College age allowance

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No set allowance. She has a credit card that she uses as needed. We pay the bill.

Same. We started out telling him that he could spend $X per month (that DCUM raked me over the coals saying it was WAY too low) but he didn't even spend that much. So now we just let him spend what he wants, it's nowhere near what we thought was reasonable.

Same here. Our kids are frugal and responsible, and so are their friends. They are in in-state public colleges on merit scholarships, so we are not paying through our noses for their education. We are UMC.

[Anonymous]

I don't give anything to my DD. She has a meal plan and she doesn't use it, but she also has two jobs. I told her I'm not giving her any money if she isn't going to use the meal plan I bought her. Next year, no meal plan and I'll probably put the equivalent amount of money on a pre-paid card or something that she can use to buy food. Fun activities, drinks at bars, clothes, that's all on her.

My DS does use his meal plan and I give him maybe $150 a month to grocery shop when he needs it. Again he uses his own money for everything else.

Both kids have use of a car i pay for, gas I pay for, phones i pay for etc.

[Anonymous]

^ wanted to add that I am paying all college expenses for both.

[Anonymous]

My kid is a sophomore at UCLA. Last year we paid tuition+book+room+board and gave DS $250/month. This year he is living by himself in a single apartment and he doesn't want to cook so we contract with a local chef to bring him healthy food everyday. We also give him $350/month for spending. It is working out well so far.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid is a sophomore at UCLA. Last year we paid tuition+book+room+board and gave DS $250/month. This year he is living by himself in a single apartment and he doesn't want to cook so we contract with a local chef to bring him healthy food everyday. We also give him $350/month for spending. It is working out well so far.

This is interesting. Cost? How did you find the person?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:$600 a month for freshman ds to spend or save. He will get a job next summer for the next year’s spending money. He is in school in an expensive city.

City? Does he also have a meal plan? Thanks

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid is a sophomore at UCLA. Last year we paid tuition+book+room+board and gave DS $250/month. This year he is living by himself in a single apartment and he doesn't want to cook so we contract with a local chef to bring him healthy food everyday. We also give him $350/month for spending. It is working out well so far.

This is nice. Westwood is expensive!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No allowance here either. We pay for tuition, books, and room and board (meal plan) when on campus.
Next year will be off campus, we will pay rent (it is equivalent to dorm fee). Since we also paid for the meal plan when on campus, we will pay that same amount towards food next year, when off campus.

All other spending money, for going out, for going on trips to visit friends or significant others, any kind of pizza and beer money, is on them. They have a summer job that earns them plenty - it's a great way to learn budgeting

This is what we do as well. DS has a job and pays for any extras (going out, trips with his friends, etc.) DD is still in high school, but she already has a job and we plan on doing the same with her. Our kids will graduate debt free, but they are no trust-fund babies and will have to work to support themselves. College is a perfect training for that.

[Anonymous]

DD is a freshman. She had a health crisis spring of her senior year of HS and couldn't work last summer as we tried to get her health stabilized so she could attend college. I also did not want her working her freshman year so that she could focus on academics and staying healthy.

She is on the meal plan and gets an addition $100/week in allowance. She also has a little savings from graduation $ and now Christmas $. I pay for books and reasonable supplies and clothing but she has to use her allowance on anything else -- meals off campus, extra clothes, gifts, etc.

I plan to give her allowance in larger chunks over time so she learns how to budget before she graduates. If she moves off-campus, her allowance will increase to cover meals as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is a sophomore at UCLA. Last year we paid tuition+book+room+board and gave DS $250/month. This year he is living by himself in a single apartment and he doesn't want to cook so we contract with a local chef to bring him healthy food everyday. We also give him $350/month for spending. It is working out well so far.

This is nice. Westwood is expensive!

It works out quite well for our family because DS attends UCLA in-state and it costs around 15K/year versus almost 80K at Ivies. We used that 65K difference to get him the healthy meals he wanted. Getting a local chef to get DS healthy meals is not cheap but not expensive either. Definitely worth it, IMHO.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If your parents couldn't help because they had less or were miserly, doesn't mean you shouldn't help your kids. There are many ways to teach responsibilities, making them suffer isn't the only one.

I think your definition of suffering and most people's are far apart.

We don't give an allowance to college students. We pay room and board and provide a credit card to buy tickets home. We provide health and dorm insurance. We pay for books. Snacks and walking-around money? That's on them.

[Anonymous]

We pay for the meal plan and give $300 per month allowance. Sometimes she will ask us to pay for something extra and we usually say yes if it’s not something unreasonable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We pay Tuition, Room and Board. Kids will graduate with no debt. An aunt gave them each a $1000 Amazon gift card to cover books. We cover medical expenses and anything else that is truly necessary.

Kids are expected to work summers and/or 5-10 hours a week during school to cover other expenses.

One thing I do do. If a child has a summer non-paying study abroad or unpaid internship *that will meaningfully advance their degree of career goals*, I will pay them $400/week for that time ($10 and hour * 40 hour week). I don’t want to pay $200,000 for college and then not have them take advantage of opportunities that will help them long term. For example, DD is doing a 5 week immersion this summer in a critical foreign language. She is an IR major, minoring in the language. So, she will “earn” $2000 spending money for that time. They are expected to seek funding from the university or department first.

Does the Aunt know that books are not really a thing in college anymore?

How odd. Books are still very much a thing-just depends on your major and the specific course.

[Anonymous]

We never set a limit. We cover the cost of tuition, room, books. He has a job. We pay for him to fly home for holidays and breaks, we cover the cost of the car. He covers the extra's, if he needs something and can't afford it and its a real "need" we discuss and determine how he will obtain it (we buy, he pays back etc). We have found this allows him to budget and keeps an open line of communication about needs, wants and budgeting. We laugh because there are times we tell him he needs a new coat (he's in a cold climate) because he's out grown his and he tells us "its still just fine" so he's not a person to spend on things he doesn't need.

[Anonymous]

Like $200 every time they come home to visit, maybe 4 times a year. Restock school supplies and some clothes before new year. Extra Christmas money to help with semester expenses. Big car expense or something we would cover majority if normal wear and tear. Accident, their responsibility.