so not sure she could work even if a job was available.

[Anonymous]

OP, I think that a student who made her summer earnings last until this point in the year, is doing a pretty good job of budgeting. I'd be more inclined to reward her with a little extra, compared to a student who blew it all within the first couple months. After all, you're only providing the allowance for 2 months of the year.

$150 is $5 a day, that doesn't seem like a lot. Maybe $10 a day?

[Anonymous]

For the last two years, I've been sending DC roughly $100-$120 per month for extras. She's also at a small town. She saves her summer earnings and works odd part-time jobs when she has the time on campus.

We come from a tradition of working part-time while attending school.

[Anonymous]

I had 2500 for the year. That covered books, travel, incidentals, food, etc. I supplemented that with jobs. It helped me to know I wasn't getting any more-had to budget it.

[Anonymous]

Parent of a college senior, living off campus here - he is running out of summer job money - rather than an allowance, on our once a week Sunday phone calls, we talk about what he needs and figure out together how much he needs. For us, this creates an opportunity to talk about needs vs wants and to be reasonable about money. And, we see him a couple times a month during spring since he plays a spring sport, so we always ask if he needs us to bring him anything from Target (toiletries, etc.) so we just bring him the stuff and that doesn't turn into a discussion about money.
It works for us.
He also just did his tax return and he's getting a little bit of money back so that will help, too.

[Anonymous]

My folks gave me an allowance for food, books, room and board, clothes for job interviews, sports activities, travel home.

Sundries - snacks, clothing, toiletries, entertainment, travel, all came out of money I earned over the summer (or saved from spending a little less than my budgeted books and food). We would talk about my budget at the beginning of the school summer so I had an idea of how much I would want to earn, and then in the fall, and mid-year to see how I was doing.

Sometimes my folks would help out if I was sticking to the plan, but something came up - an extra trip to NY to see an art exhibit. (I was an art major). Or if I was home and happened to need a pair of jeans. Same as the other parent, bring me stuff from costco or target since there wasn't one nearby.

It worked for us. And my folks didn't believe in me holding a job during the school year. But I always held 2 or more part time jobs over the summer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are having the same issue. DC spent her summer earnings. Charges about $100-150 a month on stuff at the school bookstore. We give her another $150 month for clothing and entertainment. We pay for books, meal plan, sports team expenses. Still seems not to have enough.

OP here again. I was thinking about $150 a month too. She can't buy much at the college bookstore except books so maybe I'm low-balling things a bit. We want her to have enough to be able to do a few things and buy a few clothing items but not so much that she doesn't learn to manage to a budget. Thanks for your input.

She gets snacks and some personal care things at the bookstore. It seems to add up. It's a small town and getting to Target requires a car so she stocks up there when we visit or when she comes home. So that's not incuded in the budget. We were probably too lax in the beginning but now are trying to get her to manage to a stricter budget.

To those suggesting jobs, getting a job is not an option everywhere. On campus jobs go to financial aid kids and the town is too small to employ college students and deal with their limited schedules. Plus she is on a sports team that has practices every afternoon and games on many Saturdays so not sure she could work even if a job was available.

OP again. We are in the exact same situation with respect to jobs. And with what we're paying in tuition we want her studies and associated activities to be her focus. Since she made Dean's List last semester we feel like she's doing her job. I also posted this thread because she's doing an unpaid internship this summer so we'll be continuing to foot the bill for monthly expenses. (I'm sure she'll be able to pick up a little money babysitting though). I think the experience of an unpaid internship is very valuable for college students. It gives them contacts and a sense of the world of work they'll likely experience in the near future. She was a paid camp counselor for 4 summers so she does know a thing or two about working. I really think the unpaid internship makes much more sense in the long run especially considering the world college graduates now face. Thanks again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Parent of a college senior, living off campus here - he is running out of summer job money - rather than an allowance, on our once a week Sunday phone calls, we talk about what he needs and figure out together how much he needs. For us, this creates an opportunity to talk about needs vs wants and to be reasonable about money. And, we see him a couple times a month during spring since he plays a spring sport, so we always ask if he needs us to bring him anything from Target (toiletries, etc.) so we just bring him the stuff and that doesn't turn into a discussion about money.
It works for us.
He also just did his tax return and he's getting a little bit of money back so that will help, too.

I like this approach and will incorporate it into our plan. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

We have 2 in college and we pay tutition, room and board - although 50% of their tuition is covevered by scholarships. They each get $50 a week from us, plus I believe that the grandparents kick in "off the books." They just do not tell us.

While I agree generally about teaching responsibilites, you have to know your kid. We give DD's money because they both will work like mules if we allowed them to. These are both kids who have held jobs since they were 15 and DD1 worked two jobs this past summer. The first two years, we wanted them to focus on academics and college life and not worry about trying to make money.

[Anonymous]

Have her get a job. Problem fixed. God, you are already paying for all her shit, do you really need to give nher money for her 'shampoo' (which could be anything from shampoo to alcahol)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have 2 in college and we pay tutition, room and board - although 50% of their tuition is covevered by scholarships. They each get $50 a week from us, plus I believe that the grandparents kick in "off the books." They just do not tell us.

While I agree generally about teaching responsibilites, you have to know your kid. We give DD's money because they both will work like mules if we allowed them to. These are both kids who have held jobs since they were 15 and DD1 worked two jobs this past summer. The first two years, wanted them to focus on academics and college life and not worry about trying to make money.

Since when was hard work something to be minimized?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have 2 in college and we pay tutition, room and board - although 50% of their tuition is covevered by scholarships. They each get $50 a week from us, plus I believe that the grandparents kick in "off the books." They just do not tell us.

While I agree generally about teaching responsibilites, you have to know your kid. We give DD's money because they both will work like mules if we allowed them to. These are both kids who have held jobs since they were 15 and DD1 worked two jobs this past summer. The first two years, wanted them to focus on academics and college life and not worry about trying to make money.

Since when was hard work something to be minimized?

PP you are quoting. Not minimizing hard work at all. But if I am sending them to college and paying a big part of the freight, I want that hard work focused in the books - not at some part time job at Quiznos. That is what the summer is for. Once we get to junior year and there is a good track record with grades, then we would allow it. As a freshman, no way! I have seen too many first year kids struggle with academics trying to juggle an off campus job.

Full disclsoure: I worked a full time job my last two years of college and I would not want that for my kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have 2 in college and we pay tutition, room and board - although 50% of their tuition is covevered by scholarships. They each get $50 a week from us, plus I believe that the grandparents kick in "off the books." They just do not tell us.

While I agree generally about teaching responsibilites, you have to know your kid. We give DD's money because they both will work like mules if we allowed them to. These are both kids who have held jobs since they were 15 and DD1 worked two jobs this past summer. The first two years, wanted them to focus on academics and college life and not worry about trying to make money.

Since when was hard work something to be minimized?

PP you are quoting. Not minimizing hard work at all. But if I am sending them to college and paying a big part of the freight, I want that hard work focused in the books - not at some part time job at Quiznos. That is what the summer is for. Once we get to junior year and there is a good track record with grades, then we would allow it. As a freshman, no way! I have seen too many first year kids struggle with academics trying to juggle an off campus job.

Full disclsoure: I worked a full time job my last two years of college and I would not want that for my kids.

I have put 2 kids through college as well, and from the beginning of high school we made it very clear: They could go to college if they wanted (both me and DH did), but we were not going to push them or help them do that. We did help them pay, with the cost of college right now and when we did it wouldn't be reasonable to make them pay all on their own, but only for half of the college cost. If they wanted to go to college, it was mostly their responsibility to get there and do the work. We could afford to pay their way through college, but we knew that they needed to take up the responsibility to go out there and manage for them self, not go batshit insane, drink, party, and drug every night. Because they were paying for their own food, housing, and part of their education they respected it, and payed more attention to it.

During their freshman year, we helped out a bit more, by paying for part of their housing and for their college meal plan, but once we fealt that they had settled in, we stopped doing this. They came out of college as very attractive to those hiring due to the fact that they had experience over all four years of college, had a great work ethic, and could go into an interview room without a nice little speech written my Mommy and Daddy talking about how amazing their son/daughter was.

Did my son and daughter never have rough patches? Of course not, it was a lot of work, and they slipped up once and a while, my DS at one point ended up without enough money to pay for housing for one year. What did he do? He came back home and worked his ass off for a year, taking a break from university. On the other hand, they almost always had respectable grades, gained friends, both from their university and from their work/the community, and are now either employed or paying their own way through graduate studies.

Why is it better to pay for a child's college education? Too often you see kids who are just not prepared for college go off on a full ride from their parents to college. They get money thrown at them left and right.

[Anonymous]

We don't give our college-aged kid an allowance. We pay tuition, room & board, and give her a check each semester for books. Beyond that, she's on her own. She found a part time job within a week of arriving on campus giving swim lessons at the local pool that earned her enough money for extras (she goes to school in the middle of nowhere. There's not any place to spend money besides the coffee shop). She's a junior this year and found an on-campus fellowship that is part-time, pays, and provides academic credit.

It never occurred to us to provide allowance, and she's never asked. She went an found the pool position on her own because she wanted to have pocket money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have 2 in college and we pay tutition, room and board - although 50% of their tuition is covevered by scholarships. They each get $50 a week from us, plus I believe that the grandparents kick in "off the books." They just do not tell us.

While I agree generally about teaching responsibilites, you have to know your kid. We give DD's money because they both will work like mules if we allowed them to. These are both kids who have held jobs since they were 15 and DD1 worked two jobs this past summer. The first two years, wanted them to focus on academics and college life and not worry about trying to make money.

Since when was hard work something to be minimized?

PP you are quoting. Not minimizing hard work at all. But if I am sending them to college and paying a big part of the freight, I want that hard work focused in the books - not at some part time job at Quiznos. That is what the summer is for. Once we get to junior year and there is a good track record with grades, then we would allow it. As a freshman, no way! I have seen too many first year kids struggle with academics trying to juggle an off campus job.

Full disclsoure: I worked a full time job my last two years of college and I would not want that for my kids.

I have put 2 kids through college as well, and from the beginning of high school we made it very clear: They could go to college if they wanted (both me and DH did), but we were not going to push them or help them do that. We did help them pay, with the cost of college right now and when we did it wouldn't be reasonable to make them pay all on their own, but only for half of the college cost. If they wanted to go to college, it was mostly their responsibility to get there and do the work. We could afford to pay their way through college, but we knew that they needed to take up the responsibility to go out there and manage for them self, not go batshit insane, drink, party, and drug every night. Because they were paying for their own food, housing, and part of their education they respected it, and payed more attention to it.

During their freshman year, we helped out a bit more, by paying for part of their housing and for their college meal plan, but once we fealt that they had settled in, we stopped doing this. They came out of college as very attractive to those hiring due to the fact that they had experience over all four years of college, had a great work ethic, and could go into an interview room without a nice little speech written my Mommy and Daddy talking about how amazing their son/daughter was.

Did my son and daughter never have rough patches? Of course not, it was a lot of work, and they slipped up once and a while, my DS at one point ended up without enough money to pay for housing for one year. What did he do? He came back home and worked his ass off for a year, taking a break from university. On the other hand, they almost always had respectable grades, gained friends, both from their university and from their work/the community, and are now either employed or paying their own way through graduate studies.

Why is it better to pay for a child's college education? Too often you see kids who are just not prepared for college go off on a full ride from their parents to college. They get money thrown at them left and right.

The PP here. I understand where you are coming from - as I said, my folks made me work full time my last 2 years (NOT my first year on campus). I also said that you have to know your kids. My kids are not partiers and have ALWAYS showed a lot of responsibility and taken their education seriously. And they both worked during high school and summers during college. I do not throw money at them and they understand that grades are paramount. If they do not get the grades, then we will not be paying anymore. My kids would never accuse me of being soft and they both want to work. At the same time, I do not want to put obstacles in the way of their success their first year. This was their first year away from home and totally on their own. As their parents, we determined what they could handle this year and decided accordingly. As they demonstrate that they can handle the load, then we will look at other things. I look at it this way. I am not "paying" for these kids to go to college. I am investing in their education and their futures and I want a maximum return on my investment. Sorry, I just do not believe in sending a kid of to college on my dime and saying "figure it out" from day one. Day 500 - maybe.