Sending teen to college-a few questions

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think $250/month is an ample spending budget (for clothes, toiletries, dorm room needs, snacks, entertainment, club fees and trips).

Whether that comes from mom and dad of from the student's earnings is up to you.

This.

[Anonymous]

$150/month plus clothes but he doesn't buy anything unless it is a necessity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Allowance? I pay tuition, room, food, books, fees. The rest is on my kids. That’s what summer jobs are for. You need to wean them off the payroll

That's easy to say, but even in those categories, how from a practical standpoint does your student pay for the workbook that they have to buy mid-semester (which would fall into the "textbook" category that you cover)?You really don't give your child any money to buy a stick of deodorant or a tube of toothpaste?

Like I said, we pay for tuition, room, food, BOOKS, and fees. If he needs a book midsemester, he buys in, texts me “hey mom I bought a book for $75” and I Venmo him $75.

And no. That’s why they havesummer jobs. Why would my kid need me to fork over $2.25 for a tub of toothpaste?

[Anonymous]

Op again. I want her to invest her savings. Also her job next summer is an unpaid internship.

[Anonymous]

I remember when I went to college in ‘87. The admissions counselors told my parents they recommended no more than $20/week. So that’s exactly what I got. I made it work, but most of my friends had a lot more.

For my kids, we’ve told them they are on their own for incidentals between summer job and work study. Should be more than enough. We’ll reassess if they start getting unpaid internships.

[Anonymous]

I am one of the PPs who supported keeping her money in savings. Too many people miss the broader picture when teaching personal finance - learning to save is as important as living within your means. While I get the stance that earning their own spending money teaches responsibility, there is also a learning cost to focusing only on spending and not how to save and invest.

Again, whatever spending money you provide will eventually be replaced by her paycheck. If you haven’t already started teaching her about saving/investing, these last few years “under your roof” are a great last chance to do that.

I am grateful my parents provided a similar approach - providing a great foundation for a healthy financial life.

Ultimately, how financially responsible your child will be is influenced by what they have learned throughout their entire upbringing, not just these four years. Best wishes on the start of college

[Anonymous]

I had a part-time job and sold my plasma every 2 weeks for $20 a pop.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Op again. Was hoping to hear from folks who have calculated/established a spending money budget for their kid(s). Thanks.

I actually established a spending money budget for my child in high school. I give him $240 each month ($60 weekly) to spend on all the things he needs (toiletries, haircuts, clothing, school supplies, movies, snacks, club costs etc.) He has to budget it according to different categories, and show me receipts for everything he buys, and if his books don't balance I don't give him his next $60 allotment, so he makes sure he is keeping track.

It's been remarkably successful in teaching him how to save up for things he wants. He might have $250 in savings, but he only has $20 earmarked for "entertainment" whereas he's saving up $130 towards a big club trip he wants to take, $50 towards new sneakers he wants to buy, and $50 for other items. So he knows he can only spend the $20 on going out to the movies with his buddies, for example.

I think it is great training for living on your own in college.

[Anonymous]

Child spent every single penny he earned this summer from jobs he worked very sporadically (out of 13 weeks of summer he worked maybe 4 and turned down more work left and right) so he isnt getting any spending money from us. We paid for tuition, room and board and books in full. If he had worked a non paying internship, we would have given him spending money. If he had spent the summer volunteering, same deal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I remember when I went to college in ‘87. The admissions counselors told my parents they recommended no more than $20/week. So that’s exactly what I got. I made it work, but most of my friends had a lot more.

For my kids, we’ve told them they are on their own for incidentals between summer job and work study. Should be more than enough. We’ll reassess if they start getting unpaid internships.

So your parents have you spending money but you aren’t giving your kids spending money? Why?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I remember when I went to college in ‘87. The admissions counselors told my parents they recommended no more than $20/week. So that’s exactly what I got. I made it work, but most of my friends had a lot more.

For my kids, we’ve told them they are on their own for incidentals between summer job and work study. Should be more than enough. We’ll reassess if they start getting unpaid internships.

So your parents have you spending money but you aren’t giving your kids spending money? Why?

Good question, I didn’t share the entire arrangement. We factored my allowance into the overall total expenses. My dad paid 50%, my mom covered 25% and I covered the remaining 25%, mostly through loans and a bit of summer job $$. Mostly a lot of loans. My dad was the one who organized all the funds and sent the allowance each month.

I’m paying tuition, room and board for my kid. So having him cover incidentals seems more than fair, as he’ll graduate loan free.

[Anonymous]

We did $1000/semester, but DC graduated recently so I'd probably do a little more if we were starting today. Both my DCs worked in the summers and used their summer earnings for additional expenses. When one of my DCs moved off campus we did a separate amount for food since DC was no longer on the meal plan.

[Anonymous]

We just dropped my son off at college last week. He worked all summer and saved his money. He knows that we pay for tuition, room, meal plan, and book. Everything outside of that is on him. Hes a hard worker, wont surprise me if he gets a PT job at school.

Might want to consider preparing your daughter for adulthood sooner rather than later, unless of course shes going to school to obtain an Mrs degree.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am one of the PPs who supported keeping her money in savings. Too many people miss the broader picture when teaching personal finance - learning to save is as important as living within your means. While I get the stance that earning their own spending money teaches responsibility, there is also a learning cost to focusing only on spending and not how to save and invest.

Again, whatever spending money you provide will eventually be replaced by her paycheck. If you haven’t already started teaching her about saving/investing, these last few years “under your roof” are a great last chance to do that.

I am grateful my parents provided a similar approach - providing a great foundation for a healthy financial life.

Ultimately, how financially responsible your child will be is influenced by what they have learned throughout their entire upbringing, not just these four years. Best wishes on the start of college

These are not mutually exclusive.

Learning to save means taking your earnings, putting a portion of that aside and then budgeting the rest. Learning to save and manage money wisely is not saving your own money and spending someone else's. What exactly is the lesson there?

My kids have been taught to set aside 20% of every single dollar earned. Once they became w-2 employees at age 16, I committed to matching every dollar they saved so they could open a roth. As a result my 19yr old son still saves 20% of what he earns, has over 9k in personal savings and still is managing to not come back to the parental ATM for his spending money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What's the point of saving if you can't touch it when you're in college? I mean, was there a specific savings goal?

My high schoolers currently are saving for college spending money. It would be strange to say they can't touch it.

Open a Roth for your kid once they start working, this is the optimal time for retirement since they're probably don't even have to pay taxes yet with their small income.