Budget/ Spending $$ for college students

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Whatever our DS makes in his job, he puts into his Roth up to the maximum. We give him spending money, not a monthly amount but about $1000 during three quarters. He lives in the dorm and has a meal plan and no car so he doesn’t need much.

We are glad to help him save his earning to fund his Roth.

We do the reverse. We pay into his roth based on how much he earns. Earn more; get more. He will have money left over from his 529 because he also got some merit aid. We are going to rollover that amount into his roth.

Aside from that, we don't give him any spending money. He works, and manages his time and money very well. He said he feels grown up and like it's an accomplishment to be able to pay for his own entertainment and buying stuff (which he had been doing since he was 16).

He's getting straight As in college in a STEM degree. Super proud of him.

A lot of his friends have jobs in college. IMO, that is not outside the norm. Both my spouse and I also worked in college.

[Anonymous]

Realize the responses to this are self selecting. Every time this topic comes up, it is dominated by those who claim to give their kids no spending $$, even though that doesn’t comport with my experience IRL. (Also note that a lot of those “no $$” people will say “except for Amazon orders, clothes, toiletries, airplane tickets, etc”)

My kid goes to school in a big city, he spends anywhere from $300-500 a month, on top of the dorm dining plan. That’s everything — books, toiletries, eating out, etc. He doesn’t do anything crazy — eating out tends to be Chipotle or the local bagel shop a couple times a week, and he mostly rides the subway (free for students) to get around.

Yes, my kid did work over the summer, and that money went into the spend account, but it didn’t begin to cover these costs. Contrary to assertions here, it isn’t “easy” to clear $4,000 in a summer job.

[Anonymous]

It is easy. Work 35-40 hrs a week all summer. My DS has done it since he was 16. He would’ve made more than that in overtime but he was working in a seasonal job. He even took a week off for vacation and easily made $4k.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is easy. Work 35-40 hrs a week all summer. My DS has done it since he was 16. He would’ve made more than that in overtime but he was working in a seasonal job. He even took a week off for vacation and easily made $4k.

You mean he spent his money, instead of funding a Roth IRA with it? Mine works summers but I’m teaching her that the first 7k goes to saving and investing. Then the rest with spending money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is easy. Work 35-40 hrs a week all summer. My DS has done it since he was 16. He would’ve made more than that in overtime but he was working in a seasonal job. He even took a week off for vacation and easily made $4k.

You mean he spent his money, instead of funding a Roth IRA with it? Mine works summers but I’m teaching her that the first 7k goes to saving and investing. Then the rest with spending money.

He used it to buy a car so he can get to his college classes. He has some spending money left over.