Reasonable allowance for college freshman?

[Anonymous]

I don’t know about your daughter but mine needs a stipend for a weekly mani/pedi, bi-weekly highlights, etc. Then there is a waxing and anal bleaching. Plus they need to be first in line for the new iPhone so you have to pay for a line holder for that. There is also concerts, someone to transcribe her recorded notes.

I mean the list goes on and on. We think 25K a month is sufficient.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I plan to make my kid pay for this stuff out of summer earnings. We aren't there yet, so I can't report back yet.

But nobody "has to" order Uber Eats.

Say you don’t have a kid in college during COVID without saying you don’t have a kid in college during COVID.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I will probably give mine $100 on her account for laundry, vending & occasional school cafe and another $100 for off-campus groceries for the semester.
She is on a full meal plan and has some flex dollars as a part of that account. I will make sure she is stocked to begin with.
Bus transit is free w/ student ID, no need for Uber unless she wants to
If she wants to dine out or buy clothes, she can pay for that with summer earnings. She already does. I will make sure she has some base wardrobe on me.
If her account is low, I can always help out.
If there is something she needs that is a necessity (health stuff, cleaning, toiletries, groceries), I can always transfer to her account, or she can order on my Amazon/Target if needed.
Books are covered by her FA.

I just don't get the $200/$250/mo allowances if the kid has a full meal plan. Though, I suppose if you have the money....

Um do you have a kid in college yet? The food is generally terrible and dining halls close by 8 pm often. My DD Often had to order Uber eats because she had just come up for air from classes and studying and the dining halls were closed. Plus sometimes she just wanted decent food.

Well then she needs to get better at scheduling and getting to the Dining hall on time. For late night snacks, she should keep a couple pieces of fruit lying around.

Your such a jerk. How my Dd organizes her day is nothing to you. Judgmental SOB.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I plan to make my kid pay for this stuff out of summer earnings. We aren't there yet, so I can't report back yet.

But nobody "has to" order Uber Eats.

But but but the dining hall closes at 8 and there's no possible way mommy's special girl can adjust her schedule to eat in the dining hall!!

Crawl back into your hole troll

[Anonymous]

We are planning on $300/month for DD not including bigger ticket items. If it seems like too much we will scale back.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t know about your daughter but mine needs a stipend for a weekly mani/pedi, bi-weekly highlights, etc. Then there is a waxing and anal bleaching. Plus they need to be first in line for the new iPhone so you have to pay for a line holder for that. There is also concerts, someone to transcribe her recorded notes.

I mean the list goes on and on. We think 25K a month is sufficient.

Don’t forget ice, large buckets, Gatorade, brownie mix, jello, red solo cups, cheap juice, sprite, coffee, bagels, pizza, and electrolyte drips.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I will probably give mine $100 on her account for laundry, vending & occasional school cafe and another $100 for off-campus groceries for the semester.
She is on a full meal plan and has some flex dollars as a part of that account. I will make sure she is stocked to begin with.
Bus transit is free w/ student ID, no need for Uber unless she wants to
If she wants to dine out or buy clothes, she can pay for that with summer earnings. She already does. I will make sure she has some base wardrobe on me.
If her account is low, I can always help out.
If there is something she needs that is a necessity (health stuff, cleaning, toiletries, groceries), I can always transfer to her account, or she can order on my Amazon/Target if needed.
Books are covered by her FA.

I just don't get the $200/$250/mo allowances if the kid has a full meal plan. Though, I suppose if you have the money....

Um do you have a kid in college yet? The food is generally terrible and dining halls close by 8 pm often. My DD Often had to order Uber eats because she had just come up for air from classes and studying and the dining halls were closed. Plus sometimes she just wanted decent food.

If your kid needs decent food to survive life she should still be living at home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I will probably give mine $100 on her account for laundry, vending & occasional school cafe and another $100 for off-campus groceries for the semester.
She is on a full meal plan and has some flex dollars as a part of that account. I will make sure she is stocked to begin with.
Bus transit is free w/ student ID, no need for Uber unless she wants to
If she wants to dine out or buy clothes, she can pay for that with summer earnings. She already does. I will make sure she has some base wardrobe on me.
If her account is low, I can always help out.
If there is something she needs that is a necessity (health stuff, cleaning, toiletries, groceries), I can always transfer to her account, or she can order on my Amazon/Target if needed.
Books are covered by her FA.

I just don't get the $200/$250/mo allowances if the kid has a full meal plan. Though, I suppose if you have the money....

Um do you have a kid in college yet? The food is generally terrible and dining halls close by 8 pm often. My DD Often had to order Uber eats because she had just come up for air from classes and studying and the dining halls were closed. Plus sometimes she just wanted decent food.

PP here. I'm a professor. I occasionally eat with students. I know what college food is like. Also, you have no idea what the dining hall hours are at my kid's school. That's quite presumptive (& the "Um" lead in is just annoying). If the halls are closed, my DD will pick something up rather than make it cost potentially double with uber eats. Your DD doesn't have to order uber eats or miss dining hall hours frequently. Those are life choices. Mine has summer earnings if she wants "decent eats" occasionally. That's what she does here too.

[Anonymous]

PS. There is always peanut butter and cereal in the dining hall.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I will probably give mine $100 on her account for laundry, vending & occasional school cafe and another $100 for off-campus groceries for the semester.
She is on a full meal plan and has some flex dollars as a part of that account. I will make sure she is stocked to begin with.
Bus transit is free w/ student ID, no need for Uber unless she wants to
If she wants to dine out or buy clothes, she can pay for that with summer earnings. She already does. I will make sure she has some base wardrobe on me.
If her account is low, I can always help out.
If there is something she needs that is a necessity (health stuff, cleaning, toiletries, groceries), I can always transfer to her account, or she can order on my Amazon/Target if needed.
Books are covered by her FA.

I just don't get the $200/$250/mo allowances if the kid has a full meal plan. Though, I suppose if you have the money....

Um do you have a kid in college yet? The food is generally terrible and dining halls close by 8 pm often. My DD Often had to order Uber eats because she had just come up for air from classes and studying and the dining halls were closed. Plus sometimes she just wanted decent food.

PP here. I'm a professor. I occasionally eat with students. I know what college food is like. Also, you have no idea what the dining hall hours are at my kid's school. That's quite presumptive (& the "Um" lead in is just annoying). If the halls are closed, my DD will pick something up rather than make it cost potentially double with uber eats. Your DD doesn't have to order uber eats or miss dining hall hours frequently. Those are life choices. Mine has summer earnings if she wants "decent eats" occasionally. That's what she does here too.

I love how you think I’m presumptuous but you know nothing about my kid, when her dining hall closes, whether or not she has a car and any health issues that may be at play.

The OP asked for opinions on what people have done. People have offered different opinions and experiences. Why do you need to start an argument?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:$200/mth

You want her to be able to socialize

Why? If the parent is paying for tuition, food, dorm, etc.--why do they also have to provide money to "socialize." My parents didn't give me a single penny in college besides the 3 things I just mentioned. I had to pay for books/supplies, clothes, toiletries, and yes money for social things.

Same. Though I think mine helped with books.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I plan to make my kid pay for this stuff out of summer earnings. We aren't there yet, so I can't report back yet.

But nobody "has to" order Uber Eats.

Say you don’t have a kid in college during COVID without saying you don’t have a kid in college during COVID.

Our child is a sophomore this year. Last year, masks required, covid vaccines required, testing required to return, etc. We did not give an allowance last year and we are not giving an allowance this year. We pay tuition, room and board, books and things like warm, waterproof boots because they are in a cold location. Child works over the summer to pay for spending money during the year. Last year, at one point they ran out. They got a job. Child still had straight As and made Dean's List both semesters.

[Anonymous]

Some of y’all’s children are going to have very hard first year working a real job and juggling house, car, kids, food, health.., unless you’re going to extend their allowance until they are 50?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why can’t these coddled snowflakes live for a few months on Ramen or Cup Noodle?

This board cracks me up. When the kids are babies, it’s child abuse if you don’t feed them homemade baby food made from organic vegetables from the local farmer’s market. You’re a criminal if you let your teens eat anything processed, much less fast food. When they’re in college, it’s suddenly, “whatever, they can live on ramen.”

I lived on ramen in college, because my parents truly couldn’t afford to send me money, and all it taught me was that I would do better for my kid, if I could afford it. So, I am. IMO, it’s harder to learn to spend money wisely when you have money than it is when you’re broke.

[Anonymous]

She's starting college and only now you're hoping to teach her how to budget??